Watched Cat Never Pops Thread (Rags' Thread)

gaylemg

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Two days ago I let a cat into my house that had been begging at my door for food. She is a very pretty high white calico and is also very pregnant. I put her in my extra bedroon with a litter box, food and water bowls, a cardboard box with bedding, and a space heater (it's a little cold here at night right now). The heater is up on a shelf that she can't jump to. She probably could jump up there if she didn't look like she had swallowed a cantaloupe, but she isn't doing any jumping right now.
I am going to care for her and her kittens until they are old enough to adopt out (although I'm keeping her). I would like to make sure the kittens are sterilized before they get adopted, if I can afford it.
I just wanted to introduce myself and say that I am open to advice. I know she should go to a vet, but she is a little skittish. I don't know how she would react to me trying to get her into a cat carrier and I'm also worried about the stress of a trip to the vet. She doesn't know me. She seems affectionate, but acts nervous and sqirms away from me if I try to hold her. Petting is OK though. I don't know if any vets do house calls anymore!
I don't have a lot of experience with pregnant cats. Once, when I lived in the country, I had two females that had wandered into my garage and given birth within a few days of each other. Another one gave birth in my attic a couple of years in a row. They were feral and the best I could do was get ahold of the babies before they went wild. I got the babies checked at a vet and adopted them out. I couldn't afford to sterilize all those babies, though. The mothers wandered off after that.
Well, this time I am going to get the mom off the streets and keep her. I call her Rags, as in rags to riches. She went from begging on the street to having her very own bedroom.
 

katz4life

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Just wanted to say that was so sweet of you to take her in - pregnant & all!

Best wishes to you, the mom cat & her babies!
 

rotobay

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Hi there,

I think we are in the same boat--I also just took in a pregnant stray -took her to the vet yesterday and she is approx 40 days gestation. It sounds like Rags might be a little further along (LOVE the name).


I am in 'learning mode' too and people here have been REALLY helpful...many have lots of cat experience and are willing to give advice. I have never had ANY experience with kittens, so this site will be my lifeline.

Keep us posted on her progress and post a pic if you can.
 

goldenkitty45

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I think under the circumstances, it might be better just to keep her inside in the room with food/water a kittening box, etc. rather then take her to the vet.

However, I would call your vet and let them know you have a very pregnant stray in your house now; so they are aware of things if you need to do an emergency c-section or something. Then after she has the kittens, talk to your vet about getting shots for mom/kittens and when that all can be done.

Thanks for taking care and responsiblity for her and the babies
And post pictures.

Also a tip for the kittening box. Have some newspaper in a pillowcase for when she gives birth. Then after all the kittens are born, change it to a pillowcase with a towel or two inside for softness. The pillowcases are to prevent tiny claws from being caught in the towel


And start feeding her a good quality kitten food for better nutrition.
 

sakura

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I really don't know anything about caring for kittens and a pregnant mom but there are some helpful links at the top of this section in the forum. You are definitely in the right place to ask questions, the members here know a lot! I do know that she needs to be eating a high quality kitten food, which has already been suggested.

I am only posting to say thank you for taking care of this pregnant mom and keeping her and being so responsible about having her kittens neutered/spayed too. One thing you can do now is contact local spay/neuter clinics in your area, explain your situation, and see how much it will cost for the babies and the mom.

The cat is very lucky to have found you
 

rotobay

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Originally Posted by GayleMG

Two days ago I let a cat into my house that had been begging at my door for food. She is a very pretty high white calico and is also very pregnant. I put her in my extra bedroon with a litter box, food and water bowls, a cardboard box with bedding, and a space heater (it's a little cold here at night right now). The heater is up on a shelf that she can't jump to. She probably could jump up there if she didn't look like she had swallowed a cantaloupe, but she isn't doing any jumping right now.
I am going to care for her and her kittens until they are old enough to adopt out (although I'm keeping her). I would like to make sure the kittens are sterilized before they get adopted, if I can afford it.
.
I have a feeling we'll be sharing a lot of advice since we are dealing with the same issues.


I am not sure where in Texas you live, but if you live near a metropolitan area you can take the kittens to Animal Birth Control. I just learned about this and found one near me (in Los Angeles). They will spay rescued kittens/cats for a very reasonable price and sometimes for free, depending on the circumstances.

If you google Animal Birth Control then your zip code you should find the closest clinic to you. The clinic near me agreed to spay the kittens for $25 each if there were at least 4! I also contacted a local cat rescue and they have connections with various vets who offer their services at cost.

Good luck and hats off to you for taking in this soon to be momma.

ETA: you may already know this, but the momma cat can't be spayed until the kittens are weaned, which means you'll have to keep her inside.
 
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gaylemg

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Hi everybody!
Thanks for all the great advice! It was great to get some quick responses to my post. I'll try to get a pic posted soon. She is a very pretty cat. I went out today and bought some Purina kitten chow. I would rather have bought Iams, but it's more expensive and I have to be careful with money right now.
Rotobay- I'm going to check into the Animal Birth Control right now. It sounds great. I'm not real close to a big city, but I can get to Dallas in an hour or so.
 
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gaylemg

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Darn, there is no Animal Birth Control anywhere near me.

BTW, how do I add a signature to my profile? I have checked "Edit Profile" and can't find it. I tried the FAQ and it just says go to "Edit Profile" to add a signature. I'm confused.
 

rotobay

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Originally Posted by GayleMG

Darn, there is no Animal Birth Control anywhere near me.

BTW, how do I add a signature to my profile? I have checked "Edit Profile" and can't find it. I tried the FAQ and it just says go to "Edit Profile" to add a signature. I'm confused.
Can't help you with the sig info, but I did get another idea from my vet's office that might help you. They said that vets all tend to be animal lovers and if you don't have an ABC or Humane Society near you, then maybe a local vet will do the spaying/neutering 'pro-bono'.

They recommended that you contact your local vets, explain that you have taken in a pregnant/ferral stray and want to do the responsible thing and spay the kittens before homing them . Apparently vets can write this off on their taxes so (hopefully) will be willing to donate their services and only charge you for supplies. They said supplies should only be about $25 per kitten.
 
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gaylemg

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Thank you! I'm definitely going to try that. I will start with my regular vet and go from there. The low-cost place does it for $40 per female and $25 per male, but they could possibly lower the price for me if they know that I am fostering. The vaccinations there are so inexpensive that I could probably afford their regular price for those. It's the surgeries that are expensive when you have to do multiple cats.
 

glitch

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In order to get a signature, you need to go to the signature request thread. Put up the links to the pics of whatever you want on your siggy. Then when one gets time they will make it for you! (Im in a bad mood so I took mine down!
)

So if you want to put the mama cat on as the picture on there, take a pic, upload it to your computer, then you can create an account at photobucket (which is free) and they will give you the links for the pics after you upload the pics to photobucket. So after you do all that go right below the pic, and click the direct link option and it should automatically copy it for you, then go to the signature request thread, put up what you want with your links and keep checking back! After they make it them you can go to edit signature and add it in!
 
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gaylemg

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Thanks! Although I just found out that I haven't been on the forum long enough to have a signature. You have to have been logged in for a total of 24 hours.
 
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gaylemg

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I just talked to someone at my vet's. It wasn't the vet himself, but one of the techs. I showed her pictures of Rags and she agreed that it would be OK to wait until after she delivers to get her into the vet. She also said the topical flea preventative things are fine. Tomorrow I'm going to go ahead and buy one dose to get rid of fleas. I did see a flea on Rags recently. When I do that I'm going to take in a stool sample to check for worms. Maybe they can give me something to take home and treat her before the babies come.
I am so anxious! I wish I know how long I would have to wait.
 

mom of 4

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Gayle, we adopted a couple of kittens from the Richardson Animal Shelter in December. Here are some options for you, though I don't know which direction you are from Dallas.

SNYP - Spay and Neuter Your Pet. A discount coupon that can be used at many of the local vets. www.dfwsnyp.com

KCAAP - Kaufman County animal Awareness Project In Crandall
www.kcaap.org

TCAP - Texas Coalition for Animal Protection www.texasforthem.org

Cause for Paws www.causeforpawstexas.com

SPCA of Texas www.spca.org

The KCAAP info sheet that came with my kittens has cat spays for 35 and neuters for 25. They also have a feral cat program ad grants for those who need help. It's cash only though.

Thank you for taking her in.
 
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gaylemg

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Thanks Momof4. I'll checks those out.

Update
I got some Advantage from the vet today and put it on Rags to get rid of fleas. I wanted to get her checked for worms, but she didn't provide me a stool sample unyil the vet was already closed. They closed early today, since it's Saturday. The worm test will have to wait uhtil Monday.
 

laureen227

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welcome to TCS! whereabouts in Texas are you? [just curious].
don't worry about getting the Purina instead of iams - they're really quite similar. Iams is expensive junk. if you can afford it, there are better foods out there for less money than Iams - Petsmart has a relatively decent one, Authority. usually runs about $1 a pound. the kitten food is a bit higher: Authority kitten
 
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gaylemg

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Thanks Laureen!
I live in Greenville, but I used to live in Denton. Not too far from Sanger.
I didn't know Iams wasn't anything special. I'm glad I didn't spend a fortune on it!
 

goldenkitty45

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Iams USED to be better quality food. My rexes were raised on it. Only over the last 5 yrs or so, its gotten crappy. A lot of former Iams users (breeders) have switched to Royal Canin now - its better.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by GayleMG

Thanks Laureen!
I live in Greenville, but I used to live in Denton. Not too far from Sanger.
I didn't know Iams wasn't anything special. I'm glad I didn't spend a fortune on it!
i lived in Greenville for a year - taught in Quinlan.
BTW, Petsmart is having a sale right now - i got 16 pound bags of Nutro's Max Cat for $17 each!
 
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gaylemg

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Thanks for the food advice GoldenKitty and laureen!

Well, I got Rags's fecal sample in and no roundworms. The vet didn't see tapeworms either, but since one of my other cats had to be treated for tapeworms recently, he prescribed a pill to get rid of any she might have. I was worried that I might not get a pill down her, so I crushed it and put it in food. She would not touch the food, so I wasted the pill. I think I'll just watch and make sure no tapeworms show up in the poo. I'm kind of shocked that there were no worms in the fecal sample because she was outside up until a week ago. I'm still working on the ringworm. I think another spot has popped up on her ear, so I'll have to start putting the cream on that, too.
 
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