Homeless Kitten Taken Home - Need Advice

I work in a daycare which is in a church sandwiched between another church and a gas station, and today one of the kid's parents came in with a big box with a kitten in it and said that she'd seen the kitten wandering around outside in the street and nearly ran it over, so she looked around for other cats and, finding none, scooped up the baby and brought her in to see if somebody could bring it home.

I did, because I'm a pushover like that.

Anyway, she (it's a she) is barely even maybe two pounds in weight, a small fluffy little thing - white with caramel splotches on her back and big hazel eyes. I went out and got some kitten food, litter, a cheap litterbox, and put an infant blanket in the cardboard box she came to me in. She's now exploring my room at full-tilt.

My cat, Blacken, is two and a half years old and jealous as all getout. I'm keeping the new one (Phoebe, I've been calling her for the past few hours I've had her) in my bedroom for about a week to get her adjusted before I start to introduce her to the rest of the house, and so I've also kept the door shut. Blacken is very upset and feeling hurt, and I can't say as I blame her.

As this cat came from a parking lot, I have no idea what sort of shots she's had, where she came from, if she has fleas, ticks, etc. She's incredibly clean-looking, but ehh. I've been scratching a lot, but I don't know if it's fleas (I've never had a cat come in contact with the outside, so I have no idea if she's got fleas) or if I'm just allergic to the scratches her little nails made when they dug into me, which is also highly possible as I'm allergic to cat scratches.

Anyway, what I'm saying is .. until I can get her to a vet, what do I do? The last thing I want is to get fleas in my bedsheets and in me and my family, but if she doesn't have any then I'm worrying over nothing. I might not be able to get her to a vet until mid next week ..

What do I do for her to make her more adjusted and less wild at night, what do I do for Blacken, and what do I do to help out Phoebe?

 

Congrats on your new baby, i cant wait to see some pictures.

I honestly believe the best thing for your other cat right now and your family, would be too put the kitten in the bathroom, or another small room you can keep her in, with her food,water,and litterbox. This way if she does have fleas, she will be confined in a small area and the fleas wont be on your bedding.Also this way your first cat can still be with you in your bedroom. They can get used to smelling eachother through the bottom of the bathroom door. But i wouldnt lock the resident cat out of any room he liked to go into before the new one arrived.Might make intorductions harder, the resident cat might not take so well to the new one if he starts getting locked out and stuff.

Confiing the kitten to a room would help you sleep at night too...I know kittens can be a handfull especially at night, my Momma had 7 little monsters.

You can give the kitten a small stuffed animal or something with your scent on it and put it in her bed. Maybe you can even get an old t shirt and rub your resident cat with it, so it gets his scent on it, and put that with the kitten and she can get use to his scent.

Goodluck with your new baby, she sounds adorable.

 

We took Phoebe to the vet just to get a lookover exam and make sure that she's not got anything horribly harmful, or any fleas, ticks, etc.

I let her roam around when I'm downstairs on the computer as I can keep an eye on her.

My question now is that, well, Blacken is following her around, lurking in the shadows and watching her every move .. and when Phoebe tries to cross her path, Blacken will growl/hiss and Phoebe will run.

How much of a rivalry is expected, and how long does it usually last? I would hate to get Phoebe fixed and get her shots and then have to give her away because Blacken won't tolerate her presense.

Right now, for instance .. Phoebe is exploring the living room and Blacken is a foot or so away from her, puffed up and growling meancingly, and poor little Phoebe is huddled up in a little ball .. is this going to last forever? How long should I wait before I throw in the towel? They're both girls, I'd thought they wouldn't be quite as territorial .. I'm worried.

 

its normal and shouldnt last long, though all cats are different. My cat isabelle growls and swats at the new members, and sometimes she seems really upset but she always gets over it and they become friends. Once it took her 4 days to warm up to a new kitten and once a couple weeks. As long as they arnt hurting eachother, they will be fine and should eventually be able to be in the same room without growling, and eventually become friends.

I also want to add that Isabelle would swat and sometimes even lunge at the new additions, so I think thats part of them getting to know eachother and establishing some sort of heiarchy?

Im sure others will respond soon, who can explain it better then me.

 

So. Phoebe has a .. male, external body part. I'm going to guess that it's a boy. We failed to notice said external body part last night, and as we've only had him/her/it for 24 hours .. meh. I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

So now we have a 2 year old girl and a 2 month old boy. Is that an okay relationship? Now I just need a boy name .. white with caramel blotches ..

 

How about Phoebo? :lol: (I stole that from Friends)

 

the only thing i will add to the introduction is...sometimes if the introduction doesnt go well...it will get imprinted on their brains...and they will not get along after that. that is the risk you take if they are introduced too soon. i have always kept a new kitty in the back bedroom for one to two weeks. it was always my intention to do two weeks....and slowly introduce...with string under the door so they can play together, and food on either side of the door...trading rooms....so the new kitty explores the house alone while the other kitty(s) are in the new kitty's room...etc.

my cats have always set the pace...which has been faster than two weeks. christopher is the only one who took a little longer. he loved max from the get go, but he and mikey would wrestle and chase each other every day. i think they just had to establish dominance...but they worked it out.

i say...slower is always better. no rush. you cant undo imprinting, so if one gets it into their heads they dont like the other one because its too threatening...you may always have a problem....

do you have pics of the kitties? :qm4: