Free advice for people with new litters....

I learned this with my last litter and those of you who have new litters of kittens and plan on giving some away, this might help.

Once the kittens are old enough to eat solid food, give them wet food at least once a day. They key is, put it in a dish and call, "kitty, kitty, kitties!" and wait for them to come before giving it to them. They will come will they smell it. After a few days you will be able to say "kitties!" and they will all come running, even if you don't have wet food. You must be consistent though.

Here's why this helps:
1. If you can't find the kittens, you can call "kitties!" and they will come running that way you don't have to go looking for them.
2. It's a universal name so you don't have to call them individually.(especially helps if you have about 7 kittens!)
3. When it comes time to give them away the new owner will probably want to give them a new name. When they take the kitty to its new home it will probably hide and they may panic because they won't come to their new name if they don't know it. Whenever somebody sees a kitten they naturally say, "here kitty kitty", so this way the kitten will come when they call them that. That will definately save the new owners a lot of trouble and will make it easier for the kittens too!

Anyways, I am by no way a cat expert, but I just thought that this might help and figured it couldn't hurt to post it. I hope it helps somebody out there. If so, please tell me of your success!

Oh yeah. By the way, the cats will never forget this, even after they learn their new names. I kept 2 kittens til they were almost 6 months old and they were outdoor cats. We lived in the mountains and the nearest neighbor was over a mile away. If I couldn't find the cats I would just say "here kitty, kitties" and no matter where they were, if they could hear me they would come running at top speed. I would give them a treat to reward them to make them continue to think of coming when called as a positive experience.

P.S.- never call a cat and then punish it, that will make the cat associate coming when called as a bad thing and they may never come again!

I learned this with my last litter and those of you who have new litters of kittens and plan on giving some away, this might help.

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Unless you know the person...always charge a fee for your kittens. Do not give them away. Remember, they are counting on you to find them the best home. A free to a good home....may not have money to pay for important vet care or neutering/spaying. If there is a low cost or free clinic that will perform pediatric spay/neuter, have them fixed before they go into homes and charge the new adoptors the fee for having the surgery done.

Here is a helpful article:

http://www.cathobbyist.com/articles/...yist/Free.html

Additionally, it is best to hold on to your kittens until they reach the age of 10-12 weeks of age.

Katie

I only give my babies to people I know. One crazy couple I know already had 6 cats (and one was pregnant), but when they came to visit they fell in love with one of my kitties and took it home with them. It was a very social cat and got along with all of their cats wonderfully!
Well, true, they were crazy for having so many cats, but, then again, who could resist a face like this one???

Originally Posted by TortieBaby

I only give my babies to people I know. One crazy couple I know already had 6 cats (and one was pregnant), but when they came to visit they fell in love with one of my kitties and took it home with them. It was a very social cat and got along with all of their cats wonderfully!
Well, true, they were crazy for having so many cats, but, then again, who could resist a face like this one???

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I would have questioned them as to why they wanted an additional kitten when they already had a cat that was pregnant. I hope you followed up to ensure that this kitten was spayed so that she would not have kittens of her own and that the mom cat was also spayed.

Katie

Don't worry. They had stayed with us a couple days and were always playing with her. When they heard I was trying to find a new home for her they couldn't help it. They fell in love with her because of her unusual markings and her sweet nature. I talked to them a little while ago. They spayed her and renamed her Angel because she is so sweet.(her former name was Guess)

Originally Posted by TortieBaby

Don't worry. They had stayed with us a couple days and were always playing with her. When they heard I was trying to find a new home for her they couldn't help it. They fell in love with her because of her unusual markings and her sweet nature. I talked to them a little while ago. They spayed her and renamed her Angel because she is so sweet.(her former name was Guess)

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I would have requested a copy of the spay certificate and I would have inquired about the cat that was pregnant and whether she had been spayed. But this is exactly why I advocate pre-adoptive spay/neuter when possible. You don't have to rely on someone's word, you know that kitten is spayed and will not contribute to the overpopulation.

Katie

They are friends of mine. They don't lie to me, they have no reason to. No offense, but I'm kind of getting offended by what you're saying. I feel like you are calling my friends liers. I don't need a spay certificate. Not only did they spay her, but she is their cat now, not mine, and so is the pregnant cat. What they do with their cats is thei business and I will not be so rude as to tell them how to take care of their own animals. They are very responsible people and their cat got pregant accidentally. With that many cats you can only expect a problem every now and then. Nobody is perfect. My cat had kittens. She was 4 months old when she got pregnant. Not only did I not know that cats could get pregnant that young, but we were going through a financial crisis at the time and couldn't afford getting her spayed. I had called many vets but even the cheapest was almost $100. We were living paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford to spend that kind of money and spaying our cat. Are you going to tell me I am a bad owner because of that??? She is spayed now because we can afford it, but I couldn't then and there was nothing I could do. I did they only thing I could and raised the kittens and put them in the best homes I could find with people I knew were responsible and would take good care of them. Sorry for trying to do what is right.

I'm going to restart my post because I wasn't looking for an arguement. I just wanted to help people who have kittens.

That's fine...then I will report my first response..because it still stands that you should charge a fee and not simply give your kittens away.

They are very responsible people and their cat got pregant accidentally. With that many cats you can only expect a problem every now and then.

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And I'd like to address this because I know many people who have more than 6 cats, but had them all fixed or kept them inside only and away from other intact animals until they could be fixed...so no, I do not agree that you can expect the problem of an accidental mating with that many cats.

Katie

Their cat didn't get pregnant from one of their males. All their males are fixed because they don't want them spraying the house. She accidentally got out and got pregnant from an outside cat.
Again, I gave her to them because they are responsible, not only that, but they also have enough money to take care of her and get her spayed, something I didn't have.

I don't mind if you post the first response on my other post. I agree with it 100%, obviously.

Tortie .... TNR ..... is a very knowledgable member here. She is not trying to argue with you, she is simply trying to guide you and others who will read this for a safer and better way to handle this for the outcome of the future of the cats.

Originally Posted by TortieBaby

Their cat didn't get pregnant from one of their males. All their males are fixed because they don't want them spraying the house. She accidentally got out and got pregnant from an outside cat.
Again, I gave her to them because they are responsible, not only that, but they also have enough money to take care of her and get her spayed, something I didn't have.

I don't mind if you post the first response on my other post. I agree with it 100%, obviously.

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Right....but getting "accidentally" outside is something that people have control over. Which is again, why I highly recommend pre-adoptive spay/neuter. That way, if the cat accidentally gets out...no pregnancy will occur. This site is visited by many people who read and never post..I think it is important for them to understand that they need to require a copy of the spay certificate to verify that the kittens that they have placed have been fixed. Only with this level of diligence will we be able to finally reduce the overpopulation. I don't know what it's like in North Carolina...but in Virginia...only 5 out of every 10 cats/kittens make it out of shelters alive. Thus every fixed cat/kitten allows more of those cats/kittens to find homes. It's a win/win.

I am very happy to read that your mom cat finally got fixed and I know you are planning to have your male cat fixed soon.

Katie

I know. I just am very sensitive about what people say about my friends. I guess you could say that I feel the same about my friends as a MExican does about his family. LOL! (I would know too, I'm married to one )

I understand your view completely and agree with it 100%. I told you that. I just don't appreciate the fact that you are telling me to get a spat certificate from my friend when I already told you that they said they spayed her and that they are trustworthy people. That just offends me that you would even hint at my friends being liers.

Originally Posted by TortieBaby

I know. I just am very sensitive about what people say about my friends. I guess you could say that I feel the same about my friends as a MExican does about his family. LOL!

(I would know too, I'm married to one

)

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Understood...and just so you understand....9 years ago....one of my best friends cat got out and had not one but 5 litters of kittens before she got her fixed. This is why I am so passionate about spaying/neutering. Those kittens (minus my 2) took up space at a rescue that could have saved other kittens. Of course...that was at a time when I didn't know about cats getting pregnant almost immediately after giving birth or that they could get pregnant at 4 months of age. Now that I am more knowledgable....and I volunteer with a rescue group and know about the overpopulation in my own state....I do try to encourage follow up on the spay/neuter if it wasn't done before the placement.

Katie

P.S. I think I'm finally making up for not grabbing my friend's cat and having her fixed after the 1st litter.

Originally Posted by TortieBaby

I understand your view completely and agree with it 100%. I told you that. I just don't appreciate the fact that you are telling me to get a spat certificate from my friend when I already told you that they said they spayed her and that they are trustworthy people. That just offends me that you would even hint at my friends being liers.

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Honestly, I would get a spay certificate from anyone...friend, neighbor, family member...to me, any kitten I place deserves to be litter free. I would treat it no different than if it was a kitten placed through my rescue group. That's me though.

Katie

I don't think Katie was insinuating that your friends are liars. She was providing a method to check that the cat was spayed. To me, it sounded like she meant that as general advice (for anyone who may be reading this thread).

All shelters that do not speuter before adopting kittens/puppies out also require proof of spay/neuter. It's not that they think people are liars, but more that they know that people lead busy lives and often time, it's the spay/neuter that doesn't get done and then the owners may wind up with a pregnant animal.

~Julia

**D'oh! posted at the same time as Katie!**

I'm sorry to hear that you friends cat got pregnant that many times. I would be as enthusiatic as you too if that had happened with somebody I know too.