Someone just walked into the restaurant i work at, dumped this soaking wet kitten in the lobby, and left without saying a word. I just got a kitten this month, so i took her home with me since i have kitten supplies and everyone else at work has too many pets.
She cried the whole ride home, and my kitten (13 weeks old), Niniane was not happy about the new cat. I took the stray into the bathroom and fed her. Afterwards i weighed her and she wasn’t even 2lbs. She was absolutely filthy, so i gave her a quick bath without much struggle.
I dried her off and groomed her with the slicker brush and then let Niniane into the bathroom so they could socialize a bit. Nini was curious, but very standoffish and mostly just hissed while the stray just wanted to climb into my lap. I put a cat hammock, scratching post, and some toys in the bathroom (none of which Nini uses) and have locked the stray in there until i know she is litter trained. Currently she is jist sleeping in the hammock, so i think I’ll leave her there for the night and try to socialize the kittens some more tomorrow.
Edit: i think i am gonna call her Boudica. It’s much better than “the stray”. She just peed in the litter box and even buried it, so that’s a massive step. Unfortunately I’m still gonna keep her in in the bathroom for the next few days, but I’m so glad she used the litter box.
I usually give a week or so of separation to make sure they’re used to each others smell.
Thanks for taking her in, I can’t believe some people.
Also so new kitty can be vetted* for diseases. I hope OP takes new kitty to the vet before really introducing, if they can.
*Pun absolutely intended.
The vets are booked up for months around here. I haven’t even gotten Niniane in for her first vet appointment (scheduled for the emd of the month), even though i got her a month ago. On Monday I’m gonna call the vet and see if i can make the visit i have scheduled a double appointment. Other than that, I’m gonna give the stray a dewormer tomorrow after she eats breakfast.
That’s unfortunate, but I’m so glad she (and Niniane) have someone like you to care for them!
Yeah, that’s one of the drawbacks of living in a semi-rural city in Ohio. Niniane’s mom was a barn cat though, so i i figure she was exposed to worse when i got her. Her mom’s owner only put the bare minimum into preventative care for the cats since coyotes are such a big problem around here. Meanwhile the stray was a “city” cat, so I don’t think she was exposed to anything Nini wasn’t already exposed to. I’ll keep an eye oit for worms in the litter box, but the stray was probably only slightly more at risk for something nasty than Nini was when i got her. Either way, I’ll know in a couple weeks.
I don’t know a thing about cats, but I would’ve expected there to be more diseases in the city, with all the humans, car exhaust, trash etc…
The “city” is a 17,000 person college town surrounded by corn fields. It’s a very picturesque town. Probably the best place for a stray cat to be since there’s no stray dogs or coyotes. Basically 200 year old suburb with a walkable downtown.
Ear mites are also a thing, and they’re highly contagious. Kittens are especially susceptible to them so I would definitely read up on them if I were you.
just gonna say… barn cats are the best cats.
grandma had a barn cat that lived in her pipe organ’s pipes. Pinky would pop out and watch people, and usually come down to say ‘hi’, at least to me, but she was quite old and frequently grumpy with “others”,
(… yes. you read that right. My grandma teaches organ and piano, and until a while ago, she had a ‘rescued’ pipe organ in her garage. It’s since been donated and restored to a proper home.)(Don’t judge Grandpa kept a still in the back of his barn. I remember after he passed we were helping clear out his barn, ‘what’s this?!’ ‘Oh. that’s grandpa’s still.’… was a rather awkward conversation.)
Good on you for taking her in, but I’d suggest keeping her separated from your other cat until you can get a vet to look at her - there are a few nasties that feral cats tend to carry that you probably don’t want your other cat to catch
Unfortunately the vets are all booked up for months around here. I haven’t even had my first scheduled appointment with my original kitten yet, so there’s no way to get the stray checked out before introducing them. I didn’t find any fleas when i brushed and bathed her this evening, and i am gonna give her a deworming pill tomorrow after breakfast.
Keep them apart for a week or so if you can to let any incubating infections show up. I recently had an upsetting experience with a family of stray kittens and their mother that my wife and I rescued, only to find out that they had feline parvovirus and had to be euthanised (whilst the kittens seemed fine when we caught them, the prognosis for kittens with parvo is horrendous; even the mother only had a 50/50 chance of survival). We kept them separate from our cats (and they are vaccinated anyway), but we still had to bleach the bathroom almost to oblivion to kill any trace of parvo. It was just a horrible situation.
So, many vets will provide a free check up for rescues. Possibly including vaccines and things.
Whoever this was is a right asshole. Thanks for redeeming humanity for the rest of us.
I took home an OrangeGuy™️ that someone left under the dumpster at work and I have never regretted it. Good work!
Congrats on being adopted! We’ve done new kitty in a room for a couple of days, then old kitty in the room for a couple of days while new kitty learns the house. Then, when they start pawing under the door at each other we open it. We did not do this with the last kitty and now we have cat fights several nights per week.
Yup, let them get used to each other’s smells and slowly introduce them to each other. You can’t rush this step, depending on the cats it can take a week or so.
Good that the little baby is being taken care of now! <3
You should name her Chocolate Rain!
I’m thinking about Boudica, since she’s a wild little fighter. Plus it goes well with the Arthurian name of my other kitten.
