Anyone have any experience with kitten rescue?

avian chaos · 10-26-2006, 01:23 PM

I was making dinner the other night when I turned around to throw something away and saw staring at me a tiny little grey kitten. I opened the sliding glass door and she was completely unphased by anything we did. She let us hold her, pet her, and now we've kind of decided to "adopt" her, even though we don't let her sleep in our apartment 'cause we're not allowed to have pets.

The thing is, she is probably only two months old and a huge sack of bones. Literally, you can run your hand around her as lightly as you'd like and still feel every single bone protruding out of her body.
If we keep feeding and taking care of her, will she grow to be healthy, or could something worse be going on-- is a trip to the vet in order ?

We already plan on getting her spayed when she's old enough. She's got a bit of a cold as it is, I just hope nothing terrible is wrong with her...

waltermcphilp · 10-26-2006, 01:27 PM

id get her checked out. if shes been on the streets she could have some disease. but start slow with food. don't just throw a whole bunch at her. her stomach needs to get used to it for being hungry so long

the · 10-26-2006, 01:28 PM

ILU kimmy

if she's just skinny, i don't think you should worry. she's just a poor kitty

!!!!!!!
the only thing that could be terribly wrong with her would be... if her fur would come easily off or something. or if she had some weird skin disease.

just make her fat.

avian chaos · 10-26-2006, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the

ILU kimmy

if she's just skinny, i don't think you should worry. she's just a poor kitty

!!!!!!!
the only thing that could be terribly wrong with her would be... if her fur would come easily off or something. or if she had some weird skin disease.

just make her fat.

I was thinking along those same lines, too. She looks pretty healthy aside from the whole sack of bones thing. Her fur looks kinda squirrely sometimes, but that's just the nature of strays. They're so cute when they look all whacky! She doesn't even seem like she's got a flea problem. I've seen a couple and she's got the tell tale "flea dirt" in her fur, but she's not infested with them or anything. I'm going to buy her an all natural flea collar today when I get home from class.

I'ma maker real fat now

Oh yeah and we named her YOSHI!!!

wHATcOLOR · 10-26-2006, 02:26 PM

/\ To Me My Board! to thread pls

10-26-2006, 02:26 PM

man, "YOSHI" ruined thsi thread for me

KrazeeStacee · 10-26-2006, 02:26 PM

If she's 2 months that means she's just been weened probably - 8 weeks is when they're finally old enough to be away from the mother.

I'd say take her to the vet either way - she may have some sort of parasite or disease that you won't know about until they do bloodwork and fecal tests. They'll be able to tell you then what she should be fed based upon the results. Chances are she's just hungry but it could be something more serious since she has an unknown past.

Also, nowadays vets do speutering as early as 8 weeks - so talk to the vet about that. Some don't but a lot do.

Irridescent Fairysex · 10-26-2006, 02:27 PM

There's no place for two Yoshi's in the board. I propose a pet deathmatch.

KrazeeStacee · 10-26-2006, 02:27 PM

BTW It took a lot for me to read your post because I'm eating :x (re:avatar)

KrazeeStacee · 10-26-2006, 02:30 PM

Also you should test the elasticity (sp?) of her skin - if you pull it up does it snap right back or does it kind of ease back into place? If she's that underweight she could also be dehydrated - if the skin doesn't SNAP right back then take her to the vet immediately.

KrazeeStacee · 10-26-2006, 02:34 PM

Sorry I'm reading this thread in pieces. Don't use flea collars! Esp. on a kitten - they can seriously irritate the skin. If she's got flea dirt and there's even just a couple - there could be more and they could also infest your house...they multiply FAST. Plus that could mean that if she ingested any she's gonna get worms in a few weeks...so watch her stool.

For fleas, get Fronline - it's the best. Just one application and they're history - plus it doesn't irritate the skin or anything like that.

avian chaos · 10-26-2006, 05:24 PM

Thanks Stacey

I knew there had to be someone here who's dealt with this sort of thing before!

Ugh, I'm so troubled because we're leaving tomorrow afternoon for the weekend, and if she comes meowing around our backyard I will feel so guilty for not being there

And also not being around to take her to the vet until the middle of next week at the earliest

Worst kitten rescue-ist ever

Who else has a pet named Yoshi?

If it's any consolation, we decided to call her Yoshi, short for Yoshimi.

pete · 10-26-2006, 05:38 PM

My official party line is that cats are for annoying old women but your sense of caring has touched my iron heart.

Nimrod's Son · 10-26-2006, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avian chaos

"flea dirt"

eggs

I Ate My Hamster · 10-26-2006, 06:17 PM

http://www.centralpiercefire.org/ima...n%20rescue.jpg

ammy · 10-26-2006, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimrod's Son

eggs

and poo. blood. if you smear it with a bit of water, it'll be red.
blech.

i used to use only frontline, but my vet stopped carrying it.. i figured there was a reason, so i switched to advantix. not that we have enough flees for it to matter.

Luke de Spa · 10-26-2006, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ammy

i figured there was a reason

i bet it's money

ammy · 10-26-2006, 06:38 PM

good point.
i can't find frontline anywhere anymore though..

i was loyal, man!

avian chaos · 10-26-2006, 06:38 PM

KrazeeStacee · 10-26-2006, 07:18 PM

Actually I think Advantix is a little more expensive than Frontline...although that was just at the one store over here that I went to - could be different elsewhere.

I don't know why they wouldn't carry it - thankfully I've only had to use it once, but I've heard from a lot of others who treat fleas on a regular basis that Frontline's the quickest.

And Nimrod - the flea dirt is just flea poop...basically little dried blood particles. Their eggs are translucent. If you see salt and pepper-like stuff in the fur, the pepper is blood and the salt are eggs.

Fleas can lay up to 20 eggs in a day, so even though she doesn't seem to be infested, there's no such thing as a few fleas. If you've brought her into the house at all, I suggest cleaning really good and perhaps even getting some flea spray (the eggs tend to fall off the animal and can scatter around your home). And like I said, make sure you check her stool for little rice like pellets - because where there's fleas, there's tapeworm. If she's got a tapeworm, just get her to the vet - they'll give her a shot and she'll be good to go.

If you can't get her to the vet until you get back - then just make sure you do as soon as you can because since she's so young, she could be in danger of serious health issues if left alone.

drmoon · 10-26-2006, 07:22 PM

if you keep her and plan on having her outdoors, please get her vaccinated for feline leukemia and feline aids.

it's really common and easy for an outdoor pet (even an indoor pet in some cases) to get

definitely take yoshi to the vet as soon as you can. also, POST PICS

obscured01 · 10-26-2006, 08:10 PM

Like everyone else said, I'd take her to the vet before you leave for the weekend, as she'll be there to be taken care of. Otherwise you could make alittle box for her outside to sleep in.

It's pretty common for outside cats feline lukemia (/sp) and feline aids. We've had two cats that we "adopted" as strays that had those and eventually died. So you want to get her checked out.

We have 3 boxes on our back porch for that little cat family. I haven't seen the papa cat lately, but the 4 kittens and the momma cat are still coming by to eat. I wish they weren't so wild that we could pet them.

obscured01 · 10-26-2006, 08:11 PM

oops, I should've read the above post.

Mablak · 10-26-2006, 08:22 PM

Respect for naming her yoshi. Boshi also would've been a good choice, the badass yoshi.

avian chaos · 10-26-2006, 10:36 PM

Thanks for all the help/advice, you guys. I appreciate it. Being paranoid of the flea problem I cleaned the house today, vacuumed and all that jazz. I don't have any flea spray or anything but next time I'm at the store I'll definitely pick some up. I definitely won't have time before we leave for the weekend, (we're leaving tomorrow at 4 and I have class until 3:50

) but I do have a large box tipped on it's side with a throw-away blanket inside that the kitten and some other neighborhood strays have been sleeping in lately. Hopefully the other strays will keep Yoshimi warm while I'm away for a couple days!

I did the skin fur test... It fell back in a reasonable amount of time, I think. I haven't seen her pewp yet but if I ever catch her pewping in my yard I'll go up to it with a microscope

Oh yeah, and someone said pics!

The first night when she showed up at our back door

This one looks pretty goofy

yo soy el mejor · 10-26-2006, 10:47 PM

in the second picture it looks like a face marykate olsen would make

anyway you should name your cat grey cat. or greyface. i guess that could be his nickname

yo soy el mejor · 10-26-2006, 10:49 PM

drmoon · 10-26-2006, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yo soy el mejor

in the second picture it looks like a face marykate olsen would make

anyway you should name your cat grey cat. or greyface. i guess that could be his nickname

i used to call my cat boy cat and greyface.

KrazeeStacee · 10-26-2006, 10:55 PM

She looks a little older than 8 weeks, btw...but she's definitely a cutie.

Reasonable amount of time?? It's gotta have a snap to it - I'd be kinda worried but as long as she's not lethargic or anything I'd say don't worry about it too much since there isn't really anything you can do at this point. Just maybe make sure she's got some food and sufficient water outside while you're gone and just get her to the vet as soon as you get home.

murgle · 10-27-2006, 12:54 AM

yeah, I'd say that she looks older than 8 weeks, definitely. she's probably hungry and a little (if not more) dehydrated. Make sure to leave lots of food and water out for her when you're gone.

The vet'll do all sorts of tests when you take her and that's good. definitely get Frontline or advantix. We use Frontline on all my outdoor kitties and they're always flea-free.

My last attempted rescue didn't end well, unfortunately, but this cat looks completely sane

10-26-2006, 01:23 PM	#1
avian chaos Braindead Location: Portland, OR Posts: 15,137	Anyone have any experience with kitten rescue? I was making dinner the other night when I turned around to throw something away and saw staring at me a tiny little grey kitten. I opened the sliding glass door and she was completely unphased by anything we did. She let us hold her, pet her, and now we've kind of decided to "adopt" her, even though we don't let her sleep in our apartment 'cause we're not allowed to have pets. The thing is, she is probably only two months old and a huge sack of bones. Literally, you can run your hand around her as lightly as you'd like and still feel every single bone protruding out of her body. If we keep feeding and taking care of her, will she grow to be healthy, or could something worse be going on-- is a trip to the vet in order ? We already plan on getting her spayed when she's old enough. She's got a bit of a cold as it is, I just hope nothing terrible is wrong with her...

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10-26-2006, 01:27 PM	#2
waltermcphilp Socialphobic Location: I DO C-C-C-COCAINE Posts: 11,142	id get her checked out. if shes been on the streets she could have some disease. but start slow with food. don't just throw a whole bunch at her. her stomach needs to get used to it for being hungry so long

10-26-2006, 01:28 PM	#3
the Minion of Satan Location: ajksaksak. Posts: 7,794	ILU kimmy if she's just skinny, i don't think you should worry. she's just a poor kitty !!!!!!! the only thing that could be terribly wrong with her would be... if her fur would come easily off or something. or if she had some weird skin disease. just make her fat.

10-26-2006, 02:26 PM	#5
wHATcOLOR THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Location: \|\| MY NAME IS KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID ROCK!! Posts: 46,831	/\ To Me My Board! to thread pls

10-26-2006, 02:26 PM	#6
Andrew Pakula Posts: n/a	man, "YOSHI" ruined thsi thread for me

10-26-2006, 02:26 PM	#7
KrazeeStacee Immortal Location: Sherwood Forest Posts: 21,296	If she's 2 months that means she's just been weened probably - 8 weeks is when they're finally old enough to be away from the mother. I'd say take her to the vet either way - she may have some sort of parasite or disease that you won't know about until they do bloodwork and fecal tests. They'll be able to tell you then what she should be fed based upon the results. Chances are she's just hungry but it could be something more serious since she has an unknown past. Also, nowadays vets do speutering as early as 8 weeks - so talk to the vet about that. Some don't but a lot do.

10-26-2006, 02:27 PM	#8
Irridescent Fairysex glug glug glug Location: Island of jocks and jazz Posts: 8,931	There's no place for two Yoshi's in the board. I propose a pet deathmatch.

10-26-2006, 02:30 PM	#10
KrazeeStacee Immortal Location: Sherwood Forest Posts: 21,296	Also you should test the elasticity (sp?) of her skin - if you pull it up does it snap right back or does it kind of ease back into place? If she's that underweight she could also be dehydrated - if the skin doesn't SNAP right back then take her to the vet immediately.

10-26-2006, 02:34 PM	#11
KrazeeStacee Immortal Location: Sherwood Forest Posts: 21,296	Sorry I'm reading this thread in pieces. Don't use flea collars! Esp. on a kitten - they can seriously irritate the skin. If she's got flea dirt and there's even just a couple - there could be more and they could also infest your house...they multiply FAST. Plus that could mean that if she ingested any she's gonna get worms in a few weeks...so watch her stool. For fleas, get Fronline - it's the best. Just one application and they're history - plus it doesn't irritate the skin or anything like that.

10-26-2006, 05:24 PM	#12
avian chaos Braindead Location: Portland, OR Posts: 15,137	Thanks Stacey I knew there had to be someone here who's dealt with this sort of thing before! Ugh, I'm so troubled because we're leaving tomorrow afternoon for the weekend, and if she comes meowing around our backyard I will feel so guilty for not being there And also not being around to take her to the vet until the middle of next week at the earliest Worst kitten rescue-ist ever Who else has a pet named Yoshi? If it's any consolation, we decided to call her Yoshi, short for Yoshimi.

10-26-2006, 05:38 PM	#13
pete Apocalyptic Poster Location: London Posts: 1,597	My official party line is that cats are for annoying old women but your sense of caring has touched my iron heart.

10-26-2006, 06:17 PM	#15
I Ate My Hamster Apocalyptic Poster Location: jersey Posts: 3,091	http://www.centralpiercefire.org/ima...n%20rescue.jpg

10-26-2006, 06:38 PM	#18
ammy yer mom Posts: 23,180	good point. i can't find frontline anywhere anymore though.. i was loyal, man!

10-26-2006, 07:18 PM	#20
KrazeeStacee Immortal Location: Sherwood Forest Posts: 21,296	Actually I think Advantix is a little more expensive than Frontline...although that was just at the one store over here that I went to - could be different elsewhere. I don't know why they wouldn't carry it - thankfully I've only had to use it once, but I've heard from a lot of others who treat fleas on a regular basis that Frontline's the quickest. And Nimrod - the flea dirt is just flea poop...basically little dried blood particles. Their eggs are translucent. If you see salt and pepper-like stuff in the fur, the pepper is blood and the salt are eggs. Fleas can lay up to 20 eggs in a day, so even though she doesn't seem to be infested, there's no such thing as a few fleas. If you've brought her into the house at all, I suggest cleaning really good and perhaps even getting some flea spray (the eggs tend to fall off the animal and can scatter around your home). And like I said, make sure you check her stool for little rice like pellets - because where there's fleas, there's tapeworm. If she's got a tapeworm, just get her to the vet - they'll give her a shot and she'll be good to go. If you can't get her to the vet until you get back - then just make sure you do as soon as you can because since she's so young, she could be in danger of serious health issues if left alone.

10-26-2006, 07:22 PM	#21
drmoon Ownz Location: fuckington, new fuckland Posts: 656	if you keep her and plan on having her outdoors, please get her vaccinated for feline leukemia and feline aids. it's really common and easy for an outdoor pet (even an indoor pet in some cases) to get definitely take yoshi to the vet as soon as you can. also, POST PICS

10-26-2006, 08:10 PM	#22
obscured01 Minion of Satan Location: DFW Tejas Posts: 9,693	Like everyone else said, I'd take her to the vet before you leave for the weekend, as she'll be there to be taken care of. Otherwise you could make alittle box for her outside to sleep in. It's pretty common for outside cats feline lukemia (/sp) and feline aids. We've had two cats that we "adopted" as strays that had those and eventually died. So you want to get her checked out. We have 3 boxes on our back porch for that little cat family. I haven't seen the papa cat lately, but the 4 kittens and the momma cat are still coming by to eat. I wish they weren't so wild that we could pet them.

10-26-2006, 08:11 PM	#23
obscured01 Minion of Satan Location: DFW Tejas Posts: 9,693	oops, I should've read the above post.

10-26-2006, 08:22 PM	#24
Mablak Minion of Satan Location: Well, if it isn't my old friend, Mr. McGreg, with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg! Posts: 6,413	Respect for naming her yoshi. Boshi also would've been a good choice, the badass yoshi.

10-26-2006, 10:36 PM	#25
avian chaos Braindead Location: Portland, OR Posts: 15,137	Thanks for all the help/advice, you guys. I appreciate it. Being paranoid of the flea problem I cleaned the house today, vacuumed and all that jazz. I don't have any flea spray or anything but next time I'm at the store I'll definitely pick some up. I definitely won't have time before we leave for the weekend, (we're leaving tomorrow at 4 and I have class until 3:50 ) but I do have a large box tipped on it's side with a throw-away blanket inside that the kitten and some other neighborhood strays have been sleeping in lately. Hopefully the other strays will keep Yoshimi warm while I'm away for a couple days! I did the skin fur test... It fell back in a reasonable amount of time, I think. I haven't seen her pewp yet but if I ever catch her pewping in my yard I'll go up to it with a microscope Oh yeah, and someone said pics! The first night when she showed up at our back door This one looks pretty goofy

10-26-2006, 10:47 PM	#26
yo soy el mejor Banned Location: all over the Internet Posts: 43,693	in the second picture it looks like a face marykate olsen would make anyway you should name your cat grey cat. or greyface. i guess that could be his nickname

10-26-2006, 10:49 PM	#27
yo soy el mejor Banned Location: all over the Internet Posts: 43,693

10-26-2006, 10:55 PM	#29
KrazeeStacee Immortal Location: Sherwood Forest Posts: 21,296	She looks a little older than 8 weeks, btw...but she's definitely a cutie. Reasonable amount of time?? It's gotta have a snap to it - I'd be kinda worried but as long as she's not lethargic or anything I'd say don't worry about it too much since there isn't really anything you can do at this point. Just maybe make sure she's got some food and sufficient water outside while you're gone and just get her to the vet as soon as you get home.

10-27-2006, 12:54 AM	#30
murgle Shaz doesn't fuck around. Location: dallas Posts: 9,260	yeah, I'd say that she looks older than 8 weeks, definitely. she's probably hungry and a little (if not more) dehydrated. Make sure to leave lots of food and water out for her when you're gone. The vet'll do all sorts of tests when you take her and that's good. definitely get Frontline or advantix. We use Frontline on all my outdoor kitties and they're always flea-free. My last attempted rescue didn't end well, unfortunately, but this cat looks completely sane