What are the Chances?

I understand this question could have been put in the Pregnant Cat category, but seeing as ferals usually have different circumstances than house cats, I thought here was the best place.

Surprise litter. Lucy, a torti, was next in line to get fixed. (We WOULD have done it earlier, but if you ask some of these places about what they do for ferals, they give you bull...) Well, we went on a weekend trip to a science fair my brother was in, and we came back yesterday. Today we wake up, and, "Lucy, have you lost weight?" Four newborn kittens in the feral cat box outside. We know who the father is, and he was ALSO supposed to be neutered. We make females first priority, because, you can't have more kittens if all the females are spayed, but if you fix all the males, another male can easily come along and mate with the females.

So, this is her first litter, there are four of them, and they're looking a bit scrawny, even for newborns. Based on the family history, the ones that look like the dad are the strongest, and the mom's the second strongest. There's one orange kitten (dad) and one torti kitten (mom). There's also a grey tabby and a tux, tuxies don't live unless the dad was a tuxie. The tabby, I don't know. It's pretty warm out, but it's been rainy.

Alrighty, here comes the question: What do you think are the chances that they live? All of them? Half of them? One?

If ANY of them live, they WILL be adopted in pairs to a caring person and NOT subjected to life outside.

Thank you for your feedback, in advance!

I know the chances for feral kittens to survive are low. BUT if you're feeding mom, their chances will be a lot higher. Give her all the wet kitten food she'll eat. She needs the nutrition. I know this surprise is a little set back but she can be fixed in about four weeks. Do that then, or she's sure to get pregnant again. Then get dad.

It sounds like maybe there is more than one dad, actually. That is not unusual.

There is more than one male, but we're sure he's the guy. Big orange-and-white dude, always hanging around. We've seen in other cats, the first litter ALWAYS has kittens that don't look like the parents. Following litters will have most kittens that look like either the dad or mom, in which case any form of calico that is NOT a perfect tortoishell will die within a week.

Thank you for the advice, we'll be sure to get her spayed in a few weeks. We have wet food in the basement, I believe...


PS. This cat who had the kittens, her dad was also a solid orange cat who was, based on a whole different story, the brother of the cat who mated with her. The litter SHE was born in, her mom's first, it looked almost exactly like this litter here. A litter of five; one orange, one torti (her), one black (or maybe tabby, we couldn't tell), one gold, grey and white calico, and a tuxedo. Maybe the first litter colors are genetic...?

I need to write this stuff down.

The tuxedo and the tabby must have a different father, one who's dark colored, as a red cat and a tortie can only have red and tortie babies (ETA: oh, wait, I think a tortie can have dark-colored male kittens with a red daddy if she passes on her black gene instead of red. . .if they're female they can't be his but if male they could be). So they may have been conceived a day or two later, and therefore may be smaller and weaker. I don't believe color is linked to survival rates. That mostly has to do with the health of the mother and how well they're cared for. Any way you can bring them inside? Survival chances will increase dramatically if they're indoors. If not, all you really can do is feed the mother very well (as much kittten food as she can eat, wet and dry) and make sure they have a warm, dry, draft-free box to stay in.

Also, with inbreeding in their recent background, they may have genetic issues from that. But barring any actual genetic problems, kitten survival is mostly a care issue.

We tried to bring Ms. Lucy in, a few times. Once when she was a baby, their mother had just left them on their own, and we saw a big [BIIIG, we called him Bearcoon] raccoon outside. Never heard a kitten meow so loudy, before. We let her out the next day.

Fast forward a few months, we tried again. We lasted ten minutes of that ridiculously loud meowing (now louder, as she's grown) before letting her out. It's been like this ever since. I don't think we can keep her in...

However, the weather has been very nice lately, and she's in the winter feral cat box we haven't taken down yet (it's summer), the one with rain protection AND insulation. It's right next to the cat food, too. I'm sure that's the best situation they can be in, at the moment. Plus, we have Mr. Orangey (these kittens' dad) guarding the place from random males and creatures o' the night. I think we might actually be good! c:

I think the kittens MIGHT have roundworm, Lucy's brother Duke had it since he was a baby, meaning it might have come from his mom's milk and therefore also be in Lucy. So, these kittens might also have it, if it's passed down again.

It's best to assume all kittens have roundworms until de-wormed. They should be de-wormed several times, about every 2-3 weeks from 3-4 weeks on. Adult outdoor cats should be routinely de-wormed about every 3 months. You can get a bottle of generic pyrantel pamoate online, usually it's sold for horses or humans: There are a lot of doses in a bottle (about 475 in 16 ounces) so it shouldn't cost very much per dose.

Wow...that, might actually be useful for us. I wonder if my dad will order it...

Thank you for that!

You would also want to get some syringes with no needles for dosing. Adult cats get 1 ml, kittens up to 6 months get 1/2 ml, and little babies get 1/10 ml per pound (they usually weigh one pound at 4 weeks). It's easiest to dose that small of an amount with a 1 ml syringe. There's a fair amount of leeway with dosing so my vet said it's OK to give all cats the same dose even if they're different weights.

Yeah, we have TONS of needle-free syringes. One of every size. Our anemic cat required forcefeeding, and the guinea pig's teeth grew out...

Thank you for the information, we do appreciate it!

RATHER LATE UPDATE: The kittens and their mom are doing REMARKABLY well. All four are alive and healthy, squiriming and suckling and whatnot. All have opened their eyes without so much as crusties, and mom Lucy is doing wonderful. Unlike her mother Stegosaurus, she actually makes sure every kitten gets equal attention and feeding. Steg, on the other hand, rejects a kitten if it even has eye crusties. For her first litter, all four of Lucy's kittens have survived, as opposed to Steggy's first litter, of which two out of five survived to adulthood. I suppose it's the temperament, because Lucy's extremely friendly and loving and grateful, while Steg is aggressive and sharp and hissy. I expect all of the kittens to survive this time.

Oh yes, I was wrong about the tux, he's actually a grey tabby with a white blaze. And the torti has a CUUUTE face.