Help! I've got a kitten! [Vanity]

Mamma and Daddy cats, i'd guess | 7/25/04 | Me

[Slings and Arrows]

I seem to have adopted a stray kitten as an indoor cat. I've never had a cat in my life! (I do have a Jack Russell Terrier.) What do I do now?!

[185JHP]

I suggest you try throwing a screwtop from a plastic soft drink bottle, and see if the cat will fetch it. They're wonderful animals. They know how to relax, be patient, live in the present, and give themselves up to pleasure. Just speaking loving things to them without touching them can induce purring. They're independent, yet at the same time they can be very affectionate.

[Esther Ruth]

Of all the toys we bought our cats the thing they liked best was rolled up balls of paper. They would push them around and chase them forever, stalk them, hide them, and loved the sound of them crumbling. They can toss them in the air like circus clowns and bat them back and forth and it is SO fun to watch.

[Mr. Silverback]

Congratulations Slings. It couldn't happen to a nicer...um, whatever the heck you are.

[Mr. Silverback]

Sorry for your loss. My wife was a mess after we lost her ten year old cat to an anuerysm. At least he went in his sleep.

Go get a kitten. I'm a dog guy myself, but cats are good too, and kittens are even better.

[Mr. Silverback]

I haven't read the advice below yet, but take it to a vet and get it checked out. If it's old enough, have it spayed or neutered. Declawing is good too, not just to save the furniture but to protect you from infection: Cat scratches are nasty.

[Mr. Silverback]

Another thing: Keep the cat indoors! They kill stuff that doesn't need killing (and then don't eat it) bring fleas back into the house, get run over...just keep it inside.

[Mr. Silverback]

Get it a little viking outfit so it can be a ZOT viking kitty on FR.

Seconded!

[Mr. Silverback]

Introduce dog to cat - how, please?

Very carefully! <rimshot!>

[Mr. Silverback]

It took 41 posts before someone suggested eating it? What took y'all so long?

[Mr. Silverback]

One night recently, after 3 years of family togetherness, the Shepherd had a seizure and was twitching helpless on the floor- both JRT's immediately jumped on Shepherd with murder in mind.

So, who's getting the boot?

[Mr. Silverback]

My cat is feral, so one would assume he is impossible to train in any way, but he uses his litter box and responds when he hears his name, which is Dammit!.

Heh-heh! One of my Dad's mechanics had a Saimese named J.C. for the same reason.

[maryz]

I agree -- don't declaw. Even if you don't intend to let it outside, they can be fast and get by you at the door! Get a scratching post while it's young (though I took in a stray at 2, and he never scratched anything but the scratching post!).

[American in Israel]

Be gentle with it, restrain your roughhousing as it trains the kitten to be rough when it grows up. As it grows up it appreciates gentle behavior more.

If it is male get it fixed at 6 months before it learns to spray territory. Once it starts spraying, it is too late and you end up with an outside cat or a piss poor house.

Teach it to hunt with toys, quarter sized super-balls work great. Cats are not so instinctive as learned hunters.

Keep the cat box fresh till the cat gets used to it or it may learn to crap in your shoes...

[Slings and Arrows]

You sure gotta be careful what you pray for.

Sage advice. I'm going to pray for a lovelorn Elizabeth Hurley to show up at my door with a steak dinner and all the trimmings.

Best of luck with your new friend and her soon-to-be family. Please don't ask me to take a kitten, though; a second kitten (not Zia) showed up at my door last night! The poor thing is obviously sick with some kind respiratory problem, and I can't risk infecting Zia and Janey, so after I take it to the vet I'm going to find a no-kill animal shelter.

My sympathy for your car trouble - I know the words to that tune.

[Slings and Arrows]

Noted, and thanks. Zia does seem very fond of tennis balls - nice to see that she and Janey have something in common.

[Slings and Arrows]

Thanks Salem. Janey and Zia are doing just fine. Their daddy is adapting. Did you know that kittens love *CRASH* computer cables?

[Slings and Arrows]

They sound like some of my favorite freepers. Thanks for the toy tip!

[Slings and Arrows]

Congratulations Slings. It couldn't happen to a nicer...um, whatever the heck you are.

Thanks, and when you find out, let me know.

[Slings and Arrows]

Declawing is good too, not just to save the furniture but to protect you from infection: Cat scratches are nasty.

Thank you for an important tip! This is a factor I will have to give serious weight.