Determining Kitten Age

A few weeks ago I thought I found a  8 week old kitten but after taking cat to the veterinarians I found out that the kitten was older.   The veterinarian examined the cat and asked questions pertaining to the kitten eating habits, feeding schedule, sleeping habits and activity, and then determined an approximate age.

I learned that the kitten was approximately 10 weeks old. The cat was small for its age because it was underdeveloped. As a stray, the kitten did not get the proper nutrition. Know that an orphaned kitten could appear to be small due to their lack of food from queen cat or from being abandoned, left to forage on their own.

Feral kitten with Queen cat

Other ways to Determine Age of Kitten 

1. Determine an approximate age for the kitten by their eating-sleeping habits. 
2. A kitten that is not able to go to the bathroom on their own or needs to be fed a milk replacement by way of bottle is a newborn age three weeks and under.
3. If the kitten is drinking replacement milk from a glass bowl, eating soft kitten food or wellness core kitten formula grain free and no GMO kibble moistened with replacement milk and eats five to six times a day the age is 4 to 8 weeks.
4. Kittens that are age 12 to 24 weeks old are weaned from replacement milk and eating solid foods that is moistened with water or canned kitten food. These kittens generally eat three times a day.
Another way to determine the age of a kitten is by their weight: each pound represents month (example 2 pounds = two months)

*The photographs that you view on this post are of the many kittens I have rescued over the years. 

Checking Kitten for Fleas

Today there was an approximately 8 week old kitten in my yard and I went out to find out if this kittens was feral or domesticated. I approached the kitten with eyes to the ground and walked slowly before sitting down on the ground. 

The kitten mowed and I knew it was domesticated. Perhaps lost or worse abandoned? I knew that woods was no place for such a small cat and so I scooped this baby up and thought I would bring indoors to feed, give water and check for fleas.

Checking a kitten for fleas especially if they are out and about close to a wooded area is important because a kitten that has fleas has a high risk of becoming anemic and this blood disorder could be fatal. 

An infestation would be fleas crawling all over the kitten and this baby would need immediate veterinary care. I was lucky that was not the case with the kitten that I found in my yard. Yes he did have a few fleas but I was able to remove them with a flea comb. Then I wiped the kittens fur with a damp cloth to remove the flea dirt.

The next thing that I will do is contact my veterinarian to find out if the kitten has a microchip, if not I will see if I can get some flea treatment for this baby.  

Then I will search for his people, may be days may be weeks.  Do know that nobody in my neighborhood (two block radius) got a new kitten recently.  At least this baby kitten will have no fleas.

How to Catch a Lost Domesticated Cat

Today one of my friends asked me how I go about catching adult domesticated lost or abandoned cat and I replied that it is not an easy task because they are freaked out and have trust issues, but that it can be done.

Know that before I bring out the live animal trap I try my best to get the cat to come to me. I use the trap as the last resort because it terrifies the cat, that is stressed out to begin with.

When I say lost or abandoned I am referring to cats that show up in my woods out of the blue. Could be a cat that left their home and got lost or it could be a cat that was abandoned. Know that my woods has predators and it is no place for a domesticated cat.

Steps to Take to Catch a Domesticated Cat

The first thing I do is locate the cat by seeking it with the lens of my camera.  Then I will get a safe distance from the cat, lower my eyes to look at the ground, followed by calling out to the cat.  "here kitty kitty kitty".  Pause to see if cat responds.  

Know that if you look at the cat eye to eye that the cat will become defensive because direct eye contact indicates dominance.

If the cat does not come right away, I will sit down and wait...calling out to the kitty occasionally. The cat knows I am there and if it wants to come to me it will come to me very slowly. (May take several hours)

When waiting for the cat does not work, say the cat moves closer to where you are but is still cautious. Set out a bowl of stinky fish flavored food like Friskeies.com salmon pate or whitefish.  This food puts out a strong aroma that will get the lost domesticate cats attention. 

For me it works to squat or sit down and read a book. If a cat is hiding in my yard I will put out a sleeping bag so I can sit on it. Then set up food and water close to where I am sitting and wait.

A few days ago I rescued a lost housecat from the woods, the rescue took 6 hours, it occurred at night when coyote were out and about.   If the cat had not been stressed out we would not have rescued at night but since the cat was putting out a stress meow, husband and I reacted and did everything possible to keep the coyote back and rescue this lost cat.  

When the cat finally came to me it walked behind me and rubbed on my back, marked me as their person. Then it stood on my lap and rubbed its face on mine. Then I could pet the cat and get a hold of its scruff before picking up to put in cat carrier.

Know that if this waiting procedure did not work then I would have to trap the domesticated cat with live animal trap. If you do not have a live animal trap then I would recommend these online stores for cat traps.

havahart.com 

lowes.com

tractorsupply.com

acehardware.com

amazon.com

Always bait the trap with a stinky fish flavored canned food and cover the trap with a twin size blanket. But do not cover the opening.

Learn more about trapping and baiting a trap here

Cause for Cats Postage Stamps

Today I was getting my monthly bills ready to be mailed and realized that I was almost of of postage stamps. I could walk to the post office and buy a generic looking stamp but prefer to order a custom made cause stamp from zazzle.com.  I have enough stamps for now but would need to order some for end of month bills and correspondences. So I went to my photographs and looked through my original photos of feral and rescued cats so I could make my own stamps for my cat cause.

Feral Cat lying in the woods.  Photo captured at dusk by Sgolis

My husband suggested that I get a few on cat adoption because it is cat and kitten abandonment season.   I thought I would create some postage stamps that had a message to adopt, rescue and save lives. I figure stamps like these are a good way to spread the word.

 Here are a few postage stamps that I designed at my Gifts for Cat Lovers and Photo Gifts by Susan online shop.  These stamps will promote cat awareness and the mail is a good way to get the word out to the general public. 

 If you are interested in viewing it high resolution then click through to the store. All are available for purchase and are made by print on demand.

All of these feral cat stamps were designed from the photographs of cats that I have trapped for spay or neuter, socialized for adoption or watch over at cat colony. 

Gray Tabby Cat Standing in Fountain Cat Postage by Susang6

Feral Kittens Black and White Postage by Susang6
Make your own personal stamps at zazzle.com

Tabby Cat in Winter - Snow Postage Stamp by Susang6

Feral Cat Sleeping in Shelter Postage by Susang6

Feral Cat in Autumn Postage by Susang6

Adopt FIV Cats Siamese Cat Postage by Susang6

AdoptFeral Kittens Postage Stamps by Susang6
Shop for Cat Stamps online at Zazzle.com

 

Feral Cat in Winter Postage Stamps by Susang6


Design your own personal photo stamps from Zazzle.

Birthday Party For Cat Caretaker

Tomorrow is one of the cat caretakers birthdays and we are going to have a small party for her. I had a cat made in the shape of a tabby cat, was not too expensive as I ordered it from the bakery at Walmart. Then we all chipped in and bought her a card that I designed from one of my photographs of feral cat in our care. Her gift is a PetSmart.com certificate. She will like that because she can buy what she wants for her pets.

We like to celebrate our cat caretakers birthdays because they volunteer their service to help out with the colony of feral cats in our care. They are cat lovers and have been very generous with their time and love for the cats. We could not do what we do if we did not have help from our cat loving community.

Here are some cat birthday cards that I have designed. If you are interested in buying them then click through to my zazzle shop.

This birthday card was designed from a photograph of Charlie, a feral kitten that came to our shelter after his mom had been wounded by a wild animal.  Charlie had been injured in the attack and we needed to trap and rush him  to veterinarian. Both  were under medical care for 21 days due to a bad bite wound and infection.  Charlie was then socialized and adopted into a forever home.

Grumpy Tabby Cat Birthday Card Card by Susang6

Happy Birthday From Your Cat Greeting Postcard Postcard by Susang6

Smile its your Birthday Maine Coon Cat Card by Susang6

To My Person From the Cat Birthday Card Greeting Card by giftsforcatlovers

Natural Supplement Improves Cat Health

I am a member of many online cat forums and have read many posts asking how to get rid of cat dandruff, improve cats coat, stop the cat from scratching and other hair/skin conditions. Know that I have been lucky and have had these cat ailments but all were remedied quickly with Ark naturals Nu-feline antioxidant supplement.

Feral cats eating wet food mixed with Arks naturals feline antioxidants

Since 2008 I have been supplementing the cats in my care diet with Ark naturals Nu-feline antioxidants.  This all natural feline supplement is made from fish protein, alfalfa grass, wheat grass and dried citrus pulp and ascorbic acid (vitamin c), vitamin A supplement, taurine, vitamin E supplement, cysteine and selenium.
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If you are interested in buying this product shop at these online stores.

I learned about the Ark naturals Nu-feline antioxidant supplement from a friend who was associated with a well-known cat network. She told me that it was a quality product that benefited cats with FIV or other conditions that weakened the immune system, as well as cats with poor appetites, cat dandruff or other coat/skin conditions.

Results can be noticed within 10 days of adding the supplement to my cat’s food. I have noticed that the cats coat is shiny, they have more energy and less hairballs.

I also mix this supplement into the feral cats food. This nutritious supplement enables the outdoor cats to grow a thick winter coat and the antioxidant properties boost the cat’s immune system.

Chewy.com

iherb.com

amazon.com

arknaturals.com

Learn more abut arknaturls.com by viewing this Youtube.com video