Okay so my barn just had kittens , the saturday night that just past was 2 degrees celcius which is just 2 degrees above freezing anyway so when I went into the room the mom wasn't there and the kittens were shaking and were hungry I couldn't find the mom and the kittens were freezing we put them in the car to warm up and they were playing acting more like there age . So we decided to bring them home and nurse them they are doing great feed lots play much more and sleep do you think I did the right thing also the mom the morning before had not been seen from 5am-1pm or later.
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Did I do the right thing ?
- Thread starter qh123
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I would try to find the mama and bring her in to nurse the kittens.
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No, not that quickly......you should really try to bring her to the kittens now.
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Not in 2 days
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Okay I just put them in the barn there mom meowed when we put them in their she still is producing which is a great sign I put a little saucer of milk down if they get really hungry it is 15 degrees Celsius which is great do you think I did the right thing ?
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Can you take her and the babies back to your house if you are concerned about the cold? As long as someone is feeding the mother cat she will probably only leave to kittens for short periods of time to go to the bathroom and what not. If she is forced to hunt for food though she will have to leave them for longer periods of time. Hopefully they are safe from any livestock, I've seen barn cats that ended up with broken pelvis from horses.
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Well if it was me, I'd bring them into my house and make sure the mom can't get out and once the kittens were weaned I'd get the mom ( and the kittens) spayed so she doesn't get pregnant again. I have a litter in my bathroom right now that I took in to save them from their owners taking them to the shelter because they let the cat get pregnant and didn't want kittens. Is this your cat? Or just the barn where you board your horse? As long as the mama has food and water and they all have shelter and something warm to sleep on, she will keep them warm. But the kittens are still at risk of predators, especially once they start getting around better. I'm guessing they are not housed in the barns office or something.
I agree that I would try to bring both Mom and babies indoors as it will not only protect them from the cold but from predators. She doesn't need a ton of space so even if you can just confine her to a bathroom she would be okay. It's a hard situation because on the one hand kittens do best if raised by Mom, and if you take them from her you not only have a harder time raising them (every 2 hour bottle feedings quickly becomes exhausting) but it puts Mom at great risk of mastitis. Also, Mom can go back into heat at anytime and if she remains outdoors will likely end up pregnant again before this litter is even weaned.
The flip side however is that you want to make sure the kittens are socialized so that they can go to good homes. And, that's not going to happen if they are just raised in a barn.
So, if it were me I would do whatever necessary to get the whole crew indoors. If it's not possible to do that long term I would at least try to get the kittens to 4 weeks with her, then take Mom in and have her spayed and let her back out. From there you can hand rear them.
All that said, whatever you can do is better than doing nothing. Could you even confine them to the tack closet or the office or something? If you can find some sort of area in the barn that she can't escape from and would be a little warmer that might also work. If you do decide you need to pull the kittens from her make sure you at least take Mom to the vet and have her spayed. They can also watch her for a day or two for mastitis.
You just have to use your gut on this one. If you take them without Mom be prepared to hand rear them and if you leave them keep a close eye and plan to bring them indoors once they start weaning to get them used to humans. If she does get pregnant again it's entirely possible to do a spay/abort and it would be in her best interest to do so. Just whatever you do don't forget to take care of Mom too!
Good luck!
The flip side however is that you want to make sure the kittens are socialized so that they can go to good homes. And, that's not going to happen if they are just raised in a barn.
So, if it were me I would do whatever necessary to get the whole crew indoors. If it's not possible to do that long term I would at least try to get the kittens to 4 weeks with her, then take Mom in and have her spayed and let her back out. From there you can hand rear them.
All that said, whatever you can do is better than doing nothing. Could you even confine them to the tack closet or the office or something? If you can find some sort of area in the barn that she can't escape from and would be a little warmer that might also work. If you do decide you need to pull the kittens from her make sure you at least take Mom to the vet and have her spayed. They can also watch her for a day or two for mastitis.
You just have to use your gut on this one. If you take them without Mom be prepared to hand rear them and if you leave them keep a close eye and plan to bring them indoors once they start weaning to get them used to humans. If she does get pregnant again it's entirely possible to do a spay/abort and it would be in her best interest to do so. Just whatever you do don't forget to take care of Mom too!
Good luck!
