So my four-month-old kitten? She isn’t four months old. When I got her, they said she was an eight-week kitten, but they were just guessing. I said she looked more like a twelve-week kitten. She was tiny, but she didn’t have the fuzziness of fur, or the baby face that eight-week kittens have. She was a catling.
I was right.
She’s in heat. Full heat. She’s been driving Tig and me crazy since Thursday.
Take a look at this picture, which I took the day after I got Meimei. Look how fully-developed everything is. No fuzz, no babyish face, nothing but miniature cat.
Feral cats get less nutrition, which would explain the small size.
I was right. The people fostering her were wrong. And boy, I wish I was the one who was wrong, because it’s extremely rare for a four-month-old kitten to go into heat.
Sigh. I hope she comes out of it with enough time for the vet to spay her before the Christmas holiday slows everything down, because I was there before, sixteen years ago, with Gracie–because in those days, I couldn’t afford to get her spayed. She went in and out of heat every two weeks for a couple of months. Oy.
Oh dear. You are absolutely right – that’s NOT an 8 week old kitten. For comparison, here’s my little girl at about 7 weeks: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1381373887529&l=4a344f9c3d . And here she is at about 3 months: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1381373847528&l=f7fb039590 . Meimei looks a lot more like the 3-month-old in the above picture.
We actually had the opposite problem – the ad said 8-week-old kittens, but when we took her to the vet they said she was more likely only 6 weeks. Which was far too young for an Oriental breed to leave her mom (typically they need 12 weeks), but it was already too late. …The result was an eye infection (common with the breed) and a neurotic personality… including a tendency to nurse herself to sleep.
OY! You have my sympathies. Did the vet have any suggestions or even willing to spay her while she is in heat or just didn’t want to do it because of her size?
Well, they said they would if I really wanted it, but I don’t. She’s getting spayed Friday. She’s out of heat and back to her normal crazy self.
Huzzah! I know that is a relief for all three of you. Hopefully she isn’t vain about her fur a pull a”diva hissy” because of her shaved fur.