HELP ME I'M WORRIED

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emily m - 23 Jul 2005 08:25 GMT

i just got my kitten about a week ago.. we adopted her early at 7 weeks.. she
was born in a foster home and was then taken back to the shelter.. today she
threw up. it wasn't chunky or anything pretty much a brown liguid.. i've been
feeding her Nutro complete care kitten dry food and she likes it.. she;s
very energetic and playful and has been drinking water.. i'm wondering if it
is the heat because it's been really hot here the last couple days.. i leave
the fan on for her when i'm gone.. maybe she was stressed because she hasn't
been left alone for more than 2 hours since we got her until today when i had
to leave for work early.. i was alwso worried that maybe she had ingested
something from a plant in my house but i haven't seen her eating any plants..
she just bats at them.. i smelled dirt on her paws.. i'm scared she might be
sick from a plant.. i'm hoping that it's just the heat.. knowing vancouver,
the weather will go crappy very shortly and she'll be all better.. can
someone help me or maybe even calm me down a bit? this is my first kitten and
it's like i'm a mother of a child or something.. paranoid i suppose.. oh
we've also been using a pine pellet kitty litter as opposed to a clay one, i
read that it was best to use a natural product.. it's really great

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emily

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-L. - 23 Jul 2005 08:43 GMT

> i just got my kitten about a week ago.. we adopted her early at 7 weeks.. she
> was born in a foster home and was then taken back to the shelter..

<snip>

One incidence of vomiting isn't too worrisome. Has she been eating
afterward? is she still bright and alert? If so I wouldn't worry. If
she gets droopy, vomits more, or doesn't seem herself, then a trip to
the vet may be in order.

-L.

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emily m - 23 Jul 2005 22:56 GMT

thanks L! Zelda is still drinking lots of water and eating and is very
energetic yet is not going to the bathroom.. i checked the kibble for high
magnesium levels thinking maybe she has a UTI or something but it has none..
the last time she had a BM was the day before yesterday.. maybe i'm just over
worried.

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emily

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Candace - 23 Jul 2005 23:40 GMT

> thanks L! Zelda is still drinking lots of water and eating and is very
> energetic yet is not going to the bathroom.. i checked the kibble for high
> magnesium levels thinking maybe she has a UTI or something but it has none..
> the last time she had a BM was the day before yesterday.. maybe i'm just over
> worried.

She's very young, is it possible she pottied elsewhere? In a plant?
You said you smelled dirt on her paws. My late kitty, Cory, used to
try to potty in plants when he was a kitten, he probably did a couple
times. Kitten pee doesn't have much odor.

Candace

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emily m - 24 Jul 2005 08:20 GMT

>> thanks L! Zelda is still drinking lots of water and eating and is very
>> energetic yet is not going to the bathroom.. i checked the kibble for high
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
>Candace

Thanks for your reply Candace! Yes, I just recently discovered that she had
gone the bathroom several times in one of our potted plants.. The last time i
caught her, i picked her up and put her face close to it (not in it) and
firmly said no, i then took her to her litter box and put her in it. Was this
the right thing to do? i'm not sure how to handle it.. will she outgrow the
"potty-in-the-plant" phase? or is there something else i can do? she has used
her litter box many times before.. what could have sparked the sudden change?

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Emily

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-L. - 24 Jul 2005 10:53 GMT

> Thanks for your reply Candace! Yes, I just recently discovered that she had
> gone the bathroom several times in one of our potted plants.. The last time i
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> --
> Emily

She is using the plants because she prefers dirt over your current
litter. Some kittens prefer dirt - especially if they were raised
outdoors. Cover the top of your potted plants with foil - and remove
as many of them as you can from her reach. You might want to switch to
a scoopable clay-based litter as she is more likely to prefer that over
dirt, since you are using pine litter (I think that is what you said).

-L.

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Suzanne - 24 Jul 2005 12:26 GMT

I gave up on leaving plants out in the open, using foil just didn't look nice.
.Now I keep my plants in a glass aquarium...It's actually better for the
plants because it helps to keep their soil moist!

>> Thanks for your reply Candace! Yes, I just recently discovered that she had
>> gone the bathroom several times in one of our potted plants.. The last time i
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
>-L.

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Rhonda - 24 Jul 2005 15:34 GMT

Hi Emily,

That was not a good way to do it for a cat. Punishing a cat and putting
them in a litter box can teach them to be afraid of the litter box.

Trying putting tin foil over the dirt in the plants, and may changing
the type of litter you're using, like was already mentioned. Also put
any "mistakes" back into the litter box to give her an idea of where it
should go.

Good luck!

Rhonda

> The last time i
> caught her, i picked her up and put her face close to it (not in it) and
> firmly said no, i then took her to her litter box and put her in it. Was this
> the right thing to do? i'm not sure how to handle it..

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Wendy - 27 Jul 2005 12:18 GMT

> Hi Emily,
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Rhonda

My Boots used to dig the soil out of the pots. I got some small rounded
pebbles and put them over the soil and now he leaves it alone.

W

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