More feline families helped

Two families helped in as many weeks.

i had an e-mail off a friend a couple of weeks ago asking for help with 3 cats as her neighbour had moved out leaving them. I agreed, as one of my fosters was being rehomed. She caught the first female, who she initially thought was the 18mo mum cat, but then changed her mind due to her size. She arrived 2 weeks ago tomorrow and had already been booked in to be spayed. She sadly was 3 weeks pregnant, but it wasn't obvious before she had been anaesthetised and opened up, so it was done regardless, and the vet discovered that it was in actual fact the mum cat, as she had not long had a litter and going off her teeth, she was about 2-3, which is older than we thought mum cat was, she only looks about 8 months old bless her, so god knows how many litters she has had to stunt her growth. She has done so well since being spayed though, she was constantly growling, and didn't know how to play before hand. Her son was also caught and staying with my friend. The Sun after she came, I got a call to say she had caught a third cat, which is one she had been feeding to gain his trust, we suspect the owners only had 2 cats, and he was the third my friend was seeing (the neighbours were pure black, he is black and white, but mainly black), he came just over a week ago, and was booked in asap, the vet estimates him to be 3. He is very wary of humans though, hisses a lot, so i moved him from isolation to a cage downstairs, so he could see more things, and he has had some time out last night and tonight, and he is much more confident, i found him on teh sofa and my bed, and much less hissy, but still very wary, so I dont know what has happened to him, bless him.

Next family!!

I took a call last week from someone who had stepped in when someone was mistreating a cat and wanted to know if we could help. At the time, we had no space, but she was willing to keep hold of it until some could be found, so I arranged for her to use our vets to get him neutered, and she kindly paid a donation towards it, as well as fleaing, worming and treating him for ear mites, and we would advertise him on the website and CC. He was a lovely ginger cat, but very thin.

Last night, I got a phone call off her partner, saying they had found him a home with one of their friends, and they had also heard of a mum cat with 2 week old kittens in the same area who wasn't being very well looked after, they had told them about us to get permission for the cats to come into our care, which they agreed to, and Rachel picked them up today. Mum is around 10 years old, black and white, has had 5 kittens, sadly 2 have died, it looks like she sat on one, and the other was deformed. Kittens are one black and white, and 2 torties, so i have a good idea of who the dad is!!

So glad that these are now safe, especially as the weather has turned here. And, we might have some more volunteers, the second couple did seem very keen to help

That poor mother, being 10 years old!

At least they're all safe now & well cared for.

i know, I think they bother me a tad more than the really young mums. We believe it is only her second litter, so she might be at higher risk of mammary cancer.

They certainly are, and due to mum cats age, she will come here after the kittens are weaned, so she will have a home environment for however long it takes to find her a home, and she might even be allowed to potter about outside.

Rachel rang me earlier, she is a bit concerned about the mum cat, she does seem in quite poor condition, she described her fur as seeming like Mabel's, and she seems absolutely exhausted, poor thing, she is in one corner of the cage and doesn't seem to move much. I am taking up some a/d, pilchards and some HiLife tuna Essentials after work tomorrow, to see if it can help her appetite, she has bought some Lactol (all PAH sell) with bottle and teat to see if that can help, she is feeding them but they seem constantly latched on, which I dont think is normal, shouldn't they feed then sleep and go back later? They are either 2 or 3 weeks old, depending on if you speak to the owner or the neighbour. I am going to take some pics tomorrow, to get peoples opinions, as i rarely deal with kittens. Will try these, and if no improvement, then she shall have to go to the vets, we are both reluctant to take her tomorrow as she does still seem quite unsettled from the move - poor thing has lived with one owner for 10 years, then he left her alone, just feeding her once a day, she had kittens, and now has been moved to RAchel's, I think another journey this week might end up tipping the balance, and I wouldnt want RAchel to have to hand rear cos we have stressed her out too much too soon. Also recommended Rescue Remedy, if Rach can't get any tomorrow, I shall pick some up on Sat, I need some for Charlie anyway.

Sending calming prayers and vibes out to Mum-kitty - bless her dear heart, valiantly nursing those kitties (give mom a break, little ones, that persistent nursing would be tough on so many levels )

Thanks, I suspect we are going to need them. At least our fosterer is experiencing early on that things aren't always rosy and straight forward with cat rescue.

I have a mother who was on her last leg and severely malnourished. I am fostering her and I know what you mean about not looking so hot.
Maybe when she gets settled and starts eating she will feel and look better.

I think we are dealing with a similar situation, not made better by mum being 10. They are happier now they have had a bottle, so I suspect what they are getting from her isn't great, but she has only had proper meals since Tues night, and at first she wasn't eating much cos of the move, but she is now eating Gourmet Gold, and has had pilchards, corned beef, ham, and cat milk. Only toileting once a day at the moment though. She was very happy to see me, poor babies got ignored, she was standing up to say hello, regardless of them being latched on - she hasn't been that keen for fusses with Rachel, so we got to see her standing up more, I am not sure she is in that bad condition, think she is on a par with the 2 here, who are both underweight. Pics will be done tomorrow.

They were quiet unless we handled them, which I think is a good sign. Mum is actually white and black, and called Kizzy.

We are considering splitting mum and kittens, mum doesn't seem to have many maternal instincts, and we are concerned for the babies health. They are also much more content after being bottle fed, so she either isn't producing a lot of milk, or it isn't good quality, so they are already getting two feeds a day. She also doesn't seem to like her fosterer, so I am going up today to see if she still likes me, as when we do split them, she will be coming here. I know it is still early days, they haven't even been with us a week yet, but I dont want to risk her squashing another baby. Photobucket isnt working, so I can't show you a pic unfortunately.

We had to separate mum and kittens yesterday, something had got into Kizzy's little head and I ended up at Rachel's for 3 hours before we felt she was calm enough to put in the carrier to come here, and I think it took us about half an hour, and 2 of us, to be able to get the tray, food, water and blanket out of the cage, she had made a real mess bless her. Kittens were actually happier without her, we hardly had a peep out of them in the 3 hours, poor RAchel is handrearing them now, but at least they are 3 weeks old tomorrow, so they dont need feeding as often, nor will it be weeks. We did manage to get a good luck at mum's nipples, and she had so little milk, you woud have thought the kits were 8-9 weeks old, not 2, and she wasn't bagging up despite it being 3 hours since a feed - in fact, she still hasn't while she has been here, and she has eaten well - she has also toileted more while being here, and does seem happier without the kittens. She still isn't as nice as she was on Fri, I am wondering if she has come back into heat - she will be having a vet visit, but when I feel she can be examined without attacking, which wont be the next couple of days.