Current Events > Someone left some kittens near our house and I have no idea what to do.

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Lol. Cats have that charm to them. Most of them are decent natured for the most part and they're super low maintenance..

It'll take a long time for the weight to plump out. It might just be a small cat. Animals hide ailments well but so far the signs are looking good. It is eating, fairly normal energy etc.
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No progress on the vet front, unfortunately. My dad said that he would today since he was off, but he never did. I'm going to have to just get over my anxiety and do it next week.

We've been allowing the kitty to roam a bit more since it hates being confined to one room. I'm still really wary, but my parents have been letting it out more and I'm reluctantly going along with it since it meows a ton when we have it on its own. It really likes to explore and play.

My aunt is visiting my sick grandpa and brought some spring toys for my bigger cat, since her cat loves them, and the kitten was playing with one earlier. I got some video of it, along with a cameo of my bigger cat stalking it a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy20z7lB5Hw" data-time="

It's definitely a lot more active than it was when he found it. At first, it was walking, but slowly, and wasn't playing much. Now it's playing and climbing a lot. It seems to be recovering very well from what I can see.

Sadly still nothing on the other kitten. I went out looking today but found nothing. As much as I hate to say it, unless another family found it, I don't think there's any way that it would still be alive by now. The one we found was likely close to starving to death, given how much it's perked up with food and rest. I really, really don't want to give up looking and just accept that it's gone, but it's been four days without a sign of it.

We've been discussing names a bit. I think we're set on keeping it. My parents want to go with "Lucky" since it was just complete chance that we found it and rescued it, but that sounds like a male dog name to me, and I'm leaning towards this kitten being a female. I also don't really like the implications for its poor sibling.
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I love the look of disdain on the bigger cat's face as he looks down on the kitten.

find the other one if you can and take them to the humane society tomorrow. Which is what the shitbag who abandoned them should have done.

I'll never understand how someone can be such a huge piece of shit that they can't at least take an animal to a shelter before abandoning it.
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_Rinku_ posted...

I love the look of disdain on the bigger cat's face as he looks down on the kitten.

Yeah...I've been hoping that she'll adjust, but no luck yet. Part of why I've been letting up on having the kitten out more. Ellie (my bigger cat) needs to adjust, but I'm watching her closely whenever the two are near each other.

Solid Snake07 posted...

find the other one if you can and take them to the humane society tomorrow. Which is what the shitbag who abandoned them should have done.

I'll never understand how someone can be such a huge piece of shit that they can't at least take an animal to a shelter before abandoning it.

Odds are we're keeping the one we found at this point. Still no luck with the other as of a few days since we saw them. I'm still really upset that I couldn't get it, but it hid in the bushes the last time I went out there, and was gone/meowing from much further away the next time I checked. I never heard it after that and haven't found it in days since.
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You need to set a non kill trap with food, the other kitten might be extremely shy if it is getting very weak, the non kill trap is your best bet on finding it and helping it.

Another family might have found it, but I would not put much stock into that.

It might already be dead too because 4 days is a long time, that trap is the only sure fire way of getting some kind of result. Tbh you should have placed the trap the day you found the one kitten or the next day.
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How would I go about making a trap like that? I could certainly try.

I was putting food out in case it came by, but I'm pretty positive that none of it was being touched, so I didn't do it the last few nights.
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dotsdfe posted...

How would I go about making a trap like that? I could certainly try.

I was putting food out in case it came by, but I'm pretty positive that none of it was being touched, so I didn't do it the last few nights.

Pretty sure you can just go ask your local shelter for one, you don't have to make one.
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I work at an animal shelter ama
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Timohtep posted...

dotsdfe posted...

How would I go about making a trap like that? I could certainly try.

I was putting food out in case it came by, but I'm pretty positive that none of it was being touched, so I didn't do it the last few nights.

Pretty sure you can just go ask your local shelter for one, you don't have to make one.

Okay. I'll look into it.

I feel really bad that I haven't managed to find it thus far. I've never really encountered a situation like this before, though, so I didn't know what to do beyond searching and putting some food out.

C_Pain posted...

I work at an animal shelter ama

Any general tips for raising a young kitten that might not be obvious? There's the vet trip that needs to happen, but anything else? We adopted our current cat when she was a BIT older, and from a box at Wal-Mart (not the most glamorous background tbh, but it was a hot day, she was the last one left, and my dad felt really bad for her, so...), and so I've never really tried to care for a young kitten, nor have I tried to nurse one back to health when it was in bad shape. I think it's recovering really well, but if there's anything that I might not be thinking of, I'm definitely all ears and would be really thankful for the help.

Awesome that you work at a shelter btw. I volunteered at one a bit when I was younger, and my sister used to as well. I really respect anyone who helps animals out. I'd honestly consider working at one myself but I think I'd get really attached and get upset when pets got adopted. I'm a huge animal lover and I tend to get really emotional, so I'm not really suited to work like that.
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They look like 6-8 weeks I think, kinda hard to tell from the pictures. So yeah you should get a general wellness exam, get deworming, vaccine, etc. Around 8 weeks is when they can be neutered as well.

Hmm... Don't encourage biting hands when you play with him. Use a toy or disengage if he gets frisky. Introduce them to the litter box and they should get the idea. Feliway can be used to spray on stuff you don't want them to scratch. Food three times a day.
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That dude likes to be a trump troll so I'd be wary of his advice
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Schwarber posted...

That dude likes to be a trump troll so I'd be wary of his advice

LMAO geez

That's insane. Like you need to warn someone because I troll.

I wouldn't troll about cute kittens ^_^.

Trump is a bad man btw.
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C_Pain posted...

Schwarber posted...

That dude likes to be a trump troll so I'd be wary of his advice

LMAO geez

That's insane. Like you need to warn someone because I troll.

I wouldn't troll about cute kittens ^_^.

Trump is a bad man btw.

You heard it here on CE first - Trump hates kittens!!!!!

Kittens can survive in the wild fine. They do it everyday all around the world and there's no reason to assume he was abandoned by people or the mother cat was out of the picture. It's kitten season and likely every block in America has one litter around in the bushes.

That kitten looks exactly like one of the tuxedo kittens of a local feral cat I used to feed. They're usually more slender to begin with, so it might throw off things.

I first saw her two kittens (the other was pitch black and very hard to see) in about early June of that year. They were about 3 weeks old. I did not see them again till August and I looked everywhere. The mother hid them well, despite coming out every day during that time and hanging with me. Once she was ready, she brought them out right to me.

So I'm gonna say there's a high chance the other one is gonna be out there for years to come.
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Pretty little tuxedo kitten.
I've dealt with lots of cats over the years. They're not at all as helpless as some think. Even ones younger than that.
It's old enough to eat can food. Kitten dry food too if you add milk to it. Take it to a vet to get it checked out and cleaned up. Shots. Yeah you're looking at a hundred bucks but it's worth it.
Get a litter box and hopefully it'll figure it out. I've never had a cat that didn't figure the litter box out immediately so long as they can get inside it. And I raised two from a few days old when the worthless mother cat wouldn't take care of them.
If it's already taken to you then hopefully you have a nice little lap cat for years to come. Just fatten it up. Filled out tuxedo cats are beautiful.
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Some just turn out really thin.
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