Opinions Appreciated!

[Zarathustra]

Hello Everyone,

Well, last night on my way to work I found a young kitten, probably about two-three months old. His tail was crooked at the base, either a deformity at birth, dislocation or a break that had healed without assistance. Of course, I took him to work with me. Little tyke handled the bus ride beautifully!

Then, inevitably, I had to come home. To my other two cats and two rambunctious dogs. A lot of hissing and spitting ensued and at the end of the night, we placed our find into the bathroom, closing him in for the night.

This morning, we've had him out with us and the dogs, one in particular, are just all up in his face, of course they're just wanting to welcome the little tyke, but tyke isn't so keen on that.

I guess I'm just curious. I've done some reading and have seen that y'know, sometimes a cat will adjust to dogs. I know there's a lot of work involved, although it would take longer for us because both my partner and I work, are gone for eight hours a day. Which would mean leaving the kitten in the bathroom, or even the spare room, for that long a day.

Also, one of my dogs chases cats. Chronically. Always has. Zeus just runs now, and he's never gotten hurt by the dog, but of course a kitten is a different kettle of fish.

So, I guess I'm just looking for people's opinions! Any advice would be appreciated!

[14+kitties]

Introductions of a new cat/kitten need to be done slowly. Putting a new one in the mix is asking for trouble. Especially if you have a dog who chases cats. Poor sweetie.
Please set up the spare room you mentioned with a litter box, toys, food, water, and a little bed for the new one. Put him in the room and give him a chance to settle. Then, and only once he is completely comfy with his surroundings, and only then start doing intros slowly. It can be a long, drawn out process but if you want a quiet, peaceful home with no stress it must be done.
There are some great sites out there with lots of info on introducing cats. This is one of them........

http://www.squidoo.com/multi-cat-management

This is another one.......

http://www.wvcats.com/integrating_kittens_with_cats.htm

And welcome!

[Zarathustra]

Yes, I admit he did get thrown into the deep end! Upon seeing some things on this site, I have now placed him in the bathroom where he spent last night, thinking his scent would be there and might soothe him a bit, with the dog bed blocking the door, but only enough so that the dogs cannot get in and he could get out if he wanted. I am wondering if it will work out, he's not even mine to begin with as I found him, whether he was abandoned or just lost, I don't know. Maybe in a few days, there will be signs, people looking for him. In the mean time, it'll be a slow process to get them all aquianted!

Thank you! And thanks for the welcome 14+kitties!

[Laura81]

Hi, I'm the partner. It's not only the dogs that have the issue. The other two cats don't like the new kitten either. I think mainly because it is constantly hissing and spitting at the dogs though.

My other concern is if we lock the other kitten in a room on its own the other two cats have no where to go as they normally go in that room to have quiet on their own if they want it. I don't want to have to lock that room off because then the others can't use it. I'm also concerned that the dog, one in particular, could scratch at the door to the room trying to get in and thereby wreck the door. We live in a rented house.

So I'm just not sure we should even be trying to keep this kitten. None of the other 4 pets we have seem to like him and he doesn't like them.

Would we better to just take the kitten to a vet/shelter?

[Zarathustra]

Trust you to be able to ask the hard questions!

[14+kitties]

The kitten needs to be in a room of its own. Poor thing will be petrified! The sites I gave you are for introducing cats to cats. Not to dogs. But the steps would be the same. The bathroom needs to be completely closed off so the kitten will feel safe if you can't give it the spare room.

Thanks for taking in this little waif. Hopefully someone is looking for him and will find him soon. I truly hope he escaped and he wasn't put out to fend for himself. Sadly, that is usually the case. :sad:

Patience is needed. Because they were introduced the way the were there needs to be a lot more patience. Tons of it!! And you need to find a way to get that dog to stop chasing cats!! Start with a spray bottle. I am sure someone will be along soon to answer that one for you.

[Laura81]

Well that was a bit anti-climatic. We took the kitten to the vet to have it checked and the woman at the vets said they had to keep the kitten now and try to track down the owners. Even though there was no microchip, no collar, no nothing. But she said by law they had to keep it and try to find the real owners. So, this thread for us is sort of a mute point now.

[catlover2]

I'm glad you took it to the vet to get checked out. I didn't know that it was a vet's responsibility to attempt to find the owners. That's quite a burden for a vet in Australia, as I don't think that's the case here in Ontario. But I stand to be corrected.

At any rate, when one finds a kitten, the finder should always try to find the owner first and if it can't be kept, surrender it to a shelter or humane society.

[kiara]

Nice of you for picking up this kitten. Never mix strays with your own pets, as they can carry diseases to you and your pets. Always put them in a seperate room and wash your hands. There is a possibility that the kitten is lost and someone is looking for it. You can take a picture and make a biography of the kitten and take it up to pet food stores, vets, groomers and food stores. Mark the area where you found him, the date, sex and age. If no one claims him, then you either decide to keep him, or take him to a good rescue. If you decide to keep him, then you have to take him to a vet and have him vaccinnated de-flead and de-wormed etc...It takes at least 7-10 days for the vaccines to work and I always keep my strays away from my cats for 10 days.