Hi,
We rehomed a B&W moggie kitten - Safi, 5 weeks ago when she was 6 weeks old. She had been hand-reared as her Mum had mastitis and had to have her nipples removed. So Safi only received 9 days of her mummy's milk and her breeder had to bottle feed her and her 6 other siblings.
Safi is the runt of the litter.
The breeder was trying to wean her onto Felix kitten food, but although she believed Safi was weaned when we took her home, it was obvious she couldn't eat properly - she sucked her food, hardly taking anything in.
So we started her on 6 feeds a day using Feline Fayre fish cat food and James Wellbeloved Complete Kitten Turkey & Rice all mushed together, and Whiskas Cat Milk (lactose reduced) by dropper.
She's now almost weaned and onto 4-5 feeds a day - moist fish (70% fish Feline Fayre) for the morning and night feeds and her James Wellbeloved dry food after she's eaten her wet food and for the rest of the day. She still has Whiskas cat milk 3 times a day - morning, tea and bedtime. She's drinking a bit of water, but not much, so she needs her milk. BUT I have to force feed her her milk - otherwise she would dehydrate: she has too many more important things to do than drink(!). Also, she's not so keen on eating her moist food - takes her an hour to eat 3/4 of her feed which are about 1/3 the size of my palm. Though she will eat her dry food almost instantly. BUT, she's not eating any more than she did when she was tiny. Is this OK?
We used to give her human-grade tuna in spring water, but the lady in the pet shop told us that there wasn't enough fat or protein in fresh tuna for Safi to grow, and that we should use a cat or kitten moist food. We have also been told by a Ragdoll breeder (friend of the familiy) that Safi has to have moist food and we can't just switch her to the dry food, even though she prefers it. Plus she said we were doing a bad thing by giving her Whiskas cat milk as it's bad for her tummy - but she has solid poos, no tummy ache, is not completely weaned yet and as she's still tiny, it's helping her to grow with all it's vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and oils. Is the advice of the pet shop and breeder correct?
Safi came to us with cat flu and after a visit to the vet, a nasty antibiotic injection (she cried!), and a week's course of antibiotics and eye drops, and lots of intensive nursing from us, Safi thankfully pulled through. The rest of the litter have turned out to be fine - only Safi developed the flu.
It took a while for our older cat to accept Safi. Kat (11+ year old tortie & white spayed queen) has never seen another cat before and so she found this tiny little bundle a bit strange! At first she thought she was a toy, but now they get on well and play together nicely, although Safi can be rough and insatiable, constantly jumping on/pawing Kat's face, so Kat can get a bit fed up and has told her off quite a few times.
She has my previous dog's large crate as her den (Jack was 16 when he put to sleep at home in late May due to liver cancer and haemorrhage). She's got a large plastic dog bed which shields her from any draughts, which is lined with newspaper. Her little litter tray is in there, along with her bed, blankets, teddies, hammock and food/water bowls. She has to go into her den only when we are out, at night and when Kat has had enough of her playfulness.
I wormed her with Panacur paste at the start of the month, but she hasn't had her injections yet - the vet recommended not to as she's still too small.
She came to us weighing only 380g at 6 weeks, which I know is massively underweight. She has gradually put on weight, but has always been about 2 weeks behind in her development. She puts on approximately 20g a day and is now 1140g at 11 weeks old today. Is this weight OK for her age? Is this normal or underweight? The Ragdoll breeder say's she's too fat, but she is lean and today you can feel her spine and ribs easily, whilst on other days she is well-covered.
She seems to be very behind in her mental development and and I know it's awful to say, but I think she's a bit thick. She still hasn't learnt her name, doesn't know when no means no - especially when Kat tells her, is still weaning. She runs around the house seemingly non-stop, but as soon as you pick her up she falls straight asleep as she's so exhausted.
Also she can be VERY aggressive. She will swipe at your legs or feet when you walk past her or she runs at top speed to you and clings on. When being held she will swipe at your face, and sometimes she gets so frustrated usually because she wants to get at Kat or sometimes for no obvious reason at all, she will bite, scratch, hiss, growl, yelp and scream. She's not in pain because as soon as we put her down she runs off quite happily to attack Kat. She also play-attacks if we touch her tummy, but even though she is playing, she can bite and scratch quite hard, which is not on! I mean she's only little now, but it's going to be a big deal as she gets bigger.
We've tried telling her no firmly, yelping, hissing, putting her down, ignoring her, scruffing her, but nothing stops it. The scruffing (i.e. holding her scruff and holding her down still for a few seconds) helps a little, but then she forgets and is naughty again.
Is this aggression normal in a hand-reared kitten? Please someone tell me how I can stop it. I hate telling her off and I dont want to heed her development. If we're constantly telling her off will she develop a fear or grudge with people?
The thing is when she is being a good girl she is absolutlely adorable. She'll sleep on your chest, purr when you stroke her, play with you with her toys and loves having her photo taken.
She has come through so much and we're so thankful she didn't die on us, but the only thing is this aggression and her constant attack of Kat. Kat, being a gentle, regal old lady, wants to lick her and lay down and sleep with Safi, but Safi just jumps all over her, pawing, biting etc. She never stays still! Is this normal?
Sorry for the
very long post! Any help would be very gratefully received!
Many thanks and kind regards,
Samantha
P.S. Here's a link to some piccies of Kat & Safi:
http://littlegreendarcyaviary.blogspot.com/
