i really need major help on this.. i got a new kitten, her mom died,, she's only about 2 weeks..?

Question

she's a "turkish angorian" cat.. those white one's with blue eyes. pink paws. they're just beautiful and the vet said she is rare! anyhow, this is 4 u who have good experience in raising cats. it's known ofcourse that cats do pass many kinds of dieseases to humans, especially to females, u know it affects females in the future (regardless the far/near future) esp. in pregnancy and such stuff.. what is the solution? and does it affect or pass deseases to kids, children or teenagers if they sleep in their beds? actually i have MANY wonderings, they're not all coming to me at the moment. but i will SO MUCH appreciate it if u can give me effective tips on how to raise this kitten indoors without it passing deseases to the family members. without it having flea or any kind of those insects? anything, any tip or piece of info will REALLY help! the last question, my house is really small.. 2 bedrooms, a sitting room. tiny dining room, so where is the best place to put her food in? kitchen?

Answer 1

Hi there...the Turkish Angora breed are very rare and recently have made a return to the US/Canada. They are quite prized too. Hopefully she will only be an indoor-only cat as she would be quickly adopted by someone.

ctwitch24 offers excellent advise on nursing care for very young kittens if your kitten is under 6 weeks of age. Over that age she should begin to be able to eat kitten food (either canned or solid), however begin with canned so they can adjust gradually changing to solids.

Disease transmission from cats to humans is very minimal. However, if a woman is pregnant her physician will advise that someone else clean the litter box as it can cause toxoplasmosis from the cat's feces. Additionally, if the cat goes outdoors it can pick up certain parasites such as worms, fleas, which both can be treated easily and quickly from your vet. DO NOT use a flea collar as they have been known to cause serious medical injuries and be fatal. Hartz and other over the counter products have lawsuits against them because of owner's losing their pet's life to the products. (Please see the first weblink listed below.) However, if your cat will be an indoor-only pet this will become less of a risk and there will be little or no need to use a flea deterrent product.

Sleeping with the cat is fine as millions of people do and presents little problems. If your children have any pet allergies then it's best suggested to give the cat it's own bed to sleep to help lower the allergy attacks (e.g. sneezing, asthma or similar).

The kitchen ideally is a good area to place the food and water sources as it makes it easier for you to get her fresh water daily from the nearby sink. Please remember to keep the litter box and food sources apart as cats generally don't like them too close in proximity to one another.

Finally, the best advice to answer any of your concerns would best come from your vet rather than anyone here in the group. As a disclaimer you need to realize anyone here may be well- intensioned to help you with their answers, however they should only be taken as suggestions.Therefore, as with anything these suggestions SHOULD PLEASE BE DISCUSSED WITH YOUR VET BEFORE DOING ANYTHING. Vets are medically trained professionals and know what is in the best interest of your pet's healthcare. They can also answer many of the questions you have asked here and probably confirm or negate anything we've passed along to you.

I've enclosed another website that explains how to best raise orphaned kittens with feedings and care in general.

Answer 2

The only time I have ever heard of cats causing illness to people is in pregnancy, and that is avoidable by just not changing the littler box. Cats are very neat and tidy animals- great pets! If it stays indoors, then the worry about bugs and fleas and such is already eliminated. And even fleas are easily treated these days. I would suggest you just teach other family members to wash their hands after handling, before eating, etc. Regular old good hygine is good enough! Our cats sleep with my kids, they snuggle with us all of the time and the only downfall is waking up covered in cat hair! Haha!

Now as far as the cats go, we got 2 of our cats at 2 weeks old, they were abandoned by Mom. They are too young to eat cat food and to use a litter box. We got cat formula and kitten and puppy baby bottles at the pet store and we were able to bottle feed the kittens. We had to poke quite a few holes in the nipples of the bottles so that the flow was right for the kittens, and it took some getting used to but they did great. We weaned them at about 6 weeks old and to this day my daughter loves that the big boy cat sucks her finger (weaned too soon I guess) You also have to take a warm damp wash cloth and hold it on the kittens bottom so they can go pee and poop. The Mommy cat usually licks the area and they excrete urine and feces upon stimulation. They will not be able to use a litter box for a while still. When the kitty is older you just need to be sure to keep the litter box clean and put the food dishes wherever you like, they will learn. My cats are such stinkers that if I am not up at the crack of dawn to feed them, they get into the pantry and tear open the food bag and help theselves! Enjoy your new baby, hope i have helped!

Answer 3

Im a kid, 13 years old, and I have had 2 cats in my life time. I have never gotten any diseases from either cats. To keep fleas away, keep a good flea collar on at all times, this way, the cat can never get fleas because the flea collar will kill them right away. We had to change my cats flea collar about a month ago right before we went on vacation, he is an indoors cat, so we took off his old flea collar but didnt put his new one on because we didnt want him to have any type of allergic reaction while we were 7 hours from home. When we got back, he had fleas! I still dont know how he got them but he was only without his collar for a little over a week! By the way, do not get the 2 dollar ones, they do not work, get a 4-5 dollar ones. The one I use is great, Im not sure what brand it is, but it is white with a pinkish-purple stripe on it. My cats fleas started disapearring within the hour. Good luck =)
And I think a kitchen would be the best place for food.

Answer 4

Petco and Petsmart or any pet store would have the ready to feed milk or powder to mix to feed this baby kitten. When she's about four weeks old you can try putting the milk in a small shallow bowl and in another week start putting kitten food soaked til soft in another bowl while still bottle feeding her. Please make sure that she eats kitten food for at least one year to make sure she gets nutritious food that kittens need for the first year of their life.

If she's an indoor cat, make sure she doesn't go out of the house because she might get a disease which is like 'aids' to cats called Feline Leukemia. It's a fatal disease. As for fleas, you can put on her those flea medications that you put on the top of her neck. I don't like the flea collars because it doesn't really seem to work and the fleas ends up in your house anyway...jumping off the cat. The medication works in the bloodstream and the fleas will continue eating off your cat and would die from the medicated blood.

Cats are one of the cleanest animals anyone could have if not the cleanest so your kids would be fine. For food, put it in a corner where she can't be disturbed while eating and easy access for her. I don't like kitchen because I still separate animals from human food. Visit these websites: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Cable/1796/kittens.html

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1388&articleid=906

Answer 5

Okay, I have 3 cats. I would put the cat food in the kitchen for if the cat makes a mess it is the easiest to clean up. Instead of vacuuming the carpet. And then you need to potty train your cat. You can put the litter box anywhere really. And you should go get your cat checked. You know for rabis and stuff like that. And I know dogs can wear a flea & tick collar. I am sure you can find one of those sorts of things for your cat at a local pet store. I also have to spray my dog with fly stuff. Because she is an outdoor dog and same with my cats. But make sure you treat your cat with alot of love and care. Cats are very sensitive and love attention. I would go to http://google.com and type in cats passing diseases to humans. Or something like that and you can get the right information you want if none of these answers from people help you. And I havn't heard of any humans getting sick from sleeping with their cat. Unless they are allergic to them. But then again you can google it and find out. I hope you have a great time with your cat. And he/she becomes a part of your family.


**Hope this helps hun**
And sorry for it being too long, if you didn't want to read alot.
Espicially, since alot of people will probably write alot too. And I am sure they're information is better than mine. Haha. Since I didn't really know. But I still don't think you can get diseases from the cat. And since your cat is only 2 weeks, I wouldn't be feeding to good just yet. I would still have the kitty on milk. Which you can get at a local pet store.

Answer 6

Seeing that she is really very young, you will need to bottle feed her before you start to worry about "real" food. Go to your local pet store, or grain store, and pick up some KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) and a small kitten bottle. Follow the directions on the formula. Do not feed her regular cow's milk.

You will need to stimulate her to use the bathroom after feeding her. Take a paper towel, tissue, or toilet paper and briskly rub her genitals to get her to urinate and defecate.

For now, I would keep her in a small carrier so that she doesn't wander during the night, and to keep her safe. You'll want to keep it (the carrier) 1/2 on, 1/2 off a heating pad so that she can stay warm, and move off the heat if she gets too hot.

What disease you are referring to is called Toxoplasmosis. I've included a link to the Center of Disease Control for more information regarding it. Use common sense when caring for the kitten; frequent hand washing and you should be okay.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/toxoplasmosis/factsht_toxoplasmosis.htm

The best information you can get is from your vet.

Answer 7

Don't know much about the scientific aspect of it, however I've known of plenty people who have raised cats around kids, without any illness caused, since the mother cat died you need to get a very small nipple and bottle feed, we used to use Similac child formula for our young puppies and it worked excellent, that is if the vet tells you otherwise, as for a place for feeding it could be anywhere, it is gonna be all over the house once it starts to walk anyways so you better get use to it, hope i helped.

Answer 8

Well at 2 weeks she should still be on milk not food. Most pet stores have cats milk for just this situation. You will have to bottle feed her every four hours or so hours for the next few weeks. I had to do this with my cat. He was only a week or so old when his mother abandoned him. He slept next to me, under my arm for weeks. I slept with the light on so i wouldn't sleep too deeply and roll over on him. It helped provide a bond that very young animals need to be emotionally and mentally sound. I used a shoe box for a small littler box and put him in it until he did his business after he ate and a cat carrier/pet taxi for him to sleep in when he wasn't sleeping with me. (I was at school) That way he wasn't roaming around the house and getting into trouble. He's now 13 years old, healthy and quite a grumpy old man but still good company.

I don't think you have a whole lot to worry about regarding disease but I would still take a trip to the vet to have your kitty checked. The vet will be able to give you more sound advice regarding care.

Answer 9

sounds like you need to go to the library or pet store and buy a book on kittens. At 2 weeks old you should be bottle feeding the kitten every 3-4 hours. Then at 6 weeks of age you should take the kitten to your vet and start vaccinations, your vet can help with the other questions

Answer 10

Purina has a really good website and you can ask specific questions. There is a disease that can be harmful to pregnant women called toxiplasmosis but it can only be transferred through contact with cat feces and cat litter. If you are pregnanat, just dont handle the litter. I have been a happy cat owner for years and I have never had to worry about diseases.