Kitten season has come early to Maryland

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chrissyr

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I have a female who just went into heat on Thursday and noticed today that my semi-feral is pregnant. I was hoping to have her spayed before the season started. I guess this crazy weather has messed up the cycles enough to get the season going early. Oh joy.
 
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It's funny you should mention this, as I just posted a sort of "welcome to kitten season" thread in the pregnancy and kitten care forum...I'm already starting to see a sudden influx of the "Help! My cat is pregnant" or "how many kittens will she have?" type of threads...it DOES seem early, doesn't it? Normally, kitten season around here in Iowa begins more around April, when the weather is consistently about 50-65 degrees...but our Humane Society has several orphaned young kittens already meandering in.

Chrissy, good luck to you. It's a tough and often rather tragic time of year for cat lovers...so many kittens, not enough homes, kitten and queen loss, etc. Hang in there.
 
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oh no. =( I didn't have the money to make an appointment for my cat to go to the vet yet. I hope that she's spayed. =( I'm not home during the day and i don't want her to be uncomfortable. =(
 
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As long as she's kept solely indoors away from contact with other cats, she'll be fine...but don't let her slip outside if she's not fixed.

Have you checked into any low-cost spay and neuter operations in your area...this is often the season where shelters and rescue groups provide low-cost services to prevent the usual kitten overpopulation problem this time of the year.
 
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Originally Posted by ChrissyR

I have a female who just went into heat on Thursday and noticed today that my semi-feral is pregnant. I was hoping to have her spayed before the season started. I guess this crazy weather has messed up the cycles enough to get the season going early. Oh joy.
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Chrissy..cats do NOT need to be in heat to become pregnant. If they are intact and over 4 months of age..they can become pregnant at any time. I would really recommend that you take your girl to be spayed anyways...because if she is allowed outdoors, at this point there is a great chance that she will either be pregnant or pregnant and nursing unless you can contain her during the pregnancy and until she can be spayed. Every spayed cat allows kittens from another cat to find homes.

Katie
 
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chrissyr

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The one who just went into heat is an indoor only and she's seperated from the other cats so she won't get pregnant. The lo-cost feral spay program in my area is set for June. I know Small Fry (the semi-feral) will have her kittens by then. This group spays from 8 weeks and up. Hopefully I can wipe out all the feral and semi-feral females by that time or at that time including her kittens. I can work on the Toms after that. Right now that group only has 3 in it. Small Fry, her daughter Sweetheart and son Punk A*s. To take her to my normal vet, she would need her shots first before they'll spay her. Even now that she's pregnant, she still needs trapped twice. I can't even trap her once. LOL She's smart! And, of course, Mom avoids the trap, the kids avoid the trap.
 
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Originally Posted by ChrissyR

The one who just went into heat is an indoor only and she's seperated from the other cats so she won't get pregnant. The lo-cost feral spay program in my area is set for June. I know Small Fry (the semi-feral) will have her kittens by then. This group spays from 8 weeks and up. Hopefully I can wipe out all the feral and semi-feral females by that time or at that time including her kittens. I can work on the Toms after that. Right now that group only has 3 in it. Small Fry, her daughter Sweetheart and son Punk A*s. To take her to my normal vet, she would need her shots first before they'll spay her. Even now that she's pregnant, she still needs trapped twice. I can't even trap her once. LOL She's smart! And, of course, Mom avoids the trap, the kids avoid the trap.
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Chrissy...she may actually be easier to trap while she is pregnant then waiting until she has her kittens. If you wait, there is a good chance she will be nursing kittens and be pregnant again.

Katie
 
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chrissyr

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Katie,
Oh yea! She'll be even more hungry now that she has to eat for however many. *Inset evil laugh* LOL Well, the trap is down there waiting for whichever one goes in there. I change the food twice a day. I do rotate between chicken (human) tuna (cat food) and whatever else I think will attract them. Hopefully I'll get her and her daughter and get them spayed. I have enough cats running around here.
 
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Originally Posted by ChrissyR

Katie,
Oh yea! She'll be even more hungry now that she has to eat for however many. *Inset evil laugh* LOL Well, the trap is down there waiting for whichever one goes in there. I change the food twice a day. I do rotate between chicken (human) tuna (cat food) and whatever else I think will attract them. Hopefully I'll get her and her daughter and get them spayed. I have enough cats running around here.
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Chrissy....good luck. I've heard that warm, deboned, deskinned KFC is a cat magnet.

Katie
 
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Hi Chrissy,

What part of Marylalnd do you live in? I live in Waldorf which is in southern Maryland. Before I got my ferals fixed, they always had their kittens around the end of March.

Ellen
 
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Ellen13;1659878 said:
Hi Chrissy,

What part of Marylalnd do you live in? I live in Waldorf which is in southern Maryland. Before I got my ferals fixed, they always had their kittens around the end of March.

Don't reply, I'm used to being ignored.
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chrissyr

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I live in Allegany County. I'm used to the ferals having the kittens around April/May. Bit of a shock to see them so early in the year now.

(Wasn't ignoring you. LOL Just got back up to this section. Sorry about that)
 
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