Orphaned Kitten

[Em8725]

Hi, does anyone have any experience with an orphaned kitten? They were found abandoned by their mum, in a friend of a friends garden. This one seems a little behind the others, and I have the time so am happy to help him. I’ve done a lot of reading and a vet has aged him at 5/6 weeks.

Does anyone have any tips? He’s so affectionate, and is bottle feeding at the moment, preparing to be weaned properly. Does anyone recommend a good wet food to make a slurry?

And how can I help him with grooming? He accidentally smooshed a bit of poo on his back legs and stinks but I don’t want to hurt him 😩

Thankyou!

Oh God I’m crying - so invested - but BastardCat’s nickname was Sausage and that’s just set me off.

He had a bad accident but as a young Cat, not kitten.

Wishing you all the best and hope Frank milks his injury for everything he can get; cuddles, freshly poached Chicken Breast and warmed up tinned sardines! X

P.s Don’t go too heavy on poached Chicken - can make them constipated!

Plus you will have to cage rest - no way you can stop a Kitten from jumping! Perhaps some laser ground games in a few days but hopefully, someone will post with better advice. BastardCat was on cage rest for ages with daily supervised outings within the room.

Get well soon Frankie ❤️❤️❤️🤒
Keep us posted and pics obviously please 🌺

Aww @MrsCatE sorry to make you cry! Frank seems absolutely fine this morning. The medication seems to have worked. They’ve said to let him continue as normal because they can’t be sure it’s a fracture as they can’t even do an X-ray, they’ve said it’s not displaced so it’s likely just to heal on its own. He had 2 days of cage rest and the cat tree has been confiscated but today he’s being a nightmare and will not be contained. He’s running like mad - like a dog doing zoomies.

He’s still turning his nose up at wet food but he’s finally learnt to latch properly on a bottle so I know he’s eating well.

He’s got a daily dose of anti inflammatories for a little while. It could just have been a sprain, and e just needed to bring the swelling down.

He’s so little and cuddly and lovely. I’m stumped on the wet food though. He enjoyed turkey and now won’t eat the turkey flavour. He doesn’t like jelly so I got him gravy ones and now he won’t eat them.

If he sits still long enough for a picture I’ll update you all today 😊

Thankyou all for your continued advice, it’s helping me so so much.

Have you tried the pate food? Lily's kitchen kitten or nature's menu kitten are both nice

@QueenPaw I’m definitely going to give something else a go, but we will persevere for a little while with the mashed pouches. The gravy ones mash into a smooth paste, I’m going to try some other flavours with him.

What I really think I should try to do is get MILs cat round. Slowly introduce them, and attempt to get her to show Frank what to do.

We are making progress, he licked me earlier so I know he’s definitely got the coordination to lap some milk up from a dish

I spoke to the actual vet yesterday and she’s not sure of his age at all because his eyes are still blue. She thinks he is younger than we thought. That would explain the lack of weaning!

Thank you for Frupdates 😻

Frupdate! @SappysCurry

What a fab name for the updates! All is well here, Frank is still a bit scared of my son but then who could blame him! He’s so noisy!

He’s slowly taking an interest in the solid food, but has scratched me to shreds the last few days because he’s so hungry all of the time.

Sorry, the photo didn’t attach

His eyes are changing colour to green. He's looking much bigger. Son and kitten will learn to accept each other in time. As long as the kitten is secure with one human he'll be fine.

Glad all is well, he is still supercute!

Time for a frupdate I think?? How is he doing?

@Em8725

Frupdate! *@SappysCurry*

What a fab name for the updates! All is well here, Frank is still a bit scared of my son but then who could blame him! He’s so noisy!

He’s slowly taking an interest in the solid food, but has scratched me to shreds the last few days because he’s so hungry all of the time.

Yeah he’s a ‘superstar’ he definitely needs he’s own portmanteau ! ❤️❤️ Haven’t been on for a while so have done a massive big 😃😃😃 seeing him again ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you

Sorry I vanished for a bit, he’s doing so so well. He even ate the solid food we left down for him yesterday.

He plays lots, scaled the curtains and dropped down behind the sofa, waited for me in my bed when I told him it was bedtime. He is chaos but the best kind ♥️

I wasn't sure we were going to get any more frupdates so that is a lovely surprise. He is gorgeous as ever!

Is he staying with you or does he belong to your MIL? Hes so 🥰

@EachandEveryone he’s staying with me, I can’t let him go. I don’t think I-didnt-want-a-cat DH would let me either haha. They have grown very very attached to one another

Hi all, Frank is now estimated to be around 8-10 weeks old. He’s enormous compared to when we first got him. He’s now got the entire house to roam all day, we no longer keep him cooped up in the kitchen. His favourite places, correctly predicted earlier in the thread are our bed (oops!) and my daughters room.

My son is still being a little bit too vigorous with his stroking but we are getting there. Fully on solids, eating up to 4 pouches a day plus biscuits.

He’s the best cat, I just need to work on teaching him that my feet aren’t toys! He is currently meowing for yet more food 😊

Lovely update! You've done a great job with him. Any tabby boy I've ever had has been ruled by his stomach.

Just lovely!

Did you ever find out what happened to his siblings?

Really pleased Frank is doing so well - he's gorgeous, and I'm delighted that he has made your bed his own .
I think you may have miscalculated his age slightly - you first posted about him 8 weeks ago so he must be a bit older than that now?

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats you are right, I’m miles behind! It really really doesn’t feel like it’s been that long at all!

@AngelDelightUk his siblings are still with the original rescuer and are doing well.

Frank has officially been with us for just over a year. He is now absolutely HUGE. Wolfing down any food, the fussiness is long gone for now.

He still loves to play, and zooms around like a dog when he feels he isn’t getting enough attention. He’s learnt to open the draw containing his food pouches by himself, and helpfully leaves it open for me when he’s decided it’s breakfast time.

Dreamies are banned, as he managed to open the plastic tub and spilt them all over the floor. Trying to keep him away whilst I was clearing it up was incredibly difficult 😂.

He adores the whole family, but doesn’t much like other children. It makes me laugh, he’ll tolerate his own, but no one else. Sensible really!

Obligatory photo attached, I just thought you’d all like to see ♥️

He is a very handsome boy, you must be very proud of your catchild!

He's grown up to be a very handsome cat!