Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

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fjm
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by fjm »

You have done amazingly well, pulling such a tiny kit through. Now that she/he is beginning to smell and behave like a healthy kitten you may find the adults begin to come round. Is it time for a name?
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Ruth B »

He/She looks like they are doing really well, it is always amazing how resistant a cat can be, and what a little TLC and proper food can achieve. Now you just need to find out whether it is a he or a she and give them a name.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

We named it the moment it arrived, Spase, it's an old timey Slavic name, kind of a funny sounding name but it technically means "Saved one" I assume or that's what it sounds like because to save someone/something in my languages is to "Spasi" someone...I dunno XD
It's pronounced Spah-seh and it's a boy's name, if it turns out to be a girl which it probably is it might retain the name because it already responds to it, apparently ( I don't know old timy names sorry) the female variant of the name is Spasa or Spaska, so since it responds to the name already it MIGHT remain if not I'll figure something else out.

Here it is eating Royal Canin Kitten food
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the big ones are on Royal Canin Persian

Now we have to hope her litterbox habits develop properly and the other cats come around and she/he is good to stay forever. Can't imagine parting with this kitten at this point :) It's so amazing

Would it be wrong for Spase(working title XD) to eat Persian when he/she grows up? Because it's impossible to keep their food bowls separate from each other
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

these pics are a few days old, I tried snapping some today but all I got was a gray blur where the kitten was supposed to be, wonder why XD
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Spaska is a fully fledged "cat" now, she runs around, climbs wherever she can clmb, she is very hyper....and she is going through a phase that I am not enjoying very much tbh, her playfulness knows no end so AS SOON as you touch her now, she grabs your hand and plays with it which is something I greatly discourage, but it's not working for now.
She could be sleeping or falling asleep, you stroke her and she purrs for like 10 seconds, then turns around and starts playing with your hand, claws out and all, rather she starts with her claws retracted and then pulls them out.

I've raised 6 persian kittens, 4 of which were born in this house and not a single one was like this, but my childhood cat Leo who was a regular cat sure was :)

I have no words how happy I am to see Spaska thrive the way she does, imagine what would've happened if at 3 weeks with that bad diarrhea she had she was left outside on her own.
The other cats also came around and don't mind her anymore at all. Mila even teaches her how to pounce and stuff from time to time now that she is well.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Ruth B »

You have done a wonderful job with looking after her, especially with all the other stress you have been under with your resident cats.

I think most of us are under no illusions about what would have happened to her if you hadn't taken her in and she had been left how she was.

Your kindness truly has changed the world, for little Spaska at least.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

I wasn't sure if I should post or not because I didn't want to clog the forum with my posts since other people's need to be seen and read too, but today was one month since we found Spaska on June the 20th.
I just want to share with everyone how far she's come
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Here are some pics form today
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she and Casper have been playing with this orange ball I bought them all day

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When we got her she was less than 200g
Two days ago she was 760g :)
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Mollycat »

Lovely to see she has gained so much weight and settled so well.

There's plenty of room and personally I think documenting a cat's journey through a lifestage or challenge is useful for the owner but also for others when they have their own questions. Anyone looking for help with a young kitten to handrear in future can find this and learn, maybe join the forum and ask their own questions or share their journey.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by fjm »

Lovely to see her so happy and healthy, and the other cats so accepting of her. I hope you have many months of peaceful play after all the stress and trauma of the last few weeks!
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by booktigger »

Aww, glad the others have accepted her and everyone seems well
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Ruth B »

Looks like they are all doing really well, and they are a credit to the work and love you have put into looking after them all.

That photo of her climbing over Casper just made me think of her being surprised to find there is actually a cat under all that fluff. Hopefully she won't get a complex as she gets older when she realises that her fur is never going to get as long as everyone elses, or remembering what Blue could be like, they might get jealous of her when they are struggleing to groom when it is at its longest.

i always love to read the updates and I don't think it hurts to post them, you never know when someone in the future might come across it, when in a similar situation and it will give them hope that they can save the kitten they found rather than just giving up on them.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

Thanks everyone!
yeah those two weeks or so with Mila's heatstroke and step throat were pretty stressful, but she recovered so here's hoping nothing bad is going to happen in the near future, everything was fine for years.
Worst case scenario if the strep throat comes back/turns chronic she'd have her tonsils removed but apparently that's not that big a deal and something cats recover from in about a week or two or so a vet told me.
I think/hope everyone is going to be fine. Mila actually made a pretty quick recovery but she was scared of eating dry food, now she is back to eating normal, especially Spaska's kitten food :)
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

Sorry, in all the excitement I forgot to ask one important question I've been meaning to ask for a few days now.
Spaska likes to watch the adult cats use the litterbox, this is normal, Casper and Kala did the same with their Mila when they were kittens. The thing about Spaska is that she gets too close, she stands up on the litterbox and watches up close which bothers the adult cats. It sometimes cuts them off from doing their business and I don't think that's a good thing. It doesn't matter which litterbox is being used, Spaska runs up to it as soon as an adult cat gets in.

I don't want the adult cats to start feeling uncomfortable around the litterboxes, of course that's the last thing you want with a cat, usually Mila would hiss at her and Spaska would back down but now she just keeps watching which makes Mila give up on her business. Earlier I had to put Spaska away in my computer room for a bit, put Mila back in one of the litterboxes so she could finish her business.

Is this something to be concerned about in keeping Spaska or is it just a phase?
I'm trying to distract her with toys or food when the other cats use the litterboxes but she drops all else and wants to watch, up close which annoys the big cats.

I know a kitten watching an adult cat using the litterbox is normal
she just gets too close and it cuts the adults off that's my issue.

Spaska learned to use the litterboxes on her own very quickly and hasn't had any accidents since like the first week she was here, she's been perfect about that.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Kay »

would the older cats use a covered litter tray, Joe?
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

Don't think so, but even in a coverd one she'd do the same, plus they like to move around if possible and stuff.
She is just watching, but she holds onto the railing, standing on her hind legs and tries to sniff their butts as they pee or poop lol
This REALLY agitates Mila, especially. This is how Spaska learned how to bury her poop and everything, she learned how to USE the litterbox on her own, but wouldn't bury anything until after she watched the grown ups do it. But, I think she is too old to do this now and it clearly bothers the grown ups now so we'll see what happens. Changing their litterboxes or adding new stuff to the house after everything that happened would only stress everyone further.

The best I can do at this time is distract Spaska with toys or something while the big cats are using the litterboxes.
It's probably just a phase but it's not good the way it affects them, especially Mila.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by fjm »

I suspect that sooner or later she will get her ears boxed, and stop doing it. At the moment the big cats are probably extending kitten privileges but those will begin to run out soon.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

As long as Mila doesn't start fearing the litter box they can do whatever, but she cut her off today as well.
It's impossible to catch Spaska on time, she bolts after Mila as soon as Mila enters the litterbox, both Casper and Kala used the litterboxes just fine today, but nope, as soon as Mila goes in Spaska is there.

The way Mila gives up is so unsettling, she just walks away, then if I put her back in she immediately resumes doing her business, meaning she really needed to go.
It's a matter of seconds, Spaska is an exceptionally fast cat and now this behavior got imprinted in her. Mila did swipe at her once but it's not like Spaska cares lol

Do you think this could result in Litter Box issues with Mila?
None of my cats have ever had any kind of litterbox problems, mistakes or anything, not once.

EDIT: it makes me sad I have to think about rehoming Spaska if this ends up being a problem, I'm so attached to her.
I'd probably let my cousin or friend have her, they'd take good care of her but I don't want to :(
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Mollycat »

I don't have any experience of this but I'm confident it will resolve itself, either as fjm suggests Mila will give her a smack or she will simply get tired of watching her senior companions pooping.

In the meantime, could one tray be raised out of reach for the kitten, for the others to use in peace?
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

Spaska goes everywhere now, she is extremely agile and nimble, no height is too high for her :)
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

I'm not panicking just thinking out loud and I want to hear what people think.
I noticed that Mila hadn't gone to the bathroom since around 6PM yesterday, she normally goes in the morning or at around 3AM at night. Then again during the afternoon, she pees about 3 times a day. The other cats are fine, Kala doesn't seem to be reluctant and Casper seems fine too, they don't like Spaska watching them from up close but they don't seem as terrified as Mila.
At 8:35AM just now I figured I'd place Mila in one of the litterboxes, if she doesn't want to go she'd get out no biggie, but as soon as I placed her in she peed, quite a lot too, which means she was holding it in.

Spaska didn't come rushing this time but even if she did I would've caught her on time, still this tells me Mila even tho she is much more comfortable around Spaska, sometimes plays with her, they eat next to each other and all, is afraid of being stalked at the litterbox.

The thought of rehoming Spaska is terrifying, but the thought of Mila's excellent litter box habits being disrupted is worse, 7.5 years and the poor thing never once had an accident or litterbox issue, she is such a clean, well behaved cat, neither have Casper and Kala for that matter.
So far Spaska is great with her litter box habits too

Would I have failed Spaska if I rehome her? It's very difficult to find a good home for a cat in my country, many people love cats but don't take proper care for them and reufse to listen to how they should be caring for cats.
Spaska is also very hyper which for me isn't a problem but many wouldn't tolerate this.

From the beginning I said that if litter box issues arise we'd have to rehome Spaska, but now she is part of the family and I can't imagine life without her, still life with a stressed out Mila who is reluctant to use the litterbox is worse.

Vets are useless, they don't have much advice in situations like this, at least not here.
If I order those pheromone dispensers IF they even ship them to my country it would take a month or two for them to arrive so that's not an option either.

Again, I'm not panicking, but I keep a very close eye on my cats' litterbox routines and I am noticing now that Mila's is off, I can see her reluctance to use the litterboxes because she is wary of Spaska.

We have absolutely no physical room for another litterbox especially not one in a brand new location, it's a very small apartment/condo.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Mollycat »

I've never found vets all that useful with behaviour issues here either, luckily I have some sense because when our cat was refusing to leave the wardrobe for weeks on end the vet advised to pick her up take her out and shut the door so she couldn't get back in. A couple of hours later she rang me back to say the behaviourist corrected her and said don't do that, I laughed and said don't worry I didn't. Other vets have not known at what age kittens lose their milk teeth, why we always give vitamin B with antibiotics, why high bilirubin is very much connected to hyperthyroidism and does not mean underlying liver disease, or why keeping a dog on lead rest for 3 months is counter-productive. Vets have to know so much about so many species and cover the basics of so many specialisms there is no way they know everything, anywhere in the world.

So, you're not panicking, BUT. Would it be possible to either give Mila her own room, or Spaska her own room, with the door closed, at night? At least this would give Mila some time undisturbed in every 24 hours. I would be surprised if this phase lasted very long. For a while could you make a regular time to go toilet with Mila? Maybe not put her in the tray but call her over to it and encourage her to use it while keeping the kitten away\/ would that be manageable short term?
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by fjm »

I was thinking in much the same way - I would set times when Mila can know she has safe access to the tray while Spaska is occupied elsewhere. Spaska gets playtime, Mila gets half an hour of guaranteed peace and quiet. The other alternative would be too enclose one tray behind a microchipped cat flap, set to allow Mila access but not Spaska. It would not necessarily need to be through a door - a really large box would be sufficient.

I strongly suspect this is just a kitten phase for Spaska - if you can find a way of managing it for a few weeks it will very probably fade naturally. I'd therefore go for management over technology at this stage - if you don't have enough rooms or helping hands a kitten gym in a large dog crate should keep Spaska occupied for long enough.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

The best I can do is keep Spaska confied to my computer room, we don't close doors in the house, excpet the bathroom lol and even if we tried keeping any of the doors closed Mila freaks out and tries to open it.
Spaska never uses the litterboxes at night, like hasn't done it once, she usually sleeps through the night, but the other night she bolted at Mila at 3AM which I think is what kickstarted all this.
Spaska and Mila get along well in general.

I did try to keep Spaska confined to my room while Mila and the others were eating wet food a last week because Spaska had a bit of a soft stool from Felix the day before (it sorted out in a day) and as soon as I closed the door to the room with Spaska in it, Mila stopped eating and started banging and scratching at the door to the room where Spaska was....she really hates closed doors, like when I'm in the bathroom she and Casper tear the door down sometimes, so glad they don't know how to open doors and just claw at them.

My mom doesn't even want to entertain the idea of having to rehome Spaska, she brought her home and loves her as much as the other 3 and so do I but we also can't afford to have any of the cats mess up their litterbox habits.

All that micro chip stuff, chipped that react to microchips and what not, I don't think we can do that.
My cats are chipped, but ordering all that, setting it up in such a small condo isn't possible. I've looked at many options to free up some space but it's just the way the condo is structured.
I bought the condo right next to mine too, figured I'd be renting it out but now I might have to rent it out to Spaska XD
Nah I let my aunt move in, we're very close and she is an amazing person, she'd totally take Spaska in if she wasn't dealing with some serious germophobia and what not so that sadly is not an environment for Spaska to be in.

EDIT: Locking doors isn't an option either, ever since the apartment was bought 30 years ago none of the keys ever worked but we never cared about that so never got around to installing new locks for the doors inside the house, just the front door.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

I am sorry if I post about this so much, but I'm definitely not imagining the situation and I can't stand the thought of having to give up Spaska, she is so smart, so beautiful.

So right now it's 2:22AM
I've been carefully watching Mila all day, yes I have the time I work from home and now I'm not doing any work because I made more than enough money this year. Anyway, since 8:35AM Mila never once attempted to use the bathroom, she ate plenty, she drank well, all 4 had wet food too. There's no visible conflicts between them, Mila and Spaska even briefly shared a bowl, no issues whatsoever. Even so Mila never once attempted to use the bathroom.
I tried getting her to climb in on her own a few times, as embarrassing as it is I even took her with me when I went to the bathroom myself because if she gets in or was in and I hadn't noticed on time, she usually purrs around me and goes herself, but she didn't go this time, just did the purring thing.

For a cat who pees 3 times a day and poops once a day, having only gone once from 8:35AM when I placed her in one of the litterboxes is not normal. Not to mention Spaska has been confirmed to my computer room from 11:20PM and still is, she doesn't mind/care, she sleeps through the night.
Mila ate, Casper went to do both number 1 and 2 no problems there, Mila played some, then ate some and no indication whatsoever that she needs to go.
At 2:15AM figured I'd try placing her in the litterbox she was spooked in, if she is scared she'd jump out, right? Nope, she sniffed around and IMMEDIATELY peed, then nice and slow she got out, buried her pee and moved on, but, I had to place her there...again.

What are we looking at here? What can I do?
Even if I add one more litterbox, in my computer room whish is super tiny, Spaska and Mila and Kala are always in here
it would be the same, there's no other room, nowhere for one more litterbox.

I'm so sorry I keep having problems
I'm doing my best here :( but all these problems just seem to pile up, the moment I think everything has been sorted out a new issue pops up, I'm trying to keep a coold head but what can I do.

Also we do NOT have cat behaviorists in the country, we barely have people behaviorists and they don't do their job properly either.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

After my mom also acknowledged the problem and since Mila hasn't gone to poop in well over 24 hours, we decided that Spaska needs to be rehomed.
It's probably the toughest decision we've made with a pet, I have no words to described how much it hurts but Mila and to an extend Kala are very poorly affected by what transpired over the week.

Mila ate so much yesterday and the day before normally she'd have pooped without hesitation by now.

It hurts, a lot, like my chest is scrunched up and there's this very heavy feeling in it, but it's a decision we didn't make lightly,. I'm so embarrassed, I feel like those irresponsible pet owners who take and discard a pet, on the other hand it's like I was fostering the kitten for a month, still to me, no matter what anyone says, it's always going to feel like what people do when they pick up a cat and then get rid of it because it was too much trouble.
For me, Spaska isn't any kind of trouble or obligation, she is part of the family, but to the other cats she definitely is someone they have issues with and now that it affected their litterbox routine that's pretty much the worst that could've happened.

EDIT: right now we're at 50/50% of keeping or rehoming Spaska because we're soooo attached to her
the other cats are fine with her too, it's just Mila got spooked, wish everyone was like Casper and didn't care one way or another, he just does whatever he wants and doesn't care if Spaska is watching him poop or whatever, he is so chill. He even stopped caring about that construction that freaked him out last year, he just learns to adapt and doesn't care about nothin.

EDIT: With Spaska in my Computer Room and Kala clawing at the door frantically, Mla FINALLY went to poop and pee on her own. She has never taken this long to pass stool.
As soon as I saw Mila eyeing one of the litterboxes I gathered up some toys, got Spaska in the room with me, of course Kala started clawing at the door as soon as it closed, I let her in. As soon as Spaska heard Mila in the litterbox she tried to go to her, but, there was a door in the way wouldn't you know it.
If I can hold out for about a month and ensure Spaska doesn't bother Mila, I'm sure we can keep her. It's just this dumb phase of her needing to police Kala and ESPECIALLY Mila needs to end already.

I just want people to not get annoyed by me, I can't apologize enoug
but as you guys can see, everything is fine for a week or two and then new issues pop up, related to the kitten or not it's something to deal with.
And of course with 4 cats in the house, we all know how they get around litterboxes, so I try to address issues on time and ensure there's as little pressure and stress on the cats as possible.

I'm going to talk to some people I can trust about lining up a potential new home if things don't work out, I've already talked to some but it's hard finding people you can fully trust on this stuff.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by fjm »

I think you are doing very well. In the last few weeks you have successfully reared a kitten that needed constant, intensive care, integrated her into a household of established cats, brought Mila through a serious health crisis and coped with sundry other alarums and excursions, plus endured exceptionally hot weather. I don't think you need to apologise in the least for feeling the need to unload a little on a sympathetic forum!

And it does sound as if you are on the right track. The more often Mila can use the tray without being hassled by Spaska the sooner she will regain confidence, and it is great that she does not associate discomfort with the tray. I would invite her in with you any time you are visiting, and continue to try to distract Spaska whenever Mila gets that certain look in her eyes. And if it is not sorted in a month or so and looks like being a permanent problem there is no shame in putting the needs of the long term residents ahead of those of the new arrival - quite the reverse, in fact. You and the cats will have have raised a little waif into a happy, healthy kitten who at 12 weeks would be at the best age for rehoming, and who thanks to your care will thrive in a new home should it prove necessary. That is something to be proud of.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Mollycat »

Listen to fjm, very wise words. Please wait and bear with a while longer, she should grow out of it and for the sake of a few more weeks for a potential lifetime, I hope you can give her just a little more time to come good, and Mila will be fine even if she has a little blip for a while.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Joe_Danger »

This is such an amazing posts you guys make, thank you soooo much :D
I just worry that if Mila pees outside even once or twice, she'd permanently start having litterbox issues.
When I was little I had a cat who had permanent litterbox problems and we've been pretty emotionally scarred/scared ever since of any litterbox issues popping up again yet that doesn't stop us from loving and raising cats.

I'm so so so glad I got all my work done by the time Spaska arrived so I can focus on the cats properly.
Granted I work from home, I'm a freelance artist/illustrator, here's what I do just to give you some context not advertising myself or nothing
https://www.deviantart.com/shinigamikiba/gallery

and now I'm hoping that for the next month I won't get any new work so I can pay attention to the cats, I sitll pay attention to them while drawing but when drawing I like to put my headphones on, blast my American country music or 80's japanese city pop or something or some video game music and I can't always hear what's going on around me :)

Thank you so much for the support, hope y'all won't mind if I keep posting/editing my posts, it helps me emotionally a great deal to talk about stuff and when I write it down, share it with others and see it in writing it helps clear my mind.
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Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Mollycat »

Nobody knows Mila like you do but in almost all cases once the cause of stress is removed the cat returns to good litter tray etiquette. Cats are by nature clean animals, and not being clean is a sure sign there is a problem, and if you already know what the problem is before any problems start, you're ahead of it and on top of it.

I will have a look at your work later, thank you!

And yes, please do keep sharing and posting, as I said beforeas well as helping and supporting you it is useful referring back later and for anyone else looking for help.
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Ruth B
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Posts: 1998
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:31 am
No. of cats in household: 3
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Ruth B »

I can only say how impressed I am with what you have accomplished over the last few weeks. During that time I have been on a roller coaster ride myself with my golden oldie, and had a couple of times when i really wasn't sure she was going to make it. During that period, you have had one of your resident cats at deaths door with Strep Throat, the worry another one was getting it or suffering from heat stroke, as well as raising a kitten that without your help would never have had a chance to survive. That you, Milla, Caspar, and Spaska have come through all that relatively unscathed, not forgetting Kala as well who it seems has taken it all in their stride, is a testament to how well you have looked after them all, and your own strength in coping with it all happening at once.

I know from experience that the calm voices on here can really help when things seem bad and can help us through the hard times. Tiggy once more seems to have pulled through her latest scare, she has given us one every year for the last 4 years about, so I'm reckoning at this rate we have another 4 or 5 years with her as she works her way though her 9 lives.

So as said before, post all you want, I like the updates, and it might be useful to someone else in the future, in the end anyone that doesn't want to read what you have gone through doesn't have to but those of us that do want to know how things are going will take the time to read it.
User avatar
Ruth B
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 1998
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:31 am
No. of cats in household: 3
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Found a month old stray kitten and brought it home, now what?

Post by Ruth B »

I've just had a look at your art, and that is wonderful as well, you are really talented. Some of it is a bit too cutesy for my liking, but I would imagine would be great in a children's fantasy book, the phoenix/firebird, however, just took my breath away it is beautiful.

I don't know if you have come across the Virtual Table Top platforms that are out there, used for running Roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons over the internet. As a roleplayer myself I use one of them Roll20, Foundry and Fantasy Grounds are the other two big players at the moment, but I don't really know how they work. I know Roll20 has a market place where people can sell their art work for people to use in games, I've bought things from it to use in the games I run. There is a process you have to go through before you can sell your work on it, but it might be worth a look and could be another outlet for what you do.
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