Kitten Questions

[JacksonvilleBryan]

Hey folks, I'm new here. (HI New Here!)

Ok, so I've had pets for most of my life, cats and dogs mostly, but I've never had them in the state as such as the kitten I acquired today...

Walking out to the truck to drive to work, saw a kitten on the ground all shivering in a puddle (it's been raining a lot in jax this week with ophelia), took him inside, got him set up as best I could since the dog was crated for the day, and the two other kittens were in the spare bedroom.

Spent some time with the new guy when I was on lunch from work. Then after work I took him to the vet who said all signs point to a good recovery from whatever it was he was "saved" from.

So here's the questions that I wasn't able to ask the vet when I was there...

At what age should the kitten be able to see, he doesn't mind being held caressed, touched, none of that, but if you aren't already doing it he hisses and rears back with teeth bared. I'm under the impression it's because he has impaired vision and is just able to see the shapes and not really what it is that's in front of him. Am I right in that guess? The kitten is (per the vet) 1 month old due to it being 1lb. in weight.

Also we can't get it to ingest anything, he had to be hydrated by the vet subcutaneously (needle in the skin). He won't drink water, we have some of the packaged "mother's milk" and he won't take it by syringe, he won't take it out of a spoon, he won't eat the paste of Science Diet kitten food, mixed with water and the mother's milk, he won't drink water... I don't know if I should try forcing some of the milk into him just to get him to ingest.

Lastly, is there any reason when he is being cuddled that he should be shaking uncontrollably (from what we can tell) he's wrapped up in a t-shirt, being held close to the body, and very being petted at the time.

Thanks in advance for any answers I might get.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/Arrican/FullPhotodump184.jpg


And that's a picture of the little heathen. =D

[catnapper]

Awww... whay a sweet little brown tabby (my most favorite of all tabby colors!). Welcome to PT from the resident tabby crazy lady! ;)

I have very limited experience with young kittens, but around 4-5 weeks they start to learn about licking and eating. Until then they will only suckle.

You shold be feeding your little one a bottle of warm KMR (kitten milk replacement formula) every few hours.

Little ones shiver a lot because they don't have any body fat to regulate their temperature.

[JacksonvilleBryan]

Thanks for the prompt response about those two things.
I'm mostly concerned about the vision thing.
Looks like me and the g/f will be going out to get a bottle tonight from walgreens or
Strike that it looks like as I was writing this he decided to start eating from the syringe. Well, 1 down out of 3.

And concerning the coloring on the little guy, apparently he has some "ocey" coloring on his back a bunch of spots running down the sides and back too. Interesting coloring from what I've seen.

[prechrswife]

I have to admit that I don't know the answers to your questions, but I did want to say that he is adorable.

[catnapper]

His eyes look clear, so he should be seeing a-ok. Maybe the hissing is because he's startled and not used to human interaction. If mama was a feral cat, she probably taught him to fear humans. He should calm down in a day or so.

by "ocey" do you mean color or markings? I've been seeing a lot of Bengal markings on tabbies lately -- soo pretty! If by "ocey" you mean a color... is it orangish? Then he is a she. A brown tabby with orange spots is a female.... the males like this are one in a million or more. I have two girls that are brown tabbies with orange spots. Talk about attitudes! My Abby was one hissy little thing! I walked around for two weeks swearing that she hated me because of all the hissing and growling she did at me.

[JacksonvilleBryan]

the "ocey" are the markings, circular markings running the length of his back and sides, according to the vet it's a male, she did the squeezing, I did the cringing.

And I'm guessing momma was feral and that might be the reason as well, but he reacts to changes in light, and not to much the familiarity of the people, I know it's only been a couple of hours, guess I'm all about things moving quicker than they should. =P

I'll give him a few days and go from there, thanks for the information.

[Kfamr]

Hello and welcome!
I hope, as a fellow Floridian, you plan to stick around! :)

I have no clue about the answers to your questions (I'm a dog person, myself.) but I hope you've found what you needed. That kitten is precious. Do you plan on keeping it?

My name is Kay & I own the three buttheads in my signature. ;)

[rg_girlca]

First off, Welcome to PT, and secondly, what a sweet adorable widdle kitty. Bless you for taking him in to care for. Gosh what a sweet face. I'm happy to hear that you brought him to a vet right away to get checked out.

How is he doing today? Has his shivering stopped? Is he eating well? Sorry for all the questions.

How are the widdle guys stools? If he has diarrhea, the best thing that had helped with my widdle ones, was to mix his food with some Baby Rice Cereal for about 2 weeks. This will help bind his stools.

Hope to hear more from you on this precious little one.

[catmandu]

THE KITTEN,IS FAIRLY YOUNG,AND AS SHE MATURES,SHE WILL START BEING FRIENDLIER,AND WILL START TAKING NOURISHMENT.
MAYBE SOME GERBERS BEEF,OR BEEF,AND VEGEATBLES,ANGELS ATE A BIT,OF THAT.
ALL THE BEST,WITH THAT LITTLE ONE,AND WHEN SHE GETS USED,TO YOU,YOU WILL BE INSEPERABLE,FRIENDS FOR LIFE.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/catmandu/Picture725.jpg

[momcat]

Hi and welcome to Pet Talk!!! What an irresistable and adorable baby, so glad you included a picture. That was a good call going right to the vet for a good look see. There are some very experienced and knowledgable people here at PT, with the possible exception of a good vet the best advice available on kitties will be found right here. Wishing a long, healthy, happy life for your baby kitty. Hope to hear from you again soon. Are you planning to keep him?

PS: Be sure to try Hairball Bowlimg!

[JacksonvilleBryan]

Quick update on what's going on with the fuzzball...

He's taking nourishment, but currently it's just a mixture of kitten milk replacement and water 1:1 ratio per the dr's orders to rehydrate him. No stool as of yet, which I didn't think there would be if he's not actually eating any solid food, he's using the makeshift litter box we've got set up for him, box lid /w litter and paper underneath the litter.

We brought the other two cats out to meet him today, just to get a feel of what might go on with them. Not so hot. Sammie and Sebastian (the kittens we adopted from a rescue about 2 weeks ago) came out growling and hissing when they saw him, for some reason they were also growling and hissing at each other (they're brothers from the same litter and have been nothing but sweet and loving the short time we've had them, even when treating them from ringworm, they started showing symptoms of that about 2 days after we got them home), not sure what's going on with that behavior in the slightest.

Tomorrow I will be mixing a paste of science diet, water, and milk replacement in a 1:1:1 ratio to try to get a stool for a fecal sample. So hopefully we can get him to ingest some of that.

Other than that he's fine, he doesn't like being taken away from our bodies, if we shift or more while we're holding him, or pick him up away from one of the shirts we keep him wrapped in he meows like a psycho even if we have both hands on him, guessing he just doesn't want to be away from us just yet.

He's getting along fine with the dog, which is a great thing, that was our biggest fear, not any problems with the other cats. =P

Here are some pics of the rest of the family -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/Arrican/shelbyresize.jpg

Shelby (Husky mix, got her from animal control with her ears and tail clipped, not sure who lost their mind and did that). This is a pic of her mid-sneeze.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/Arrican/CatWeddingDog086.jpg

Sammie and Sebastian - Sebastian has the white paws and white chest, Sammie is the totally gray furball.

[NoahsMommy]

Awww...all of your furkids are adorable!!

Welcome to Pet Talk, btw. :)

I know from when my Phoebe was a kitten, the shaking could be fever. She did that and had a 102 fever. :( Is the shaking better now??

[Jennsen]

It's not unusual for babies to shake after they are bottle fed, all of mine do this, and so do all my bottle lambs. It's just a reaction they have, that naturally nursed babies dont have. I had one kitten I bottle fed from when he was just an hour old, and he would shake after his bottle and from petting stimulation. He outgrew that at about 6 weeks old.

[orangemm]

What a little sweetie!

Good luck with this little one. Your other cats are gorgeous and yes, their noses look slightly out of joint (which is to be expected).

Keep us posted!

[JacksonvilleBryan]

Ok, so he's doing better, eating the paste of water/food/milk replacement and enjoying all of it.

One small issue, apparently the other two cats HATE him, they get within a foot of him and there is hissing and growling, and one of them took a swipe of the cage the he's in for the time being.

Any ideas for integration?

[Cataholic]

Hi. Welcome to PT, as I haven't welcomed you before this! I would wait, wait, wait on the introductions. I would suggest, if you can, holding off ten days...with everyone's scent being transferred often. I think things can go wrong with too soon of an introduction, whereas waiting is usually a good deal. Good luck.

[Jennsen]

Absolutely wait! He's so small yet, they could really do him some harm. And he could regress back to illness if he's scared and not comfortable. When you do introduce them, make sure you watch them every minute at first. I've had my baby for over a month now and it's been very slow going. It's going to take awhile for everyone to get used to each other.

[rg_girlca]

I would advice you to keep the new kitty away from your other kitties, especially since you mentioned they have ringworm. This is highly contagious to other cats and even for you.

Shelby is a very pretty girl and Sammie and Sebastian are so adorable.

Glad to hear that he is eating better. He is so darn adorable.:)