New kitten struggles - help !

[Mooncats]

Bought this lovely little kitten through gumtree last week . She is a maincoon .

Owner insists she is 9 weeks old but she is very very tiny - only slightly bigger than my hand. I have another cat ( Russian blue ) who was thrice this size at 9 weeks . Seems very very young - struggle to climb up and jump off furniture etc . Her cry is still a very low squeak . Just cannot believe she's 9'weeks .

Issues we are having :

• accidents everywhere . I put her in the litter tray very very frequently and she'll usually jump right out . She will use it after lots and lots of encouragement but am still finding poo and wee behind furniture .

• she doesn't seem to know to dig / bury when she uses the tray she just leaves it on top of the litter . I take her paws and encourage her to dig and bury but she isn't interested at all .

• does seem to groom herself very well . Poo on paws etc

will this settle and is there anything I can do ?

I know things are a bit different just now in terms of physical visits but could you maybe see if you could speak to your vet for advice if you really can’t get in for an appt? Maybe at least then they could give advice on what age she’s likely to be from her behaviour / photos and if she needs anything additional? I’m not by any means an expert on cats but we were just sent photos of our soon-to-be kittens, still with their breeder, who are only 3 weeks old and are only a little smaller than the wee photo on the step. I’m not sure if it was the case that she was actually just 5-6 weeks if she’d need any extra support but maybe they’d be able to offer advice over the phone, and if you spoke to a vet and they wanted to see her it might be a way in? Glad she seems to be doing well though that’s great xx

You shouldn't need to wait six weeks for a vet appointment! That's appalling. Have you explained the situation you're in with a very young kitten who's been removed from the mother too early?

Our local vets are seeing you same-day for emergencies or within 48 hours otherwise. Six weeks for an appointment is an absolute joke!

I cannot believe that a vet wouldn't give you an appointment for 6 weeks if you'd explained the full story. If nothing else, she needs vaccinating before then, worming and flea treatment immediately and urgently needs to make sure she's healthy.
I'm willing to bet that she's not a Maine Coon. They're big cats and she's tiny. Her mum maybe (but it's highly likely that you just saw another cat with the kittens). Her Dad almost certainly isn't.
You've just paid a lot of money for a moggy that's too young to leave its mum.

I spoke to them and told them everything . Most vets don't even want to know , backed up due to Covid , hardly anyone is taking in new patients . And this is after being on hold for ages as lines were also so busy !!!
The one vet that would agree to take us on said if she's eating , weeing and pooing then it's not classed as urgent 😕
She seems to have grown over the past few days and looks a little sturdier . She eats constantly . Pooing in the litter tray only now too thankfully, but still not burying it .

Some cats never bury poo. I’ve had several fosters who couldn’t be bothered!

This cat needs to see a vet. If you can’t convince one to see her then she would be better with a rescue who will.

That actually sounds pretty positive to me then if they’ve had a chance to hear a little about her and deemed it not an emergency. And it’s great that she’s making progress and seeming more robust. I’m sure you’re doing a great job and she sounds like she’s doing great. I discovered the same about the vets not taking on just now as well now that we’re about to take on new cats. When we did our first rescue application there was a question have you checked your vet is registering new animals, which I hadn’t even thought about. I’ve been with the same vet for 8 years for all my small furries (spending a fortune some years!!) but when I phoned to check they would add our new cats it turned out they wouldn’t and that as we’d not visited in 2 years (healthy hamster and no rats anymore!) we were no longer clients. Was pretty surprised and disappointed but have managed to change us to another vet who will add our kittens and see them as soon as they arrive.

I think some of these posts are alarmist. It does seem that either this kitten is younger than advertised or not a pure MC. Neither is the end of the world. Based on that assumption she sounds like she's doing fine. I received a kitten who seemed fine for a week and then started dying. This kitten shows no signs of illness, so I'm not sure it's such a disaster not seeing the vet immediately. My advice is to weigh her often, love her to bits, feed her whenever she wants and see how you go.

I wouldn't worry too much about poo-burying - one of mine still doesn't bother burying his

I wouldn't worry too much about poo-burying - one of mine still doesn't bother burying his

Mine doesn’t either. But for her it’s again a sign she was taken away from her mother too soon, it’s a very common sign as it’s mum that teaches them.

Mine was taken away early as she was farmed- two litters in her first year. Need to get them earning their keep asap….

Mine doesn’t either. But for her it’s again a sign she was taken away from her mother too soon, it’s a very common sign as it’s mum that teaches them.

Ah, mine certainly wasn't - he was 12 weeks old when we got him and I knew the breeder and the parents. He's just lazy

All the female cats I’ve ever had weighed less than 450 grams when they came to me all between 8 and 9 weeks old. So it doesn’t always mean that they are younger than stated age.
Three of those were farm cats and one was an accidental litter. All moggys. I don’t know if it was just luck of the draw. They were all healthy just small.
In fact one of the current farm cats looked exactly like your little one at that age.

Also you said mum cat looked definitely Maine Coon again, The last male cat I had was often mistaken for a Maine Coon, he was a huge red & cream tabby. People didn’t believe me when I told them he was just a Moggy.
He weighed 17lb fully grown!

I think I’d be doubting whether she is in fact Maine coon as they are a larger breed by standard. Was she advertised as a full breed or cross breed?

But she seems to be doing ok at the minute, so I wouldn’t worry too much about getting her to the vet just yet Just keep an eye on her for the time being.

@Mooncats

Absolutely no vet from all the vets I called in my city will see her until the end of June . I've been on the phone for days trying to get hold of a vet , finally got hold of an appointment which will be end of June .

She's been good with the litter tray . Kept confined to one room As much as possible .

Right so under age kitten from a backyard breeder and no provision for vet care vaccination or worming.

Why don't people plan for new pets by ensuring they have this stuff all booked in before getting a cat?

I've rarely vaccinated a 9 week old kitten less than 800g - most are around 1kg at first vaccs with MC heavier

@JimBobNoJob

All the female cats I’ve ever had weighed less than 450 grams when they came to me all between 8 and 9 weeks old. So it doesn’t always mean that they are younger than stated age. Three of those were farm cats and one was an accidental litter. All moggys. I don’t know if it was just luck of the draw. They were all healthy just small. In fact one of the current farm cats looked exactly like your little one at that age.

Also you said mum cat looked definitely Maine Coon again, The last male cat I had was often mistaken for a Maine Coon, he was a huge red & cream tabby. People didn’t believe me when I told them he was just a Moggy.
He weighed 17lb fully grown!

I think I’d be doubting whether she is in fact Maine coon as they are a larger breed by standard. Was she advertised as a full breed or cross breed?

But she seems to be doing ok at the minute, so I wouldn’t worry too much about getting her to the vet just yet Just keep an eye on her for the time being.

450g is about the weight of a 4-5 week old kitten so either all of your kittens have been severely undernourished, too young to leave their mum, or you're misremembering

marsden-weighing.co.uk/WP/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Kitten-Weight-Chart1.pdf

Sorry ignore attached image - old cats don't weigh 10kg
Use the link

What did they tell you they do with the parents? Breed, show, stud?
Every reputable maine coon breeder I know is registered with the GCCF, who state you can't let kittens go under 13 weeks old.

I’m quite surprised at everyone saying that kittens shouldn’t leave their mothers till 12-13 weeks. Our cat rescue usually takes them back from us for rehoming at 9 weeks. The last litter did stay with us to 11 weeks, but by that point their mother seemed heartily sick of the sight of them.

(I’d agree that 1kg is more the weight I’d expect even at 8-9 weeks, though.)

These seem like little issues really.
The kitten I bought a couple of years ago was tiny, there was no weight to her and she could easily sit in my hand and I had to lift her in to the litter tray.
I was told 9 weeks but evidently she was not. Same issue accidents on the floor and no idea what to do once in the litter tray. However being so tiny no accident is huge to clear up, so a quick wipe.
My son and I even cheered when she eventually used the litter tray properly for the first time, we were like proud parents :)
She quickly learnt and has turned out to be the naughtiest kitten I have ever had. But my goodness the way she comes only to me for snuggles...I certainly think she thinks I am her mum.

450g is about the weight of a 4-5 week old kitten so either all of your kittens have been severely undernourished, too young to leave their mum, or you're misremembering

Yes I know what the weights they “should” have been for their ages. All of them were vet checked, one before coming to live with me (saw vet record) and again after coming to me, the others after they came to me.

Ages confirmed as correct, were all stated healthy but small, so I’m not misremembering anything.

3 of those were farm cats.(two different farms)I don’t know if that makes a difference. The first one who is sadly no longer with us. Weighed in at 1.3 kg at 6 months old. I had to make sure the vet would actually spay her at that weight. Again her age was confirmed as correct.

The two sisters I still have came from a litter of five (other three were boys). Now 8 years old, One weighs 4.5 kgs fully grown is solid and chunky. The other weighs 3.1 kgs and is very petite.

The last one we have born from an accidental litter was from a litter of 7 all girls all the same size (mum was small as well) she now weighs just under 5kgs at 6 years old, She’s a bit of a heifer!

They’re all still the ages they are supposed to be and all still pretty healthy, there’s never been any deviation from that.
So yes it can and does happen. Doesn’t always mean someone is wrong!

How’s your wee one getting on Mooncats? Did you say you’d another cat as well? Hope she’s settling in well with all the family.

Surely it's time fir another picture, OP?

My big lazy four year old boy doesn't bury his poo a lot of the time. I have two litter trays (two cats) and the boy religiously poos in one and then wanders over to pee in the other. Then his sister doesn't want to use either and yowls to go out into the garden.

I think clumping litter is supposed to be dangerous for kittens. I think they sometimes chew it and it can clump in their digestive system, so non clumping is supposed to be more suitable for them.

I hope it doesn't matter to you if she is a MC or not. She is a gorgeous little mite.

She's getting on really well , now fully litter trained and i immediately changed to non clumping too . I help her dig and she's started doing that instinctively.
She eats pretty much all day long !
I don't mind what breed she is as long as she's happy and healthy .
She is getting better at leaping on and off furniture and loves playing with my other cat .

Omg she’s gorgeous and looks very happy

Ahhh what a lovely post! She is so so beautiful, and I’m so pleased she’s settling in so well. That’s so nice to hear.