We Found A Cat!

by CinnamonPearl Mon 13 Jun 2016, 9:48 pm

Alright, story time! So today I was just watching game grumps with Cow and Egg, minding my own business as usual, when my mom starts shouting for me to hurry downstairs. It sounded really urgent so I thought something was wrong, so I rushed downstairs and outside. But it turned out that nothing was wrong, the opposite in fact. A cute little orange tabby kitten had shown up in our backyard!

It was so cool! She's such a cute little gal, and she's so friendly too. When I first got out there, she was freaking out and running around, meowing at us and hiding in the bushes. But I had everyone sit down and just talk calmly. I didn't even let anyone reach out to coax her. We waited for a good forty-five minutes, but by the end of it, she was rubbing up against us and begging to be pet, not shy at all!

We got her inside and kept her in the family room for a while. She has no collar, so for now, we don't know who her owners are. All we know is that she's very friendly and loves to be pet, she likes to play with socks, and she does not like to be picked up. I wondered at first if she was feral, but she seems way to friendly for it. She must've come from somewhere. My sister and I rushed out to petco to get some cat food, and boy did she have an appetite! We played with her for a long while, but then we put her in a dog crate to sleep for the night.

Pics of course! I wouldn't sell you guys short.

We Found A Cat! 6-13-16

So here's the plan right now. In the morning my sister and I are gonna take her to the vet office to scan her for a microchip and check her actual gender. If she has a chip, then great! Problem solved. But if she doesn't, then the chances of finding out where she came from are very slim. And my mom has decided that if we can't find her owners, she'll be living with us! So now I need your guys' help. I need tips on cat care! I did a little research a year ago when I wanted a cat, but I know next to nothing about their care. Even if she's only here for a couple of days, I need to know as much about kitten care as possible. She eats solid foods and seems pretty big, but she's definitely a kitten. And also, I need tips on keeping mice and cats in the same house. I want this little kitty to be safe and have a roof over her head, but I have to worry about my girls. How can I keep them safe if the kitty gets predatory? I'll be keeping the doors to my room closed for certain, but I know some cats can open doors. What precautions can I take to ensure the safety of my mice? Any advice would be very much appreciated by both me and the little girl.

Ooh, this is so exciting! Is it bad that I kinda hope she doesn't have a microchip? Heehee!

by scaredymouse Mon 13 Jun 2016, 10:45 pm

oh my gosh, she's gorgeous! as long as your girls are in a tank with screen clips, you're safe. I keep my mice in a room with the door closed, though. the screen can hold up to 20lbs, so even if the cat jumps on the tank, they will be safe. but of course, you don't really want that happening... I don't think the mice like that!

I had wrist surgery on Friday, so it's killing me to type right now, so i'll let the other cat people on here answer some questions for you. but I just wanted to say that she is sooooo cute! Cat6

by MouseLover Tue 14 Jun 2016, 7:14 am

Aaaw what an adorable little kitten! I agree, she looks pretty well fed and cared for, so I'd think she belongs to someone and got lost Sad

At least she found her way to you!

by CallaLily Tue 14 Jun 2016, 8:21 am

Make sure you also call your nearest animal shelter to report her as found. They will be perfectly happy for you to keep her until her family is found, but it's necessary to report it. Pets are considered "property" and taking her in without reporting her as found can be considered "theft." At least that's how it is here.

We found a Chihuahua 3 years ago on our porch. He was microchipped but it only traced back to a pet store that was no longer in business. No way to contact them. I called every shelter and veterinarian office around, and put out flyers, and emails, and ads. We never did find his family. Some people don't bother looking but I think in his case he was dropped on purpose. We get that a lot out here. Sad

Anyway, she's a cutie! Good luck in your search.

by Artistwolf Tue 14 Jun 2016, 9:47 am

Aww, she's so cute!
Okay, I've done a bunch of research on cats... I'd start here: http://catinfo.org. Be sure to read the section on feeding your cat—very important if you ask me. Pretty much it stresses that cats are carnivores, and not obligate drinkers, so a high-protein, low-carbohydrate canned food is the best to feed. Kibble can dehydrate your cat a bit because even if it seems like they drink a lot, cats just aren't obligate drinkers and won't drink enough. Try to keep the carbohydrate level below 10% in any cat food. Note that the labels on the cans do not say anything about the carbohydrate %. I wrote out w whole long list though... So I can send that to you/post it if you'd like that Smile

Anyway I'm most of an expert at cat food Laughing

Whether you let your cat outside or not is of course totally up to you, but if you do, even under supervision, get a collar with a bell and a microchip.

by CinnamonPearl Tue 14 Jun 2016, 3:16 pm

Thanks everyone! And thanks for the link, Artist. I can't wait to check it out.

Update: We took him to the vet, but there was no microchip to be found. We did find out that he's a boy, though! We've been asking around my town and at the local animal shelter, but so far it seems like no one's looking for him. Hopefully the right people will see the found posters we've been leaving around, and if not, he has a home here.

by CallaLily Tue 14 Jun 2016, 3:51 pm

Awesome! Great job on getting the word out. Chances are you won't hear anything, but it's always worth looking into in case there's someone out there missing him and worried sick. Thumbs Up

by scaredymouse Tue 14 Jun 2016, 4:31 pm

you might want also to check craigslist for lost pets. they have a lot of lost and found pets on there.

eek, he's so cute! I hope you get to keep him Smile

by CinnamonPearl Tue 14 Jun 2016, 4:47 pm

My sister and I went door to door on our street today asking about him. No one owned him or knew anything about him. One lady gave us a couple of leads to a couple of the neighborhood cat ladies. We went to one, and he wasn't hers, but the other lives more north of our house, so we'll go see her tomorrow when our bikes are fixed up for the season. We left found flyers in the mailboxes of the houses where no one answered the door. Hopefully we hear something, and at the same time, hopefully we don't. Wink

I am a little worried though. Since he arrived yesterday, he hasn't pooped or peed. We got a litter box and some litter, and he hasn't gotten the chance to use it yet because he's sleeping in his crate, but I really hope he'll go. If not, I'll take him back to the vet tomorrow.

My sister and I have also decided that if three weeks go by and we don't hear anything, we're gonna microchip him with our info. I think that's a good enough period to wait, and he'll need one eventually. I think that if three weeks go by, it's a good enough wait period to declare him officially hours. This has been super fun because all my friends are really excited about this and are all suggesting names and asking for updates. Everyone's hoping we don't find out where he came from! Laughing

by CallaLily Tue 14 Jun 2016, 4:50 pm

I think 3 weeks is good. It's longer than a shelter would wait.

by scaredymouse Tue 14 Jun 2016, 4:52 pm

If he hasn't gone to the bathroom, that's really serious. Has he maybe peed somewhere else? Most kittens need to be taught how to use the sandbox. Is he drinking okay?

by CinnamonPearl Tue 14 Jun 2016, 4:54 pm

He's drinking fine. I am worried about it. Unfortunately the vet's already closed for today, but in the morning if he still hasn't gone, I'll definitely take him for a checkup. I hope he's peed somewhere else, but if he has, I haven't seen or noticed anything. He's eating fine too; I really hope he goes when he wakes up.

by Peachy Tue 14 Jun 2016, 6:56 pm

Aww. The sweetest cats we've had have been strays. It's really wonderful that you're willing to put so much into helping him. I'm excited to hear the new name you pick! Smile

by CinnamonPearl Tue 14 Jun 2016, 11:44 pm

Hey Artistwolf, thank you soooo much for that link. It was a great read! I'd heard about canned food being way better than dry food, but it helps to have the message hammered in by an aggressive cat enthusiast. Laughing

Do any of you cat people know which canned foods are the best on the market right now? I wanna make sure the little guy is eating as best as he can. The food we're feeding him right now has chicken and turkey as the top two ingredients, but I've gotta take a closer look at those ingredients to make sure there's no grain or anything. Boy, it really is helpful having so many cat person friends!

Also, good news! We got the little guy a litter box and some litter, and he finally went to the bathroom! He thought the box was a bed at first, but then he went. So now I don't have to take him to the vet tomorrow. He's in the crate again tonight, but he'll have access to the box all day tomorrow, and we'll start letting him free roam once we get more accustomed to the new family member.

We also brought him down to the kitchen to have dinner with us today. BOY does he hate being picked up! He gave me a nasty scratch for my troubles. I always get the brunt of that because my mom and sister are too squeamish to cart him around properly. My sister picked him up once... never again. But yeah, I've got tiny scratches all over my arms now. Welcome to the cat life, I guess. But nah, he's such a sweet little guy! He's so snuggle hungry. I was working on a railroad in minecraft earlier, and he kept interrupting for petting and to walk around on my laptop. He's so sweet! And it turned out in the end he didn't even end up being the biggest delay in that process (I accidentally used activator rails instead of powered rails like an idiot). But anyway, everyone loves this little guy. My friends are all begging me for updates all the time, and one of them even came over tonight to meet him and watch Bo Burnham's new, very uncomfortable comedy show.

I'm getting rambly now, so I'll just mention one more thing. We've had three leads so far as to his potential owners, but two of them were dead ends so far. My friend told me today that she saw a lost poster for an orange cat by the houses around the bay, but I went to investigate, and it turns out the poster is for a completely different cat. An adult female calico. I checked the town too, and no lost posters. And while my sister and I were going door to door, a nice old lady pointed us in the direction of a couple of cat ladies. We managed to visit one today, who has three of them, but she assured us that he wasn't hers and expressed her hopes that we'll get to keep him. We'll go see the other one tomorrow, so hope he's not hers! I'm starting to think that probably someone dumped him in the woods near my house (a pretty common ground for the practice. It's all straight wilderness about two minutes down the road from my house), but he made his way down the street and into our yard. At least I'm hoping that's the case. Not that I'm condoning animal dumping, of course, but since he found us and he has a home here, at least there was no harm done this time.

Alright I'm done babbling for tonight. I'll keep you guys posted.

by scaredymouse Wed 15 Jun 2016, 12:29 am

Yay! He went potty Smile

Someone's trash is another one's treasure! That's how I got my Kevin. His owners didn't think he was worth helping, so they were going to put him to sleep. The vet refused, did his surgery, and then put him up for adoption. Lucky us, he's the bestest Jump Hearts

Mine. Mine. Mine!

Hopefully no one is looking for your little guy. Win win for everyone.

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