Forums » Smalltalk » I rescued a kitten

So I was perusing my driveway when I saw a tabby carrying this pure white kitten in its mouth. It saw me, I saw it, and it bolted... dropping the kitten. After tripping over it a second time (trying to pick it back up each time) it took one final tumble before running off without the kitten. So, thinking the kitten may have been hurt, I picked it up and carried it inside.

Now its name is being debated over, either Ivory or Yuki (Snow).

Here are some pictures since I know you lot will love her!

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AWW i like Yuke that's the perfect name for this little one.

Then I think I might name her that ^^

cool

Aww, that kitten is adorable!

I'm a little worried though. It looks really young and the momma cat may have come back for the kitten if nobody was around to spook her. It sounds like she bolted because she's shy of humans. Have you seen her around since then?

If the kitten is pure white (pink nose, pink ears, absolutely not a single speck of color anywhere on the fur), make sure it also doesn't have hearing problems. About 70% of pure white cats is born completely deaf or experiences deafness in one ear, most commonly if they have bicolored eyes. They need a bit of extra care in that case! You can test this by snapping your fingers near its ears and see if it responds by twitching or moving its ears, maybe even turning its head to you.

Do you know what sex the kitten is?

*goes into full crazy cat lady mode*

Awww! While I'm sad that the momma and baby got separated, this cute little kitten looks like it's quite happy with you! I feel like even if the momma did try to come back, the kitten might have wandered or gotten hurt! That kitten is soooo adorable!

Super valiant of you to take care of this sweetie! Sanne is right, though--if the mother comes around again you might consider leaving the kitten outside for her, especially if you intend on bringing it to a shelter.

We just came back from Ivory's first vet appointment. I told the doc what happened and the check-up was free. No fleas, he has worms but we're taking care of it.

All in all, he's a healthy kitten.

As for letting the momma have it back, we tried releasing him the first night we got him and it's been two days, we found him by himself meowing his poor little heart out (despite having seen the momma AND papa around recently as well).

All in all, we're keeping the kitty

also, he's eating hard foods (tuna right now...)

Poor little thing!! In that case it's a good thing you adopted him. He deserves a loving home!

I know I'm probably sounding a bit pushy, but I've no idea what your experiences are with cats. I'm just trying to share some of the info I gathered over the last two years that I've owned cats myself.

Is the tuna part of his regular diet, or is it a treat? It can be toxic in large amounts (no matter how much they love it) and cause all sorts of fatal conditions, especially in kittens who need to consume far less to get the same effect. There are a handful of resources on it, but if I feed my cats fish, it's usually sardines with low salt content in oil (oil is good for hairballs, but too much can upset their tummies). The rule of thumb here is that actual fish should only be fed once a week.

Again, I've no idea what Ivory's regular diet is (going to be), I just don't want him to suffer any side-effects and get sick.

Sounds good! I miss kittens sooo much.... I weaned some bebes a while ago, and it sounds like the job is mostly done for you, which is awesome! I feed my cats crunchy food for ease, with the occasional can of wet food as a treat, though one of them is super picky about it and prefers the dry. And both of them get little nibbles of the stuff I eat as well, especially the huge one (because he begs and it's precious).

I use to have a pure white cat and he was mute

I'm pretty sure this little guy is (at least mostly) deaf.

A mute cat? I've heard of cats meowing very little, but never of mute cats! Do you know why s/he didn't meow?

Awwr! That has its very positive sides, because he won't be startled by fireworks, drills, vacuum cleaners or other loud noises. He'll probably startle often when you wake him from his sleep though.

He just meows really loudly when I wake him xD it's so adorable!

What I'm mostly worried about is the fact that I'm a smoker and he has virgin lungs.

By the way, I left him out of the cage while I went grocery shopping today and he used the kitty litter like a big boy

Now he's sitting on my shoulder like a parrot xD

I know!! Minke makes this half purr, half meow sound when someone startles him awake. He always looks so confused.

If you want some tips on deaf cats, let me know? I've trained Minke to understand sign language and know what sort of things are potentially important for his own benefit, I'll be happy to share my findings with you.

I was wondering if they could understand sign language. That's something I would love to try with this little guy. ^^ So yeah, any advice would be wonderful!

Another way this deafness is a blessing is that I play guitar and my last cat (and my current dog) was (is) terrified of the amp (hurts their ears). So...

The thing with sign language is that you have to make simple gestures, then follow up with a physical action and repeat this until the physical action is no longer necessary. It takes time and a lot of repeat though!

Most of Minke's sign language is a gesture of 'move away' or 'get down', as well as 'come here' or 'get up here'.

Move away - Nodding my head to the side, or moving my finger from my chest to my side pointing away from me.
I used a water spray bottle to spray him when he didn't move after I made the gesture. I've also walked up to him and shoved him aside with my foot after making the gesture.
Because Minke gets in my way a lot in the kitchen, and he wouldn't move away when I gestured (we almost literally broke our necks because of it), I've been rougher on him in the kitchen and giving actual 'kicks' instead of shoves. Non-damaging and not hurtful, and definitely not soccer ball launching worthy, but firm and quick so that it startled him.

Mind you, he grew up in a family for a year, who did nothing with him in this area, so he grew up with bad habits. Ivory might catch on more quickly to stay out of your path when you walk. It's important to teach him to pay attention to his surroundings though, because you're more likely to step on him as he can't hear you approach.

Get down - Moving my finger from my chest to the floor right in front of me.
Same as above, I only use this gesture when he's on something, like a table, a chair or the bed, and follow up with a water spray bottle or picking him up and putting him down.

Come here - Extending a hand and rubbing my thumb on my index and middle finger.
This is something my friend taught him before she gave Minke to me. It works well with treats. Show him the gesture, then show him (and let him smell) the treat. Continue making the gesture until he accepts the treat.

Get up here - Tapping a surface repeatedly with my fingertips.
This is one that is the most difficult to teach, because if he has a mind of his own and he doesn't want to, he won't. But as with the above, treats work wonders for this. You can also make the gesture, then pick him up and put him where you tapped. After a couple of times he'll understand what you want from him.

Sit - Moving my fingers above his head until he sits down.
This is a trick most easily achieved with a treat. I also taught my other cat this trick, although she's so conditioned to doing it with treats, she hardly does it without one. I usually move a treat above their head and backwards. They'll look up and usually automatically sit down. The moment they're sitting, you give them the treat.

Carrier conditioning - Presenting an open carrier to him until he walks in on his own.
Both my cats get into the carrier the moment I pick it up, put it down next to me and tap the top of the door opening or say "Come on in". This is a more difficult one and requires a combination of things. Again, having treats in there/throwing treats in the carrier to lure them in works for brief moments. But you need to associate the carrier with fun things. If you have friends and family with a cat-friendly house, bring the cat with you in the carrier. Let him have treats at this different place and generally experience a fun time, then go back home.
You can also feed him treats while he's in the closed carrier, or provide him with toys.

The most important thing is that the carrier is used more often for fun visits to fun places, than for painful and stressful vet visits. If you're in the car or sitting down with the carrier, have the opening pointed directly towards you to remind Ivory you're there and not away. Otherwise he might stress because he can't hear you. When he's been conditioned to enjoy the carrier, you don't need to worry that much about being in his field of vision.

Floor stomping - Stomping the floor so he can feel the vibrations
Great to catch attention with, especially on wood floors! Deaf cats are super sensitive to vibrations and use them a great deal to notice things in their environment. If he's a couple of feet away and you need his focus to signal him, doing this will help tremendously.



I have a lot of more sign language with Minke, but most of it stems from body language and recognizing each other's moods and individual little tidbits of information. The more you interact with Ivory, the more you'll understand his body language. He'll also pick up on yours and respond appropriately. They're small, subconscious things, so you're likely not even aware of it happening! It'll develop on its own, there's nothing to be taught about that.

I hope this is helpful!