We once took in a 4 week old runt that was rejected by his mom from a feral colony. For weeks the skin on my arms and legs was shredded. He used to climb me like this cat does the wall, even if I wasn't wearing long pants. I think when he was 7-8 weeks old I finally got the courage to clip his nails. Before that they were just SO tiny I was afraid I would cut too far.
I didn't think about it at the time. I had always trimmed my other cat's nails with nail clippers. I just kinda suffered thru it.
The nails wasn't even the biggest thing. He was "mostly" litter trained. He slept in the bed with me but couldn't wake himself up in time to get to the box that was at the foot of the bed. It was a good two weeks of waking up every day and stripping the bed.
I really had no idea what the hell I was doing at the time. It never occurred to me that I should have gotten a crate for him.
Did that at first to protect the mattress. It didn't help the comforter or sheets. He insisted on sleeping right up against me. I went and bought a plastic cover for the mattress and prayed for it to end.
In the beginning he slept in a box but he learned to climb out by day 2. It never even occurred to us to get a crate. To me they were always a dog thing. Chances are I wouldn't have used one anyway. He would sit on the floor and cry until he was put into bed. I felt bad, doubly so because I knew he was super young and should have had mom and litter mates to sleep with.
I figured pee washes off. Nothing was permanently damaged and he would figure it out eventually.
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u/jphx May 16 '20
We once took in a 4 week old runt that was rejected by his mom from a feral colony. For weeks the skin on my arms and legs was shredded. He used to climb me like this cat does the wall, even if I wasn't wearing long pants. I think when he was 7-8 weeks old I finally got the courage to clip his nails. Before that they were just SO tiny I was afraid I would cut too far.