Quote:
Originally Posted by DMyst  I just rescued a 2 month old kitten from a shelter and seeing as this is my first cat, i have a lot of questions and need a lot of advice.
The first thing that is worrying me the most is that he has gone almost 24 hours without eating anything. The shelter gave me a bag of kitten food that lasts for a week but he will not touch it no matter what. He did drink a bit of water thou... should i be worried? Should i try to buy him "wet kitten" food? Oh and how much do you feed a kitten and how often? Last thing i want is a fat fluffy cat. Oh and when are they old enough for treats?
Second thing is his behavior... for most of the first few hours he was really scared and crying... then he started exploring and calmed down a bit. I was able to pet him and give him a bit of affection when he was drowsy and falling asleep but when ever i try to approach him when hes fully awake he gets scared and hides under my bed for a good hour. When i fell asleep he started meowling at me and approaching me but the minute i made any sudden move he ran away. I was able to pet him and he purred in the morning when i was holding him but then i moved a tiny bit and he ran away and did not let me get near him anymore. Is this normal behavior? How long does it take him to get used to someone? I am starting to think that kitten was abused or something.
Last question... how do you discipline a cat when he starts clawing or biting stuff? Spray with a bottle of water? A little tap on the butt?
I tried googling all these questions but the answers were really vague.
Thanks guys |
If he came from a rescue, I'll assume they had a vet check him over, and he should be healthy. Still, it wouldn't hurt to take him to your own and get that initial checkup done and relationship established. Just don't pay too much~
As for not eating, he's probably stressed out, so it's not abnormal, but it could be harmful if it goes on for a few days, particularly if he's not drinking. Hopefully he'll be doing both very soon. Wet food might help, but I wouldn't use it regularly for the long term. Dry food is better on teeth.
I wouldn't worry about over feeding a kitten. Instead make sure they have as much as they care to eat. You can worry about cutting back the diet once he's older and more robust.
The skittishness will go away. More likely than not, once he starts eating, he'll realize where his food is coming from and where his love should go.
As for behaviors, biting can be part of play. I would encourage play biting. It might seem counter-intuitive, but if the cat uses its mouth for play, it won't develop a tendency to bite for other reasons. As for clawing, claws generally stay retracted during play. You might need to keep them clipped to prevent accidental scratches. I've always trimmed my cats' claws, and never had need to get them removed.
Some people resort to water bottles and other methods to break bad behaviors, like scratching furniture . A clap of the hands or flick to the nose can work too. But if you keep his claws short, it shouldn't get to be a terrible problem.