Meow!

Well, hello to everyone! I am new and have been looking for a kitty forum to join for quite some time now. Especially since my cat just popped out four precious gems! I've had numerous questions over the past two and a half weeks and yahoo answers just wasn't cutting it anymore, if you know what I mean. -_- Anyhiw, I'm glad to have found this forum and hope I can find comfort in asking my questions here So onto the pictures and stories!!

This is Gizmo. My husband found him in the dumpster when visiting his sister and respectively looked around for the momma but couldn't find her. So he brought Gizmo home and I immediately tried to get him cleaned up. He had blood rimming each nostril and mouth He looked no older than 5 weeks so I was unsure if he able to eat regular cat food. He ended up shoving his entire face into the wet canned food and ate it all After that he became my new baby and never left my side.. up until he turned 2 and somehow is natural instincts told him that he was once feral and must return to hunting outdoors! He spends most of his days outside but always come home for naps and food. It's sad but if he loves it then so be it
Here's a pic of him at 1, that's right - I said 1 years old. Look at how big he is! My husband thinks he's part bobcat because of his size, his wide head, and the little black hairs that come off the tips of his ears!


This below is Espeon, Pre-pregnancy. Named after one of my childhood favorite Pokemons lol! I found her off CraigsList since I was feeling lonely after Gizmo decided to live outdoors. He and Espeon get along nicely and she even had his babies! Unfortunately, Espeon turned out to be a daddy's girl more than a Mommas girl so most of those cuddles went to hubby. Fprtunately, she made little babies and soon enough I will have all the cuddles in the world!


And here is Espeon with her four new babies. She is quite the mother! These babies are 2 and a half weeks, 3 weeks this Friday. As you may be able to tell - it looks like she also produced one of Gizmo's outdoor friend's baby as there is a black an white kitten in the lot! You may see me posting up in the forums as I have many questions concerning newborns and momma!

Well, I thank you all for reading my introduction! Sorry if it was a long one! Lol, and glad to h e found this forum!!

Welcome! oh man Giz is a big kitty!

Congratz on your kittens.

Hi and welcome to TCS! Beautiful kitties you have there.

The most likely cause of Gizmo's wanting to be outdoors is that he is not neutered. Yes, you are right that his natural instincts have kicked in, not because he is feral though, but because of his hormones. Once you have him neutered he will be much more likely to want to stay in, which is safer for him.

As for Espeon I am glad she had 4 healthy babies and an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth. Just be aware that she can get pregnant shortly after birth. She needs to be separated from Gizmo now until she is spayed. She and the kittens need to be spayed/neutered before the kittens are 4 months old. Otherwise, you will end up with a lot of inbred kittens.

vball91 said:

As for Espeon I am glad she had 4 healthy babies and an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth. Just be aware that she can get pregnant shortly after birth. She needs to be separated from Gizmo now until she is spayed. She and the kittens need to be spayed/neutered before the kittens are 4 months old. Otherwise, you will end up with a lot of inbred kittens.

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Lol, lots of inbreds indeed! Gizmo has been spending more and more time outdoors for the past year so he only frequents my home once every two weeks. We live on a giant horse property so have plenty of acres for him to roam. He's been spending more time in the neighbor's barn rather than my own home ever since he found out about the babies. I plan to only keep the one female kitten Espeon created so the others will be going to good homes

Wow, Gizmo is indeed a large cat.  How much does he weigh?  Love the pictures.  Hope you are in a part of Colorado that isn't flooding too bad.

dahlia said:

Wow, Gizmo is indeed a large cat.  How much does he weigh?  Love the pictures.  Hope you are in a part of Colorado that isn't flooding too bad.

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I never had Gizmo weighed but I can say that he is definitely heavier than my two year old nephew, if that gives you an idea!

Oh man in Colorado having some issues! I live in Black Forest, Colorado so I'm in the clear for the flooding that is currently happening. If you heard about the Black Forest Fire that happened a few months ago, you know how bad it was. My home was just a mile away from the burned homes! Very lucky, to say the least. We had issues of non stop rain last month so the burn scars were flooding like crazy. It didnt make headlines but it was dreadful but fortunately has passed. Unfortunately for Manitou - 40 miles south from where I live - is having a disaster. Last year was the Waldo Canyon Fire which lies right above the town of Manitou. And also 60 miles north from where I live is also flooding in Boulder. And while it's not flooding where I live, it hasn't stopped raining for the past three days! Also, in the past four months there has been a tornado in the mountains as well as another tornado 10 miles east of my home. It's getting quite hectic in this state!

mrswhiskers said:

vball91 said:

As for Espeon I am glad she had 4 healthy babies and an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth. Just be aware that she can get pregnant shortly after birth. She needs to be separated from Gizmo now until she is spayed. She and the kittens need to be spayed/neutered before the kittens are 4 months old. Otherwise, you will end up with a lot of inbred kittens.

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Lol, lots of inbreds indeed! Gizmo has been spending more and more time outdoors for the past year so he only frequents my home once every two weeks. We live on a giant horse property so have plenty of acres for him to roam. He's been spending more time in the neighbor's barn rather than my own home ever since he found out about the babies. I plan to only keep the one female kitten Espeon created so the others will be going to good homes

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to TCS!

It's not merely a matter of preventing your cats from inbreeding, but of not contributing to cat overpopulation. Millions of cats and dogs, including young kittens and puppies, are euthanized in U.S. shelters every year. TCS is a pro-spay/neuter site, as outlined in the Forum Rules, which you agreed to when you registered:

This is a pro-spay-and-neuter website. Please make sure to spay and neuter your cats. Unless you are a professional breeder and your cat is part of a professional breeding program, please educate yourself to the importance of spaying and neutering by the time your cat is 4-6 months old. If you take care of a feral colony, please make sure to do so responsibly by practicing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) protocols within the colony. Read More Here.

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There are also a number of health benefits when you have your cats spayed/neutered, which you can read about here: Spay and Neuter Your Cats

jcat said:

It's not merely a matter of preventing your cats from inbreeding, but of not contributing to cat overpopulation.

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Thanks for the welcome and concern on spay/neutering my cats. I understand that this is a pro-spay/neuter site, as well. I am getting my girl spayed after she is finished nursing her babies and have had that as a plan since my husband found out she was pregnant. We initially had planned to have her spayed last year but we have had a downword spiral financially. However, now that she wound up pregnant and having babies, it has become a priority. But once again, thanks for your concern.

Hello mrswhiskers, what a furfull house you have now!  I hop​e some of your neighbours aren't increasing their furry populations too as Gizmo struts his stuff!  He certainly is a big, fine boy.    You must have your hands really full with all those babies too. I don;t envy you kitten proofing your home as they start to explore!  Espion looks like a lovely mum but her feeding kitt's make her look so tiny!  She is a beautiful colour and I love her grey, stripy face.

mrswhiskers said:

Thanks for the welcome and concern on spay/neutering my cats. I understand that this is a pro-spay/neuter site, as well. I am getting my girl spayed after she is finished nursing her babies and have had that as a plan since my husband found out she was pregnant. We initially had planned to have her spayed last year but we have had a downword spiral financially. However, now that she wound up pregnant and having babies, it has become a priority. But once again, thanks for your concern.

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The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region in Colorado Springs offers a low cost spay/neuter program with no income qualification. It's $35 for a neuter and $55 for a spay.

http://www.hsppr.org/page.aspx?pid=872

So hoping someone will read this! Espeons's kittens are 4 weeks and 1 day old and Espeon doesn't seem to want them to leave her. The kittens are walking around and even eating wet dry food and drinking water! However, Espeon keeps grabbing them and trying to pull them under my bed. The kittens are meowing and struggling to get out of her mouth and she insists on bringing them under the bed. The kittens, once released, will run back out from under the bed and Espeon will begin again. In actually afraid she's going to get one of her babies if she continues this! She grabs them by the ear sometimes and just pulls, their entire heads are becoming wet and I'm scared she's going to hurt one of them!

What should I do?