Siamese Kitten questions *for a cat nooby*?

Question

Hello you guys. Well, I have a 6-7 week old kitten that I rescued recently and I am new to cats so I have a couple of questions.

1.) She is a very social cat. Always purring by me, my friends, and my family. One thing she has trouble with is eating/drinking. My mom opened up a fresh can of food and she began to eat it right out of their, then she dumped it into her food bowl and she chewed it up. I have only had her for two days and she has only drunk water once and took little tiny sips (although she is very small, about the size of the palm of my hand*)

2.) Litter box. I have not seen her "go" yet but she used to live under a barber shop until her mother stopped winging her, and so she constantly runs under my bed. I see no trace of anything but it does smell a little bad. I put her in the litter box and she jumps out. I also did the "scooping trick" to make sure she notices it and all she does it take a look and run away!

3.) Sleeping. At first, all she did was hide under the right-hand corner of my bed and would not go to sleep ALL DAY! I bought her a little "kitten house" but she does not like it and quickly hops out! I eventually put an old shirt (soft, safe fabric do not worry) down and she curled up to it and fell asleep.

4.) Vet options. Can I take a cat at an early age to a vet? My mom says that she will not take her to get her shots until she is 10-12 wks old so I am a little frustrated since I am only 16.

5.) Bathing/Grooming. My cat has some pretty bad fleas since we rescued her, and I am not sure on what to do about it since cats hate water.

6.) Paranoia. I think my cat might be blind. She has cute blue eyes and dark black pupils but she does not seem to respond as much yet. She finds her way out though and to me so I doubt it.

7.) Playing/Toys. I have tried many of techniques today but it seems my little kitten is alarmed of almost every toy I have. (I have a mouse toy and some little balls she toys around with)

SO IN CONCLUSION, I have a nice little cat but I am just afraid of many different things!

Thank you

~Legend

Answer 1

I will give this a try:

1.  If she is eating canned food, might not drink much water.  Don't give her milk, as cows milk can upset her stomach.

2.  Keep putting her in the litter box. Make sure it is not too tall for her to get in.  Hold her over the litter and rake her feet in it.  If she goes on the floor, wipe with a paper towel and put the towel in the litter box so she will find it by smell.

3.  Sounds like she has found a place to sleep.

4.  She probably can't get shots until she is about 12 weeks old, but probably needs worm medicine as all kittens are born with worms.

5.  She is too young to use flea products on, so you should try to give her a bath or your house is going to be full of fleas in no time.  Don't use the flea products sold in stores, as they could kill your kitten.  You might try a flea collar.

6.  Cats don't open their eyes for a couple of weeks and maybe her eyesight just isn't good yet.

7.  She might be too small for your toys.  Try just some string (don't let her eat it) or a feather teaser toy.

In conclusion, sounds like you are going to be a great cat parent. Congratulation.  Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I use to breed Siamese and I think all the answers you've received so far are pretty good.

One thing to remember; kittens should stay with their mother for as long as possible; about 3 months is a good time to be adopted as they are pretty self sufficient by then.

What you've got is a very young kitten, so everything will scare it for a while.  Move very slowly, talk calmly to it and handle it carefully.  Let him sleep wherever it wants, and they don't normally use a bed, but prefer to lay on anything that you don't want cat hair on (inside joke).  Make sure as time goes by that you let it experience as much as you can, such as baths, cutting it's claws (not too short), brushing, car rides, etc. so when it gets older it will be that much more adjusted and easier to handle if needed.

It's never too young to take a little kit to the vet to get checked out.  They can provide alot of info on the little thing and give you some good advise.  I'd also get a book or scour the internet on the breed, as you really have your hands full if you have a Siamese.

The breed is more like a dog than a cat.  They connect to only one person and have very domineering personalities and are very vocal.  Get it fixed as soon as you can (5-6 months) and feed it until it can't eat anymore.  Kittens grow very quickly during the first year of their lives, and need the energy they get from the food.

It helps with the litter box to keep it very low for the little guy\girl and keep it close to their food or in a place they pass all the time.  When you see them squatting like they are going to urinate, etc., pick it up and put it in the litter box.  It will get the idea; some are more easy to train than others.  Keep in mind the Siamese breed are very intelligent so they normally learn very quickly.

Bathing:  A good way to bathe them is get your hand wet, and then use your hand to get their neck wet.  This will drive the fleas north and south, then you can wash them off the body atleast.  Fleas can kill a cat so important to get them off.  Use a flea comb (petco, any pet store) then you can use to get the remainder of the fleas off by combing them out.  Use only baby shampoo at this time; anything else will be too strong.

Playing:  Still too small to really play.  Just be there when it gets scared.  Hold it and talk softly.  I always click my tongue or suck in air with my teeth on my bottom lip to call them.  Don't use catnip until they're atleast 6 months old.  What you have now is equivelant to a baby who's a year old.  

Blind?:  Still really young so not too adjusted.  Siamese are one of the few breeds that always have blue eyes.  Most kittens have blue eyes when they're born, and as they grow, the color will change.  Siamese are also normally born all white, and their points (tail, ears, feet and face) darken as they get older.  There are different types, such as bluepoint, chocolate point, silver point, etc.  The colors depend on the type.  I bred chocolate point and stopped since the overpopulation of cats that die yearly without homes.  I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.

Sleeping:  What sleep?  Cats are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day.

But have faith.  Cats are amazing creatures that add so much joy and happiness into our lives.   I love their feminine and independent ways.

Lucky you; have fun, love it like crazy and you'll have a great companion for 15+ years to come.

Answer 3

When you say you "rescued" this cat, was it an outdoor cat or from the Humane Society or something else? It could be just a matter of this being a baby kitten. They check things out as they wish. Add in the Siamese factor and you could have your hands full as they are usually pretty... stubborn. I would give the poor thing some more time to adjust to life in your house before worrying about any of its habits.

As for the fleas, those need to go. That simple. Chances are the mother cat, if this was an outdoor rescue, had fleas so the mother was low on blood and couldn't nourish the kittens as needed so it is very important to make sure that gets taken care of.

As for the shots, my kitten came from the Humane Society, he was 8weeks old and already was given his first dose of shots and been fixed so perhaps if it does seem like there are some unhealthy elements there (I.E. fleas, possible blindness) you should talk to her and explain that at the Humane Society most kittens are given their first shots at/by 8weeks and also fixed at 8weeks. Some have told me that is too young but with the Humane Society they really try to get them into adoptable stage ASAP since it is a non-profit agency and all. Plus, my little one has had no ill side-effects from being fixed so young. I should probably explain that my "little one" is now four years old, so I have had lots of time to notice any type of bad side-effect were there any.

With the flea issue best thing to do, in my opinion, is try to get your mother to change her mind about when she will take the kitten in. If nothiing else, tell her she does NOT want a flea-infested house. That should do the trick. It worked for me once, many years, when I was trying to get her to take in a kitten I saved from the streets.

I just hope everything works out for both your kitten and you. Remember, my issue with kind of forcing the vet option is based on your opinions and you are the one who lives with the kitten daily and can tell if thngs aren't quite right. It's only a matter of taking the kitten in a week or two earlier, at most, and IF the kitten has any eye problem perhaps it will be found earlier and end up being a matter of just needing eyedrops or some such.

My best wishes to you and your family.

Answer 4

1. She has trouble eating/drinking because she is extremely young and is probably not properly weaned...make sure you are using only really good quality kitten food, and only wet food as this will up her water intake.  keep at the water thing, she'll get the hang of it!

2. move her into the bathroom for a few days, only put out some food, water, a bed and her litter box.  Being in a smaller area will help you notice whether she's using the box or not.  Keep this up for a few days, and she should also start using the box...

3. Sleeping, she's still very young, so will spend a LOT of time sleeping, don't worry about it, if she's sleeping, let her.

4. Vet visit, I would still ask your mom if you can take her to the vet, just for a once over, they can reccommend a flea treatment that is safe for young kittens, as well as potentially deworming her, which is something that may need to be done.  (Maybe suggest to your mom that this trip will come out of your allowance)  Another way to 'encourage' your mom to let you take her is to say that if the flea thing carries on, your entire house could be infested.  Don't use the products from the shops, they are not designed for such young kittens, and could make her seriously sick, or die.

5. Covered above, but you can bathe your kitten, just make sure you do it on a warm day, and put her on the windowsill to dry!  Again, you will have to use specially formulated shampoo for extremely young kittens, you could also pick that up at the vet.

6. Don't worry, it's just because she's so young still, she's like a puppy that runs into your feet when they come say hello - remember, she's been under a house in a really small space, and needs to develop her depth perception.

7. She is also still very young for toys...when I got my boy, he was already 8 weeks old, and he was terrrified of most of his toys...it took him a few more weeks to realize that they were for fun, not for frightening!

You should be very proud of being such a responsible pet owner, even though you have never had a cat, you obviously care a lot about whether you are doing the right things or not!

Good luck, and enjoy!

Answer 5

Ok,

1 - that seems to be ok. They drink when they're thirsty and the canned food has a lot of moisture.

2. Move the litter box closer to where she's staying. she may be afraid of going out of the bedroom right now. You can shift it later once she's familiar with the whole house.

3. Cats never use bought cat houses, they'll curl up to sleep on anything comfortable. Get some old towels and put them where you want her to sleep, or where she finds it convenient.  She'll use those.

4. Phone your vet, ask any questions you want.  They'll give you answers. Ask about flea treatments too.

5. Some cats are fine with water. They do NOT like being submerged, but can be ok with a bath. Don't do it more than once every few months though as it strips the oils out of their fur and can cause dry skin and dandruff.

6. Don't worry. She's young, all kittens have blue eyes.  Siamese cats KEEP their blue eyes all their lives. You're describing something normal.

7. Use smaller toys--crumple up some paper balls, that's all she needs. They should be small enough to move with her feet when she wants to bat at them.   Don't use string, they eat that and it can be a vet emergency to get it before it hurts them.

Use patience.  She's new in a brand new environment with giants living in the rooms. Of course she's a bit scared and not sure what's going to happen.  Talk to her quietly.  Rub under her chin if she'll let you, and move your fingers along the side of her face, that's a cat greeting that they all love.

Flea collars don't work at killing fleas, they only repel the flea away from the neck area.  Use a flea comb on her and push the fleas into a glob of vasoline, that'll kill them.  She's too young to use Advantage on.  I'd stay away from collars too, far too many kittens try to get them off and end up with the collar choking them when they get their lower jaw caught under it.

Answer 6

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