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- May 14, 2021
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So... today I adopted a cat. And when I say adopted, I mean "had unceremoniously handed to me because the other option I won't even mention here." This isn't as big a deal (in theory) as it sounds, I've had tons of cats over the years, and I'd technically agreed to adopt a cat if it was needed... but the one I'd originally agreed to was a "teenager," whereas the one I ended up with is a kitten. Like... I don't think he/she's more than two weeks old.
His/her mother is a semi-feral (domesticated, but no real family to speak of). We don't know who she ran away from, but she's obviously from a pampered background and has been living in a local construction site for a while now. Except... construction is progressing, and the company has elected to "evict" all the cats. Every cat found a home, except this little guy. Whoever took the mother didn't want the kitten, and I'm not condemning a kitten if I have a choice, so I adopted him/her.
Which is where the fun begins. I've had him/her for about eight hours now, and haven't been able to convince him/her to eat almost anything. I knew enough to know that kittens have different dietary needs and shop accordingly, but since he/she's effectively a stray, nobody knows exactly how old he/she is. This is resulting in a not-insignificant amount of anxiety. My guestimate based on little more than rough size and eyes is a bit over two weeks. This was also the opinion of the closest thing PetSmart had to a cat expert at the weird time I was finally able to get there.
He/she doesn't whine or complain (unless you pick up or move him/her when he/she doesn't expect it), has a reasonable amount of energy (loves exploring my bed, and climbs on anything he/she possibly can - which isn't too much given he/she still doesn't functionally "walk" in the traditional sense yet), very much seems to enjoy cuddling (big surprise) and even purrs sometimes when cuddling - sort of. Most interestingly (to my limited knowledge) is that he/she seems to already understand self-cleaning. I didn't think that was something most kittens did until closer to 4-6 weeks.
Given all that information, help? If I'm wrong on the age, and it's closer to 4 weeks, then the lack of eating isn't terribly concerning, but his/her size is more concerning. If I'm right about the age, I'm definitively concerned about what to do to make this kitten eat!
Picture was about an hour ago, no clue why he/she decided he/she loved that paper towel, but he/she claimed it as a bed for a good 45 minutes before deciding that I looked more comfortable...
His/her mother is a semi-feral (domesticated, but no real family to speak of). We don't know who she ran away from, but she's obviously from a pampered background and has been living in a local construction site for a while now. Except... construction is progressing, and the company has elected to "evict" all the cats. Every cat found a home, except this little guy. Whoever took the mother didn't want the kitten, and I'm not condemning a kitten if I have a choice, so I adopted him/her.
Which is where the fun begins. I've had him/her for about eight hours now, and haven't been able to convince him/her to eat almost anything. I knew enough to know that kittens have different dietary needs and shop accordingly, but since he/she's effectively a stray, nobody knows exactly how old he/she is. This is resulting in a not-insignificant amount of anxiety. My guestimate based on little more than rough size and eyes is a bit over two weeks. This was also the opinion of the closest thing PetSmart had to a cat expert at the weird time I was finally able to get there.
He/she doesn't whine or complain (unless you pick up or move him/her when he/she doesn't expect it), has a reasonable amount of energy (loves exploring my bed, and climbs on anything he/she possibly can - which isn't too much given he/she still doesn't functionally "walk" in the traditional sense yet), very much seems to enjoy cuddling (big surprise) and even purrs sometimes when cuddling - sort of. Most interestingly (to my limited knowledge) is that he/she seems to already understand self-cleaning. I didn't think that was something most kittens did until closer to 4-6 weeks.
Given all that information, help? If I'm wrong on the age, and it's closer to 4 weeks, then the lack of eating isn't terribly concerning, but his/her size is more concerning. If I'm right about the age, I'm definitively concerned about what to do to make this kitten eat!
Picture was about an hour ago, no clue why he/she decided he/she loved that paper towel, but he/she claimed it as a bed for a good 45 minutes before deciding that I looked more comfortable...
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