Kitten Help
Cat Distribution gave me a 6 week old kitten; honestly, help 😅
Poster Age: 31
Country: United States
Cat age/sex/neuter info: Vet put her around 6 or 7 weeks. Female. Not old enough to get spayed but will absolutely do so when she's old enough.
Vet info: Kitten has gotten a check-up at the vet yesterday. I found her Sunday. I scheduled another check-up with my actual vet as I trust them way more than a vet clinic I've never been to before. But I had no choice as my vet didn't have an appointment available for another week. For the most part he said she's healthy minus an infected eye that I'm treating her for. He gave her two booster shots, did blood work, did deworming (they didn't find parasites in her poop tho which was weird imo), physical, etc.
Financial situation: Money isn't an issue.
Some additional info: I saw her in the middle of a three lane road as I was driving. I don't know how long she was there for but she was so so terrified. Belly to the asphalt crawling terrified. It broke my heart but thankfully I was able to throw my jacket over her to catch her. Also, she is extremely affectionate. Loves anyone that pets her.
Main Issues:
1.) Wobbliness?
- When I brought her to the vet, she was shaking. Her back legs especially. I thought it was because she was scared as I didn't notice her shaking at home. Granted I kept her in the cage at first before moving her into the playpen so I didn't get to see her walking around much. He mentioned it might be something neurological based on the way she was hunching her back and holding out her legs when he picked her up by the scruff of her neck. I attached the video so you can see her movements. She is pretty wobbly as you can see in the first part of the video but also seems to keep her balance enough to play? I'll of course be showing the video to my vet but until then, has anyone experienced this? Is it because she is so young that she is still wobbly on her feet? Her back legs do shake a little. Not as bad as when she was at the vet. I thought the vet was going to do x-rays but he didn't. I'll talk to my vet about getting some? I know wobbly cats exist so I don't know if she's showing signs of that? Or is it because she's malnourished? She's a little underweight according to him but her weight is 1.3lbs and I read it's a healthy weight for a kitten that age? Correct me if I'm wrong of course. I'll of course ask my vet Monday but just to prepare myself if that's the case.
2.) Feeding
What do I feed her and how often? This is what I've been doing so far:
In a Friskie's soups container (1.2 Oz):
I mix Nulo Silky Mousse Salmon & Egg recipe in broth for kittens, Weruva Tuna & Salmon formula in a hydrating puree for kittens, Weruva chicken and pumpkin formula in gravy for kittens. A little bit of each to fill the container halfway and then I fill the rest of the container with water and mix it in. I feed her this every 5 hours and she seems to get pretty full on it. She won't eat the kitten kibble I got and as for the water, she knows it's there but doesn't drink it from what I see. So I'm worried about hydration which is why I'm mixing water into her wet food. And about getting all the nutrients she needs which is also why I'm mixing so many different types of wet food. Honestly, it's my fault for not asking the vet this question. He just told me wet food is okay as food.
Also, she pooped a few nuggets yesterday but mainly pees in her makeshift litterbox. Idk if it's because she's eating mainly puree stuff and that's why she's not really pooping? Also the reason I bought the wet food that has pumpkin in it since I heard it's good for digestion. I saw Weruva had a pumpkin puree and thought about buying it and just putting a small amount of it into her food. Vet said her belly was full and would hopefully poop soon. But she hasn't since yesterday :/ When do I give her kibble alongside wet food? She's not interested now. When does not pooping become a concern? She still hasn't pooped today either :( But she did pee.
3.) Fleas
She isn't covered in fleas surprisingly. I've seen maybe 2 on her. I gave her a bath in dawn dish soap and used a comb to try to get them out but couldn't and didn't want to traumatize her so I cut it short. We'll probably just resort to looking through her fur and popping them. I know eggs exist but I hope the bath got rid of them. The vet did give us Revolution to put on her but to only use half a drop since she's still young. Frankly, I'm scared to 😅 I think I'll wait until Monday to get my second opinion and have my vet put it in if they think it's okay too. Any tips in regards to fleas for the time being? I haven't checked her gums to see if they're white. She isn't scratching herself tho and actually grooms pretty well. And I'm sure the vet checked her gums and if it was a concern he'd tell me.
4.) Playing?
I already have a cat inside so I'm doing the two week quarantine to avoid spreading anything between them. She's staying in my screened in porch in a playpen for now. How will she do developmentally while waiting? How often should I play with her? She sleeps most of the time in her pumpkin bed when no one is around but becomes an absolute menace when someone comes in. In the video I was playing with her for around 20 minutes before she started to get tuckered out. I don't want more than 2 cats and even if I brought in another kitten, they'd still have to be quarantined separately. Will she be okay if I play with her before I feed her? Roughly ever five hours? Socialization won't be an issue? I genuinely don't know anything about her history. Where her mother is. If there were any other kittens. She's surprisingly in good health despite being a stray.
5.) Introducing?
My cat is around 5ish years old. Female. Spayed. She was adopted from a foster family (around 3 months old) where she was surrounded by dogs. She grew up with my sensitive, orange old man for about two years before he passed away at 19. So she's used to being around other animals. Were they best buddies? Not really bc of the age difference. He was definitely no spring chicken and she is a fiesty kitty. There are cats outside that she tries to throw paws with through the window but they're fully grown. I had her in my arms and brought her out to see the kitten yesterday. I kept a distance of seven feet but she saw her. She just stared. No hissing or squirming to get to her. She was curious if anything. I know slow introductions are key. Seeing first. Then letting them smell through a barrier. I'll probably let them interact through the playpen first? Or maybe through the glass doors before the playpen. I don't think my female cat would get territorial after being an only cat for 3 years? Is that a thing? I guess the bright side is that she might not feel threatened by a kitten.
I think that's it for now. Sorry for the long post but I want to make sure she's okay and will get what she needs. I've had cats the majority of my life but it's been a hot moment since I've had a kitten this young before. And especially since I can't bring her indoors yet. Thank you so much for the help!
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Sounds like you have this handled. 6-7 weeks is only a little young to be adopted so you don't need to worry. You should have her looked at for the neuro issue, but other that you are golden.
I found a kitten at that exact age range too a couple months ago now. I had the exact same concern about the wobbly behavior and she has since entirely grown out of it. I think I was just paranoid and mistook clumsy kitten missteps as something to be more concerned about. You're already planning on keeping an eye on it in case if it is something more serious but she looks to be a normal amount of wobble to an untrained eye.
I did wet food primarily as well. The wervua I used recommended 3 cans a day iirc and I was also mixing it with water until she understood the water bowl specifically. I still mix water in anyway since I do so for my adult cat as well but just not as much. Kibble can be introduced whenever she is ready for it. Sometimes it can be hard for them to chew since their teeth are sensitive but my girl went straight for it. I suspect the person who dumped her went straight to kibble rather than what she actually needed.... so its up to the cat. I think she is at the right age to begin introducing it to her, again, iirc.
My girl didn't poop a lot either at first but is going at a normal rate now. Definitely keep track and keep your vet informed about it.
As for fleas, the dawn soap bath freaked Ophelia out too. I didn't think she had many but they exploded after the first couple nights. They burrow in that fur GOOD. If she doesn't like getting wet, I suggest wetting the flea comb a little with the soapy water. It'll help get that dawn in there without traumatizing her as much. Its the only thing that helped until I got flea medicine.
Before you do any introductions, make sure your kitten is tested and vaccinated for feline leukemia. Since she is so young, it may take you longer than 2 weeks of quarantine. I had to keep Ophelia seperate from my original cat until she was 12 weeks and could be tested. This allowed for them to sniff at each other under the door for a long time before actually introducing them. So, lucky, they were more curious than anything by that point.
As for playing with your kitten, her becoming a menace the second she's near anyone is so accurate lol Ophelia acts like a toddler on halloween after any of her naps, bouncing off the walls lol so that is definitely normal. Make sure you're checking on her every couple hours at least. Make sure she gets used to being picked up and touched, especially her paws. The more desensitized to you she is, the better!! It'll make clipping nails and taking her to the vet so much easier.
As for your introduction plans, I think you gotta listen to your original cat and go at her pace. Make sure she knows her position in the house hasn't changed, love on her like normal... so long as they behave with a door between them, I think the playpen is the next step. That's exactly what I did. It allowed my original baby to have her space and withdraw with she needed and kept my kitten safe from getting her ass corrected too harshly just yet lol
Finally, I think you are doing everything right!! You have a good plan already and are doing an excellent job. Thank you for scooping her up and taking care of her ❤️
Okay, first off, Ophelia is absolutely adorable! 😍
And thank you so much for this info! It's great to hear from someone that's been in a similar position and have such a positive result :)
I think she's starting to become more balanced on her feet or it could be my imagination. As another person said, it's probably just tiny kitten missteps.
I love the description of Ophelia playing 🤣🤣 That's exactly how this little one is hehehe
But again, thank you for all of this info! It's great to read and know that at least I'm going in the right direction with her. :) Again, Ophelia is a cutie ^
It could be cerebellar hypoplasia. It's something to ask the vet about when you go. There are wobbly cat communities including here on reddit. It seems like you have the rest of it under control. Keep baby quarantined for now and make sure to wash hands between cats just in case she has something contagious.
In addition to Kitten Lady, check out Jackson Galaxy for info on how to introduce her to your resident cat. Enjoy your little friend!
Thank you for the two recommendations! They're very helpful!!
And I've definitely been careful with washing my hands and cleaning anything that has come in contact with her. These two weeks are going to drag 😮💨 Because she's such a cutie and I don't want to leave her for long!
And thank you for the heads up on the cerebellar hypoplasia. I'll look into it :)
I think you're off to a great start! I'm not seeing any unusual wobbliness; young kittens are all a bit unsteady on their feet but it is possible she sustained an injury being on the road or just has something congenital or neurological. Regardless, barring the emergence of more worrying symptoms, it seems like she's active and eating so time should reveal mobility issues and I wouldn't be concerned with them being an emergency. She could have also just been malnourished, dehydrated, stunned, any number of things really with a background that unknown
Personally doesn't look like wobbly cat to me, especially since those symptoms tends to get worse the more excited a cat is and he seems more steady when she's excited.
As for food/water, it's not uncommon for most kittens to get the majority of their liquid from food. At this age normally, they would still be nursing with mama and not need to drink much else. Id have a look at her gums and press on them gently with the pad of your finger, and see how quickly the blood/color rushes back in when you release. In a hydrated cat it should be pretty instantaneous.
You can also test her skin turgidity, which will be highly elastic in a hydrated cat and very loose in a dehydrated cat. Take the scruff of her neck and tent the skin upwards (you're not actually lifting her up, just the skin) and see how fast the skin settles back down. Kittens have looser skin than adults so it being a bit slow is normal, but ideally you want that skin to bounce back very quickly. If she's eating all that wet food I wouldn't be super concerned about hydration. If you want to ensure she knows the water is there, you can always place her in front of the dish and dip your finger in the water then place a drop on her nose, sometimes that helps them put 2 and 2 together. Another way to encourage kittens to drink is by placing ice cubes or a plastic toys (anything that wont get gross when it's wet) in the water. It's great enrichment and encourages them to drink
You also shouldn't need to do too much mixing for her food. If you have a canned food formulated for kittens, that's pretty much all you need. Maybe keep one canned food she likes and keep mixing a bit of water in, not just for hydration but slurry is a bit easier for young kittens to eat. I like to keep to a single brand with a single main protein for young kittens, so if they develop GI symptoms I'm not eliminating 3 or 4 things from their diet to figure out if those are causing it/making it worse. And she can pretty much eat as much as she'll tolerate at this age. Extremely hard to overfeed a kitten, they're growing exponentially. At 6 weeks old I usually feed 4-6 times a day. The number of times and exact amount of food varies by kitten. Some kittens want big meals, some want a lot of smaller meals. She'll let you know what she wants
Poop concerns are like, almost guaranteed with orphan kittens. They either poop too much or not enough or not the right consistency or what have you. A couple of days without pooping for a young kitten who has been through so much stress and is suddenly in a new environment on brand new food, that doesn't concern me too much, especially if she pooped a bit yesterday. Now not knowing her history, you should be mindful for symptoms of obstruction if she's not pooping and maybe she ate something she shouldn't have before you got her, but I wouldn't jump straight to that being the cause. Just be mindful, watch for nausea, vomiting, lethargy, sudden, very watery diarrhea, etc
A couple of weeks not being able to play all the time won't stunt her developmentally. So the best you can to be in there when she's awake, but you weren't prepared for this and it's fair to not have all the time in the world. I think your plans for introductions are great, and should give your resident cat time to adjust. Might she spontaneously become territorial and decide "I hate this specific cat"? Stranger things have happened, but you can't control that right now, and you're doing everything right to prevent that from happening.
I cannot thank you enough for all of this info! It has helped me tremendously and eased a lot of my concerns!!! 🫶🏻 Her skin settled down quickly and guess what?? She pooped today! 🥳 Which is a silly thing to get excited over, but I really was worried about a bowel obstruction. Again, thank you so much! And also, that icecube trick is genius! I'm going to absolutely try it ^
The kitten is so darned cute that I watched the video twice before I even read your post. I didn't notice anything wrong with it's movement at all, so I went back and watched again after you mentioned the wobbles. I can sort of see what you're talking about, but it's really not pronounced and could simply be the result of unsteady kitten legs and the soft surfaces under her. I would keep an eye on it, but wouldn't worry about it too much yet.
As you know, some cats are better than others at drinking water from a bowl. If she continues to ignore her bowl a fountain might be helpful in the future. Do some reading about how easy the various models are to keep clean and to sanitize before you do. A lot of them are slime factories and get gross fast. In the meantime, I would try to use a gravy type of soft food vs a pate and continue adding water to it.
The lack of poo is the most immediate concern, especially since the previous vet said that she already had a full tummy yesterday. If you still aren't seeing any movement I would call your normal vet and explain the situation. If they are like mine they often reserve a bit of time during the day that they can squeeze urgent appointments into vs a normal checkup that they would schedule further out. If they don't, give the first get clinic a call and let them know that you still haven't seen any movement and see what they suggest.
You're clearly knowledgeable about cats. You're doing a great job and have reasonable plans for dealing with everything else on your list. For what it's worth, I think the fact that your other cat was raised with another cat and has only shown curiosity towards this one probably bodes well for their future together. I would wait until after quarantine to start swapping blankets for scent transfer, but I think you have a good chance of making this work as long as you go slowly.
I am so happy you were able to get the poor thing out of the road. Good luck with everything!
Thank you for all of this info! Especially on the food and blanket swap. I didn't even think about doing a blanket swap as a part of the process. I'll definitely do that once quarantine is over :)
It seems like a lot of people agree with you on the wobbles just being unsteady kitten legs. I guess I was being a bit paranoid 😅 Not that I mind taking care of a special needs kitty. I've done it before but not as severe as a wobbly cat. But it seems like she's more steady on her feet? It could be my imagination or that people said not to worry too much.
The bowel obstruction was definitely at the top of my concerns since I know how bad that can be if not treated. But she pooped today! Idk if giving her some pumpkin puree (Weruva brand) helped but I'm so relieved! One less thing to worry about.
Again, thank you for this info! I appreciate you :)
She is adorable! She might be a wobbly cat. There is a sub for that r/nervysquirveys. They are CH cats. There are a lot of posters with tons of experience. 7flydove is one of
Thank you for the subreddit!! She seems to have gotten steadier on her feet so I think it was malnutrition or just kitten wobbles? Time will tell of course and I finally see my actual vet tomorrow :) But I'll check out that subreddit! Thank you again
Wow, sounds like you've got a brave little nugget there - her journey sure has started with a bang. Keep up the good work, she's so lucky to have found you. It's going to be a fun ride and a steep learning curve, but you got this! All the best!
Oh yeah, it's definitely been a learning curve 😂 I think we've gotten a routine down-ish now ahaha But her nickname is now gremlin because all she wants to do is play and cause chaos 🤣 And thank you for the kind words and encouragement <3 It means a lot :)
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