found a friendly stray cat with enlarged nipples

[kcordon]

My bf and I found the sweetest cat near a target store today, we approached her and she was hesitant at first but let us come close enough to pet her. I ended up getting her some wet cat food from target and she loved it! She even let my bf pick her up, we noticed her nipples were enlarged I believe she might have already given birth because she’s more saggy than pregnant looking. She also had quite an appetite so I imagine she could be nursing. We really wanted to take her home with us so we looked around for kittens. We ended up finding where we think the kittens might be and where she might sleep, it’s part of target and looks like it might have been the garden section but it’s abandoned. So we’re guessing her babies might be in there, I really want to go back and ask the staff if they can check it out for us. We wanna help them! I don’t have any experience with cats so if someone reads this please give me some tips! Should I go back for them? Should we take her to the animal shelter to get checked? Since she was so friendly I think she might have been abandoned I don’t think she is a free roaming cat because there are no homes in the area it’s mostly all comercial. It also seems like someone had been leaving her dry food and water so I’m 90% sure she’s a stray. I’ll be attaching some screenshots from a video I took. You can’t see her nipples but maybe it'll help.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree that she may be nursing a litter. Do ask the Target employees to check for kittens. If they are found, please take mom and kittens home.

It sounds like mom was a former pet who got lost or dumped. She will need spaying once her kittens wean so she does not have another litter.

She’s very pretty! Thank you for looking into her situation. She definitely needs help. Please keep us posted!

K kcordon

 

[kcordon]

Definitely going to back tomorrow morning! She really was such a pretty girl! Hopefully she’s in the same spot 🫶 thank you!

 

[kcordon]

I have a small dog crate so I hope we’re able to find her and the babies! I’ll keep you updated

 

[thefiresidecat]

I have a small dog crate so I hope we’re able to find her and the babies! I’ll keep you updated

good luck! thanks for going out of your way to help this pretty momma. we found our moto in the back of a target/petco he was a great cat. people who dump pets suck! I hope you find her and the babies

 

[kcordon]

Went back this morning before work, found her in the same spot after a few min! I was able to speak with a manager about the situation but he didn’t care to help by taking 5 min to look for the kittens… here’s a better pic of her, I’m pretty sure she is nursing. I spent an hour trying to lure her into the crate but it wasn’t working ): I was so disappointed but don’t wanna give up. Any tips?

 

[kcordon]

also forgot to mention that the manager said he hadn’t seen kittens there recently but I don’t know how true that may be..

 

[Sarthur2]

From the looks of her mammary glands she is definitely nursing. Mother cats are very adept at hiding their babies until they get more mobile and ready to wean. Her kittens are somewhere on that property or nearby. I would not separate her from her kittens right now as they will not survive without her.

So, in the meantime she needs feeding daily, and maybe when you’re off you can spend some time trying to find the kittens or ask another employee if they could look. The manager did not sound helpful at all.

The other option would be to get a rescue organization involved, and perhaps the manager might respond more graciously to them. If the kittens are located, you could offer to foster mom and kittens through the rescue.

The situation worries me knowing so many people are around and the kittens will not be safe once they begin to appear.

 

[thefiresidecat]

yeah go every day to feed her and give her some water and try to make friends with various people that work there. there is gonna be a cat lover there somewhere among them. Sarther had great points.