Introducing Little Tyke: A Tribute to Einstein

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ivan Seeking
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Introducing
Click For Summary
The discussion centers around the introduction of a new kitten named Little Tyke, adopted in memory of a beloved cat named Einstein. The kitten, only three weeks old, was rescued by a coworker's dog that took it from a feral mother. The new owner expresses joy and love for the kitten, detailing the challenges of bottle-feeding and caring for such a young animal. Participants share tips on kitten care, including litter training and feeding techniques, while also reminiscing about their own experiences with pets. The thread highlights the emotional bond formed with the new kitten and the community's support in navigating its care.
  • #31
I was guessing a shih tzu-chihuaua cross or something like that. Cute, short-haired, with an alert but friendly temperament and a bit of "sass".
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #32
Good point, Moonbear. See? What do I know? :biggrin: Now a shih tzu is a much smaller dog than a malamute, so that is a consideration - especially if you're looking for a lap dog. For THAT, may I suggest a 3 week old kitten? :biggrin: Also something to consider: I don't know about others, but my friends shih tzu was about the DUMBEST dog I've ever seen. Truly. Brain free. Anyone out there with a smart shih tzu? I'd love to know that aren't all that dumb!
 
  • #33
I looooooove little marmalade stripey kitties! Way cool!
 
  • #34
Tsu said:
Good point, Moonbear. See? What do I know? :biggrin: Now a shih tzu is a much smaller dog than a malamute, so that is a consideration - especially if you're looking for a lap dog. For THAT, may I suggest a 3 week old kitten? :biggrin: Also something to consider: I don't know about others, but my friends shih tzu was about the DUMBEST dog I've ever seen. Truly. Brain free. Anyone out there with a smart shih tzu? I'd love to know that aren't all that dumb!
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.
 
  • #35
Thanks MIH. He sure is a sweet little thing. I just love him to bits! He rolls onto his back on my lap after eating and waves his little arms and legs all around and bites himself. (Not too smart - might be part shih tzu). :biggrin:
 
  • #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:
 
  • #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.
 

Similar threads

What have we done? Cats, 6; Tsu and Ivan, 2
  • · Replies 73 ·
3
Replies
73
Views
10K