Semi-feral pregnant cat -- catch her now or wait?

Congratulations on your new little family! I once had a tortie that looked a lot like Camo; I loved her. I think at least two of your kittens are male; the first one is hard to tell, but may also be male. If you get anymore questions on whether you are going to keep the whole litter, just tell them you haven't decided yet. And truly, you haven't decided. Once those six kittens are romping around the house, chewing your charger cords, and climbing the drapes, you may want desperately to find homes for them. And I'm sure you will find wonderful homes.

I just read through the whole thread lol. I also have a rescued torti!! Your is beautiful and so are the kittens! Congrats. Here my pregnant torti Rosie. I thought she was going to deliver 5 days ago lol,and she's still pregnant ! [emoji]128514[/emoji]

Torties are awesome. I hope everything goes well with Rosie, @Dtackc6!

Three of the kittens opened their eyes today! So pictures, of course.

I also wanted to share a link to my kitten weight Google Doc spreadsheet:


Wanted some more opinions, how do their weights look?

They have all doubled or almost doubled their weights in the first week, which is textbook! Good job! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Awesome. Camo's doing all the work, I haven't had to supplement or anything, which amazes me considering how many kittens and how tiny Camo is! She is a very dedicated mom; the moment a kitten makes the slightest sound, she runs back to see what's going on. After the first day I felt so bad that I ended up moving the food dish to almost within the cat carrier so she could eat while nursing the kittens (which she absolutely does, LOL). I was worried at first about Camo taking care of them -- I wasn't sure how things would go considering what happened with her last litter when she still lived outside. She ended up abandoning Kismet and her sibling, and both kittens were infested with maggots. Not sure if she abandoned them because of the maggots or if they got maggots because she abandoned them -- who knows, maybe she had other kittens and chose to abandon those two because she had too many. I can see how having a lot of kittens and also having to worry about getting food and protecting them from predators would be super-stressful!

Camo was hilarious this morning. I went upstairs to check on her, and she came to the top of the steps, meowing and greeting me as per usual. She then ran back to the carrier and start running in and out of it, like she was debating between checking on the kittens and getting attention from me, also as per usual. But the kittens were gone!

During the night, she apparently decided to move them into the enclave made by two walls, a metal cabinet, and a door that I constantly keep open because it leads into the odd little purple-carpeted room where her litterbox is (the room I posted a picture of earlier). I don't think she was too happy when she saw I could just close the door and have easy access to the kittens, haha. The little act she put on to try to convince me that the kittens were still in the carrier was pretty funny though. She hasn't tried again that since I actually found where the kittens are.

Oh, goodness. Cats do like to move their kittens. As long as they are safe and warm they should be fine where she put them. It's good that you've put her food and water right nearby.

Camo is so pretty and her babies are precious[emoji]128573[/emoji]

Man, I am SUCH a sucker for kittens!  I wish that there were some way to hold them at that wide-eyed stage, but let them grow up at the same time. 

What temperature is too hot for kittens?

I just moved into this house in January and didn't realize how hot it could get in the attic -- it is 80 degrees outside, but 94 degrees in the attic!

The kittens don't seem to be uncomfortable, and Camo isn't showing any signs of being overheated -- no obvious signs like panting, and her paw pads aren't sweating either.

I opened all the windows in the attic and opened the door from the rest of the house to the attic and put screens there to get more air circulating. I want to put some fans in, but the power went out earlier today for God knows why and still isn't on, so all electricity-based options are out for now.

Is 94 degrees okay? If so, what is the max temp I should allow them to be in, just in case I do continue having troubles getting the temperature under control? I can move them to a bedroom downstairs, but I don't want to stress Camo with a new location if I really don't need to do it.

I have zero tolerance myself for temperatures above 70 degrees, so my judgment on what is hot is pretty crappy!

That's very hot! A fan would help as soon as you get your electic back on. Where do you live that your attic is so warm? If the fans don't cool things down, I'd say you really need to move them out of there.

Pennsylvania, which is not known for its hot climates, haha. Good to know that it's too warm for them and it's not just me, I will work on fixing that.

Power came back on late last night and the fans are up there and running, thank God. Also still have the windows are open -- so far today it is matching the temperature outside (76) instead of being 14 degrees higher, but I will keep watching. In any case, I will start prepping a place downstairs if it does turn out I have to move them; I don't like the temperature fluctuations going on.

I also discovered that I have an extra air conditioner that *might* fit in the window -- if so, between the heaters and the air conditioner, I might be able to keep it a steady temperature up there.

Awesome! Let us know what works. It's not even that hot yet here in Florida. The weather has been crazy lately though. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Actually, the temperature might be why she moved the kittens from the carrier.  She was looking for somewhere with better air flow.  And, of course, cats are prone to moving kittens, apparently at random, although I am certain there is some arcane cat wisdom behind each and every one!

So, how's it going?

They are doing very well! A little over two weeks old now. They have been super stubborn about holding still for pictures, so have a crapload of videos of adorable, squirmy kittens.

I am utterly entranced.  What a beautiful family!  I am especially taken with the little calico (I'm a sucker for tri-colored cats) and the little black and white one who looks for all the world as if s/he is sporting an odd mohawk!

All such cuties! ....But of course, I'm partial to the little ginger boy.

You are blessed to have such an amazing cat family, hope everything goes well

Thank you much!

Questions about two of the kittens!

Tabby kitten -- Yesterday morning, one of the little tabby kitten's eyes was sealed shut. I cleaned it up with warm water and the eye has been fine since then -- I don't see any redness or goopiness at all, and behavior-wise, the kitten is fine; playing and squirming around like the rest of them. Should it be okay to just monitor this for now to see if it comes back or if anything changes, or should I talk to a vet immediately?

Cream kitten -- he's one of the largest kittens, is very active and playful, etc. However, his behavior is a little odd, and I wanted to check if this sounds like anything is wrong, or if he's just a character:

• When I pick him up he squawks really, really loudly. The other kittens just make little tiny meows, but he goes straight to very loud squawks that immediately bring Camo to action (and also upset my other cats, which are downstairs!)
• He bites. It's not suckling, he literally grabs puts as much of my finger in his mouth as he can and bites down as hard as his little mouth is able.
• He's just generally a big bully? Like... the other kittens will be suckling on Camo, and when he wants to suckle, he goes to the nipple closest to her rear legs the long way -- he crawls parallel to Camo, start at her front legs, and shoves every suckling kitten off as he goes by. He's actually done this since he was three days old, it's ridiculous and hilarious.

Does any of this sound like symptoms of something being wrong? I'm a little worried that some of his actions are because something is hurting him, but he acts completely fine when I'm not picking him up or trying to hold him.