New Kitten Won't Let DD Sleep!

FranticFrummie ↓

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 9:49 am

DD has been begging me for a cat for ages now. I'm really allergic, so I've been telling her "no". Well, long story short, I drank a wee bit too much during Succot, and a kitten followed me home. A combination of impaired reasoning and a lack of impulse control - yeah. We have a kitten now.

The kitten, now named Bean, is about 7 weeks old. She is a pouncy little thing! She's loving and sweet, and not at all afraid of people, but she is also quite fierce when she gets going. Because I am allergic, I want the kitten to stay in DD's room most of the time, and also so they can bond with each other.

The kitten has decided that DD is the Best Cat Toy EVER, and wants to attack her all night long. Poor DD is exhausted! I've told her "welcome to parenthood, just be grateful she doesn't have colic, like YOU did."

I have no idea what you have to do to get a kitten to stop attacking all night. HELP!

chani8 ↓

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 10:05 am

Mazal tov on your new baby kitten!

Two options here. Crate her at night. Or put her outside at night if you have a yard. We've done both options with our many kitten rescues. Crating costs money and isn't necessary if you have a yard.

Sadie

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 10:14 am

Keep the kitten in the bathroom overnight with its food, water, and litterbox. It will grow out of this stage soon. 7 weeks is too young to be outside. It could get lost.

↑ chani8 ↓

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 10:21 am

Sadie wrote:

Keep the kitten in the bathroom overnight with its food, water, and litterbox. It will grow out of this stage soon. 7 weeks is too young to be outside. It could get lost.

I 'crate' my kitties in my bathroom, but my daughter crates hers in a very large dog crate with litter box.

And the kitties we put outside are right around 7 to 8 weeks, and we first acclimate them to the outside during the day with supervision until they are comfortable. We've also never put a single kitten outside alone.

So I agree with Sadie (except with a fenced yard, kittens rarely 'get lost'.)

↑ FranticFrummie ↓

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 10:40 am

We live in an apartment, so outside is not an option. She is so tiny, and there is a huge colony of feral cats around here, not to mention people who let their dogs go off leash. She's a street rescue, so I don't want her to go wild and not come back. DD would be heartbroken.

We tried crating her, but she just yowled in misery. She's in the hall bathroom now, and seems to have calmed down.

I know she's lonely and probably missing her littermates and mom. When I found her, she was all alone outside. I looked all over to see if there were more kittens or a mom around, but it was just her. That's why I decided to bring her in.

I hope she settles in soon, she's so adorable! She's just a plain gray tabby, but she looks exactly like the first cat I ever had, when I was 5. I couldn't resist. Very Happy

↑ chani8

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 10:45 am

Make sure she is eating well. If she's crying so much, she may be hungry. Give canned cat food for as long as possible. Never give dairy products and tuna only sparingly due to high sodium.

↑ FranticFrummie ↓

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 12:13 pm

chani8 wrote:

Make sure she is eating well. If she's crying so much, she may be hungry. Give canned cat food for as long as possible. Never give dairy products and tuna only sparingly due to high sodium.

Got it.

I really appreciate you answering on this thread, because I know you are an expert in this stuff. I know dogs backwards and forwards, but I can barely even remember that last time I had a baby kitty to look after.

When I brought her home, I had some leftover freshly baked salmon, and she was incredibly happy about that. I also gave her some poached chicken breast, finely chopped up. Lots and lots of fresh water, of course. She was super dehydrated.

We went to the pet store today, and spent over 800 shekels. Talk about high maintenance. My two little dogs are so much easier to look after (and they are terrified of the cat! LOL

)

bluebaker

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 1:01 pm

Cat's are nocturnal, so she's just doing what comes instinctively. She's also rambunctious because she's a toddler and that's what they do at that age. A hot water bottle wrapped very well in a soft blanket with some toys in her own bed will bring things to a gentle stop. Some catnip sprinkled generously around the bed will give her a reason to stay put as well. It's a phase. It will pass.

amother

Lilac

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 4:24 pm

We also just adopted a stray kitty. At night we put him in the cage with just water and a big fuzzy slipper. He actually really likes it. He nurses from the slipper and is quiet till morning (we feed him first and make sure he uses kitty litter).
Our cat is a bit older though. We adopted him at two and a half months.
We do let him out during the day to our yard where we have some garden cats (semi-feral I guess but we feed them and had some spayed)

icebreaker

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 7:19 pm

Lol it doesn't stop as they get older.

Or it's just our cat.

She's 7 years old and sleeps during the day and bugging everyone at night >=\ if anyone puts her out of their room and closes the door, she sits there and cries until the door is open. I know we should ignore her but it's impossible!

I think you should definitely start to crate the cat now as it's younger. Don't be like me lol!

amother

Papaya

Tue, Oct 18 2016, 10:29 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Why would you have a cat if you are really allergic to it?

Goldie613

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 2:38 am

Isn't there something about wrapping a towel around a ticking clock so the cat feels like it has company?

Sorry - just a vague recollection.

Can the "night owls" of the family play with the kitten a bit at night, so your daughter can get some peace?

imasinger

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 6:48 am

BTDT. We have fostered cats for a friend who sells purebreds, and likes to have the pregnant moms and baby kittens in another home so as to minimize germs. We've hosted several litters over the years, as well as some not quite adult males at other times.

As with you, we decided that the cat/s needed to stay in DD's room. Not because of allergies, but for safety reasons for younger kittens, and to avoid scratching and marking with the others.

One reason I stopped was because of the night issue.

I think the night crate will be a must if this is to be an indoor cat.

Your DD should also do some learning about training. What's cute in a kitten is obnoxious in an older cat. "Bean" has to learn NOW that we don't attack people. Mama cats can cuff and growl at kittens who try. DD can say "no!", and pull away.

As with people, though, distraction in advance of the trouble time works best. She can try giving her Bean a good workout earlier in the evening. Do you have some good cat toys?

↑ FranticFrummie

Wed, Oct 19 2016, 5:03 pm

amother wrote:

Why would you have a cat if you are really allergic to it?

Did you miss the part of my post where I mentioned that I'd had too much wine that night? LOL

Believe me, the next morning I was thinking "What on earth did I just do?" Surprised

So, Bean sleeps in the hall bathroom for now, but we really do need to get her used to her crate. Maybe if we crate her in the bathroom, she'll learn that meowing won't get her anywhere and she'll get over it.

I went to feed her today, and she climbed up my leg, almost to my waist! OUCH!!!

We bought her tons of awesome kitty toys, two different scratching posts, and this thing that you can put food in, where she has to figure out how to get the treats out. She has balls to bat around, and strings to chase, and cardboard boxes to jump in and out of. She's in love with one of DD's stuffed animals, and nurses on it a lot. She also walked across DD's computer, and somehow managed to change the language settings. Naughty Bean! LOL