HELP! Garage have found a tiny KITTEN under my bonnet!

[timtam23]

Took car in for service this morning and garage phoned to say they'd lifted the bonnet & found a tiny tiny kitten...After recovering from the shock I walked over to pick it up & it's absolutely tiny - maybe 5 weeks? Eyes are open...All I've managed to establish so far is it's male - white with tabby patches - it's hungry and it's covered in fleas! We are a cat-loving household & have 2 very geriatric cats, hadn't bargained on a kitten at all but have to admit it's very cute. But I'm clueless about kittens - 18 years since I had one! Have given it a bit of chicken/ham food for adult cats, which it devoured, and phoned the vet, but what else should I do?

[Horsemad]

I've told DH about Dudley and shown him the pics, he was quite misty eyed! Soppy cat lover he is.

[DidoTheDodo]

Juts read all the way through this thread...it's a whole fabulous story (Apart from having to have the old girl pts - so sorry about that.) Dudley is very beautiful and I am laughing at how your DH has been "turned".

[Catmint]

Hi tim tam, Dudley looks lovely! And so big!

[ZebraOwl]

It is a very lovely tale (tail?) & it is so nice to hear Happy Cat Stories. It does seem as though he was very definitely Meant to be yours. He's such a lucky little chap to have come through things unscathed & found himself a loving new home.

[Horsemad]

I did wonder about the photo angle timtam! He is so handsome Beautiful Boy.

[timtam23]

Wow well done Scarlet it's a long one to read all the way through!

[Scarletohello]

Aw just read through the whole thread ( after seeing it in active ). Such a lovely story...makes me v happy to read about it! :)

[timtam23]

I am a bit addicted to my own thread but I agree it has been such a happy story and Dudley is a lovely little thing, came to us at just the right time I think

[ZebraOwl]

Awww... It does sound as though they're sorting things out amicably. Don't feel bad for being relieved things are simpler: that's not at all the same as being glad your old girl's gone/being somehow disloyal to her.

It's been so nice to hear about Dudley's journey from kitten-in-car to newest-smallest timtamfeline

[cozietoesie]

Old boy will know that Dudley's a kitten. Even males will put up with a lot from them - and then the relationship is formed.

[timtam23]

I feel quite disloyal to the old girl cat but it has been easier since she died, old boy has come out of his shell a bit and is spending more time with us so hopefully he will be able to tolerate his twilight years with Duds

DH asked me about how things were all those years ago when old boy was a kitten and in fact he was just the same as Dudley, made the old girl's life a misery for a few months then they all decided to live & let live

[cozietoesie]

All that sounds quite avuncular. I reckon they'll be fine.

[timtam23]

Horsemad his head is a little bit out of proportion in the photo as I was standing above him, but he is definitely a gangly-limbed boy! My parents met him for the first time at the weekend and said, without any prompting, that he looked as if he would grow up to be quite big.

The old blind ginger boy is doing ok, still getting biffed by Dudley but it seems to be playing rather than aggression, he is often wanting attention form the old boy. Because old boy can't see where the next biff's coming from he's a bit wary but he has his greater weight & height on his side & is hitting back & holding Dudley down to show who's the boss

Really important that they get this sorted out now I think, as Duds may well be bigger and stronger than him before too long and completely dominate

They are both asleep next to me on the sofa this evening so clearly a truce has been called

[Fluffycloudland77]

I've had four cats under one roof who all disliked each other. There was no co-sleeping going on.

Dh's company found a cat under a bonnet once. He didn't keep it, they took it back to where the customer lived and I have no closure.

[cozietoesie]

But yes, I agree - it does look rather like a 'pretend' doesn't it?

[cozietoesie]

That's the old blind boy. He's doing pretty well in the circumstances I reckon. (Dudley pouncing on his tail suddenly etc.)

[Fluffycloudland77]

The ginger cat looks like he's pretending not to like the company.

[cozietoesie]

I reckon so - as we were discussing, though, just depends if he can overcome that dreadful start. Sounds as if he's getting there.

[Horsemad]

Oh he's just gorgeous! I love when they're all gangly limbed - bit like teenagers growing into their long arms &legs

From his head he looks like he might grow up to be a big boy!

[Caitlin17]

Ah, bless. Dudley is a lucky boy to have found you.

[ZebraOwl]

Yay Dudley!

My two have outdone the vet's best hopes for them (they're like an incredible advert for high-quality food!) so Dudley might well do the same

[timtam23]

Cozie he is eating absolutely loads and is putting on weight at above average rate (he was 1.5kg at 12 weeks) so maybe he will reach his full potential
All of my cats have been large (in build rather than in their degree of fatness!)
Dudley's tail looks like a snow leopard's a lot of the time, it is so thick & bushy and he waves it around in a desperate attempt to balance

[cozietoesie]

Oh he is handsome.

I also think that he has the look of a soon-to-be large cat about him. It's going to be a question of whether your feeding overcomes his dreadful start I reckon.

[timtam23]

Thank you, yes he is lovely and so affectionate. I looked again at the fluffy kitten pic I took on the first afternoon we had him, and he has changed so much! I think he may grow quite large as his legs are long and he has a very thick bushy tail for his size. Or maybe all kittens go through a stage of being all legs & tail?!

[FetchezLaVache]

He's gorgeous! Knows it as well, doesn't he? :)