Kitten Self Nursing! PLEASE HELP!!!!

[ziggy'smom]

You got two cats and realized that you couldn't handle two so you gave one away and now you say that you're going to keep three kittens? Do you know how expensive kittens are and how hard it is to find good homes for them all? I'm about to adopt out one of my foster cats who came to me at one day old. She is now 2 years old. That's how long it took me to find a good home for her and that's not a rarity. Two of her littermates took over a year to find homes for and we're a rescue that have a lot more resources to find homes than you have. There are tons of kittens out there needing homes and not near enough families who want one. And if you find a good home for one of your kittens a kitten sitting at the shelter will not get one. One litter may not seem like a big deal but if fifty people think that they want their cat to just have one litter that's about 250 kittens. And if half of them also have a litter of five kittens that's another 625 kittens. That's almost 900 kittens needing 900 homes just because a few people were thinking like you and just had one little litter. And then of course half of those 900 will also breed making another 2000 kittens, on and on and on. And only one in ten cats will have a permanent home their whole lives so that's a lot of cats that will end up on the street or in shelters. To change all this misery and ever growing cat population it has to start with you. If each of these 50 people were responsible and fixed their cats thousands of kittens would never have been born and the homes available would go to those that are already here so that they won't be killed. The action of each one of those people, like you, would make a huge difference to prevent suffering and death of innocent cats.

I understand wanting to have kittens. I love kittens and they are a blast to have around. But you can have kittens without breeding your cat. Shelters are full of kittens that are in a desperate need to go to a foster home. If you would become a foster home for kittens not only would you satisfy your kitten cravings but you'd also help save the lives of these little creatures. It's a win-win situation. I'm sure your local shelters would love to have you as a foster parent. As a foster home you also don't have to worry about finding the kittens homes yourself and you don't have to worry about paying for the vet care they need. Just the basic kittens shots costs $50 per kitten in a low cost facility. If there are no low cost vaccination clinics in your area it will cost a lot more than that. If any of the kittens get sick it can cost $100 and up even for minor things. My rescue spends about $200 per kitten for everything that needs to be done. If you breed your cat all that comes out of your pocket but if you're a foster parent you don't have to pay for any of it.

Please be a responsible and caring cat owner and do what's best for your cat and for all the other cats out there that needs help - get her spayed before 5 months of age. If you love cats you'd do what's best for them.

 

[midfire]

mine did this and i took her to the vets nothing wrong with her at all some kittens sulk there paws over sulk there nipples mine grow out it by the year old.

 

[meowmmy_aprile]

This makes me angry.

I am dealing with a situation caused by a person who lived 2 houses down from me who had very similar views to you about their females. They wanted their female to have a litter of kittens( just one litter) she did. She had 3 female babies and a couple of males. Well now each of those 3 females were so pretty they wanted them each to have a litter which produced between the 3 of them 15 more kittens and ofcourse there were females in those litters and the cycle continued. These people also believed that cats should live outside in the wild and learn to fend for themselves. They literally had over 20 cats outside their house and also coming around my house and the neighbors houses as well. My neighbors and I tried to talk to them about the cats being outside and coming all over our neighborhood and the dangers of the main road. They wouldn't budge.

I used to pull out of my street atleast once a week and find atleast one of their group dead in the road. I also had cats in groups hanging around my house looking for food. I took in 3 of the group and gave them homes. I also starting trapping and spaying and nuetering the others on my own dime. Not for these people, but for the cats and our neighborhood that was slowly being over run with cats that were now starting to inbreed. These people never even realized their cats were gone for the procedures, nor did they notice that they were fixed. It made me sad. This went on for a few years.

Just about a year ago the people up and moved away without warning. Guess what? They left all their cats behind, most of those cats have now turned feral and I am having to feed them and TNR the ones I can get on my own dime.

I trapped one of the feral kittens in Feb and brought it in and gave it a home. I was just brought a litter of 3 4 week old kittens that were abandoned by someone. I have 2 more feral litters I am working on befriending so I can trap them, tame and find homes for. It is hard work as they are located under a shed and in a wood pile that is surronded by thorns, bees and other things that bite or scratch up my arms, legs and hands just so I can get close enough to them to try and teach them humans are ok.

Once I catch those (there are 7 of them) I will have a total of 10 kittens less than 8 weeks old in my house that I will have to take to the vet for check ups, deworming, shots and to be fixed once they are old enough. I pay for it myself as the shelters and rescues are so over populated they can not afford to take on anymore because people like you just want their cat to have 1 litter.

Please rethink this. Think about the people like me and others on this board who spend their lives trying to help the kitties who get caught up in this cycle without asking for it. They are the ones who suffer because they end up outside alone and feral or dead on the roads because people can't handle them anymore and figure well they're cats they can fend for themselves outside.

Truth is they end up more often than not dieing, by being hit by a car, poisoned, euthanized and sometimes abused to death before ever finding a "Good Home" A good home is a home that keeps them inside all the time, has them fixed as soon as possible, keeps up on their medical expenses and knows enough to know how many they can reasonably handle before those things start to be overwhelming. If they can not promise to do those things for the kitten or cat they are wanting to take they are not a "Good Home" IMHO.

 

[tiffany1226]

I whole-heartedly agree with you. You should never take in a cat as a pet if you cannot afford to take correct care of it.

I think it is WONDERFUL what you have done to save the lives of so many cats in your neighborhood. God will certainly bless you if he has not already for your extreme kindness and generosity!!!

 

[jezahb]

Well. I"m sorry. But she is going to have a liter before i spay her. Final!

Well, I hope when your cat gets mammary gland tumors down the line because of your ignorant and close minded opinions you are happy with yourself. I had heard some people still were this completely ignorant still but I had never actually seen it....and I cannot believe how mad it has made me. How the *bleep* can you call yourself a "cat lover" when you are willing to put your precious kitty at such a massive and unneeded health risk. My moms cat who she rescued with her kittens a few years ago now has a mammary gland tumor and it absolutely kills me how this poor sweet cat is now going to die because of someone who was probably just as ignorant as you did not spay her. You miss, do not deserve to own a cat 

 

[bigperm20]

The rules of this board state something along the lines of (and I'm paraphrasing) not bashing other members or you will be banished to the La Brea Tar Pits... Or something to that affect

I'm going to be very non specific and say that a certain somebody absolutely turns my stomach. I've read a lot of things that offended me on public forums over the years, but this has to take the cake. I will pray for this certain somebody b/c it's the right thing to do. I hope they decide to do what's right for their kitty.

 

[jezahb]

I don't mean to break the rules, I just get very heated when I see someone doing wrong by any animal. I feel it is akin to animal abuse to put an animal at such a high risk for health problems and create more kittens for no valid reason. Being unaware is one thing, choosing to ignore facts is another. 

My mom's cat Mama Mia is dying of Mammary cancer and it breaks my heart, so I guess it is a sensitive subject for me. Its unneeded suffering. However, sorry if I offended anyone and I didn't realize I was breaking the rules. 

 

[orientalslave]

Think the OP is long since gone.  Nice apology, so sorry about your mothers cat.

 

[bigperm20]

My post wasn't intended to scold anyone for getting on to the OP. I agreed 100% with everyone who had posted as I felt the OP was pretty crazy. My post was with regards to my own frustration of not being able to post what I wanted to (b/c I was so angry it was sure to be explicit in nature.

 

[amanda535]

This is an old post so I am hoping you have worked things out. I have a self nursing 3 year old Aby and had a lot of the same concerns.  In our situation she stayed with the mother until 12 weeks (better than normal) and had no emotional trauma.  When she first came home and decided I was her mommy she would call me down to her to cuddle like 4 time a day.  When she got close to my face and had her head against my heart she would self nurse.  We thought this was the weirdest thing and her Dad thought we shouldn't allow it.  We tried stopping her, bitter apple, me not cuddling with her (broke my heart).  Finally we talked to a vet who checked her out and said she is healthy and not hurting herself, who cares how she is soothed if it makes her happy?  Vet said we were over-reacting and things would work out in time.  A lot of sites said to stop petting them when they did this and they will learn that the behavior is not ok. I had major issue with that and in our situation I didn't feel it was right to withhold comfort. As she got older and more independent the amount of time she called me to her lessened.  She is a very happy well adjusted little girl at 3 years and nurses a couple times a week.  It is usually when I am doing mommy things to her like grooming, giving her kissing or cuddling real close that she still nurses and kneads on me.  Oddly she doesn't do it with her dad but she always comes to me when she needs some mommy time.  Even after this long, she hasn't hurt her skin or hair or nipple, it's just her thang so who am I to judge lol.  We are very in-tuned to each other and she is always there to give me extra love and kisses when I need it.  Hope your kitty is doing well and you guys have found your way )

 

[bigperm20]

@Amanda535 you will probably get more responses if you start a new thread. The OP in this one left I believe.