So, as some of you might know I recently brought home a little british shorthair kitten named Simon (the kitty in my avatar).
Simon is just over four months old now and no longer what I would call 'little'. I've had a few cats before and he's about the size as most of them were at about six to eight months old. he's going to be a big boy.
Well, through a combination of circumstances Simon now has a new little sister.
She's a little rescue kitten from a rescue around here that does mainly feral or orphaned litters, socializing them and then adopting them out. I have to say, I've had my fair share of cats and kittens in my life, and she's the strangest little kitten I have ever before encountered!
According to the foster mother, she was found alone. They used her apparent development and her dentition to determine that at the time she was just about/just under eight weeks old. She is now about twelve weeks old but the foster mother told me, 'I've had her for just over a month and she's barely grown, if at all.'
It's true. She's the tiniest little 12 week old I have ever seen. In size she looks closer to half her age. What's even more bizarre is she isn't built like a kitten. That is to say, she has no kitten fat, and her body parts seem to be in adult proportion to each other more or less (though she has absolutely huge ears). She has the tiniest feet. I know she has to be at least two pounds because that's the weight they have to be before they'll spay them (and she was fixed last week) but if I didn't know that, I'd guess she weighs about a pound, if that.
Her little feet are about the size of the tips of my fingers, and her tail is about as thick at the base as my pinky. But she's long. She's got that kind of siamese/oriental breed build where everything is looooong, almost too long, with the wedge head and big ears (her ears are the only thing big about her) and almost prehensile tail. Judging by her feet and her proportions I'd guess she's not going to get very much bigger at all.
She eats like a horse, but didn't the first day she was home. Didn't want to eat at all, and because she's so skinny...no baby fat like I said, you can feel her ribs and the bones of her pelvis...I wasn't comfortable with that. The foster mum said she refused to eat any kind of wet food at all. She'll eat treats and dry food and that's it. I tried to tempt her with a bit of tuna just to get her to eat a bite or two, and she completely wanted nothing to do with it. I have *never* seen a cat turn down tuna. Or wet food for that matter.
After that first day she put away almost as much food as Simon does, so I'm hoping for at least some weight gain, though the foster mother said she eats and eats and doesn't seem to ever do so. She's had several vet checks before she was put up for adoption- shots, she's been fixed, tested, dewormed, checked for FIV and FELV, etc. She's been to my vet for a check as well, and they say she's perfectly healthy, just little.
I'll try and get some good pictures of her- I've only got a couple of fuzzy ones on my phone.
So far she's getting on really well with Simon. He was actually afraid of her at first- which is hysterical considering his head is nearly as big as half her body (they look like two different species of creature, they could not be more different in appearance). That lasted about ten minutes. Now, he really wants to play but he's respectful of her at the same time. The slightest little rumble from her and he backs off, throws himself onto his back, and whimpers at her like she just tore his heart out of his chest. If she ignores him he reaches toward her with his feet, mewling beseechments while still on his back.
That's good. Given the size difference I was concerned he might accidentally hurt her, but I watched her at the shelter holding her own with seven and eight month old kittens four or five times her size. He's very gentle (except with biting, we're still working on that a bit) and so far he's been even more gentle with her.
This morning she was definitely showing more of her personality...talking to me, purring for the first time, showing a real interest in playing, so she's adjusting quite well- I'm just baffled by her size.
I'm putting this in behavior, as well, because of the wet food/pungent food thing. Anyone else had a kitty who just refused all wet food, and even something most cats would kill for, like tuna?
Keep in mind, I'm aware you don't give cats tuna. I just wanted her to have a bite or two, and the two kinds of wet food I'd already tried she just ignored as well.
Simon is just over four months old now and no longer what I would call 'little'. I've had a few cats before and he's about the size as most of them were at about six to eight months old. he's going to be a big boy.
Well, through a combination of circumstances Simon now has a new little sister.
She's a little rescue kitten from a rescue around here that does mainly feral or orphaned litters, socializing them and then adopting them out. I have to say, I've had my fair share of cats and kittens in my life, and she's the strangest little kitten I have ever before encountered!
According to the foster mother, she was found alone. They used her apparent development and her dentition to determine that at the time she was just about/just under eight weeks old. She is now about twelve weeks old but the foster mother told me, 'I've had her for just over a month and she's barely grown, if at all.'
It's true. She's the tiniest little 12 week old I have ever seen. In size she looks closer to half her age. What's even more bizarre is she isn't built like a kitten. That is to say, she has no kitten fat, and her body parts seem to be in adult proportion to each other more or less (though she has absolutely huge ears). She has the tiniest feet. I know she has to be at least two pounds because that's the weight they have to be before they'll spay them (and she was fixed last week) but if I didn't know that, I'd guess she weighs about a pound, if that.
Her little feet are about the size of the tips of my fingers, and her tail is about as thick at the base as my pinky. But she's long. She's got that kind of siamese/oriental breed build where everything is looooong, almost too long, with the wedge head and big ears (her ears are the only thing big about her) and almost prehensile tail. Judging by her feet and her proportions I'd guess she's not going to get very much bigger at all.
She eats like a horse, but didn't the first day she was home. Didn't want to eat at all, and because she's so skinny...no baby fat like I said, you can feel her ribs and the bones of her pelvis...I wasn't comfortable with that. The foster mum said she refused to eat any kind of wet food at all. She'll eat treats and dry food and that's it. I tried to tempt her with a bit of tuna just to get her to eat a bite or two, and she completely wanted nothing to do with it. I have *never* seen a cat turn down tuna. Or wet food for that matter.
After that first day she put away almost as much food as Simon does, so I'm hoping for at least some weight gain, though the foster mother said she eats and eats and doesn't seem to ever do so. She's had several vet checks before she was put up for adoption- shots, she's been fixed, tested, dewormed, checked for FIV and FELV, etc. She's been to my vet for a check as well, and they say she's perfectly healthy, just little.
I'll try and get some good pictures of her- I've only got a couple of fuzzy ones on my phone.
So far she's getting on really well with Simon. He was actually afraid of her at first- which is hysterical considering his head is nearly as big as half her body (they look like two different species of creature, they could not be more different in appearance). That lasted about ten minutes. Now, he really wants to play but he's respectful of her at the same time. The slightest little rumble from her and he backs off, throws himself onto his back, and whimpers at her like she just tore his heart out of his chest. If she ignores him he reaches toward her with his feet, mewling beseechments while still on his back.
That's good. Given the size difference I was concerned he might accidentally hurt her, but I watched her at the shelter holding her own with seven and eight month old kittens four or five times her size. He's very gentle (except with biting, we're still working on that a bit) and so far he's been even more gentle with her.
This morning she was definitely showing more of her personality...talking to me, purring for the first time, showing a real interest in playing, so she's adjusting quite well- I'm just baffled by her size.
I'm putting this in behavior, as well, because of the wet food/pungent food thing. Anyone else had a kitty who just refused all wet food, and even something most cats would kill for, like tuna?
Keep in mind, I'm aware you don't give cats tuna. I just wanted her to have a bite or two, and the two kinds of wet food I'd already tried she just ignored as well.
