so there's this stray cat that i've been caring for for the last year. at first she wouldn't even come near me but we've made progress and now she will even let me pet for a bit, but she still will not come into the house nor will she let me really "handle" her.....apply flea meds, check her out, etc. well she had a kitten. i had no idea she was even preggers. she has alot of long hair so i guess that's why i couldnt see her belly. so far i've only seen one and she's keeping him or her in this hole under our deck. i saw her this morning and she seemed pretty healthy (maybe a mth old) but as soon as she saw me she ran back into the hole. i know she is still nursing becasue i have never seen her eating on our porch with her mother. i REALLY do not want her to become feral. i want to socialize her and eventually have her spayed and probably keep her. but to do this i need to get her from her mother at some point as she has never had any human contact....but she's still young so........ i do not want to take the babie(s) away from their mother but i feel that at some point i'm going to have to. plus its summer and fleas and ticks are all over the place. im sort of stressing over it right now........
you need a cat trap, put some food in it. you say the kitten is about a month old, by about 5-6 week old the kittens will be getting weaned off their mother milk & will need food.
there are atleast three kittens. all quite afraid but one let my sister hold her....so that's good. water is already placed nearer for them and food will be soon. i cannot keep them. three dogs and two cats are my limit. i refuse to give them away for free to passers-by....you just never know. and i don't want to take them to the shelter as they are overloaded with kittens right now as is and all the no kill rescue groups are full. im so stressed about it........*vent*
i'm not too sure what to sugest to you i'm afraid, dont you have any family members who would like to adopt or some friends?
no unfortunaltey i dont. its SO very hard to find homes for cats as there are already millions out there that are homeless. i figured out a plan tho. im going to get the mama spayed asap and then start looking for homes for them...atleast two of them. i could probably make room for one if i have to. then instead of giving them away for free i will have the adopter make a small donation to the shelter or rescue group of their choice. its very dangerous to give any animals away for free these days. and i will also do an extensive interview on the adopters and make them sign a contract promising never to declaw the cats and have them spayed. i'll pay for that if i must. i saw my vet today and spoke to her about it so im going to start weening them on canned food and then when they are totally weened start home searching
i'm so sorry i dont know what else to suggest to you but good luck. i know what you mean about all the shelters being full, its such a shame. it infuriates me that there are so many unloved animals in this world yet people will still let there animals get pregnant. like my friend, her cat suki had two litters of kittens. i dont know what happened to the first set but the second set she had well, she had 5 and when they were 1 & 1/2 week old suki managed to get out of the house. we think she got killed by a dog or fox. because she was nursing she would have been weak & not able to get away. we couldnt find a nursing queen to take the kittens on so we hand reared them. i had already said i would have one, my partner wouldnt let us have two, so i took one & hand reared him. she kept one, her mum had one & the other two she took to the rspca. they didnt want to take them as they were full but they ended up doing & i think they will have put them to sleep. the kitten she kept is female called smudge, kept telling her to get her done but by the time i'd got through to her it was too late & she was all ready pregnant with her first litter. she had them two week ago, i was there while she was in labour. it was the most amazing thing i have ever seen in my life. that morning she stuck to my friend like glue, by 4pm she started having contractions. is funny, they pant like humans when having contactions & you can clearly see the uterus contracting. anyway by 1am she looked a bit stressed & half an hour later we saw a red bubble come out of her vagina & then it poped back in. she kept licking herself & it kept comming out & back in again. by 2am we saw what looked like a black worm come out & we realised it was a tail & this baby was comming bum first & not in its sack. it kept comming out & back in, we tried to call a vet but we couldnt get hold of one. then we saw a paw & that kept going in & out. smudge was tiring & we though it best to help her out. i gently pulled on the leg & had to put a finger up her anus to push it out. oh she howled, it must have been so painful for her poor thing. but once it was out her maternal insincts kicked in & she licked it to make it breath & cleaned it up. she chewed at the cord, gave birth to the placenta & ate it. she was exhausted bless her & just went to sleep. we were exhaused too & went too sleep. she had the rest when we were asleep, we dont know if they also came out bum first but she looked ok & the 3 kittens were nursing well. we noticed that one of the kittens had funny legs & another had one funny leg, they looked like seals when they moved. we were worried that there were more kittens in there as her belly was still large & she had had such a small litter, my friend took her to the vets straight away. she didnt have anymore inthere but the vet didnt seem to notice the legs of the two kittens. i decided to do some research on the net & i printed some information on leg deformitys in kittens. we dont know exactly whats wrong with them because were not vets but it seams that when queens have deformed kittens she has a small litter. the kitten with both legs defomed cant kneed the queens belly to stimulate milk flow & is therfore smaller than the other two. i've told my friend that she must take them back to the vets & see what they say but she wont. she's scared that they will tell her they will have to be put to sleep, myself i think thats the best option but she is determined to let them live. i think this is rather selfish especially as she dosent want to keep them. there are far too many healthy cats & kittens that need homes & these kittens have a disadvantage, they will struggle to survive & will most likely suffer alot. the one with two defomed legs has already got sores from moving like a seal.
Will your County or City Animal Control deal with it? Our Animal Control has Vets on staff, and they will spay or neuter animals before adopting them out. As you know, more kittens than puppies end up unadopted, this is sad, but it happens when people don't spay their cats and let them run wild. In our county both the Animal Control and the Wildlife Center will take cats and dogs who have been abandoned. The Animal Control will come and get them (providing you tell them the animal is in danger) but you need to take the animal to the Wildlife Center, as they only run on donations and Animal Control has tax money. However, dogs and cats from either usually end up at the same place, the County Pound. Many areas do have "Cat Santuaries," Some are good, others are just Cat Collectors, and their cats live no bettter than they did when they were feral. You have to look into it. Either the internet or the phone book can help you find someone in your area. Also, a local Vet's office can let you know where or if there are Sanctuaries are, and if they are really good for the cats.
our local shelter is FULL of kittens right now. it's that time of the year. i just know that if i give them over to the shelter they will be put down.......there's just too many kittens there already and these kitties are not particularly "pretty" or social so they would probably be the last to go anyway. i've called the nearby rescue groups and as usual everyone is full. i put up an add on petfinder and one on catster so *hopefully* I will get a couple of replies. the babies are so cute though and every night they are in our yard jumping through the grass and wrestling with each other. they do NOT like people but I am trying to get them socialized and im holding them when i can. they are just starting to ween. the mama is a TERRIFIC mama to them. i almost hate to seperate them because of how good she is to them and how much she loves them.
SCORE! all three babies have homes! one is going to my mother's co worker who is a great responsible young lady and the other two are going to a person who replied to my add. she has an awesome vet referance and has fostered many cats in her life time so she has alot of experiance. im glad two are going to stay together. i feel bad for the mama.....i took all three of her kittens away from her today and brought them inside just so i can start to get them used to a home enviorment and handle them a bit and the mama stood by my side door the entire time just staring in the house and crying. i dont want to take her babies from her.......even tho they arent going for another two weeks.
