Kittens! Should I or shouldn't I?

sofiecusion

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As I mentioned in a few of my posts, my family TNR ferals. Well, for the first time since 2001, we got a pregnant female on our doorstep. In 2001, there were 5 kittens...we kept one and the others are with various friends and family members...well, there are 5 once again...they are about 5 weeks old, but unlike last time, the mother (who must have been someone's cat because she's sooo friendly!) did not come around for 2 days, so my mom took them in and is feeding them kitten glop and some canned food...that was last week, and the mom still hasn't returned! There are 3 black kittens and two are black and white. My mom is keeping the kittens in MY bedroom due to our dogs....how will i ever resist keeping one when I go home to visit next week...I couldn't 3 years ago and hence the reason why my mom now has Peanut. The kittens do not ave homes arranged as all of our friends and family are maxed out...except my cousin who recently lost her kitty to cancer...it wouldn't be a problem to spay/neuter them when they're old enough and return them to the colony since this is a common thing for us. How will I ever resist 5 little kittens sleeping in my room when I go home for a few days on Tuesday? Should I get Summer a friend, or wait until I have a bigger place? If not....any ideas on how to resist? LOL
 

purrfectcatlove

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Well , now it would be a good time for a new friend for your "Summer"
. Nothing wrong having a 2nd cat in a small place and they can keep each other company . I would go for it , if it would be me .
 

grissom

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Unlike dogs, I think its very hard to ever have too many cats! Get a friend for your kitty!
 

flea

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I really don't agree with turning them back out with the colony - especially if you keep them until the time they are fixed. Surely in that time you'd be able to have your vet and others help find them homes?

I know it can be hard to place animals, espcially when you max everyone out but since they are only 5 weeks old you have plenty of time to work with them.

If you keep one (sounds like you may) and your cousin takes one you'd only have three to work with as far as finding homes - and in the long run it would keep them off the streets.
 

kumbulu

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Perhaps your cousin could take two kittens. It's not much more work (or expense) than one and they can keep each other company while she's at work or out.
 

purrfectcatlove

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Originally Posted by Kumbulu

Perhaps your cousin could take two kittens. It's not much more work (or expense) than one and they can keep each other company while she's at work or out.
I agree on that , two kittens are always better together
 
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sofiecusion

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Oh we will do everything we can to find homes for them....we will also keep them inside until they are sputered. We live i the middle of nowhere and our only neighbor is my one of my cousins. Releasng them is ONLY a last resort.

My boyfriend (and roommate) have decided that we will "probably" take one.....a female (due to some males tendencies to be rambunxious teenagers) We just need to figure everything out....
 

flea

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Originally Posted by sofiecusion

Oh we will do everything we can to find homes for them....we will also keep them inside until they are sputered. We live i the middle of nowhere and our only neighbor is my one of my cousins. Releasng them is ONLY a last resort.
That does sound very good then. Better than I thought, really.

Where I live, there used to be a ton of strays and ferals. Over the past two years our community made a huge effort to trap and remove the animals.

So far, this year, we have had no problems with cats. I do hope it continues to be this way. It's heartbreaking to see them loose and totally on their own.
 
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sofiecusion

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Yeah we try and do the best we can....we don't have too many ferals at the moment....but i know at times it has reached up to 20! I think right now we have around 7 that are there all of the time.....our biggest factor is probably because we live in a national forest. We believe many cats disappear due to coyotes, foxes, and such. We get cats that are feral already and some that our tame...we believe some are dropped off down the dirt road by our house (which doesn't get much traffic since the only thing back there is a lagoon). If and when we do get kittens, we usually don't start going by the mom and her kids until they are 8 weeks old...for example, we started feedng the babies canned food where their mother kept them at around this age, and then at ten weeks we brought them in and they went to their new homes...funny thing was the mother kept REAL close to the house....she knew we had her babies. After se ws spade and Peanut was older....we let Peanut out on the porch and her mom came up to er and they head butted eachother and purred like they never were apart! LOL. My mom did take the mother cat in while she was still pregnant and the vet said she was around 8 years old and this probably wasn't her first litter., but all in ll, the kitties are fine and my mom is working with taming them and all of the things a mama cat would do.......it's been awhile ince she had to do this, but she remembers it well
I will have a hard time chosing "the pick of the litter".


What do you think....should go for a male or female? i was thinking female because i know how playful male cats can be at like age 1.
 
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