I had someone call me looking for kitten advice. Their neighbours' cat had kittens, and on Sunday they took one of the kittens which is now 10 weeks old. The kitten has been mewing non-stop since they got it pretty much. She wanted advice on what to do.
They have a 75lb Malamute who has been great with the kitten - and the kitten has been trying to suckle off the dog. Apparently the kitten was weaned, so I assume this is comfort suckling, and that it's not actually hungry.
The kitten also pooped on her bed - it's litter trained, so I think this is probably either stress, or it just "forgot" where to go?
Apparently the kitten is happy, and is a huge purrer, it just meows constantly for attention. She tried putting it down her shirt - it just purred while it mewed. I could hear it in the background meowing the entire phone call. She got lots of toys for it, but it wants human contact. I suggested a second kitten, and she said she would love to but doesn't have space for a big dog plus 2 cats in her apartment.
I told her that 9/10 weeks is pretty early to be taken away from its mother, and after its spent its whole life with its siblings and mum, then gets taken away and put in a new environment, especially at that age, it most probably will be stressed. I thought maybe if the mother cat will still accept the kitten, then she should see if her neighbour will take him back for another few weeks until he's a bit older, then try again. The little guy just sounds stressed to me.
What do you guys think? She's been home pretty much the entire time with the kitten except for a few hours on Monday, and has been giving it lots of attention, but he still mews constantly.
Any other advice I could give her would be appreciated!
They have a 75lb Malamute who has been great with the kitten - and the kitten has been trying to suckle off the dog. Apparently the kitten was weaned, so I assume this is comfort suckling, and that it's not actually hungry.
The kitten also pooped on her bed - it's litter trained, so I think this is probably either stress, or it just "forgot" where to go?
Apparently the kitten is happy, and is a huge purrer, it just meows constantly for attention. She tried putting it down her shirt - it just purred while it mewed. I could hear it in the background meowing the entire phone call. She got lots of toys for it, but it wants human contact. I suggested a second kitten, and she said she would love to but doesn't have space for a big dog plus 2 cats in her apartment.
I told her that 9/10 weeks is pretty early to be taken away from its mother, and after its spent its whole life with its siblings and mum, then gets taken away and put in a new environment, especially at that age, it most probably will be stressed. I thought maybe if the mother cat will still accept the kitten, then she should see if her neighbour will take him back for another few weeks until he's a bit older, then try again. The little guy just sounds stressed to me.
What do you guys think? She's been home pretty much the entire time with the kitten except for a few hours on Monday, and has been giving it lots of attention, but he still mews constantly.
Any other advice I could give her would be appreciated!