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.

Oh please play with me even though its 3 am and your exhausted

Perfectly reasonable request.

@softplayfail
When are you going to get Peppa a playmate?
😼😼

Ha! I was wondering this last night!

So two of them can race around the house catching spiders and waking her up at 3am?!

3 weeks ago I didn't even want one cat. I don't need another one..he's enough of a handful.
He's currently fast asleep now. Must be so hard being a kitten

Just want to say how beautiful Peppa is!

Ah - but when you have two, they play with each other and wear each other out.
Photo enclosed of two of mine when they were about 9 weeks old.

He is just so cute. It's ridiculous!

He doesn't look real. He's like a toy. So tiny still! I bet he's growing though. One day you'll wake up and he'll have stretched out overnight.

My old cat who was half chocolate point and half Snowshoe Siamese was very long in both legs and body - he looked like a half moon when he was at full stretch. His mum was the posh breed, dad plain old common black moggy!

He loved to stretch this way and that to show off his back etc and was excellent at jumping and was very active.

I know you say you don't want another cat but there are lots of unwanted cats - ranging from elderly to younger at various cat rescue centres around the country. Peppa might love a companion.

Lots of people move and leave cats behind...! Or during lockdown/covid got cats and then decided to not want them anymore. Or an elderly person will go into hospital/care home and people forget or don't want to deal with the cat.

You guys are kinda like my pet gurus and oracle of all knowledge. Are 2 cats better and honestly if 2 are better how much extra work are we talking?
All I want is Peppa to be happy at the end of the day

@GonnaGetGoingReturns I just found a picture of Zara when she was a slinky. I think she's 6-7 months here.

IMO OP, two kittens are much easier than one as they play with each other. But it's double the amount of visual monitoring - is one up a curtain, behind a radiator etc? And you also have a young child to watch (though on the other hand this means your house is slightly more kitten proof). Most kittens love to play with other kittens and its great for their development. There is, however, a slight chance they'll turn on each other when they get older. Its rare though. More likely they'll lose some interest in each other but still be fine together.

Being serious, I have always got kittens in pairs (except once when I took 3 😹). My experience is that them playing together results in less collateral damage to people, because they learn limits. They may or may nor stay really bonded in later life, but all of ours rub along quite happily as adults. And yes, they definitely wear each other out and sleep well as a result.
So two kittens definitely equate to less work and stress. (Except for cleaning the litter tray and feeding).
We have four cats at present (2 aged 4ish and 2 aged 11ish). They are very low maintenace (three of them are asleep in the same room as me at present).

Two are normally better than one because they can play with each other and cuddle up to each other when there are no humans around.
It isn't much more work to have two rather than one. You will probably need an extra litter tray - and need to keep on top of the emptying and cleaning a bit more.
It will be more expensive obviously - more food needed, double the vet bills for innoculations and so on on.

On a serious note I dunno, I get the sense that he's bored and we are very poor substitutes for a kitten buddy.

aww she's gorgeous! very slinky! He just used to do moon shapes with his back and body!

I got my 2 kittens in September and I find it's less work having 2 than 1. They play together and sleep together. I don't feel guilty for not having lots of spare time to play with them.

Yes - there's 2 litter trays to clean out but they're soooo much fun to watch when they're playing. My youngest calls them kitten tv!

This is them now after playing with a toy mouse

You don't 'have' to get a kitten buddy at all.

Like I said, it could be an older cat (not geriatric maybe!) but a younger one, his own age, just means he has someone to play with.

His siblings may have found other homes or come to other sad ends.

What I found when having sibling kittens, myself was they looked out for each other, re fighting or attacks from other cats and are just good companions for each other - so more of their own kind.

I won't lie to you - 2 siblings can be killing machines! But then, they cannot be too!

Oh what a gorgeous little face.

I would always have two kittens.They provide company and entertainment for each other, and it is lovely to see them playing together.

I am not on cats protection website at all

Yes in my experience 2 are usually better but would caveat that by saying get another one around his age and quite young so he has someone to play with. We have usually had cats of vastly differing ages and our older cats have always been quite vocal about their annoyance with a young-un wanting to clamber all over them.

If you're thinking of getting another, then I'd suggest one of the same age and a slow introduction. They do keep each other entertained though

Would one about 4 months be similar age cos I've seen one good with kids and he's only 4 months and my hearts melted