A second foster family

I have taken on a second family! Samantha and her five kittens came home with me yesterday as there was no-one else to take them. Here they are.



I have two red, two torties (one dilute, one black) and a very unusual tabby with straight stripes right down his back. They were born on 12th May.

Fortunately I have a second large cage and tonight friends are going to help me put a temporary door up so that I can keep the two families separate from each other. For the moment, Samantha is staying in the cage with her kittens, so there is no problem.

And that has to be that. I cannot take any more, whatever the need.

I find caring for the two kittens time consuming I can't imagine 2 whole families. Unfortunately we can't be super people and two families is enough. You still have your cats to care for too.

Cute babies. The little ginger ones obviously shared the same father.

I count our blessings here....we haven't got many preggo cats/nursing mothers/kittens. Normally we'd have 30+ kittens, we have 15 (12 of which are being treated for ringworm ). We only have one nursing mother, too.

They're beautiful Jenny, helping those 2 families is more than enough.

I love her nose stripe!

Fortunately I do have space, and my neighbour, who can't have them in her house because she has three dogs, has volunteered to help with some of the feeding/cleaning routines. Right now it is easy because I have only to feed the mother cats, clean the litter trays/nests and weigh the kittens. And I do take two/three kittens to play with while I am watching TV or eating, so that they begin socialising. But she is also doing that, and also helping with the laundry, so we are fine. It may get more difficult when all the kittens are running around, but we will worry about that in a couple of weeks time!

Originally Posted by jennyranson

It may get more difficult when all the kittens are running around, but we will worry about that in a couple of weeks time!

Click to expand...

It will get more adorable, that's for sure! We only have 5 kittens running around and they are a constant source of delight -- I could sit and watch them all day except that would be a terrible idea.

Interesting to see a symmetry to the mother cat's face. That is unusual for the torties.

Allo, petits minoux

What sweethearts, Jenny. Yes, I imagine you will have your hands full once they are all scrambling all over the place. What fun!

Wow...hard work. Caring for one litter is exhausting enough...two is a whole different thing all together!!! Remember to keep both litters separated and wash hands/change cloths after handling in case one of the moms was exposed and incubating or is a carrier for something...like URI which can be spread to the other mom and babies. It's good to play it safe even if both moms appear healthy. I would say keep them isolated for about 2 weeks and if all looks OK have moms felv/fiv tested...then it should be ok to let the little buggers play together when they are old enough.

I had a friend who did kitten rescue...and had 28 cats in a TINY 2 bedroom APT. It was crazy. She worked for a shelter and went a wee bit overboard...but she placed all the baby's and all her hard work was worth it in the end. One of the kittens even went to Chigago...the adopter flew out to meet him and took him back as "carry on" on his flight...he also donated 500 dollars to her and still sends pics, cards, and money on holidays. "Charlie" looked like a clone of the cat they had to PTS earlier...and they had the money to spare....so flew out to bring him home.

We volunteered to take in two foster families at the same time this year too, against my better judgment, but it turned out fine!

Must be a bad year for kittens this year.

When I first brought the second mom home I was nervous I made the wrong decision, because the first mom went berzerk and started attacking my resident cats for no reason. But after a couple days they all settled in and things worked out.

We still have one kitten left from the first foster family, he's taken to sleeping with the foster-family-#2. Hopefully we dont have a hard time placing him and he moves on to his forever family too.

Anyway. Congrats on the second fam. Have fun watching them grow!!!

...and thanks for sharing them with us!!!!

Both families are being kept in separate rooms, an old bathroom (with water still running) and an inner hall, with the babies in large dog crates and the moms able to get out of the cages to eat and use litter pans. Both moms were tested at the shelter as they only send positive cats to homes that can handle that, so that is one thing I don't have to worry about.

Mom 2, Samantha, eats and eats, far more than Charlotte, my Mom 1. Her babies are bigger at 2 weeks than Charlotte's were, too. I have started supplementing the two small girls from litter 1 as they began to lose weight, being pushed out by the three boys. They have got the idea of the bottle very quickly. I want to give them half their daily requirement, hoping that they will get half from mom. Does that sound reasonable? They are only half the weight of their biggest brother, who is now starting to lap milk from a bowl.