So, I have a new roommate, and need some advice

[MasPan]

I have no idea what I'm doing and am in way over my head. HALP.

http://imgur.com/a/fSzRU

Holy pomegranate enormous kitty pictures. Didn't realize my phone took pictures that big.

I found him/her (if he has any balls, they're super tiny and I am having difficulty knowing for sure, taking him(?) to the vet tomorrow morning to get a check up) by the side of the road while driving home. I've got him(?) hooked up with half a can of cat food and a saucer of water (I went to the store after the picture you see with the white bowl of water), a litterbox/some litter, a carrier and a small collar for when I take him(?) to the vet...

Can anyone offer any guidance or advice? He(?) is currently situated in my bathroom with a towel blocking the bottom of the door. He seems healthy/friendly, he's social, doesn't seem overly afraid, no visible signs of pain, etc. Fur is soft and clean, can't have been out wandering alone for long.

[MuscleWizard]

imgur has a gallery function. you should submit it, add a story to it asking for advice in the description, you'll probably get some pomegranateposts, but you should get a decent amount of good advice as well

[Sn1perJohnE]

To train him on where to use the litter box, keep him in that room for a week or two, just letting him out to socialize and all that. Youll want to get him fixed so that he isnt spraying (if its a male) or bleeding everywhere (if its a girl). I dont recommend declawing, as it is very painful for cats, and if it ever gets outside, it will be have some protection.

[MasPan]

To train him on where to use the litter box, keep him in that room for a week or two, just letting him out to socialize and all that. Youll want to get him fixed so that he isnt spraying (if its a male) or bleeding everywhere (if its a girl). I dont recommend declawing, as it is very painful for cats, and if it ever gets outside, it will be have some protection.

Matches up with what a friend was telling me, sound advice, thanks!

[Tsundere]

Get a litter box asap. Cats are easy to train on that. What you do is a few times during the day for one day, just place them in the litter box. That's about all you have to do. They usually know what to do after that. However, just make sure it's in an accessible place for them.

Tasks you are responsible for when you have a cat:
1. Scoop the litterbox once every day, or every other day.(Then change the whole thing after it's been a whole week or something.)
2. Feed it food in the morning, and later around dinner time. (lunch is fine, but the cat won't eat everything on their plate anyways usually.)
3. Give him attention. (Pet it, talk to it, and all that cool stuff.)

I've had six cats, and I currently have 3 right now. They are really awesome. Your cat looks pretty tame, and not really scared. It should adapt fairly quickly to its new home. It will probably take about 4-5 days to fully understand its surroundings and get everything down.

[MasPan]

Get a litter box asap. Cats are easy to train on that. What you do is a few times during the day for one day, just place them in the litter box. That's about all you have to do. They usually know what to do after that. However, just make sure it's in an accessible place for them.

Tasks you are responsible for when you have a cat:
1. Scoop the litterbox once every day, or every other day.(Then change the whole thing after it's been a whole week or something.)
2. Feed it food in the morning, and later around dinner time. (lunch is fine, but the cat won't eat everything on their plate anyways usually.)
3. Give him attention. (Pet it, talk to it, and all that cool stuff.)

I've had six cats, and I currently have 3 right now. They are really awesome. Your cat looks pretty tame, and not really scared. It should adapt fairly quickly to its new home. It will probably take about 4-5 days to fully understand its surroundings and get everything down.

Got one, he's already using it :D

[MariettaRC]

Oh my gosh he/she is precious! I'm jealous. ;u; I wish you good luck with your new little friend!

If you ever have trouble with claws, there's a nice alternative to declawing. Look up SoftPaws, they're basically claw covers. I haven't tried them myself, due to not (yet) owning a cat, but it saves the trouble of possible furniture destruction/injury while not needing to make your kitten suffer through the process of declawing.

[Malthe]

I dont recommend declawing, as it is very painful for cats

I didn't even know this was a thing until now, what the actual pineapple. What a pineappleing awful thing to do to an animal.
That's just straight up animal cruelty, jesus christ i'm happy this is illegal where i'm from.

Also when it's still this young it's very important to be very social with it. The more time you spend with it now the more comfortable it will be around people later.
I have two cats, one was bred to be sold to other breeders and as such they were never very social with it and now it prefers being on its own while my other cat who was raised as a family cat from the start prefers being around people and loves company.

Cats aren't always the asocial animal they're portrayed to be. They're affected a lot by how you raise them.

[MasPan]

Giving him lots of attention and vice versa (he's been having fun climbing up my jeans. Which hurts haha.). Also, he found toys to play with:

[RedRaven16]

Get a lazer pointer cats love lazer pointers for some reason, hell they like anything that moves a piece of string works

[MasPan]

just got back from the vet. Clean bill of health with the exception of some ear mites, which are apparently a common problem for kittens. The vet treated his ears, started his vaccinations, scanned for a chip (in case he was a runaway) and otherwise said he looked really healthy and was impressed with his condition given that he was a stray. ~10 weeks old, 3.8lbs.

No name as of yet, I'm mostly just calling him ornery until I think of one.

[Zelkova]

No name as of yet, I'm mostly just calling him ornery until I think of one.

MenosPan the Kitty

[MasPan]

MenosPan the Kitty

MasNip perhaps?

-Update-
I got 4 plastic balls with bells inside them for like $2. The entertainment value far exceeds the cost. This pomegranate is pineappleing hilarious.

[Tsundere]

I didn't even know this was a thing until now, what the actual pineapple. What a pineappleing awful thing to do to an animal.
That's just straight up animal cruelty, jesus christ i'm happy this is illegal where i'm from.

Also when it's still this young it's very important to be very social with it. The more time you spend with it now the more comfortable it will be around people later.
I have two cats, one was bred to be sold to other breeders and as such they were never very social with it and now it prefers being on its own while my other cat who was raised as a family cat from the start prefers being around people and loves company.

Cats aren't always the asocial animal they're portrayed to be. They're affected a lot by how you raise them.

The major bad thing about cats with claws is that they have a tendency to claw on the wood, and destroy litter box bags if you use those. Also, they can claw you without meaning to quite often if you're being playful. I can understand both sides of wanting to and not wanting to declaw a cat though.

If anyone ever does decide to declaw a cat, I'd always suggest doing it when they're young. Putting them through that later in life is very cruel, because they've already gotten used to having their claws for so long.

[VerrKol]

Apparently I'm in the minority here where both of my family's cats were declawed. If done correctly, it is not animal cruelty and certainly causes no lasting trauma. In my area, coyotes are quite common so they must remain indoors at all times anyway. It's a matter of practicality to protect furniture and carpets.

That said, it looks like you already done a fine job taking care of your unexpected little friend. I'll just add that some cats are incredibly picky about their cat pans and they must be cleaned daily or they will pomegranate elsewhere in protest. Also don't leave towels on the ground or they can pee on them.

[Alloy]

...I was about to come in and joke about pissing on your room to stablish territory.

Then I saw the cat.

I'm now genuinely curious to know if this practice could THEORICALLY work.

Also, Tundra could be a nice name.

[dowie]

It's amazingly cute :3

[MasPan]

The major bad thing about cats with claws is that they have a tendency to claw on the wood, and destroy litter box bags if you use those. Also, they can claw you without meaning to quite often if you're being playful. I can understand both sides of wanting to and not wanting to declaw a cat though.

If anyone ever does decide to declaw a cat, I'd always suggest doing it when they're young. Putting them through that later in life is very cruel, because they've already gotten used to having their claws for so long.

I figure if I'm getting clawed it's either an accident or I'm mishandling him somehow. He seems to put in effort to not use his claws if he's just playfully batting my hands, etc, so by extrapolation using claws = instinct/accident or something I'm doing is either scaring or hurting him. If I was that concerned about my furniture I wouldn't have adopted him. As for randomly sticking me or trying to knead my arms, etc, well, he's not doing it to hurt me and it's not like it hurts much. It's tolerable. He won't be declawed.

He is, I should mention, EXTREMELY clever. He's already figured out how to undo a twist-tie (He kept going into my fireplace to explore, so I tied the metal curtains shut with a twist-tie that he promptly undid before climbing back in. This time I've tied it with the knot on the INSIDE so he can't get it as easily. He's still close to figuring it out lol.

I've got some videos on my Facebook that I'll work on uploading to YT to post here.

[Liable]

I've got some videos on my Facebook that I'll work on uploading to YT to post here.

Looking forward!

It's so adorable :(

[MasPan]

While videos are processing:

He was sitting in the chair sleeping next to me earlier. Then he woke up, spazzed the pineapple out, and started attacking my shoes. And then decided the shoes were attacking him and took off running away.