Kitten followed us home-advice?

[JBalways2000]

Hi all and apologies for not being on here for quite some time now, im hoping everyones kitties are all well

I will get to the story though as it is late lol basically we were walking home from my in laws house at around 10pm. We came to a road that cuts off ours and a little ginger tabby kitten ran at us! Well thats not all that unusual, we have had to stop and give fuss to plenty of attention seeking cats. We gave him a little fuss, though we were shocked that he was out so young, then we carried on our way. Problem is that he followed us to our door! It was still a fair bit of a walk from where he ran at us. We ignored him as we walked hoping he would turn away-this usually works with other kitties and we have found most will only follow you a few houses anyway. Well this little guy actually ran straight into the porch with us and straight through the front door!!

We were very concerned about putting him back out as he honestly seemed lost so we made the decision to bring him in and keep him in the bathroom overnight and ring the local vets first thing. Obviously we have 3 indoor kitties ourselves so the bathroom is the best we could offer! lol

Anyway, he is the most super friendly kitten we have ever came across. We have spent nearly two hours in the bathroom with him checking him over and getting him settled in-he looks a little skinny and we put a handful of food down and it was gone in seconds so he obviously hasnt had a meal for a while. We gave him a second handful and the same thing happened but i didnt want to feed him too much and upset his belly-did we do the right thing? his tummy was gurgling a little afterwards on my lap, but i also dont want to keep food from him if the little guy is starving

We have set up a litter tray in there, which im not sure he knows how to use and a water bowl and carrier with a blanket. Have borrowed a couple of the boys toys for him too and hes already been going mad for them. Gave him a checkover and he doesnt appear to have fleas, though he does have a few small scabs. his eyes, ears and nose are all clean, mouth/gums/teeth look healthy. Most of the nails on his back feet have either been torn off or worn right down until they are bleeding poor thing, but this appears to be the only obvious thing wrong with him. As i said he seems quite skinny, but then so does our Hernie and he eats like a horse lol

As i said he is the friendliest thing, he has been cuddling me so much. I patted my knee and he literally came running, jumped up and curled up purring like an engine! he done this several times and for my partner aswell-im hoping that means he has a loving worried owner somewhere. The only other thing to mention is that he has a blue collar on-no details/tag/bell, just a rubber blue collar

Again, our plan is to ring the local vets in the morning and see if anyone has reported him missing and i guess we will take it from there but nothing like this has ever happened to us before so im not sure what else we can do? If anyone has any advice for us or knows of anywhere else we should be ringing please let me know.

Have to admit he has certainly stole my heart and we would be super tempted by him if his owners dont come forward. He is a lovely little thing, he is an awful lot like our Hernie actually-except that hes a ginger tabby lol but we are trying to not even think about that as we havnt thought about getting another kittie since losing my soul cat ,Raven, last year and im not sure how our boys would feel about it either lol but it would certainly be hard to say no to this little guy.

Anyway hopefully we will ring the vets in the morning and he will be reunited with loving owners, but any advice in the meantime would be appreciated!

[Squirrel]

hope you get somewhere with finding this little ones owners - and that this is simply a moment of carelessness on their part!

I can't see myself having done any different...

[JBalways2000]

Thankyou Squirrel, we are hoping the same.

We are actually thinking that he hasnt had a meal in atleast a few days because he absolutely devoured everything we have put in front of him. We decided to give him a bit more food last night and it was gone so fast again. He has also drank half a big bowl of water overnight so obviously dehydrated too. He hadnt used the tray so my OH stuck him in it when we got up this morning and he done a nice biiiiiig wee lol He's such a lovely little thing, will break my heart to see him go if his owners are found.

We have rang our most local vets and they have looked in their lost and found book and he hasnt been reported so took all the details from us and we are bringing him up for a checkover at 11.30am with one of the nurses and also to check for a microchip. I was asked if we are happy to keep him for now and i told her yes aslong as hes given the all clear so he can perhaps mingle with my boys rather then living in our bathroom(which is the size of a bedroom but still not fun when we need to use the toilet and we have a loveable kitten trying to cuddle with us ) Do you think we were right to agree to keep hold of him for now? Will he be ok to meet my boys, who are all indoor, or is there a chance he might pass something onto them from being outdoors? Might sound silly, i just have a tendancy to over worry and obviously our boys come first. As i said he will be getting checked over so i will of course ask the nurse all these questions too but would love some input here too if anyone can.

I know im setting myself up for heartbreak but i also feel good about helping a lost little kitten so hopefully it will be worth it. Lets hope our boys feel the same way LOL

[angieh]

That kitten hopefully will get the all clear from the vet and if so, if it were me, I'd be prepared to care for him until his owner is traced. Hopefully he'll have a chip. Has he been neutered? If not, he'll probably not have been chipped either yet. Do you have a local shop where you could post a notice?

He sounds like he knows just how to get you two wrapped around his little paws!

[JBalways2000]

Originally Posted by angieh

That kitten hopefully will get the all clear from the vet and if so, if it were me, I'd be prepared to care for him until his owner is traced. Hopefully he'll have a chip. Has he been neutered? If not, he'll probably not have been chipped either yet. Do you have a local shop where you could post a notice?

He sounds like he knows just how to get you two wrapped around his little paws!

how right you are, he has us smitten, he has such a loud purr!! But like i said our boys come first so if there is any risk for them or they are not happy with him being here then hopefully the vets will be able to help. Im pretty sure the vets i contacted work with the Cats Protection as we often see stories in the newspaper about them both.

And no he isnt neutered so we were thinking the same that he probably isnt going to be chipped either But when we get back from the vets with him i shall ring around a few more and leave details with them-surely a good owner would atleast ring every local vets if their kitty didnt go home? Though as i said he is a very hungry boy so im wondering how long he has been lost for

[Shelley123]

Sounds like this little boy was so lucky you passed by and are looking after him. I wonder if he has been trapped somewhere, just thinking of the damaged claws and hunger.
He may have a frantic owner looking for him or he could just be another abandoned Kitten that had the good fortune to find you.
As Angie has said i would put a few notices in local shop windows, inform the local cat shelters and vets and that's about all you can do.
I once found a kitten outside the hairdressers and took her home, i did all the advertising but no one claimed her so she stayed with me.

[Tink]

Oh dear, sounds like a sweetheart.
One thing to keep in mind with the notices--Be vague and state lost kitten found and what area but be sure to have them ring you to describe him--don't attach his picture or anything like that just in case there is someone out looking for a free kitten who will just pose as the owner to get him or something. If they really are the owner, they should be able to tell you his markings and bring up the collar as well. Never can be too careful, there are bad people out there that take advantage.

[angieh]

Wise warning there from Tink.

[JBalways2000]

Originally Posted by Tink

Oh dear, sounds like a sweetheart.
One thing to keep in mind with the notices--Be vague and state lost kitten found and what area but be sure to have them ring you to describe him--don't attach his picture or anything like that just in case there is someone out looking for a free kitten who will just pose as the owner to get him or something. If they really are the owner, they should be able to tell you his markings and bring up the collar as well. Never can be too careful, there are bad people out there that take advantage.

That is exactly our thinking, the vets told us to put up posters with a photo on but no chance we are doing that as could definately see someone trying to claim him just to get a free kitten

Well we made the very hard decision to leave him with the vets To be honest the main reason was because we have fell inlove with him already and if he stayed much longer and was then claimed we would be heartbroken-not to mention if we bonded him with our boys and then he was suddenly taken away. I just couldnt deal with losing another cat, especially so close to the first year anniversary of Ravens death I hope no one thinks bad of us for this. The vets were very understanding as to why we couldnt keep him at the moment-we have told them that we might be interested in rehoming him if he isnt claimed as then we wont have our hearts broken! lol They told us they will keep him for 7 days and after that time if he isnt claimed they contact the cats protection to arrange for a foster home for him, so she told me she will ring me on saturday to let me know whats happening and to see what we want to do.

I think this is best all round as it gives us chance to have a proper think about taking on another kittie without the little guy being here melting our hearts and not allowing us to use our heads Part of me just wanted to bring him back home so badly and i have to say i started missing him the second i left the vets Amazing how quickly you can become attached to an animal isnt it? But everything happens for a reason so if he has some loving owners out there frantic to find him then he will be reunited and we will have done a good thing. If not then we might be having to sweet talk the boys into adopting a new brother But even if we decide we cant take him on i know without a doubt that boy will not have trouble finding a home-not only were his markings stunning but he is one of the friendliest loviest kitties i have ever came across-all he wanted last night was our laps!

We did get some photos of him so i will have to post some for you all to see, but i will keep you all updated on what happens. We are off out to the shops now so will be keeping an eye out for posters and perhaps make some vague ones of our own to put up tomorrow.

Oh i shall also ring around a few other vets this afternoon to see if any of the others have had reports of a missing kitten, not sure what cat shelters there are local to us but will have a search and see. Any more advice will be welcome but please keep fingers crossed that this boy has a happy ending one way or the other

PS they said he seemed perfectly healthy and would put him at no more then 6 months old. Pretty sure he has fleas despite me checking and not finding anything last night as i woke up with a bump on my leg this morning So just defleaing the boys and house now

[angieh]

JB - I think you have acted very wisely, bearing in mind the heartbreak that might have been caused. He is in a safe place and his owner will be found if at all possible. Gives you the break you need to make a sensible decision without the little chap twisting your arm.

I do look forward to seeing his photo! Bless you for taking care of this wee mite. If it is to be, it will be.