Leaving new found kitten outside for 5 days

gazzer

Folks.

A kitten showed up in my kitchen yesterday (the back door was open). Its a lovely little thing and I gave it some food and now it wont leave

We already have 3 rescue cats and this new addition is bringing out a lot of hissing and strange noises from them. Anyway we left the kitchen window opened all last night until we went to bed but the kitten was still there so we put her in a box with a blanket in the utility room for the night.

We let her out this morning and the other cats where still hissing and keeping their distance. My problem is that we are going on holidays in 2 days time and will be away for 4 days.

The cats usually sleep in the shed (with the door ajar) out the back when we go away (we have boxes with blankets in them for each of them) and a neighbour up the road comes down once a day to feed them. She would not be in a position to take the kitten so Im just trying to work out the best way to ensure that

1. She will be ok out in the elements for the few days as I dont think it will be possible to put her in the shed with the other cats.

2. That she will not be attacked by the other cats.

Thanks

Gary.

Heroditas

If food is left out for her, she'll be fine.
When our third cat arrived on the doorstep two years ago, we went away for 11 days at the beginning of November.
The in-laws came once a day to feed the other two cats and then left some food out for the third one.
She was still quite wild at that stage and had only recently begun to come into the house to get fed. At that stage she was still spending her whole time outside and it was only at the start of December when it started snowing that she finally made the transition to becoming an indoor cat.

TL;DR ..... the cat should be ok so long as some food is left out for it. It's not too cold at the moment. Have you considered a shoe box left somewhere with a hole cut in the side of it? It might give the cat a bit of shelter.

gazzer

Heroditas wrote: »

If food is left out for her, she'll be fine.
When our third cat arrived on the doorstep two years ago, we went away for 11 days at the beginning of November.
The in-laws came once a day to feed the other two cats and then left some food out for the third one.
She was still quite wild at that stage and had only recently begun to come into the house to get fed. At that stage she was still spending her whole time outside and it was only at the start of December when it started snowing that she finally made the transition to becoming an indoor cat.

TL;DR ..... the cat should be ok so long as some food is left out for it. It's not too cold at the moment. Have you considered a shoe box left somewhere with a hole cut in the side of it? It might give the cat a bit of shelter.

Thanks for the reply. I have a box at home that is slightly bigger than a shoe box so I will put a blanket in it and cut a hole out.

bewhiched

Ahh fair play poor thing great to see there are some great folk out there still

gazzer

Folks. Im back again.

We put the kitten out on the morning of Monday 22nd when we where heading to work and when we got home there was no sign of her. On that same morning one of our cats (Fred) was not around to get her usual treats before we head to work. She was not there that evening (along with the kitten).

We figured she went off on a sulk because she was the one that seemed to have the biggest problem with the kitten (she was making noises that I had never heard from a cat before).

Anyway we went on holidays on the Tuesday morning and again no sign of the kitten or Fred, the other two Cats where around though

We got back from holidays on Sunday and only the same two cats where around. No sign of Fred or the kitten (hopefully somebody has taken the kitten in).

Our neighbour who had been feeding the cats while we were away said that she had not seen Fred (or the kitten) over the 5 days.

Its now Wednesday and still no sign of Fred. Im assuming that she is just gone off on a little trip because she thinks the kitten is still around but I am starting to get a little worried. She has never been gone this long.

We have another cat (Peig) that loves going off for days on end and at one stage back in August went missing for 3 weeks.

Hope Fred comes back soon as she is the baby of the family.

zef

Hi OP. Sorry to read your cat is missing, I hope the cat & kitten show up for you.
I have found over the years the only way to ensure that your cat is home & safe is to not let them wander. Sadly I have lost a few cats due to letting them out, and I regret it, they have never come back or come back in tatters needing vet attention for fighting or road accidents.
I hope i don't sound preachy, but if you let your cat out you are not there to defend it against anyone or anything that wants to harm it. I have learnt this the hard way. Yes it's costing me a fortune in cat litter keeping my 3 in, but I live in an estate a few metres from a major motorway, with a lot of dogs around, just i would hate to lose another furry friend.
Good luck & hope they return soon, esp after it being halloween last night.

gazzer

She came back this morning but no sign of the kitten so I hope that she is with her owners.

Our 3 cats love being outside as we have fields all around us and our nearest neighbour is a good bit away. When we come home from work they all come up to the gate to greet us and then then come into the house for the night. However when we are going to bed they all go to the back door wanting to get out and we end up standing there for 15 minutes waiting to see if they will come in or not . Most times they stay out and then in the morning when we open the back door they come tearing in from the shed.

Having said that if they go missing you cant help thinking the worst. We left her in the house this morning on her favourite cushion and she was fast asleep when we were heading out.