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.

a squeak and a hiss. He is absolutely packed with character! What a darling!

@LeMoo No, they don't touch it as it's quite oily and heavy isn't it, and probably tastes ghastly ( not always a deterrent, I know) so mine just let it be, super effective.

I was astonished when vet said this but honestly it does work and can avoid trauma and cost of vet visit plus antibiotics etc if caught early.

Minor injuries only though !

Trimming claws though ( faints dead away at the very thought)

I trimmed my cats claws today
He's fuming. Ignore the bandage, he's scratched himself

I cut my girls claws regularly. They are pretty good about it. I explained to Cheddar that if she wants to make biscuits on my face than short claws are a must. She seemed to accept that.

Can she have a word with Ollie?

Oh yes to the Sudocrem!
This is my poor pathetic boy 5 days on from having a hideous abscess removed next to his right ear - had to keep cone of shame on the whole time because he would not leave it alone.
(And had probably caused the abscess by scratching whatever the injury was in the first place. It made him quite ill though, and it was during first lockdown so I couldn’t go in with him for the removal, but I probably wouldn’t have helped…)
Anyway sudocrem did a great job of keeping clean & healing!

I hope the vet was suitably impressed by his adorableness and feistiness.

Oh I just let mine walk on me with their claws. I'm an absolute pushover.

That is one seriously pissed off cat! 😂

@SoupDragon his faces make me laugh, he looks so angry but he's sat there purring and head bopping me

@PeloFondo looks totally thrilled I have to say

I went to the vets and because I felt bad for little Peppa having his jabs I spent a small mortgage payment on cat toys and treats and now I have to smuggle them into the house. Fingers crossed my husband is on a call with work. Hoping to sneak it into the current cat toy mountain and perfect my 'no darling we've always had that' face.
I really need mug tattooed on my head.

I am too scared to cut his claws. I still bear the physical and emotional scars from worming him. I'll ask my husband to do it. Or my brother. Basically anyone but me

Seriously, file them with a normal emery board, just takes the sharp off! My cat quite liked it when he was in a snuggly mood.

I discovered that securely attaching a fine sandpaper sheet to an old plank kept my cat's claws down...she liked it, texturally, to scratch, so it kind of worked like a giant emery board!

@Mañanarama ok let's give this a try. Just going to check my first aid box is nicely stocked first.

Oh and I forgot to update his weight. He now weighs 789 grams.

Your husband 😆 he's been wanting cats for years, if only he'd known all he had to do was present you a ball of spikey fluff!

@PeloFondo a step up from your old tights! 😆

@GiantKitten he's so pretty :)

@softplayfail you remind me so
Much of my "I'm not having a cat, I have pronounced!" Best friend. Who now has two and is utterly besotted by them. 😹

If you live near me, I'll happily come and trim his claws. 😹

So many lovely cats on this thread. Bonnie says hi!

@MyGhastIsFlabbered is that an invitation to tickle the tummy or a warning you'd better not?

I don't think it's that necessary to cut cats' claws down manually though. One of mine rarely goes out (through choice) and she loves her flat cardboard cat scratcher. (lots online if you have a look). They are inexpensive and last for ages and are very effective at keeping claw length down and condition manageable.

Cats' claws don't grow in length the same as our nails do. They grow from the inside out, and they flake away from the side rather than from the length. The side layers shed/peel away in time as new growth comes through. If the cat doesn't scratch enough, the old layers stay stuck on which make them seem longer, as the newer layer underneath is naturally shorter.

To cut cats' claws will be to blunt them straight across which is the wrong way and will feel very odd to cats because it just wouldn't happen naturally. It has no real benefit to the cat as long as they can keep their own claws in good shape by scratching either outside on trees, or inside on cat scratching posts or cardboard scratchers.

People can cut dogs' claws down a bit because they are naturally meant to wear away by walking outside but they don't always wear away enough, but cats' claws are retracted so they would never normally make contact with the ground when walking. They are for gripping when leaping and climbing etc which is part of their natural behaviour. It's one of their tools, like whiskers, and it won't be pleasant for them to be missing the tips.

I have to cut my cats as he doesn't scratch with his back ones. He can't chew them either as they usually would as no teeth. Chances of him climbing anything are slim to none unless there's a milkshake at the top

Very much depends on the individual cat Pinkittens. I have litter mates, brother and sister, indoor cats. In 6.5 years I have never had to do Girlcat's claws, she manicures them very well and is an enthusiastic scratcher (luckily using things supplied for that purpose, not my furniture or carpets).

Boycat rarely scratches anything except the wallpaper, and he clearly doesn't manicure his claws very well. I can tell when his are due because I hear him clicking along as he walks on the laminate floor in the living room. He took quite a while to get used to me doing them and I could see at one stage that his "thumb" claws were getting pretty close to his skin as they curled round. I do them every few weeks now using a very strong set of human nail clippers. The backs grow more than the fronts I've noticed.