Meet... My New Kitty!

[Mer.kitten]

I'm still deciding on a name, i was thinking Nyx, but i just feel like it doesnt suit her.

Anyway, i grew up with my mom rescuing cats, dogs, ducks with neurological problems-you name it. I was exposed to rescue early on. Ive owned 2 cats in my adult life, but my last kitty passed away several years ago. I wasn't looking for a new cat. I have no other pets & live with a roommate and am moving out soon. A pet is something i waa hoping to get in a year or two.

Then a week ago i was in downtown San Francisco and pulled over by an alley to make a phone call, and i saw this black fluffy thing. I was like-thats a cat!

I dont see cats much downtown. I live in outer SF,. its more like the 'burbs. there, and some people do let their cats roam there, but no one lets their cat roam downtown. For a second, i thought, someones pet that got out. Probably fine. Not my issue. But.. i couldnt do it. What if it was lost, scared, injured, starving? So i got out, she was a bit wary & wouldnt come to me, i went and bought some beef jerky and tossed it to her and she got closer and closer til i could pet her-skin and bones nope, youre coming with me little kitty.

Long story short, got her in my van, in a duffel bag (she was not amused and i felt like a horrible human but it was all i had and she wouldnt ride loose in the car, she kept panicking).

Got her home and fed her. Vet 2 days later-no microchip, she has an infection which im giving her antibiotics for. Estimated to be 1.5 years old. My original thought was to take her to aspca or a rescue, but...

she is the ::sweetest:: kitty She talks constantly-not a meow but a chirruping trill sound. She'll have a whole convo with you. She doesnt like being picked up but shes happy to cuddle and get pets and be brushed. She greets me at the door when i get home, follows me around like a shadow, and has just kind of insinuated herself inyo this household like she's always been here. Ive always wanted a black cat, my whole life, so it kind of feels like fate, especially that she crossed my path on Oct 1st

Oh, and if i put. my face close to her and say "can i have kisses?" she'll lick my nose

We're back to the vet in 2 weeks for shots, tests and a microchip.

here she is in derp mode

 

[tabbytom]

Mee.kitten and new kitty, on behalf of The Catsite community, a warm

to both of you.

Glad that you’ve joined the site and feel free to ask questions if you have any and do post them under the appropriate forum headings and also do check out the many informative articles we have here Articles | The Cat Site

So sorry to hear about your previous kitty but guess you are happy that you found another one and am sure you are gonna give her a warm, loving purr-feet home.

Do post more photos of her and enjoy your stay. See ya around

 

[Boris Diamond]

Welcome to The Cat Site, Mer.kitten! What a great story! It is almost as if she were meant for you. I suspect you have a friend for life. We would love to see more pictures!

 

[verna davies]

Hi to you both and welcome to the site. A lovely story and it sounds as if you and your new friend were meant to meet. You could call her Fate. Enjoy each other.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

.
Mer.kitten - Welcome to TCS! Personally, I rather like the name, Nyx," for a black cat - and it gives you the perfect excuse to add two more cats to your household, just to name them Hypnos and Thanatos.

She's absolutely beautiful, and it looks and sounds like she's coming 'round from the skin and bones condition in which your rescued her. Just as a thought, as with many strays who've been on the streets, fighting to survive, the reddish brown cast to her fur might be a signal of Tyrosine deficiency (in addition to bearing responsibility for the production of the three essential neurotransmitters - dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine, Tyrosine is also the catalyst for melanin production, and hence a deficiency will often manifest itself first by reduced pigment concentration). You might consider asking the vet about adding a tyrosine supplement to her food, to give her a little boost (and to bring her lovely black coat back to the manufacturer's specifications too).

Bless you for rescuing this beautiful little girl from the streets!
.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Welcome to you and...what's-her-face. I'm sure she will reveal her "true name" to you very soon. What a lovely cat she is. I'm so glad that she found her "soft place to land" in this world. Thank you for caring so much.

 

[Mer.kitten]

Thanks everyone I call her my little honeybun, shes super sweet.. although she has this weird quirk where she likes to scratch jer nails on your leg or shoe. Not the couch, desk, bed, ect. Just legs & shoes

Thank you for the info about the supplement, I'll ask my vet tmrw

How do you guys feel about baths for cats? She has fleas, i got a dose of Revolution at the vet but i wanted to hold off a week or so til she felt better. She was also hanging out in that grimy alley with dog poo around, ect. Shes really sweet, whe i put her in the duffel baflg she never growled hissed, clawed or bit, so i feel like physically i could do it, but i dont want her to see me as that mean person who gave her abath. Do you think i should take her to a pro groomer and have them bathe her? i dont believe in baths for cats on a regular basis, shes just kinda dirty-id like to get her fur clean. im thinking theyd do abetter job than me and she wouldnt see me as doing something bad to her-i dont want to lose her trust.

 

[margd]

What an adorable little girl - no wonder you were unable to resist her. That darling face is so expressive. I fell in love with her the moment I opened opened the image. You were obviously meant to be together; it is not every cat who will lick their human's nose when it gets close to their face.

Since she needs a bath (and it sounds like she really, really does!) taking her to a groomer sounds like an excellent idea. Just make sure in advance that the groomer doesn't have a "no flea" policy. It's unlikely that you would lose her trust from giving her a bath, though. Sure, she might sulk for a bit but she'll get over it and be back to her normal loving self in no time. If you do end up giving her the bath at home, bathing her in Dawn dish washing detergent (the original blue one) will help with the flea problem while still being safe to use on cats.

About that scratching on your leg and shoe habit...It may seem cute now, but you may want to nip that in the bud. When cats use a scratching post, they really dig those claws into the surface and you don't want your leg to end up in the same frayed condition that a well-used scratching post does!

Please let us know what you decide to name your honeybun. Or, to be more precise, please let us know when your girl lets you know what her name is. We also can never have too many photos so be sure to post plenty of this cutie pie.

And of course, very warm welcome to both of you.

EDIT: One of the great things about this site is that there is always something new to learn. One of our very knowledgeable members just clued me into the fact that studies show Revolution is safe at several times the recommended dose, meaning that it's perfectly safe to use it even if your kitty still isn't fully recovered from her experience. Getting rid of those fleas would make her far more comfortable so you can go ahead and use it now.

 

[Mer.kitten]

thanks so much margd i'll think about the bath thing-maybe i can do it myself after all.

About the Revolution, my vet said i can give it once on sunday, then once the next sun, but that any more or closer together and it can cause neurological symptoms :/

I'm trying to discourage her from leg/shoe scratching thing-i turn away when she does it and unhook her little claws if i have to. ive just never seen a kitty do that. Maybe shed like an actual scratching post

Im attaching a few more pics & and a video. The video is from when i first got out of the car and went up to see if i could get close. The lot was fenced off & locked, so i said hi to her, walked up to see if there was a way in, then the video ends as im walking to the gas station to get jerky

to lure her with.

Lol, she's got the crazies right now and i swear she just ran halfway across the room, leaped in the air, reversed direction midair & scampered off the way she came. When she got here last week she was very slow and careful and ate and slept a lot-now shes feeling her oats

 

[rubysmama]

Welcome to The Cat Site. Your "little honeybun" is totally adorable. How cool that you thought to take video when you first spotted her. Poor thing, she looked pretty ragged in that video. You can see improvement already in the pictures.

How did you get her out of the fenced in lot. Did she squeeze through the little openings? Or climb the fence?

Yes, definitely get her a scratching post. My Ruby loves the carpeted ones the best. Ruby will sometimes come up behind me without my hearing her and suddenly do that stretching/scratching thing on my leg. And she also likes to scratch the tops of my shoes. One of my nice pairs of shoes has cute little claw punctures in them. Hopefully you'll eventually be able to clip her claws to at least lessen the pain (for you) when she claws your leg.

Was the vet able to tell if she's been spayed?

 

[Mer.kitten]

The fence had a gap big enough for her to slip through, so i came back with jerky and tossed her pieces closer and closer to me til she finally came through and let me pet her. i tried picking her up but she didnt like it and struggled-my van was 10 feet away but the door was closed and i neededboth hands to hold her, so i had to set her down, luckily she didnt run, i went and opened the door, went back, scooped her up and put her in my van fast. she ran around panicked for a minute and then just settled down on the floor, but everytime id start the car and try to pull out shed panic, and i was like, i cant drive with a cat leaping around...

so i locked my van, cracked windows ( it was early evening and cool and Target was 10 mins away-i knew shed be ok) and ubered to Target to get a cat carrier-and they didnt &^$#@#$^ have one! i was like, now what. :/ so.. i bought a gym bag. and came back and put her in it-she struggled but never once bit or hissed or clawed. i zipped it shut and she started panicking for a minute and im like im a horrible person im doing this all wrong shes going to hate me :/ i tried to reassure her, i talked to her softly and rubbed her through the bag, and after a minute she stopped struggling. every 10 blocks id pull over and unzip the bag a little and fan air into it, i was afraid she couldnt breathe. luckily i was only 15 minutes from home. got her inside, let her out in my bathroom with cat food, water and a towel to sit on, and just left her alone for 40 minutes so we could both collect ourselves.

after 40 minutes i went in, petted her, and thankfully she didnt seem mad about being kidnapped rendition style. i left again, just shut the door and went in the other room & waited another hour, went back and pet her for 10 more minutes, i left the bathroom again, shut the door, and i heard "mew? mew? mew?" she was asking where i went so i opened the door and let her have the run
of the house. She sniffed around and then decided curled up next to me on my faux fur blanket was the place to be... and the rest is history

vet doesnt know if shes spayed, she said its possible shes pregnant. we're going to deal with that in a couple weeks at next check up. she'll be spayed as soon as we know shes not preg

heres a vid i took after i came back with jerky and started throwing it to her to get her to come to the gap in the gate.

 

[rubysmama]

What a sweetie girl. She's so lucky you spotted her, and rescued her. Thanks for the longer explanation and video. She must have belonged to someone, at some time, as she's clearly not feral. Hopefully she's not pregnant, but if she is, thanks to you, her kittens will be born in a safe place.

Have you decided on a name yet? I just Googled "halloween cat names" and found the below link. From the list of names, Buffy jumped out at me.
Best Halloween Themed Cat Names - PetPlace

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I am entirely enchanted with this story!

 

[mightyboosh]

Mer.kitten Fantastic rescue and yes, it was fate. She's a beautiful cat and you'll soon get her Bobbified. Ask 1CatOverTheLine what that technical term means if you're wondering.

 

[Elfilou]

Lovely story! I also love the name Buffy - or maybe Salem - for your Halloween kitty.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OOOOOOOOHHHH! Salem! I love that!

 

[Summercats]

Aww gorgeous kitty.
My guy is in the habit of using his scratching post, I played with toys on it with him and he got the idea right away.

 

[Mer.kitten]

if you get a chance, any help on my thread in the cat behaviour forum is appreciated. thank you.

 

[Mer.kitten]

so its been almost 3 weeks and ive been trying to think of cool black panthery names for her... meanwhile, every day when i come home she runs up to me meowing and i say "hi honeybun"... so im juust going to roll with that. Her official name will be Nyx, cos i do like it, but her unofficial name, or nickname, will be Honeybun

 

[margd]

Every time I see another photo of her adorable face, I fall in love with your Honeybun/Nyx all over again. What a sweetheart. And the videos are marvelous - you're so patient and kind with her. It's heartwarming to see her respond.

I just read your behavior thread. It looks like you're getting some excellent advice over there but I'll add my two cents worth.