Seriously, my cat has 4 kittens, about 2 1/2 weeks old now. Eyes open nice and wide, walking very unsteadily (mostly creeping, really). Today after dinner I retrieved them from the basket in my bedroom where their mother is keeping them and sat them down on the couch next to me (because cute-fluffy-kitteny-goodness, that’s why).
Then I got a phone call and was distracted for about 20 minutes. I decide I’ll put the kittens back now because I don’t want mama cat to be stressed, but lo! there are only 3 kittens.
Believe when I say I tore that couch apart. It is not between/under the cushions. I thought maybe it had fallen on the floor and creeped away somewhere, but I swear I’ve checked everywhere (even the second floor of the house, thinking maybe mama cat swiped it up and for some reason carried it somewhere other than the basket).
This was 4 HOURS AGO and still no sign. I was sure I would hear it crying (I turned off the AC, fans, and TV to listen for it) but no luck. I thought for sure it would creep back out into sight and I could return it, but no.
I know the Dope has plenty of cat lovers, so if anyone knows where my kitten is, please tell me (your best guess welcome). I would fear the worst, except I don’t even know what that would be…
Listening for it is a good idea. I would definitely wonder if the mom cat moved it somewhere since I wouldn’t expect a baby that age to be able to go very far.
That’d be my guess. Watch mom - if she’s even a remotely attentive parent she’ll pick up on a wayward kitten way before you. However if she is trying to hide it ( and some mom cats will ), she might try and get sly. Then you really have to watch her and preferably put her in a room she can’t find too many inaccessible hiding places.
I doubt if the mom-cat would put one kitty in a separate place from all her others.
But kitties can climb into weird places…inside of box springs in the bedroom, into drawers, into any closed space. You have to check everywhere–including places that you dont know exist.
The lining of the couch is the first place to start. That means you have to crawl under the couch, (if you can fit ). if not, lift the couch up and physically turn it upside down so the legs are pointing up in the air.
Is there a free-standing lamp nearby? Does it have a base made which is hollow? What–you’ve never thought of that? Well, now you have!–check the base of the lamp.
Do the throw pillows on your couch have a decorative cover that you can remove to wash it? does the decorative cover have a “flap” that opens, when you remove it?The kitty could have crawled into the stuffing of the pillow.
Could she have crawled into the pocket of a coat which you later hung up in the closet?
I once found my cat inside the motor of the washing machine. (not inside the drum where I put the clothes) She had crawled between the wall and the back of the machine, underneath the machine and up into the mechanical stuff inside there, totally inaccessible to a human being.
I found my brand-new kitten inside the back of my effing stove. Thank heavens it was morning and I wasn’t about to cook anything. I only found her because her sister was staring at the space between the stove and the wall.
And yes, please come back and tell us where you found her!!!
Children and pets get injured, even die, because of this attitude. I hope you found the kitten safe and well. Anything more I would like to say would require moving this thread to The Pit.
My wife reminds everyone to look inside the stove for stored cookware and the like before preheating with her trademark “Did you check the stove for kittens?” We don’t have any kittens, but her point is, don’t activate something dangerous like a stove without eyeballing to make sure you know what’s inside it first.
She’ll be interested to know of an actual case of stove-kitten.
Glad I could help. I had just gotten the kittens the night before, and locked them in the kitchen to a) give them peace from my older cat (or vice versa) and b) keep them from befouling a room with a carpet while I slept. Stove-hiding was never even on my list of things that could have happened.
That kitten grew up to be one of those cats that sleeps in bathroom sinks.
I think that the original comment was blowing things out of proportion. I mean seriously, kittens don’t need to be “watched” every minute of the day. That’s the whole point of having cats.
Hi All, thanks for your kind concern and helpful suggestions. I did actually already search most of the places mentioned (stove, under the furnace, couch THOROUGHLY since that was the last place seen). I was worried sick all day but just got home from work.
Looked around before getting on the dope. Mama cat was in her basket with ONLY 3 kittens (I was sure she would have found it by now). I searched everywhere again (you cannot believe how thoroughly I inspected this couch) and finally noticed that the clothes hamper in my closet was tipped over, leaning against the back wall. Now, I can tell you last night the kitten was not there, because I checked (and took all the clothes out doing so. leaving it empty). And of course I left it upright. Peeking in I see mama cat (it had been about 20 minutes since I looked in on her before) and of course a little closer I see missing kitten:D. Mama must have put it there sometime after I checked last night. Don’t know why she didn’t put it with the other ones (it might be because I have the basket up on a table in my bedroom to keep it away from the dog… she can get in and out easy enough but maybe not carrying a kitten). WHEW! So relieved… what a crap day worrying about it. I never would have forgiven myself if something awful had happened.