Hi there, sorry I have not posted anything about updates on the kittens and the mother. Things got a little hectic around the house after the last birth! But thank you all for your quick responses to my questions! Very much appreciated. So here is a complete update to what has happened the past few days!
As some of you may remember, my girlfriend brought a stray cat home last Wednesday Sept. 19. She gave birth to 5 kittens that night. Unfortunately, one of them came out quite small and seemed quite weak. (Stelios was his name) Even with some extra help, we tried to feed him since he was not feeding from the mother. Tried to keep him warm... all that jazz. But he died Thursday afternoon... quite sad. But we soldiered on, considering there were 4 others, plus the mother cat! Anyhow, all was going very well, we moved the litter to another location to allow my previous 2 cats out of isolation. The mother liked the new location and was nursing and all that.
And then, on Saturday night, Sept 22, three days later, she gives birth to another little kitten. Except she does not cut the umbilical cord. So I tied it up and cut it myself. My girlfriend now thinks I will be a wonderful father... Anyhow, the kitten was very strong and immediately started looking for milk. The real bad thing is that during the birth, the mother pushed out her uterus... like right out... So we called the Vet in the neighborhood, and they told us to bring them all in immediately. So off to the vet we all went. The verdict from the Vet was quick, she needed an operation to fix her uterus, a $1100 procedure, or the mother is put down and we find a nursing mother for the kittens. So considering this was a stray cat, and we had 2 others already (blind cats at that...) it took us almost 5 minutes to decide we will skip our Cuba trip this January and keep the 6 cats. So, Sunday afternoon, Sept. 23 we picked up all the cats from the Vet, operation successful, credit approval successful... It's a pretty big cut that the mother has, right on her stomach and it seems the kittens trying to feed put her in some discomfort, so we will have to make sure they still get fed. So that's it... pretty crazy stuff! Oh yeah... one of the kittens has started to open his eyes!
As some of you may remember, my girlfriend brought a stray cat home last Wednesday Sept. 19. She gave birth to 5 kittens that night. Unfortunately, one of them came out quite small and seemed quite weak. (Stelios was his name) Even with some extra help, we tried to feed him since he was not feeding from the mother. Tried to keep him warm... all that jazz. But he died Thursday afternoon... quite sad. But we soldiered on, considering there were 4 others, plus the mother cat! Anyhow, all was going very well, we moved the litter to another location to allow my previous 2 cats out of isolation. The mother liked the new location and was nursing and all that.
And then, on Saturday night, Sept 22, three days later, she gives birth to another little kitten. Except she does not cut the umbilical cord. So I tied it up and cut it myself. My girlfriend now thinks I will be a wonderful father... Anyhow, the kitten was very strong and immediately started looking for milk. The real bad thing is that during the birth, the mother pushed out her uterus... like right out... So we called the Vet in the neighborhood, and they told us to bring them all in immediately. So off to the vet we all went. The verdict from the Vet was quick, she needed an operation to fix her uterus, a $1100 procedure, or the mother is put down and we find a nursing mother for the kittens. So considering this was a stray cat, and we had 2 others already (blind cats at that...) it took us almost 5 minutes to decide we will skip our Cuba trip this January and keep the 6 cats. So, Sunday afternoon, Sept. 23 we picked up all the cats from the Vet, operation successful, credit approval successful... It's a pretty big cut that the mother has, right on her stomach and it seems the kittens trying to feed put her in some discomfort, so we will have to make sure they still get fed. So that's it... pretty crazy stuff! Oh yeah... one of the kittens has started to open his eyes!
