Help? I've acquired a very young kitten?

[softplayfail]

We've had a female cat visiting in the garden for about 7 months. We actually thought she belonged to someone but we discovered she had no home and was a stray. We were planning on catching her a couple of months ago but she disappeared. Anyway she reappeared and had a litter in my garden. Well I say litter. One kitten. Numerous attempts to catch her have all failed. She was happy to take food from anyone but would never let us touch her

Mum cat was found dead on the side of the road this morning. I feel so guilty as it is.

Anyway I've got the kitten inside. It's pissing it down. He's soaked. At a guess I'd say he's at most 6 weeks. He's been eating the food we've left for mum. He fits in the palm of my hand. I know nothing about cats really. Especially one this small

So I've booked him into the vets tomorrow. Earliest appointment

I have a 2 year old and a husband in bed from an appendicitis emergency.
So I'm on my own really

So questions
What do I do?
What do I feed him?
I've dried him with a towel and he's now all fuzzy but he's screaming murder

My 2 year old won't leave him alone but I can't split them cos she can't be left alone and he's like a tiny little thing. Any suggestions? Could I put him in a box for now? Just so he can sleep without being poked

Ok I don't know what to do.

@Allergictoironing I feel slightly sick

🤣🤣🤣🤣

You are supposed to thank them for their gifts......

Could be worse. My cat is a sadistic twat.

She used to catch live mice and then drown them in a bucket of water.

Would just drop them in and wait for them to drown from exhaustion

@Soubriquet sounds delightful. Making mental note to leave buckets of water away from peppa.

I knew cats hunted but he's a baby and it was a spider and my toddler ate at least a leg. Kid won't eat anything I cook but dreamies and spider legs are right up there on toddler delicacies

I had a cousin who used to lick snails when she was a toddler. Would go around the fences finding any stuck on and give them a good lick. The actual fleshy part not the shell.

She was the fussiest eater ever too

😂😂😂

I'm so bad at this kitten owning business. He stood behind me when I was washing up and I had no idea. And I turned around and stood on his tail causing him to make all his fur stand on end. Such a bad cat mum

Ah poor kitty, he was so proud! Did you praise him when you stopped squealing?

I had a cat who would insist on snaking their tail into doors just before they closed, you feel terrible but honestly they can be daft sods sometime.

Oh god, I remember posting on FB about this stage - we had 2 kittens, and they were constantly mixing it with my feet in the kitchen and yelling when stood on 😩
(They do stop eventually…)

@LeMoo I praised him thru gritted teeth.

Why does he sit on the windowsill and like grind his teeth and make a chattering noise?

Get some soil and a big litter tray to encourage him to use the tray.

Spend some time lying on the floor with the kitten on your chest. Your toddlert can do the same, supervised. The kitten will hear and feel your heartbeat and connect with you.

We once rescued a very young kitten from a family who were going to drown it . To teach him how to wash, as he'd left his mother before she could teach him, we painted melted butter onto his fur and paws, and he licked it off. It worked. he learned to groom.

Gently handle him as much as possible so he gets used ot human interaction. Whether you keep hin or not (KEEP HIM!!!) this will help him settle in a new human home.

A cosy box with a hot water bottle under a cushion inside it will help him stay warm overnight

The chattering is "Something interesting I Spy"

Our cats bring in earthworns - half , whole , live , dead .
And leave then on the hall carpet .

Nice
I do say "Aww thanks Cats" as I scoop it up (live ones go outside , dead ones in the bin)

@BuryingAcorns read the full thread. It will warm the cockles of your heart!

Ah, I love it when they do that :)

No idea why they do it but they do it when they excitedly want to hunt whatever they're looking at. Usually birds here.

Does he still sleep on your pillow? Or is it his pillow now?

@LeMoo I have about one tenth of the pillow and he spreads out his entire body onto the rest while making purring snuffly noises. I got up to go to the toilet this morning and he'd spread out across my entire bed..how does something that doesn't even weigh a kilo yet take up so much space

We have a super king sized bed mainly bought for the cats in order for them to share with us. We often wonder how one single cat manages to take up nearly all the bed.

(But yesterday it never occurred to me for a second to wonder why I went in early afternoon to turn on the electric blanket for them).

Happy cats. Less happy when we wanted them to budge up a bit later that evening.

@softplayfail I'm still working that one put myself

The 'Ack-ack' noise is 'there's a bird and I want to kill it and eat half of it before leaving you a mangled wing and some guts just where you put your feet when watching telly, but there's a sodding pane of solid air in the way'.

Long Cats are Very Long, though. Usually to be seen when there's one person out of the two that are supposed to be in the bed - with a big, smug grin on their face as they do it, as they know you are going to feel really guilty about swirling them back up into standard cat size and seriously consider trying to curl around them and perch on the edge of the bed for the next three hours. My DTwatCat can extend to around four foot nine and three quarters of a five foot wide bed in the 45 seconds it takes for DP to take his socks off. And he'll still stretch a little bit more when DP realises his side is now fully occupied.

That had me proper laughing🤣🤣

I am currently sitting on the edge of the sofa as our little cat is streching out slowly behind me,the dog is sympathetically lyingon the floor with his head on my feet. Dh has brought me a glass of wine as I'm busy.

My old cat once came in with a mouse tail hanging out of her mouth 🤢
Clever Peppa for catching the spider 😻

@softplayfail just wait till you have 2 adult cats sharing your pillow. I know my place!

It's 3 08 and guess who's wide awake wanting to play

One of mine was like a slinky when she when she was a teenager. So lanky and when she stretched she went on forever. She's an Abyssinian cross and has the Oriental body type. My mum has never had a cat and was telling me to feed her more. She was free fed! She still is. She was like a piece of string until she was 2, then she filled out a little bit.