Kitten advice

Krusty

Hi all,
A friend of my Ma came across a kitten that needs a home. She approached myself and my girlfriend as we recently moved into a house in the country with loads of space etc.
I haven't got any real specifics on the kitten in question ; all I know is that he/she is around 5-6 weeks old and in good health.
We haven't had a cat or dog before so we're a bit clue-less when it come to the care of cats. We haven't said a definite 'yes' yet, but she's calling up tonight or tomorrow to show us the little one.
We have a shed beside the house that has the oil-burner, and assorted bits n bobs in there for storage. It doesn't leak but can be a bit draughty. We've agreed that if we get the cat, it'll be an 'outside' cat. As in sleep in the shed but comes into the house when we're around. Now we both work 9-6 so I'm worried about several things :

Does a kitten of that age require full-time care?

Is it acceptable for it to sleep in the shed described above - we're gonna kit it out with a nice little cat-bed(with a roof...you know the ones) cat-litter and scratching-post/toys, and whatever else is required.

Since we're away working all day I'm not too gone on the idea of having the little guy locked into the shed all day. It's a big enough shed (~5Mx4M).

As soon as we're home we'll give him some quality time but I don't want him to be emotionally scarred from this incarceration.

What do ye think?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated !

Cheers,

K.

FranknFurter

Did you mean 5-6 months instead of weeks?

A 6 week old kitten hasnt even had its eyes open all that long,......
And if it is anything under 8 weeks, it needs to be with its mother really.
If you decide to keep it, its will be a 24/7 job, and will have to be in the house, with a warm bed and special kitten-milk from a vet.

My best advice is take it to a vet (you will have to anyway for worming and vaccinations) and ask him what he suggests after checking its age.

Krusty

Hi again,
Thanks FrankNFurter for the reply. Things have progressed a bit since my last post. I visited my folks lastnight for an hour. Just before we left, the woman who has the kitten arrived at the door. She had the kitten with her and introduced us Such a cute little thing. Bigger than I imagined for it's age too.
Anyway my Ma's mate told us the story. She was found in the middle of the main Galway road, soaked to the skin and obviously petrified out of it's wits. She was looking after it since but has umpteen other pets and was wondering if we could take the little mite and give her a home (yeah it's a girl!).
We asked could she hold it for another day or two so we can get our place ready for her, but she explained that it would be much better for both her and kitten if we could take her as soon as possible.
We said yes of course and she gave us her litter-tray, litter, food, and my grand-ma gave us a lovely little cat-bed with all the trimmings. So we took our new family member home with as much fuss as bringing a new-born back from the hospital .
(don't slam the car door!, drive slowly! etc )

We pampered her for a few hours and gave her the run of the house. She had a good sniff around and for a finish, fell asleep on my girlfriend, who in turn was asleep on the couch. Pure Kodak moment!

I set up her bed, food/water and litter in the spare bathroom, let her ramble in there for a while, then put her to bed. The 2 of us were listening at the bottom of the stairs to her meow away for a couple of minutes, then reluctantly went to bed ourselves.

This morning we were up at the crack o' dawn and my girfriend tended to the little one while I prepared her living quarters for today.

I'm no expert on cats, but I'm pretty sure she's older than 6 weeks. I'll get this confirmed when we bring her to the vets this Saturday. She's in smashing condition for an animal who's been through such trauma as she has, and she's full of beans!

She went to the john on the floor the first time, but we put what she made in the litter-tray, and when we checked this morning, she has gone again during the night......in the tray! Fair play to her!

So for today, she has the run of the shed. I kitten-proofed it lastnight ; sealing up any gaps she could slip outside through, made a comfy bed 'n all that. We took her into the shed this morning and stayed with her for 10-15 mins. so she could adjust a bit. Again, she had a good sniff around, and then started climbing up onto us looking for a rub

It was heart-breaking closing the door of the shed on her though. But she has lots of exploring to do, and theres a few toys she can play, plenty of water and food. The woman we got her off gave us a tin of kitten-food, which she seems to love and judging by her toilet activities, has no problems with digesting it.

So the main priority now is to get her checked by the vet. If anybody has any tips though, please send them on.

Cheers, and apologies for the novel-esque length of the post.

K.

koneko

Not sure how I like the idea of keeping the cat locked in the shed all day. Poor tyke will get bored in no time, will start scratchin up the walls.

Glad to hear everything is going okay though so far.

Krusty

I totally agree Koneko, I would also prefer if the kitten was still with it's mum.
But we're doing the best we can. We can't let him run free in the house while we're gone, and like I said earlier, it's a big enough shed. It's not an ideal situation, but it's better that what it's had so far. I just hope all goes ok and he settles in.
Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the replies.

K.

koneko

What's your area like by the way? Maybe when the kitten gets older she can be an outside cat.

Sounds like a loving home anyway. Kittens are the cutest, the next few weeks will be full of Kodak moments I bet.

Krusty

We live in a cottage out in the middle of nowhere, so absolutely, outside cat!
There are no busy roads, a few scattered houses, all fields n what-not so I'd imagine it's prime country for a cat. I've only seen one other cat in the neighbourhood ; a lovely black cat, quite young aswell, but way older than ours.

We're over the moon to have her, and look forward to doting over her. Can't wait to get home to see her...feckin work!?

Our man in Havana

Leave her locked in for 2-3 weeks! Then put a cat flap into the shed door! Get her neutured at 6 months or else she will be raped by any tom cats & thats far too young to have kittens - plus there are hundreds of unwanted kittens - so PLEASE get her neutred when she is about 6-7 months Sounds like she has found a loving home - you must keep her locked in for a few weeks otherwise you will lose her!

pretty-in-pink

Its healthier for cats to have one litter first (so our vet says) cause it makes finding all the bits easier. Apparently it hurts them less too.Get the shed all snuggly warm, and give the little mite some milk too. Kittens are so cute. what colouring does she have?

Best of luck with her.

oh and feed her regularly, get her shots and lots of love. Some kittens if they are to young are not sure how to clean themselves, so watch out for it, and if needs be hel pher.

Krusty

Thanks again for all the replies.
Her colouring is mostly black body with a white chest. I'll get a pic posted up at some stage.
We let her sleep indoors again lastnight because it was damn chilly. I'm calling to a pet store this evening to pick up the necessary bits n bobs....scratching post and a nice igloo bed for her.
The cat-flap on the shed door sounds like a plan though.
Cheers folks!

pretty-in-pink

sounds like my baby.......

Our man in Havana

naughty_girl wrote:

Its healthier for cats to have one litter first (so our vet says) cause it makes finding all the bits easier. Apparently it hurts them less too.

Hi - I have NEVER had a vet that recomends that! There are WAY toooo many cats in this country that are unloved - I have 10 at the moment all neutered etc. We have had as many as 18 - most of them were dumped outside our door etc - All were loved equally & treated if sick & neutered at 6 months! My deaf cat (RIP) was neutered at 5 months to stop him roaming away. So please get the cat neutered at 6 months old!

Krusty

Letting her have a litter sounds a bit mad to be honest. We're deffo going for the neutered option. A long wait to 6 months though! I couldn't imagine having more kittens to take care of ;
As sad is it sounds myself and my girlfriend aren't sleeping well since the little kitten arrived.....not because she keeps us awake, far from it, but because of the anxiety of it all. Even here now as I type this I'm wondering if she's alright and happy. It's bloody hard being separated all day. We make up for it in the evening though.

Just one question.....anyone know how high a kitten of this age (~7/8 weeks) can jump? I'm going to try and set up a 'safe' area for her in the shed, someplace warm and with no boiler/wood/other hazards around. Just wondering how high should it be. I spose with the claws she could easily climb stuff......Have any of ye built something similar? Perspex r something would be ideal, but I'm hoping this'll be a DIY job.

Cheers,

K.