Advice needed.

Thanks for the info... this was very much an accidental pregnancy. We scheduled Billy's neutered apparantly a couple of days too late!
I guess my main question is should I mention to Mirah's soon-to-be new owners that she had a sibling with a heart defect, or do you think it wouldn't matter?

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

Thanks for the info... this was very much an accidental pregnancy. We scheduled Billy's neutered apparantly a couple of days too late!

I guess my main question is should I mention to Mirah's soon-to-be new owners that she had a sibling with a heart defect, or do you think it wouldn't matter?

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It's up to you, but there was no autopsy, right? So, you don't really know that the sibling had a heart defect, or why he died. If vet examines her, I think they should be able to tell if she has a heart murmur from listening to the heart. Maybe you could ask the vet's opinion on whether the kitties are more likely to have problems than regular cats. Unless the autopsy was done on the kitten, you can't be sure why he died.

Originally Posted by elizwithcat

It's up to you, but there was no autopsy, right? So, you don't really know that the sibling had a heart defect, or why he died. If vet examines her, I think they should be able to tell if she has a heart murmur from listening to the heart. Maybe you could ask the vet's opinion on whether the kitties are more likely to have problems than regular cats.

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No, there was no autopsy... he was only 2 days old and died at home, so we just buried him out in a field next to his two cousins.

I'll talk to my vet, and see what he says.... thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

No, there was no autopsy... he was only 2 days old and died at home, so we just buried him out in a field next to his two cousins.

I'll talk to my vet, and see what he says.... thanks for the info!

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If the vet examines her and she is healthy now, I wouldn't even worry about it. Any cat can get sick in the future. I also think females are just more robust than males. At least in humans, females tend to live substantially longer.

AND...in humans, female preemies do better than males as well! (It's a lung thing, I believe)

Hi Montana,

I'm sorry you are going through this... I hope things balance out and the kittens grow stronger...

You said this.. "As it was important for my children to see the start of life, it is also important for me for them to see the end of it. As I said, we live with all sorts of animals surrounding us and it is my personal opinion that it would serve any child well to see the circle of life in many ways."

I completely agree with you!!!

I understand your intention with allowing this cat to get pregnant... I allowed my daughter to experience it with our cat for similar reasons(all my animals are always 'fixed' 'in time'... It seemed the mama cat knew and made sure to wait until we awakened in the morning... It was an amazing experience...

Part of birth is death.. Unfortunately it often comes sooner than one would hope for... I think its important that you do NOT shelter your daughter from this but allow her to face this part of life, if that is what is indeed happening...She will only be stronger because of it, if it is experienced in a healthy way... The kitties may pull through and then she will get to experience the beauty of THAT! If it means anything, you have my encouragement and good healing coming your way...

Stay strong and YES! You can only do the best you can do!!! I think you're AWESOME!!!

The remaining four kittens are all fat and happy. There is one all black and two tuxedo kittens, and one tabby, I am starting to wonder what the milk man looked like with that tabby.

Thank you all so much for your encouragement and interesting conversation.

My daughters are four and six and they do a lot to take care of all the animals. Whenever we lose one for any reason, we have a little funeral. My girls have their own little agenda where they bring flowers and they always ask to say a prayer. They cry and cry, and it just becomes too much for my husband and he cries as hard as they do. It makes me cry just writing it. The point that I am getting to is that it makes me very happy that the girls are growing up to respect life so much. In whatever form it may come.

It doesn't bother my daughters at all to watch the birth of anything. They both have lots of questions which I answer as honestly and easy to understand as I can. They know all about how babies, both animal and human, form in the uterus. When our cat was contracting I explained about the uterus and why it contracts. Fortunately she has yet to ask how the babies get in there. As open as I have been about babies, I dont' think I am ready to tackle that one yet.

I know that letting young children watch birth is not what everybody may think is right, but for us it is wonderful. My dad raises buffalo and she has seen them be born. She has also seen lambs and cattle be born.

Anyway, I am really going on now.

This seems like a very nice community of people. Before reading this forum I never even thought about people breeding cats. I can't believe the prices that bred cats go for. Those Bangel cats are beautiful.

Thanks again.

I know that letting young children watch birth is not what everybody may think is right, but for us it is wonderful.

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I have no issue with people wanting their children to experience a litter being born....however, when people tell me that they purposefully bred a cat in order to have the experience, when the rescue I volunteer with gets to decide which of the shelter pregnant cats, nursing cats and orphaned kittens lives and which ones die because we do not have enough foster homes and our rescue is full and there are 5 pregnant cats, 5 nursing monthers and 20 orphaned kittens at the shelter..it baffles me. That is why I highly recommend checking with a shelter/rescue before breeding your own cat. Pregnant cats are being killed every day during kitten season and when you foster you are saving lives and still get to experience the birth process. The rescue/shelter will help with placing the kittens and even the mom once her nursing duties are done.

Katie

I never even considered looking for a pregnant cat at a shelter. I think it is a fine idea and as I am getting the mama cat fixed soon, as well as all of the kittens whenever the vet says they are ready, I will look into this in a couple of years.

My younger daughter will want to have a little when she is a little older. I will definetely look for a shelter.

Originally Posted by Montana

I never even considered looking for a pregnant cat at a shelter. I think it is a fine idea and as I am getting the mama cat fixed soon, as well as all of the kittens whenever the vet says they are ready, I will look into this in a couple of years.

My younger daughter will want to have a little when she is a little older. I will definetely look for a shelter.

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Thanks Montana...believe me, I had no idea either until I started volunteering at the rescue. Right now I'm fostering a mom and her two kittens and even though I say I want a break when they are ready for adoption...I know I will foster again because it truly is saving lives. I have even already had a couple pre-adopt one of the kittens.

Thanks for considering fostering for your next experience....you really won't regret it.

Katie