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?

Oh timtam, I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope that Dudley's presence is comforting for you & also for your older boy - hopefully the Feliway will help them negotiate their relationship with a minimum of drama-fuss.

Be gentle with yourself

(Oh & all of your cats look incredible beautiful in the pics on your profile.)

Thank you for the lovely comments, of course I have always thought that the old girl was the most beautiful cat but it's nice that others think so too!

Dudley and the old boy have been having a few sparring sessions since yesterday, hopefully this will settle down soon as I don't want old boy to completely lose confidence - we are trying to keep some safe places for him but can't change things around too much because of his poor eyesight

He is wanting to spend more time with us, he used to mostly be upstairs asleep with the old girl but must be missing her presence although they were never close.

The dynamic of the household will have changed with your old girl's passing so there will likely be some 'renegotiation' going on. Is it bad sparring or more along the lines of noises and biffing?

Cozie it is hissing and biffing. Dudley is clearly trying to provoke old boy, not sure if it's merely playful or trying to assert himself in the pecking order. Old boy is actually holding his own, considering he really can't see at all well. But he's clearly unsure what's going on, is crouching a bit, tail is swishing etc which unfortunately is just what Dudley loves to pounce on. It's not quite what we'd planned for old boy, who was going to have a calm peaceful old age with no massive changes in his life!

They're both asleep with us now though, Duds on sofa & old boy in DH's chair so we do have large chunks of normality as well.

Lots of love and taste treats for the old boy - which you'd have been giving him anyway I'm sure. It doesn't sound too bad, I think.

Yes he is getting lots of strokes and a few treats (he is a bit fat at the moment!) I also mix his blood pressure tablet into some luxury cat food which he loves. I'm hopeful it will settle down, old girl was a shadow of her former self but she was previously a formidable character & still ruled the roost over old boy so I guess a bit of a tussle is to be expected now that she's gone

Thanks for the advice cozie

I would be fairly optimistic. Dudley is so very young after all and if you see a kitten with its mother, you'd be surprised that she doesn't give him a sideways flip more often - through sheer exasperation. Tails are a favourite play thing. It's complicated by old cat's eyesight which will make him more nervous.

Fingers crossed anyway. Maybe you could try exhausting Dudley a bit with more games from household members - laser pointers and such like.

Dudley has started to bring us his "kills" from his forays into the back yard

First - an old piece of string.
Next - A shrivelled old runner bean
Last night - A worm (alive)

He could prove quite useful, I could train him to trap all the slugs

timtam

Remind me - has he had his full vaccination course?

He is not quite old enough for the 2nd vacc yet - vet said 12 weeks minimum so I was going to take him next week

Should we be more careful that he doesn't pick up the worms?

He ought to be kept inside until he's finished his full first course. I know that, for all you know, he spent the first 7 weeks of his life living in a gutter but no sense in exposing him unprotected any more than absolutely necessary.

OK thanks cozie

The outside stuff is instigated by DH who is around far more than I am but I will ask him to keep Dudley inside

PS - sorry that would be his second jab plus about a week.

Shall you be getting him chipped next week as well?

DH will be wanting 'his boy' to go outside and do 'manly outdoor types of things'. Been there!

Yes the vet did say he would not be fully protected until a week or so after the 2nd vacc

And yes he's being chipped as well (he was too small when I took him for the 1st jab)

You have hit the nail on the head about DH, that's almost exactly what he said, word for word! He wants a "proper cat" rather than the "spoilt" ones I "pampered" (old boy cat and the recently-deceased old girl)

He's obviously bonded very strongly with him.

(Remember in a couple of months or so, not to discuss Dudley's snip with him. Just go ahead and make the appointment.)

Yes this is the man who, on first seeing Dudley, said we couldn't possibly keep him

They are now inseparable

good advice about the snip

Thought Nissan was a cool name :)

Funny to think of a cat being 'manly', they're such their own creatures! Enjoying hearing about further adventures of Dudley, big fan!

at your DH & Dudley being inseparable .

My DH is obsessed with our stray, he spends more time gazing adoringly at her than he ever did with me!
The feeling's mutual btw, I've never seen a cat who loves her human as much as she loves him. They're made for each other!

Glad Dudley's bonding so well with your DH - hope he accepts that he can play active games with Dudley indoors for now & outdoor fun can continue as soon as it's safe for Dudley without a fuss

It's so lovely to hear a happy ending to this story - well, a happy middle, really? But yay, anyway

Well, DH left Dudley outside when he went to do the school pickup today, Duds was out unattended for maybe 30-45 minutes and DH then removed the flap of the cat flap this evening so that Duds could run in & out (I've reassembled the cat flap because I didn't want Dudley doing this and also there was a freezing gale blowing through the house)

I grumbled about him leaving the house with Dudley on his own in the yard but was told I'm being "controlling" - I don't think an 11 week old kitten should be outside indefinitely with no one watching him, maybe I'm a bit overprotective but he's just starting to explore & jump up quite high and if he got lost he has no chip yet, no collar or tag, we may not get him back. Not to mention the road which isn't that busy but at school run time there are more cars going up and down.

DH is a bit of a law unto himself & I don't think he's going to change what he's doing so I'm getting it off my chest here

11 weeks? Snack size then for a fox.

I bet you could lamp your dh. Sil was like this with one of her cats, who is now in a shallow grave with a shrub planted over him.

Words almost fail me. You'll have to be stronger, timtam. You're Dudley's protrectress now - and it's a nasty old world out there for a little 'un.

He will be fine.