*sigh* new 5 week old kitten ??? Advice?

[Chinadoll]

Ever since I took in Scout, Joey has been wanting a kitten. One of his co-worker's cat just had kittens and they needed to place them so he said he'd take one(of course, if they had spayed their cat, they wouldn't have been under the stress of placing 5 kittens in homes.) He asked me if it was ok to keep the kitten at my apartment until he moves which I know will be anywhere from 1 month to 8 months. That's fine, of course, the longer the kitten stays with me the less chance she has of ever going with him...but he hasn't quite figured that out yet.

He told me that she was a cute little white kitten with smoke tipped ears and paws around 7 weeks. What he brought home was a gorgeous 5 week old Himilayan(sp?) Come to find out, the mother is a full Himi with papers. She is gorgeous with long white hair, grayish- brown tipped ears and steel blue eyes. I know she is a little to young to be placed in homes, but once I found out some more info, I think she is better off. For one she has fleas(which freaks me out because I have a completely flea free home and will NOT ever go through a flea infestation again.) and they were feeding her friskies kitten food, which IMO with all the other available choice, just isn't the greatest.

Now for my questions...what do i do with a 5 week old kitten? She sort of uses litter box...meaning if she's close to it she'll use it. She's just so small. When I'm not home, I have her blocked off in the kitchen and bathroom(all tile floor in case of accidents) I went to Petsmart last night to get her some wet kitten food...the best kind they had there was Nutro(no feldai(sp?) or Innova etc..)just rows of Science Diet and Friskies. I'm mushing the wet kitten food into the dry Iams kitten(not the dry Nutro kitten I feed Scout because the pieces are too big and the Iams are smaller) is that ok to feed her? She seems to eat all of the portions I feed her. I left some dry iams out for her today...didn't want to leave the wet stuff sitting out...that can't be good. Should I leave any food out or just feed her 3 times a day...should I be feeding her more or less times a day? Oh and her poop after eating that was a bit runny...does that mean she is ill or is she just so tiny that all kitten poop at that age is runny?

As far as the fleas, I use frontline spray for the ferrets and my vet told me 1 to 2 squirts per pound of pet. I know she is still too young for treatment so I did what I did for my ferret kit when he came to me with fleas. I squirted the frontline on the papertowel and rubbed it through her fur. After she was treated, I waited a few minutes, picked some dead fleas off her and then bathed her in baby shampoo. Should I be doing anything else for her? Also, if anyone has ever dealt with fleas, i know she had flea eggs on her that could have dropped on the carpets and sofa of my apartment...what can I treat my apartment with that is safe for the pets and will kill fleas and eggs?

Also, I can't tell if she is afraid of Scout or just doesn't like him. Tiny little thing she is just hunches up her back and hisses at him whenever he comes near her. I don't know what to think. She was lying on her back paws in the air, half asleep next to me when Scout came by, she hissed and tried to swipe at him but then fell asleep...What is that? Will they ever get along? I thought she would take to him because she was around all her litter mates and this is her first time away from them and I thought she would take comfort in another kitten being around. But, I guess not. Scout is just curious about her. He's a big scaredy cat so I don't see him trying to hurt her. He spent most of the evening just watching her to see what she was doing.

Anyway, sorry so long. Oh, her name is Gigi (Joey named her...how pretencious is that?!) I have pics of her, but I'll have to post them when I get home from work. Any and all advice is GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks!

[NoahsMommy]

Hi Chinadoll,

Congrats on the new kitten! :) Gigi sounds beautiful!

As far as the feeding, I think you are doing it correctly. You may want to read the packages to see how much you should be feeding...you don't want a food obsessed cat. I think that if you wanted to have food out all day, you should have a little of the dry food in a bowl just in case she gets hungry. At that age they seem to eat a lot, all day. Our 9 week old kitten loves to eat! His poop was runny because he was also being fed Friskies...we switched to Nutro and that is why. His poop is much better now.

I think Gigi may not like Scout because she is a girl. She'll get used to him, it's just a matter of time. We brought Basil (new kitten) home last Saturday and Noah (boy, 1 year old kitty) took to him right away! Almost a week later, Noel (almost 1 year old female kitty) is FINALLY not hissing as much. She'll even go as far as sniffing him and then walking away....quite an improvement from hissing, growling and swating at the kitten.

You seem to be doing well with the flea problem. Basil had mange and fleas. He got his first shot for the mange on Monday (along with Noah and Noel...poor things!) and got Frontline that night. We are going to give him a flea bath for kittens tomorrow afternoon and a good brushing. As far as the flea eggs...I would just vacume a lot. You may have to give your farrets and Scout some Frontline too. Just to get rid of any remaining fleas. Maybe you could even spray some bug spray on you and your boy friend.

It'll work out...it takes time for everyone to adapt. Our household is SLOWLY getting somewhat back to normal. :)

Keep us updated. And we LOVE pictures...I'm very much looking forward to that!! :)

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Sorry I don't have much advise for you - been a looooong time since I had a kitten ;) - but as far as Gigi liking Scout, that will come. You have to remember she is in a strange place with strange smells and she is really young. All cats that aren't littermates take some time to get used to each other. If she hissed and swatted, then fell asleep, she's not too worried about him. (how cute is that?:D ) Just give her a little time and I'm sure she'll come around, and they'll be best buddies since they are both so young.

I adore kittens and just can't wait for the pictures! She sounds absolutely adorable and I can just seel this little fluff ball with her back all hunched up trying her best to look mean, when all she's doing is looking as cute as could be. :D

[Miss Meow]

Poor little Gigi being taken from her mummy that early - I'm so glad she has you for a new mummy. I'm not sure about the food as I haven't heard of the brands, but with the hissing it sounds like she's just asking Scout for a bit of breathing space until she gets used to everything. Good luck. Himalayans are stunning, and apparently love water. I was grabbing some cat food at the supermarket once, and the checkout lady told me how her Himalayan swims in their pool when she is allowed to!

[kitten645]

who could ask for a better home? So many furkids end up in far worse places and survive. I think you are doing an excellent job.
As far as fleas go, simple as it sounds a flea comb is a blessing. My boys are indoor only but got fleas on occasion from outdoor cats comimg in without permission or old apartments with fleas coming in from the cracks I assume. Best of luck.
My very first kitty was named Gigi and when we moved from NY to CA when I was 18 my dad gave her to a friend from work. I spent that summer with my girlfriend before moving to CA and Gigi found me some 40 miles later at my girlfriends house! She'd only seen it once when my dad dropped me off then he drove her to her "new" family. Needless to say she got herself a first class ticket to CA with me!!!!:)

[krazyaboutkatz]

It sounds to me like you're doing everything right. I know that kittens need to eat at least 3 times a day. As far as the flea problem, I think that at 8 weeks she'll be able to have the frontline or advantage applied to her. I would also put this on all of the other animals just to be safe for at least 3 months. There are sprays you can use on your carpet but you need to take all of the animals out of the house for about an hour while it's drying. I've been through this before and all 3 of my cats are indoor only. I now use advantage on them on a regular basis. Fleas can jump on your shoes and you can bring them in that way or if you live near other animals then they can give them fleas too. Good luck. I've already seen Gigi's pics. She's sooooooo cute. :)