Rescued a feral kitten, what do?

Rescued a feral kitten, what do?

Hey /an/, /k/ommando here. I have a security job in the middle of nowhere at a scrap yard, and there's some cats and raccoons around by the dumpster.

>couple weeks ago see a little kitten
>very shy, runs away if I try to go near
>one day it's under my car
>to into the break room and grab some crackers
>lay down by my car with my flashlight and feed it
>snifs my hand, then backs off
>don't see it for a while
>yesterday, see it again
>lie down again and feed it more crackers
>get to pet it
>get to pick it up
>bring it inside to cuddle with
>it won't last the winter outside
>decide to adopt it since my border collie passed away a couple months ago

I'm taking it to the vet today for a check up and shots

This is my first cat, anything I need to know?
>pic related, named it crackers (think it's a female but it's so young it's hard to tell)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_(ecology)
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I'd recommend keeping it indoors. Even though it's been outside, it'll live a longer life indoors. Just be sure to play with it for about half an hour a day, show affection to it, and also give it some time to adjust to its environment.

If he wants to go outside, I'd recommend letting it outside on a leash. Let it look at birds, squirrels, etc.

He's a cute little guy. I'm sure you'll take good care of him.

nigga, you on Sup Forums

You're forcing her away from family. You are a monster.

Thanks. Yeah I was planning on keeping him indoors (like I said, little guy couldn't survive winter outside).

Better than letting it die in the cold, user. Not to mention there's coyotes around here.

Is she still scared or timid of you?

Nope, she comes over to me to cuddle, purring like the best of them. Real sweetheart. In terms of cleaning it up, should I just dampen a cloth with warm water?

I love men cat package photos like this. Fuels a hunger in me I didn't know I had

That can work but since it is young you can try to acclimate it to actual baths

...femanon?

Sounds good, I'll be sure to be careful around the face/eyes/ears

Kittens need 3 rounds of a distemper (usually combo) vaccine, all of which are 2 weeks apart. You have your initial distemper, which any cat that isn't UTD on vaccines need, the distemper booster which is kittens only and given after the initial, and finally your one year distemper which all cats need to be considered up to date, and obviously lasts a year. As far as I know, distemper shots can only last a year and no longer. You can start them at 6 weeks of age. They are around $50 a pop, not including check up or office visit, but prices change tremendously from place to place. If you cannot afford that, there are low cost clinics that do it for cheap or free, though some may want proof of income or benefits. Some stores, like certain Tractor Supply stores, will even have low cost distemper shots for the public once in a while. You can purchase and administer distemper yourself, however I wouldn't recommend it because doing it yourself means you have no official record of it. It's important to have an official distemper record because many vets won't do a surgery on an animal if they are not sure it is UTD, and make you pay for it all over again and also make your cat go through another series of shots. They may also make you wait until your cat gets all of it's shots before they will fix her. If you do decide to do them yourself later on, make sure you practice how to give vaccines first before doing it on your cat. You can really hurt your cat if you do it wrong or put the needle in muscle. You also won't want to give a vaccine to a young kitten or old cat; their skin is very thin and inexperienced people easily poke right through, wasting the vaccine.

Distemper Is kind of slang for feline panleukopeniavirus (FPV) also known as feline parvovirus, which is different than canine parvovirus.

Going off of this, if a feral/stray cat gets back outside, you may never see it again. They have a tendency to run.

Do you really thing a momma cat woyld care about one missing kitten out of a litter? He did it a favor by giving it a nice home, away from disease, predators, cars and other fucked up humans that would end up featuring it in a rekt thread.

You did a good thing OP, thank you. Hopefully you two have a lot of good years together.

Reminds me a lot of how I got my cat too, found him out in the wilds nearly dying of dehydration. We almost got 16 years together and it was great.

Keep us updated on Crackers, OP. Crackers is fucking adorable.

Make sure to get him lots of toys and stuff to climb on.

Rabies vaccine is a requirement that legally to need to keep your cat UTD on, whereas distemper is just highly recommended. A cat can't get it's rabies shot until 12 weeks of age; any sooner and the immune system could be too weak, or too new and 'forget' the vaccine. A lot of vets won't do a damn thing to your cat if it's not UTD on rabies and old enough to get it. Rabies shot is very important in case someone gets bit; with a rabies shot, your cat may sentence a quarantine period, often at home and usually just 10 days to see if there are signs of rabies. Without a rabies shot though, depending on the situation, they may require your cat be put down and decapitated to send to DEC for rabies test. You do not get the head back. Rabies shot has to be administered by a licensed vet tech or a vet, and a vet has to be on premises, which means you can't do it yourself. Rabies vaccines have to be recorded by state, and their sale is non commercial so you can't buy it. All rabies vaccine is a dead virus (opposed to the distemper which is a modified live virus, which just makes it very easy for the immune system to handle), meaning it won't give your cat rabies. It's been completely dead long before it was shipped. Rabies vaccine for kittens only needs to be administered once and it's good for one year. After a while of getting your cat the one year shots, you can even get a rabies vaccine that is good for 3 years.

For both the distemper and the rabies, you have about a 2 week window after their revaccination date(depending on your vet) to get them revaccinated. After those 2 weeks, you'll have to start the distemper series over again (if it's an adult cat, just two shots) and if you were doing 3 year rabies, you'll have to go back to a one year rabies. It's kind of just overprotection, rather be safe than sorry sort of stuff.

There are other vaccines you can also get. FIP vac, which prevents FIP. FIP is untreatable, irreversible and fatal, but only happens in 1 in 100 cats and usually kills them shortly after being weaned. That being said, some FIP cats don't show signs until a few months old, like mine had, and in one case, a cat lived 18 months with FIP. Not sure how effective FIP vaccine is

There's also FeLV vaccine. FeLV is untreatable but not necessarily a death sentence. I would honestly not recommend this, especially if your cat will be an indoor only/outdoor supervision cat, as it is very unlikely for an indoor cat to get FeLV. The biggest thing about FeLV vaccine is it shows up on FeLV tests and combo tests as a false positive. That means if your kitten gets loose and ends up in a city shelter or kill shelter, they will have to put your cat down after it's stray hold. FeLV is very contagious and as I said, untreatable so shelters can't risk having a positive cat around healthy ones.

I would recommend getting an initial dewormer from the vet while your kitten is so small and young. Most kittens have worms. Just check it's butthole after deworming for a few days, and if you see worms trying to get free, it's working and Your cat had worms. If your cat had worms, you generally need a second deworming. If it's super bad, you may even need a third. I'd advise against over the counter dewormers for all young animals, as some over the counters can be harmful to small animals. Once your cat gets older though, over the counter is free game.

DO NOT give your kitten a flea bath or treat with fleas. Go to a vet for this. I've seen too many healthy kittens die or go permanently blind or partially blind from wrong doses. Once your cat is old enough, feel free to order some flea and tick stuff, but wait until your cat meets the weight and age requirement.

Never ever use any Hartz product. I swear it's PETA killing pets. Idc if it's cat nip or a harmless plastic toy, stay away from Hartz

...

get a cat tree

Hey user why dont your BUY A FUCKING CAT.

Honestly white people are so weird they pick diseased or shit animals over breeded perfection.

>Oh guys look a poor little puppy boo hoo
Fuck that if I wanted a puppy I would just buy one who knows how parasites that shit has.

Alright crackers is a cute name, i'll give you that

Thanks user
Will do

>pic is a couple weeks ago when I first interacted with him
Gr8 b8 m8

Went to the vet today
>Crackers is male, confirmed catbro
>5-6 weeks old, too young for vaccines
>healthy heart and lungs
>no worms
>only problem is fleas, easily fixed with a bath

We happy, pic related

Thanks for all the advice /an/

Love /k/

That's a very dumb looking girl

I have a lot of feral cats around my farm. I kill the fucking things whenever I catch one. Stink up your place by shitting and pissing on everything

He's really cute. You got a good find.

Warrior Cats fan, please.

He's weaned, eh?

Did you eat a mentos before you grabed it?

>encouraging out door cats

You're the monster

Besides, cats are opportunists. They can't form any bonds of compassion with other cats. They don't experience "love"

>BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ANIMALS KILL OTHER ANIMALS BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Cool cat, kill the fleas and feed him up and he will love you forever.

Good. All birds are pests

wild animals kill other animals.

cats aren't wild animals, they're domesticated, they're not native to anywhere on the planet, not part of any ecosystem and contribute to absolutely nothing in their existence other than brain cancer and schizophrenia.

in a way they represent their owners, because they're just as useless, their existence has negative value.

This is the IQ of a typical cat owner everyone.

>the toxoplasmosis has addled my mind so much, I don't understand why an invasive species is or how ecosystems work

Cat owners sound like those soccer moms in denial: "Well muh children would never do any thing wrong stop blaming them!"

I guess it makes sense, because cats serve as replacement children for insane women and betamale introverts

That cat's fucking C U T E !

You better post him on a /k/ battlebuddies thread, user

>they're not native to anywhere on the planet

So you're saying they're extraterrestrials?

>what's domestication???? :(((
american education.

>domestication = non native

You're literally the worst tripnigger i've ever seen.

1) Never declaw a cat. It's basically like cutting off your fingers at the first knuckle.
2) Have a decoy keyboard / laptop when lurking. Cats fucking love keyboards.
3) Sit on a bed, put your hand under the sheet and scratch. Kitties love pouncing on shit.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_(ecology)

[american education intensifies]

Well cats don't form relationships with humans beyond getting their immediate gratification

So "buddy" wouldn't be an appropriate term

>they're domesticated
Cat's domesticated themselves. See "Mice near grain silos"

That's why cats are usually shitty pets if they weren't born around humans.

what a beautiful kitten

Lol mfw user. Tldr

You work for securitas.

>Warrior Cats fan, please.

Thank god people still remember that series

if you want to save yourself some vet costs and do your cat a favour, feed it only chickens. the small yellow ones you can buy frozen for pet snakes. its all what a cat needs.
regular cat food or pet food in general is worse than trash.
if you feed it chickens it will not only be healthier but also not shit so much, letting you clean its box fewer times.
seriously dude feed it right its all i can say. and dont let it be alone for itself that much, play with it or it will get on your nerves. you dont have to take it outside but you will invest the time you went out with your dog for a walk with your cat to play with

I consider cats to be friends with benefits. They have soft fur and it is nice to listen to them purr and fun to play with a laser or something, but when I'm not in the mood they can fuck right off. You can't do that to a dog; it's cruel. But cats don't give a shit if you ignore them as long as there's good in the bowl.

I've never heard this, but I'm curious. Citation?

kek