Introducing Little Tyke: A Tribute to Einstein

  • Thread starter Ivan Seeking
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    Introducing
In summary: I can't even explain it).In summary, Tsu comes home with a three week old kitten named 'Tyke' who was abandoned by one of her coworkers. Tsu is reluctant to let Tyke out of her sight, and Ivan steps in to take care of the kitten while Tsu is at work. The pictures don't look the best, but the author is smiling so it must be worth it.
  • #36
turbo-1 said:
My second cousin and her husband had a shih tzu with at least a half a brain. He had a spectacular under-bite and a tendency to race around looking for imaginary things that people would "throw" for him to entertain themselves, but he was a sweet little guy.

Yeah, that was kinda of what Judy's shih tzu did! Also, he would go to the door to go outside to pee but he would POOP in the house! I'm not sure they EVER got him trained. He was still doing that when he was 2 years old! I'm talkin' DUMB as a BRICK! :smile:
 
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  • #37
Awwww, so cute!

In addtion to "pooping" him, you'll need to bath him. Not in a tub, but like his mom would. Take a damp cloth and wipe him down, using short strokes like a mom-cat would lick. The cloth doesn't have to be wet, just moist. You'll be amazed at how much debris you'll wipe off of a cat that seems clean.

I do this to my (adult) kitty all the time - she loves her baths! Especially when we do it in the sun.

I can't wait to see pictures of him as he grows!
 
  • #38
Oh wow is he ever cute, Tsu and Ivan. :!) Congratulations to all of you. (Your avatar, by the way, Tsu, appears to me to either be a Shih tzu or a Lhasa apso puppy. One that's had a haircut around his/her face.)

I've never tried being a momma cat to a wee, wee baby kitty before, but I've watched a real momma cat do her thing, and she had the little ones in the litter box within a couple of weeks. We didn't realize they'd use it so soon, and the walls were too high for them to scale comfortably, so they' hang off of the side and then fall in face-first. They did it by imitation so Moonbie's pie plate (something with low sides) with cat litter in it sounds like a great idea. Put him in after he's eaten (or when you'd normally "poop" him) and show him, using you hands, how to scratch around in the litter. They generally catch on pretty quickly, even though you'll have to keep tidying him up afterwards. (The momma cat did.)

lisab's suggestion to bathe him with a warm, damp cloth is an excellent idea too.

Can you quickly learn how to purr, Tsu? I've heard that kittens love that. :wink:
 
  • #39
GeorginaS said:
Can you quickly learn how to purr, Tsu? I've heard that kittens love that. :wink:

We are both fluent in feline. :biggrin:

Little Tyke already purrs up a storm when I talk to him. He likes to sit with his face about four inches from mine, and listen, then he peeps and purrs and reaches out to grab my lip, which isn't always pleasant! :smile:
 
  • #40
Whoops, Little Tyke is a girl.
 
  • #41
GeorginaS said:
They did it by imitation so Moonbie's pie plate (something with low sides) with cat litter in it sounds like a great idea. Put him in after he's eaten (or when you'd normally "poop" him) and show him, using you hands, how to scratch around in the litter. They generally catch on pretty quickly, even though you'll have to keep tidying him up afterwards. (The momma cat did.)
I always place the kitten in the litter box, take one of its paws and gently "paw" the litter so that they feel it move. That seems to be all it takes to get them going.
 
  • #42
Ivan Seeking said:
Whoops, Little Tyke is a girl.

:smile:

Dang fur!

...seriously, though, I thought nearly all orange cats were male. Guess not!

How's she doing?
 
  • #43
awww little Tykette!
 
  • #44
Tsu said:
Also... Do bottle fed kittens experience personality problems? I had a vet tech. tell me that once, but I think SHE was the one with the possible personality problem...:wink:
No, they don't have any issues. The only problem is how often a kitten has to eat, I was lucky to be working at home. And it wasn't just one, one mother was killed by a dog and I had three 2 week old kittens, not too bad until they started moving around. I had to take them one at a time into another room to feed them or they would all go berserk when I brought out the formula.

The main problem with little kittens and cat litter is that they tend to inhale the litter and start choking. Or maybe I just had weird kittens. I had to watch them carefully.
 
  • #45
lisab said:
How's she doing?

On a scale of 1-10, where 10 is sooooo cute that you can't stand it...

Guess. :biggrin:
 
  • #46
I swear, it is as if one can somehow sense the sex of a cat. In spite of the fact that she is orange, and even though the parts looked male to those who have checked, Tsu and I have had the hardest time calling her, him. There was a definite inclination to refer to her in the feminine. We talked about and assumed that this time we would be wrong. This has happened before.

We were hoping for a male as we have two poorly socialized females already.
 
  • #47
Ivan Seeking said:
On a scale of 1-10, where 10 is sooooo cute that you can't stand it...

Guess. :biggrin:
Just wait until she goes into the "anti-gravity" stage where she walks around with her claws out all of the time to make sure she doesn't float into space. This is when you need the kevlar armor.

I'd be standing in front of the stove, cooking, when an airborne kitten would suddenly become attached to the back of my thigh.
 
  • #48
Ivan Seeking said:
Whoops, Little Tyke is a girl.

Ivan Seeking said:
I swear, it is as if one can somehow sense the sex of a cat. In spite of the fact that she is orange, and even though the parts looked male to those who have checked, Tsu and I have had the hardest time calling her, him. There was a definite inclination to refer to her in the feminine. We talked about and assumed that this time we would be wrong. This has happened before.

We were hoping for a male as we have two poorly socialized females already.

:smile: One of the women who works at our farm insists you can tell by their faces. She's actually pretty good at telling the sex of kittens before peeking between the legs, so there might be something to that.

Good thing "Little Tyke" is a gender neutral name. :biggrin:
 
  • #49
My friend's son had that problem with his cat Stella. The people C got the cat from said the cat was a she. Stella is a he and permanently stuck with his name.:biggrin:

Little Tyke does look like a she, though. Moon bear is right -- just look at her face.
 
  • #50
She does seem to have a cute little feminine looking face, doesn't she. Actually, Ivan called it first. He kept calling her she while I was stuck on the he. I was just hoping for another boy like our sweet Einstein. It doesn't really matter, tho. We love her to bits already. This is her routine:
- wakes up instantly to the sound of my voice. meows incessantly.
- eats voraciously
- burps LOUDLY into my ear
- rolls over onto back to play, waving arms and legs in air, mewing and chomping on my fingers
- eats a little more
- gets taken to the cat box; if she doesn't produce, she gets a PTKJ ('poop the kitten job')
- she's had some loose stool lately (Vet says its probably the milk replacement formula), so usually gets a butt bath after the PTKJ. Then I wet down a wash cloth and give the baby her bath. She loves this! :biggrin:
- after her bath, she snuggles into my neck under my hair and goes to sleep. SHE'S SOOOOOOO CUUUUUUTE!

I've had so much fun doing this, I think I'm just going to get kitten after kitten and do it ALL of the time! (Ivan, honey. Relax. I'm just kidding! OK? :wink:)
 
  • #51
Tsu said:
She does seem to have a cute little feminine looking face, doesn't she. Actually, Ivan called it first. He kept calling her she while I was stuck on the he. I was just hoping for another boy like our sweet Einstein. It doesn't really matter, tho. We love her to bits already. This is her routine:
- wakes up instantly to the sound of my voice. meows incessantly.
- eats voraciously
- burps LOUDLY into my ear
- rolls over onto back to play, waving arms and legs in air, mewing and chomping on my fingers
- eats a little more
- gets taken to the cat box; if she doesn't produce, she gets a PTKJ ('poop the kitten job')
- she's had some loose stool lately (Vet says its probably the milk replacement formula), so usually gets a butt bath after the PTKJ. Then I wet down a wash cloth and give the baby her bath. She loves this! :biggrin:
- after her bath, she snuggles into my neck under my hair and goes to sleep. SHE'S SOOOOOOO CUUUUUUTE!

I've had so much fun doing this, I think I'm just going to get kitten after kitten and do it ALL of the time! (Ivan, honey. Relax. I'm just kidding! OK? :wink:)

Awwwwww...I love reading the updates in this thread in the morning. It's a nice way to start the day. She sounds perfectly adorable!

Hey, if there's a local animal shelter, you might be able to foster kittens that need that much extra care...though, I don't know if I could do all that and then give the kitten back...it was hard enough turning Lucky over to my stepsister, and I still got to visit him.
 
  • #52
Moonbear said:
Hey, if there's a local animal shelter, you might be able to foster kittens that need that much extra care...though

TR Newswire - Ivan Seeking was last seen waiving a firearm and chasing Moonbear down 5th Ave. Film at eleven.
 
  • #53
Ivan Seeking said:
TR Newswire - Ivan Seeking was last seen waiving a firearm and chasing Moonbear down 5th Ave. Film at eleven.

o:) What did I do? o:)
 
  • #54
I've not been able to tell the gender of cats by looking at their faces, but ferrets are easy to ID.
 
  • #55
I do tend to think if there is anything to this, it must be in the face.

We have a stray who has been eating here for over two years who we have named Mr. Spock. We really don't know the sex as we are just now able to approach him [carefully], and we don't see anything hanging, but I would bet a week's pay that he's a male.
 
  • #56
Moonbear said:
Awwwwww...I love reading the updates in this thread in the morning. It's a nice way to start the day. She sounds perfectly adorable!

Hey, if there's a local animal shelter, you might be able to foster kittens that need that much extra care...though, I don't know if I could do all that and then give the kitten back...it was hard enough turning Lucky over to my stepsister, and I still got to visit him.

Oh, good! :biggrin: I have a special picture for you in the morning, then. I got it just before leaving for work so I have to download it when I get home tonight. It's another cute overload shot. She really is the sweetest little thing I've seen in forever! :!) I love it when she crawls under my hair and nuzzles my neck and purrs so loud I think she'll break! She is a real snuggler.
 
  • #57
Its strange that myth about gingers being male. We've had two ginger cats and they've both been female.
 
  • #58
Do they have white on their face or chest?
 
  • #59
Tsu said:
Do they have white on their face or chest?

Rosie does but our previous cat was all ginger.
 
  • #60
Hmmm. Interesting. One of the 'myths' I've heard in figuring the gender of this baby is that if it's got a white face or chest, it's a female. Otherwise, if it's all ginger then it has a 75% chance of being a male.
 
  • #61
I love this thread it is so cute! I cannot wait to see more pictures. I've had to do the same with some baby kittens to and it is so much fun (well my mom didn't think so...she had to deal with them while my sister and I were at school and had to take the nightly feedings haha).
 
  • #62
No, I know! The females whine and complain more. :rolleyes:
 
  • #63
Ivan, are you trying to loose your job as head kitty-sitter? :biggrin:
 
  • #64
Tsu said:
Ivan, are you trying to loose your job as head kitty-sitter? :biggrin:

You can send her to me! I'll take care of her. :biggrin: I can't wait for the newest picture!
 
  • #65
Great! We may need you next week! I'm going to be in Phoenix and Ivan has an out of town job to go to. How much is air-fare for a fur-ball? :biggrin:
 
  • #66
Well, shoot. Either ImageShack is down or I'm just lame. I'll email my picture to Ivan. If he's not busy, he may be able to d/l for u. crud. got to run. baby is eating m face. ouch!
 
  • #67
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/3384/littletyke4wkssmps2.jpg
 
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  • #68
Cute overload! That is so so adorable. I miss having baby kittens! On the farm we used to have a litter or two every year...so much fun!
 
  • #69
**THUMP** (me passing out from cute overload)

(wakes up...staggers a bit...looks at Little Tyke again...)

**THUMP**
 
  • #70
scorpa said:
Cute overload! That is so so adorable. I miss having baby kittens! On the farm we used to have a litter or two every year...so much fun!

This is a real treat for us. Many of our animals are taken in as strays or adopted from the Shelter, so rarely do we get babies.

We are a little worried though. Tyke was constipated and not eathing yesterday. Tsu has her at the Vet's right now.
 
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