My close friend found a stray cat about 6 weeks ago, and we decided to adopt her. She was hanging out by the elementary school and the local police took the cat to her, because she does volunteer work with a local rescue. We took her to the vet to get her vaccinations, etc. but it turned out that she was pregnant so we decided to wait until after she had the kittens to have her fixed.
So we set up three separate nesting boxes around the house for her, all of which she has been in from time to time. But yesterday her appetite decreased and she was lethargic but cuddly, so I was expecting kittens today. She was spending a lot of time in our bed cuddling, and I joked, "what if she has her kittens on our bed?" Then at 6 in the morning we woke up to her letting out a howl, flipped on the light, and there she was on our bed beside us with the first kitten on its way out!
So far we haven't touched the kittens. There are 5. I'm not certain that will be all of them, but it has been about 30 minutes since the last one and she has now settled down and is relaxing with them and purring.
So my main question is, am I able to move the kittens? They obviously can't stay on our bed. Not only because we need to sleep there, but because they can wander off before they should be doing so easily if they aren't in a more enclosed space.
Should I move the entire blanket with them?
Also, am I really not supposed to touch the kittens at all for awhile? It seems to me that by choosing to have them in bed with us, she feels safe with us....and our scent is already all over the kittens simply by them being on our bed. But I don't want to risk causing any problems.
So far I have put a litter box and food/water in our bedroom for mama cat, and if I am able to move them then I will keep the box in our bedroom.
Thanks for any help!
Oh, and we have two other cats. One if 17 years old and I"ve had her since she was just a kitten, and the other is nearly 3. The 3 year old has been hissing at our bedroom door already. Poor girl, she just warmed up to mama and now there are babies! Another reason I want to keep her in the bedroom, so that my unhappy cat can't get near the kittens.
Thanks again for any help!
So we set up three separate nesting boxes around the house for her, all of which she has been in from time to time. But yesterday her appetite decreased and she was lethargic but cuddly, so I was expecting kittens today. She was spending a lot of time in our bed cuddling, and I joked, "what if she has her kittens on our bed?" Then at 6 in the morning we woke up to her letting out a howl, flipped on the light, and there she was on our bed beside us with the first kitten on its way out!
So far we haven't touched the kittens. There are 5. I'm not certain that will be all of them, but it has been about 30 minutes since the last one and she has now settled down and is relaxing with them and purring.
So my main question is, am I able to move the kittens? They obviously can't stay on our bed. Not only because we need to sleep there, but because they can wander off before they should be doing so easily if they aren't in a more enclosed space.
Should I move the entire blanket with them?
Also, am I really not supposed to touch the kittens at all for awhile? It seems to me that by choosing to have them in bed with us, she feels safe with us....and our scent is already all over the kittens simply by them being on our bed. But I don't want to risk causing any problems.
So far I have put a litter box and food/water in our bedroom for mama cat, and if I am able to move them then I will keep the box in our bedroom.
Thanks for any help!
Oh, and we have two other cats. One if 17 years old and I"ve had her since she was just a kitten, and the other is nearly 3. The 3 year old has been hissing at our bedroom door already. Poor girl, she just warmed up to mama and now there are babies! Another reason I want to keep her in the bedroom, so that my unhappy cat can't get near the kittens.
Thanks again for any help!