Can anyone help us with our stray kitten?

Question

This afternoon a stray kitten decided she liked me (and since I'm still a third grade kid inside, I liked her and wanted to keep her.) I checked around the neighborhood and no one knew where she belonged. My boyfriend and I decided to put her in the backyard, gave her kitten food and water and placed a cat bed in a covered shelter.

We've decided to keep her. She was thirsty and hungry (more so than normal) so I'm not sure whoever she belonged to was taking care of her. And, let's face it, we are both suckers for animals in need.

We already have a 10 year old cat who really does believe the world revolves around her (our fault, cuz we spoil her). I know we need to keep the new kitten away from our cat until we can check for disease.

Is there anything else we need to worry about? Any ideas on how to introduce the new kitten into our household- our cat has already started hissing at the window. I've never taken in a stray before. I'm mostly concerned with keeping our cat safe.

Answer 1

The main thing to be concerned with is testing for FELV/FIV. Both are non-curable diseases that are fatal. Your house cat should be immunized against it but I'm not 100% sure it's completely effective.

Second, keep the cat in quarantine for a minimum of a week to see if it develops any respiratory illnesses such as herpes/calicivirus. These cannot be 100% immunized against and are very common in cats. I would vacinate the kitten immediately with the distemper shot to be safe.

Lastly, have a fecal done to check for any internal parasites. The only thing the fecal cannot check for is tapeworms. That's something you'll have to look out for. Treatment is fairly easy for this.

Oh and as for fleas, a capstar treatment will kill all the fleas on the kitten in a matter of minutes (assuming the kitten is old enough) and is available at most vets. Follow up with frontline for continued protection. If your pets are indoors only (which is great), then you shouldn't have to medicate them monthly.

Introducing a cat to another cat requires patience on your part and on your cat's. It's important to make sure your current cat knows she's still number 1 to you. Females can get incredibly territorial to other female cats but the good thing is that it's a kitten. I've rarely seen other cats that are not fairly forgiving of kittens and their behavior. Your adult cat will teach the little one the rules and they should do ok together. When introducing other cats to mine, I've found out that feeding them a treat.. such as canned cat food is particularly effective at getting them used to each other. They're usually too happy pigging out to get angry. Otherwise, put them in the same room and see how they do. Separating them may not be necessary depending on how fast both fuzzbutts adapt.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You can't convince your cat that the kitten doesn't exist, but you can fool her nose. Since you have arranged bedding for the kitten, try to get something your cat lays on. Maybe give her a big soft towel and let her lay around on it for a couple of days. Otherwise, while you are petting her, stroke her with the towel, so that her smell gets all over it.

The next thing is to get Cat #1 smell on the kitten, and, for this, the process is the same. If the kitten will lay on the towel in its shelter, then, that should work.

By the time you bring the two together, the kitten will smell like your cat, and it works a good deal of the time to fool cat #1 that cat #2 smells just like it ought to to be a member of your family.

Expect some spitting and swatting, but apart from looking alarming, it is usually harmless. It takes some time, depending on the individual personality, but I have a 13 year old male, who is now grooming a 3 1/2 month old male. Hope it helps.

Answer 3

I've read in a cat book that the best way to introduce a new cat into the household is to first put the new cat in a room by itself and keep the door close. let your 10 year old cat smell the other cat from underneath the door. as they get better accustomed to each other that way, start introducing them together under supervised conditions for a short time, two or three times a day, may 10 or so minutes. each day increase the amount of time the two spend together, still supervised until they are comfortable with each other and when you feel you can trust them to be together without supervision and not tear each other apart.

Answer 4

Take the baby to the vet, first, and get her checked over, get her shots, and get her wormed. You may want to get some wormer for your other cat, too, in case they're not all out of the baby when you bring her home. Then keep them separate a little bit, but pay lots of attention to the older cat, so she doesn't get too jealous. Make sure, at least for the first few days, that the two aren't alone together much. I guarantee, the baby can get away from the old one; and the old one will teach the young one respect! Mostly, don't give your old one reason to be jealous and you'll be ok.

Answer 5

hey, i was in the same exact situation. my older cat is the king of the house and he knows that and i decided to take in a new kitten, and it was bad, i mean real bad. but don't worry it takes alot of time and lots of patience but in the end they'll get along, mine did. what i did was i followed some steps that i read in a book, first of all, don't ever just throw them in one room together, you have to take the steps gradually in their formal introduction. first off, place one cat in one room and the other cat in the other room, make sure these rooms are close together though so under the door the cat can smell the other cat. then take a piece of cloth place the cloth of one of your cats and then place it with the other cat so he can smell it and get use to the smell of the other cat. and do so vice versa. also, switch food plates with them. and also their beds, trade it back and forth every other day, they'll get use to it. most importantly be patient and becareful cats are real dominant about their area and it may require special care on your part to keep the peace between them. eventually one day after awhile take them out when you feel their ready , they will jump on each other and chase each other around, but that is normal cause they need to get to know each other, eventually they'll calm down and learn how to live together on their own. but don't forget to keep an eye on them till they're ok. they may never become best friends but they will find a way to get along, and time will ease everything. but make sure the kitten grows up a little more (depending how small he or she is), so the cat could defend itself and not be scared of the older cat. i suggest alot of patience and you'll get through it. i did and i didn't think it was possible. Good Luck and God Bless. =)

Answer 6

Here's a link to an article from Catwatch, the newsletter of the Cornell Feline Health Center, about introducing a new cat to an established one.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/news/introductions.htm

Be patient. From the time my late great Rusty came around ad a half-grown feral, was taken in by the folks next door, gradually moved in with us and finally gained the acceptance of my dear departed Scooter it was over a year from first meeting until real friendship. Rusty wanted to be friends with Scooter from the start, but Scooter took a while to come around to the idea that there was room in our family (or on this planet) for more than one cat. But once Rusty taught Scooter that two cats are better than one The Boys became like brothers .

Good luck with your new kitty!

Answer 7

You are right about taking it to the vet before you introduce it to your cat. I did not do this and it ended up the kitten I brought home had fleas really bad and my cat ended up getting them.

You just need to make sure your cat still feels loved. Make sure you spend time with both of the cats, not just the stray. Also, make sure they have their own dishes and toys at first. It only took my cats a couple of weeks until the were buddies.

Good Luck

Answer 8

My aunt adopted two cats (at different times) when she got the new one at home she just watch them for awhile. They hissed and growled at each other for a couple of weeks. But in time they started to like each other. Now over a year later they are fine. Just keep an eye on them and they should work it out for themselves..

Answer 9

Sorry you answered one question - not a male. Take it to the Vet for a check up and shots.

Answer 10

your older cat will get upset. she will probably run away. it happened to me before, believe me. you have to let your older cat to decide if the kitty can get in.
abuot the diseases, take the ktty to the vet. give the kitty a deep bath when you enter him to the house (it'll be better if you use a baby shampoo or a soft soap), to wash all the outdoor dirth away.