Kittens from a travellers site?

[Caz339]

Hello
I'm new to kittens so not much experience and have been looking out for some for a while now.
My friend has told me about some kittens 10 weeks old on a travellers site they are giving away.
The women said they are very friendly, use to humans but not litter trained.
Do you think they would make nice house pets?
would be healthy?
And ok to litter train even at 10 weeks?

Any advice?
Kind regards

[Walesgang]

There is no reason to think that these poor kitties will be better or worse than other kittens.

A lot depends on exposure to good things (socialising etc) and bad things (illnesses etc).

I would be tempted to give them a chance. Providing they have been used to being handled they should be ok to socialise. Litter training should also be fine. I litter trained my two former farm cats when they were about 5 years old!

They don't have the benefit of having their mum showing them what to do, but with mine, I put them into a litter tray when I thought like they were starting to think about toiletting. They picked it up quickly.

Off on a tangent - I would also try to gently encourage the travellers to get mum speyed. Gypsies can be a proud race, and can take what they think as criticism badly. With the farmer we got ours from, we focussed on good things for him, like mum was a good little hunter and having kittens could end her working days. Cat protection may be willing to help.

Please let us know what you decide to do.

[Caz339]

Ok thank you.

I also guess they have never been wormmed or fleed protected I wonder if at 10 weeks how bad this is for them?

[MarkB]

Your vet can recommend safe flea & worm treatments for young kittens, but as far as I know, they are prescription items. I could he wrong, but I believe Frontline spray (not spot-on) is safe as a flea treatment and Panacur granules for worming. I have never had kittens, only adults.

[Lilith]

Hi there - I got involved with a feral group a good while back and took 4 kittens from a derelict garage. Their mother and an older sister and aunt were already coming for food. The kits must have been 6 weeks old or so and had never had human contact (I got well bitten by one for my pains lol.) Before I got access to the garage I used to take food to them and watch them through the door. The place was piled high with junk and filthy - it was heartbreaking to watch one little mite playing with a scrap of mucky paper.

I had to keep them 3 or 4 days before the CPL would take them, and was warned by another cat rescue worker that no shelter would take them unless they were rehomable ie socialised, so an intensive socialisation programme began - I sat with them for hours and talked to them and played gentle games with dried grass and feathers, encouraging them to climb on to me to catch the feather, and generally get used to a human presence and scent. I had to keep them in the bathroom where there were no spots in which to hide; had I been keeping them as my own pets I would have given them a safe place to hide and get used to me gradually. By the end of their time with me they would all be picked up and weren't afraid of me - it did help that they associated me with food and would yell for their grub whenever they saw me - cats are very quick at realising which side their bread is buttered lol.

They had a tray of course, and would you believe it, they never made a mistake! Coming from that mucky hole, I expected them to do it everywhere, but no, they appreciated their nice clean tray, and used it every time.

Fleas - oh boy! After they had left, I lifted their blanket out of their bed and flea dirts ran off it like sand...but there are some very good safe flea and worming remedies for kittens and cats these days.

There's no reason to suppose they won't have been well-fed, but if their mother has been ratting and mousing and/or scavenging for them (as my queens did; I was once brought a nice chicken joint!) their diet may have been a bit hit and miss, and you may find that they have runny motions when adjusting to conventional food. I don't remember this happening with the kittens, but one of my older girls did have diarrohea at first. Worms can cause this too, as you'll know.

Hope you and your new kitties are very happy together - I think they will soon settle with you

[Crewella]

The rescue that I foster for has often taken on kittens that are riddled with fleas and worms, and they seem to do fine after they are treated. Frontline spray is OK for kittens, and when I took on Magic the kitten the vet gave her Milbemax wormer, but I think it is a prescription item.

[Caz339]

Hello all,
After your advice (so far! As I don't want to tempt fate) I'm really pleased we took a chance and went to see the kittens. They were on a farm with quite a few other cats so were currently living out side but had had adult cuddles from older child there.
We took two lovely girl kittens who are beautiful and a quick trip to vet vets to worm them flea them and got the all Ok on there health. They are lovely. My boys play with them and cuddle and stroke them and pluck them up. Also which is sooooo amazing is they never seen a litter tray before and right away picked it up! No misses so far!
I love our new additions.
I will keep you all posted. Xxx

[bobbys girl]

Very pleased for you all. Photo's please!

[Crewella]

That's wonderful - I hope you are all very happy together.

[Caz339]

I'm not great with commuters but will try my best to upload photos.

One more question, the vet spayed my kittens with flea spray and gave them a worm tablet but I've still seen some fleas. Can they be past to my children?. And the same with worms? I'm pretty sure I have seen what looks like worms in their poo so wonder is this possible to pass this on to my children or me?

Just checking?

[Crewella]

The worms in their poo show the wormer is working - I imagine they are mostly dead. Much the same with the fleas, though you might need to treat their bedding as well - check with your vet if you are still seeing them after a week.

In my experience, cat fleas don't bite people when there are cats around, and I am always quite careful with cat litter trays anyway - basic hygiene will suffice. Many posters here have had both cats and babies, and I'm sure will be able to give you better assurances. I've had cats, but not kids!

[Walesgang]

Worms in poo normally indicate they are dead. I would keep up with worming, keep kids away from trays. Fleas will hopefully sort themselves out!

Well done by the way!

Did you get to suggest getting mum speyed?

Photos would be lovely!

[bobbys girl]

In my experience, cat fleas don't bite people when there are cats around,

Really? Not in my experience. Perhaps we just have mutant fleas in Fermanagh!

Mind you, this is coming from someone who gets eaten alive by midges just going to get the post from the box! OH says it's because I'm so sweet! Ha, Ha!

Good news on the kitties. We'd love to see some pics.

[Crewella]

OH and I obviously just taste revolting!

[Fran_ki]

This is lovely news Caz ! So pleased you went to get the wee ones and they seem to be coming on great.
You've given them a great wee life in their new home , they sound as if they've got their paws firmly under the table now
Look forward to a wee photo or 2 hopefully

[Caz339]

Hope this photo comes out!
We all love them both loads, even with fleas and worms! Great news and we'll keep on top of treatment. They are wonderful xxx

[bobbys girl]

Oh wow, they are BEAUTIFUL, and what a striking colour!

[Walesgang]

They are stunning - well done