I have a kittycat. Advice appreciated.

keyseddie · Jun 28, 2014

Francesca and I were sitting in the conservatory about 10 days ago when we heard a slight meow. Discovered this tiny kitten in the crawlspace below. Called in a cat lady, she determined he was about 2 weeks old, a male, and very smart by some tests she gave him. He got fixed yesterday.
We had dogs when the kids were little and we were never cat people. My wife fell in love with Felix so he is here. He came in the conservatory yesterday to recuperate from the snipping for his first and last visit inside. He has wild animal instincts. He walks in cover or on the edge of it always. If he crosses an open area he usually runs unless he's stalking. We have been feeding him once a day and providing water. He can also drink from the pond I imagine. We have expansive flower gardens and plants here. He is keeping the bunnies away because of his scent I believe. They eat the tops of flowers and the chippymonks bury things in the flower pots so wife loves him but expects him to do his job and he is. I travel quite a bit and Francesca comes along sometimes. And we're not here all winter. I have someone coming in a couple times a week watering stuff in the conservatory so he could feed Felix also. Is that enough?? We are also negotiating with my daughter to perhaps take him for the winter. Will he eat mice? We also have over a dozen bird feeders here and they get filled all winter. Will he eat them? There is plenty so he can take his share. Any thought pro or con from the cat people is appreciated. Here he is.

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Nice Felix

[/URL][/IMG] Felix the sentry

[/URL][/IMG] Felix the hunter

keyseddie · Jun 28, 2014

I typed *****cat. Not allowed??

Braineack · Jun 28, 2014

love #3.

youre the third person in a few days that said they found a kitten in their yard; wtf do i have to do to make this happen for me?!?!!??!!

it wont survive very long if you don't take it in or give it to a rescue...or mail it to me.

keyseddie · Jun 28, 2014

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Monster Felix

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Scary Felix

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And Felix stalking a birdie.

Mandolin · Jun 28, 2014

We found a 2 week old kitten in our yard (he actually fell out of our tree) 2 years ago. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into!

Designer · Jun 28, 2014

Well, right now it's quite young, but start cutting back (WAY BACK) on his food. Don't feed him at all once he is adult size. A hungry cat will do what he can to rid the premises of vermin, but a fed cat just won't bother.

oldhippy · Jun 28, 2014

Designer said:
Well, right now it's quite young, but start cutting back (WAY BACK) on his food. Don't feed him at all once he is adult size. A hungry cat will do what he can to rid the premises of vermin, but a fed cat just won't bother.

That's the truth, wife over feeds all animals, myself included. Have 10 cats and as many mice.

snowbear · Jun 28, 2014

Awwww - what a cutie.

Congratulations on your new family member.
Ours (Bell and Zoe) are inside cats, though Bell has escaped a couple of times (she wants to get out, then is scared once she's out there). Bell got a couple of mice when she was younger and Zoe found a smallish snake in the apartment when she was a kitten, and was batting the crap out of it (it's a big string). Mine didn't eat them, though Zoe does snack on the insects she finds.

Just be aware, that when to do get mice (and other stuff, I guess), they are so proud of what they've done that they will bring them to you as an offering. This can mean they drop them at your feet or put them in your bed, etc.

TamiAz · Jun 28, 2014

You have a cute kitty there... Thank you for getting him fixed!! :mrgreen: I thank everyone who have their animals fixed!! :heart:

Designer said:
Well, right now it's quite young, but start cutting back (WAY BACK) on his food. Don't feed him at all once he is adult size. A hungry cat will do what he can to rid the premises of vermin, but a fed cat just won't bother.

I don't know about that.. I have two cats and I free feed them, so they constantly have food. One of my cats loves to hunt and brings home goodies all the time. My other cat prefers to stay home and is not a hunter, but she's good at catching scorpions that are in the house. I would prefer they both stay inside, but I have dogs that use a doggy door, but it's actually a cat door too.

Designer · Jun 28, 2014

Our long-time favorite cat (now deceased) use to bring us all sorts of "gifts". Once brought a whole nest of baby rabbits in. (we used to leave doors and windows open all day)

She brought us live birds, a live bat, insects, and half-eaten shrews.

terri · Jun 28, 2014

He is absolutely beautiful! :lovey:

Maybe part Bengal, too.

Please, if at all possible do continue to negotiate with your daughter to take him, if you are leaving and you can't or won't take him along. Did you mean to imply with the typed word that he is acting feral? I don't know why that word would be questionable, but anyway - from the pictures, he looks to be a domestic shorthair breed, meaning he's only acting wild because that's all he knows. He is cautious because he is alone out there, and possibly a bit traumatized from being abandoned. Kitties like this, once rescued, will give the love back in spades if given half a chance.

I disagree with the notion not to feed him at all - WRONG. At the very least keep offering him some kibble during the day - I wouldn't advise leaving it out at night or other critters will be drawn to it, and he might fight them to protect his turf - no need to set him up like that for a fight.

But let him watch you pour it up in a sturdy shallow bowl, along with clean water in another bowl, and he will be fine. That will NOT remove any of his instincts to hunt, and his very presence will keep away lots of wildlife. If your bird feeders are stationed high, he may try to catch them but won't succeed much. The birds are no doubt already very aware of his presence and are watchful before they even swoop in. I have 2 cats and watch the behavior around my feeders, and birds are quite wary.

But he is just a small kitten and needs the extra food and nutrition, and if you would like to have him calm down and not act wild, he needs a relationship with his people. Feeding, talking, petting - cats are very, very sociable creatures and will respond to the attention. But if you ignore him, he will ignore you, too. Just don't blame the cat for being "wild" if he's not allowed inside. Cats do very well indoors, and can go inside and out with no problems. (I hate a litterbox as much as the next person, and prefer to have them be indoor/outdoor kitties.) His fear of open spaces will gradually disappear and he will learn to appreciate the safety and security of being indoors with his people, and will curl up next to you and probably enjoy being petted, etc.

If you really can't take him with you

please try to get him somewhere to give him a chance to become a fully integrated part of a family! He is gorgeous and looks clean and healthy, too. I hope you have a good outcome!

PixelRabbit · Jun 28, 2014

You have quite the cutie there! Those paws are big, he will likely be a good sized cat when he grows up.

Terri said exactly what I was going to say only better, he is vulnerable right now and needs some people to give him a bit of a hand while he learns the ins and outs of this big big world. I hope you can provide that for him, he's gorgeous!

keyseddie · Jun 28, 2014

Braineack said:
love #3.
youre the third person in a few days that said they found a kitten in their yard; wtf do i have to do to make this happen for me?!?!!??!!
it wont survive very long if you don't take it in or give it to a rescue...or mail it to me.

Braineack, thanks for your input. I'm hoping that's not the case. I believe we have past the giving Felix to a good home stage.

keyseddie · Jun 28, 2014

Designer said:
Well, right now it's quite young, but start cutting back (WAY BACK) on his food. Don't feed him at all once he is adult size. A hungry cat will do what he can to rid the premises of vermin, but a fed cat just won't bother.

Thanks, Designer. I'm leaning that way as well. Do you have personal experience? If I stop feeding him when he's an adult, will it affect his personality?

keyseddie · Jun 28, 2014

terri said:
He is absolutely beautiful! Maybe part Bengal, too.

Please, if at all possible do continue to negotiate with your daughter to take him, if you are leaving and you can't or won't take him along. Did you mean to imply with the typed word that he is acting feral? I don't know why that word would be questionable, but anyway - from the pictures, he looks to be a domestic shorthair breed, meaning he's only acting wild because that's all he knows. He is cautious because he is alone out there, and possibly a bit traumatized from being abandoned. Kitties like this, once rescued, will give the love back in spades if given half a chance.

I disagree with the notion not to feed him at all - WRONG. At the very least keep offering him some kibble during the day - I wouldn't advise leaving it out at night or other critters will be drawn to it, and he might fight them to protect his turf - no need to set him up like that for a fight. But let him watch you pour it up in a sturdy shallow bowl, along with clean water in another bowl, and he will be fine. That will NOT remove any of his instincts to hunt, and his very presence will keep away lots of wildlife. If your bird feeders are stationed high, he may try to catch them but won't succeed much. The birds are no doubt already very aware of his presence and are watchful before they even swoop in. I have 2 cats and watch the behavior around my feeders, and birds are quite wary.

But he is just a small kitten and needs the extra food and nutrition, and if you would like to have him calm down and not act wild, he needs a relationship with his people. Feeding, talking, petting - cats are very, very sociable creatures and will respond to the attention. But if you ignore him, he will ignore you, too. Just don't blame the cat for being "wild" if he's not allowed inside. Cats do very well indoors, and can go inside and out with no problems. (I hate a litterbox as much as the next person, and prefer to have them be indoor/outdoor kitties.) His fear of open spaces will gradually disappear and he will learn to appreciate the safety and security of being indoors with his people, and will curl up next to you and probably enjoy being petted, etc.

If you really can't take him with you please try to get him somewhere to give him a chance to become a fully integrated part of a family! He is gorgeous and looks clean and healthy, too. I hope you have a good outcome!

Terri,thanks for such a thorough insight. I don't think I would be able to direct not feeding him at all. The granddaughter who is a few miles away and her parents are both attached to Felix. He won't be ignored. I'm and outsider in a lot of places and don't wish to be one in my family. He thinks my wife is his mommy and she has taken to that.
He is very calm already. Just cautious. I think he had infantry training in his last life.
I do believe I disagree with you on one point, however. I like the fact that he's wild and don't want to take that from him. Both my wife and I want him to be an outside cat and that's the way we are leaning. But... We will do what is right for Felix. Just want to see what that is. The name I typed was not feral. It's a warm, fuzzy name that Bugs Bunny would call a puddy tat.