Newly adopted feral adjusting well, but...

[revenwyn]

Last year a kitten was born outside. Although I spent time around the mother and the rest of her littermates they avoided me until they stumbled into my feeding station when they were about five months old. One of the four kittens died, the other two never tamed up completely. However, the little female became very acclimated to us. We did not have air conditioning so we thought they would have a better chance of survival living outdoors than in a house that was constantly heated to 85 degrees. Outside they could at least live in crawl spaces under houses.

It was our intention to get our air conditioning fixed then bring this little lady in. She was always in and out of our house, she'd nap on our bed, etc, so we figured she'd adjust well. We can even brush her and rub her belly. So, two days ago, we brought her in, as well as a little one.

See, before we could bring her in to get her fixed, etc (there is no cat rescue here and the shelter's policy with cats born outdoors is to put them down, even if the person bringing them to fix wants to adopt them) she had kittens. They were born April 25th. We know this day for certain, because late on April 24th she was waddling and early April 26th she was rail thin.  As far as we know, none of them lived. However, two days ago, the guy who fixed our air conditioning found a little kitten behind our outdoor air conditioning unit. The mother was nowhere around, there were no littermates. Looking at pictures of kittens by age and development, this little one appears to be 3 to 3 1/2 weeks. So unless it's possible for kittens to appear over a week behind developmentally, we have no clue who the mother is.

At any rate, we could not just leave it there, since the air conditioning unit would be loud and cold. So we brought it inside. This was actually before we brought the other cat in, but the same day.

We hoped that we were bringing her to her baby, but she seemed to ignore it at first, and even to hiss at it. This is why we don't think it was hers. However, she soon took to it and started nursing. Problem solved.

Both are doing well, both got the idea of the litter box the very first day. The kitten pretty much just eats, sleeps, and poops. It's too young for much play yet, and can barely walk on its wobbly little legs. But the "mother" is getting stir crazy. The first night she went outside a bit but only sat on our porch. She seems to understand that she's been moved inside now. She doesn't even try to escape to the outside. We bought some toys and she does play with them but she seems to need more in the way of exercise. Should I attempt to get a cat harness and see about training her to walk on a leash? The only time she has EVER scratched me was completely accidentally while launching herself out of my arms. She is smart and very patient.

We have a few toys, several boxes, and a cat scratcher. We live in a small apartment so we don't have room for a cat tree or anything like that.

 

[ldg]

Awww, she's still really a baby herself. :heart2: And thank you for rescuing them!

So a question. Has she been spayed yet? It sounds like you wanted having her spayed coincided with bringing her inside, but I can't really tell from your post. Because part of her stir crazy may be that she's still intact? :dk: If that's the case, then what will help the most is getting her spayed.

Either way, do you have any interactive toys? Meaning wand toys? You'll need to keep them put away when you're not using them so the kitties won't eat the string, but both she and little baby need stimulation. And nothing better than play time!

All of our cats are feral rescues. Outside, they played with crickets and chased moths - their "toys" moved. Inside, they didn't know what to do with a furry mouse toy or a ball that just sits there. :lol3: But they go bonkers when I make feathers on a string fly around, or a little mouse on a string wiggle across the floor. :nod: Cats are designed for short bursts of energy, and LOVE routine. So if you can work into your schedule 3 or 4 different "play times" that are 10 minutes long or so, that may help.

The other thing we did was put up bird feeders. We got ones that stick to the windows, and made sure they can either lay on the back of the couch to see right out the window, or on another one we put a bookcase that we put some cat beds on top of, so they're right at window height. For them, it's like cat TV!

And I know how it is to live in a small space. We live in a 38 foot long, 8 foot wide (no slides) RV with 8 cats. We adapted our space to create a lot of vertical space for them, as it really helps to get them moving around.

 

[revenwyn]

We are hoping to get her spayed when we can. We have limited transportation (and income) which might make it difficult. I am in touch with a rescue organization who might help with the cost. They don't have room to take them right now however and our local shelter is absolutely terrible. The little one is still nursing, so we would ideally like to have him fully weaned before she gets spayed. As transportation is fairly limited we will probably get them both fixed at once.

Yeah, right now we have some catnip mice she plays with but no feather on a string or anything like that. We were hoping to get that when we can get to Walmart next.

 

[ldg]

If you have tape, can get a stick from outside or a dowel rod or something and string, shoelaces, or a clothes line, you don't need to go to Walmart for wand toys. Tie the string (or whatever) around the mouse, or to a pine cone, or an acorn, or just knot the end over and over again so it becomes a large lump with a "tail," and use the tape to tape it to something to make it easy to wiggle or fly around. Or just wrap one end around your hand. It's easier if it's on something, but not necessary.

I haven't bought a wand toy for a few years. When the toy gets pulled off the end, I just tie it on. When the string gets pulled off the rod, I just tape it back on. Our cat toys are all mis-matched, and many have little furry mice tied onto the ends. I actually buy leather boot laces to make wand toys for the kitties. :lol3:

If you're comfortable posting the name of your town, or a town you can get to, or your county, I can search to see if I can find a clinic you might not have found yet. Happy to give it a try.

 

[revenwyn]

So we got some toys for them. I got a mouse on a rod that actually squeaks. Both are mesmerized by it though itty bitty Cookie isn't strong enough to do more than bat at it a few times. Also have some balls with bells in them, etc.

Any collar suggestions? I looked at Walmart and while they have breakaway collars the collars don't have a ring to attach ID to. We plan on getting them microchipped as well however a LOT of people here don't know about microchips so an ID may be the best bet for return. Not that Binky would go very far if she got out. She was born outside, and our house was her turf before she was ever brought inside. She is restless and needs to be spayed ASAP though I have yet to find a low cost clinic in my area. Not to mention we do not have a vehicle and rely on transportation to and from Walmart by others. We live within walking distance of a grocery store and a drug store and that is it.

They both have fleas and likely worms. I read somewhere http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html  about a spray that one of their fosters says is gentle enough for even day old kittens, and I got it, but since the bottle says to wait until 12 weeks old I don't know what to do. That's two months from now. I know I probably should get them to a vet but we don't have the resources.

Why did we take them in? Because at least for the little one it would have been certain death if I had not. The shelter has an 85% kill rate, and the nearest rescue is an hour away and full up. The little guy was found by our outside air conditioning unit. We're so glad the air conditioning guy found him. We would raise him then rehome him, but nobody was interested in the mother except as a barn cat and we will NOT do that to these little ones.

God practically dropped this kitten into our laps. We're very poor (living off of less than $1,000 a month, on average) but so far we've found that every time we run out of food, we get food. Every time we run out of cat food, we get money for more. Without fail, for the two years we have lived here. I would like to be able to feed them a better diet than dry however, and canned can get expensive and getting ready to feed raw can be an expense too, not to mention the meat and supplements. And when the aim is to rehome, how do you explain to future owners that it doesn't even know what dry food IS?

 

[feralvr]

Welcome to TCS and I think you absolutely did the right thing by taking in this kitten. He would not have survived without your intervention. I think Laurie had some great advice and suggestions for you and I agree that the first thing is that you get Binky spayed. If not done soon, she will be bringing many more kittens your way which will add much more hardship, emotionally and financially. All of the kittens will need to be spayed/neutered. They can start breeding at four months of age. I know you already know all of this and you really are only trying to help and not turn your back on these cats. Bless you for that. I really do think you need the help of a rescue or even that shelter. If it comes down to you and your family needs, i.e. food, or food for the cats, then you just might need to let them go to that shelter or this rescue. The kittens might have a good chance at finding a home, kittens usually do :cross: And if you are keeping Binky, she will settle down once she is spayed. She could very well be in heat again and that is why she might be going "stir crazy".

Can you possibly "foster" them for the shelter? Would they at least help you with costs if you become a foster? Not sure how it works in your area, and it sounds like there is not much support for stray cats. :shame: Makes me sad for you because you are trying to do the right thing. I really hope you can find a rescue, foster network, TNR organization or shelter to help you with costs and finding them homes. I wish I had more to offer you than that The main issue is to get all of these cats/kittens sterilized so you won't have any more kittens. Then you can just care for them as outside kitties. Dry food is perfectly fine to feed - even the cheap stuff :nod:, for the outside stray/feral cats. They do hunt so that dry diet will get supplemented. Even if you keep them indoor's, dry food is fine if that is all you can afford. Hey - it's food and better than nothing. So don't worry about that, if that was your concern. Do what you can for right now.

You might want to start a thread in the Pregnant Cats and Kitten Care Forum. There you will receive very helpful advice and suggestions on how to raise these babies. What is safe to use on them or what is not safe. I would not use that spray for the fleas. You can bath them in diluted 16 parts water to 1 part Dawn dishwashing soap with about four drops of Anish Extract mixed in the solution. This will kill the fleas but won't keep more off of them if you have them in the environment. I would not recommend using anything over the counter for such young kittens. Anyway here is the link to that other forum just in case you want to post a thread there as well asking for help. http://www.thecatsite.com/f/36/pregnant-cats-and-kitten-care

 

[revenwyn]

I am in contact with our closest rescue group, and they are looking into getting a volunteer to drive down to help get these kittens fixed at their next low cost spay/neuter. The male is too young. We are thinking of rehoming him however, and know not to try until about 10-12 weeks of age. We may not be successful however, as there are two problems. Most people in the town are either students at the college here, and so often cannot have pets even if they live off campus, or there are retired teachers of the campus who do not want pets, or farmers to whom cats are ratters. Also taking them to the shelter would be a death sentence. The shelter automatically puts down any cat who has lived outside and was not a pet, especially kittens who were born outside. They won't even fix cats who were previously feral or born to feral mothers. While they are not actively going after this colony it is their opinion that ferals are a nuisance and need to be exterminated, and I believe that's with a gas chamber here. They really aren't a "humane society"... just an animal control. There is a group trying to become no-kill here but they can't seem to get enough donations to build on their land. People just don't see the need.

Looking at our options we decided to feed dry food but we ordered some grain free food off of Amazon. We plan on adding water to it.  At $45 a month it seemed reasonable enough, and if there's anything to get rid of in a cat's diet, it's grains.

 

[ldg]

Please don't add water to the dry food, unless it is going to be consumed immediately by the cats. Even grain-free dry food often has bacteria in it, and if water is added, it just provides a medium for the bacteria to multiply if left for any period of time. :nod: It's much safer to just feed it dry and provide water.

 

[feralvr]

Please don't add water to the dry food, unless it is going to be consumed immediately by the cats. Even grain-free dry food often has bacteria in it, and if water is added, it just provides a medium for the bacteria to multiply if left for any period of time. :nod: It's much safer to just feed it dry and provide water.

100% agree! IF they eat it right up then it would be alright to add a little bit. Then you take the bowls up and wash them. I did this, adding water to the dry, last summer to one of my cats Pipsqueak when he developed FIC to try to get more water in him. I stood there while he ate the food :lol3: and took away what he did not finish. I basically policed his meals when I added the water to the dry. It really is not a good idea if you don't monitor the cats eating the watered down dry. Best to leave out dry and water separately then.

 

[feralvr]

I am SOOOOO sorry to hear about that "humane society" which does not sound too humane Makes me sad for people like you that have such good, kind, loving hearts wanting to desperately help the feral/stray cats and don't have any support from these organizations. Makes your effort so much harder. I am hopeful that you will get the assistance from this other rescue you talk of. That is encouraging. Keeping you in my thoughts and hope everything works out just the way you want :cross:

 

[revenwyn]

At 5 weeks and 5 days, Cookie is JUST starting to learn to pounce and his favorite toy so far is his mother's tail. Two days ago he was still not very steady on his legs. How far delayed in development is he? Our local cat guy (who knows cats but doesn't do a great job for them) says he at least is the size he should be. As I don't have a vehicle it's been difficult to find anyone willing to get us to the vet, and the rescue an hour away is unable to find anyone willing to drive more than fifteen minutes from the clinic. I'm calling vets today, hoping they have payment plans, as we don't have a huge amount of money to put down for this. Also want to get Binky fixed, she is pacing the perimeter of the rooms calling for males.

I wish there was someone I could hand them off to, someone who knows what they're doing. But there's nobody here.

 

[feralvr]

AWWW I know, how hard this is on you and how much you want to be able to help. AND you are I saw your other thread too and posted there as well. My concern is that Cookie (what a cute name too ) won't weigh two pounds by next Wednesday :dk: He sounds tiny. Hard to say exactly how old he is :dk: You might want to stick one thread or the other when updating so other's don't get confused on what is going on and can advise and help more readily. Up to you !! Continued vibes for Binky and Cookie.

 

[revenwyn]

Okay so it'll be a week from tomorrow that our mama cat gets fixed. Meanwhile, she's in heat. Last night wasn't so bad, she wasn't crying all the time. However, every time my husband leaves the house she goes completely ballistic. Is it possible that she's concerned that a "mate" is leaving her? She also seems to regard me as being competition and while she will let me pet her she snuggles against my husband and sits on his lap, etc. Occasionally I have hugged my husband and she's actually hissed at me. Do you think this will get fixed when we spay her?

 

[feralvr]

Okay so it'll be a week from tomorrow that our mama cat gets fixed. Meanwhile, she's in heat. Last night wasn't so bad, she wasn't crying all the time. However, every time my husband leaves the house she goes completely ballistic. Is it possible that she's concerned that a "mate" is leaving her? She also seems to regard me as being competition and while she will let me pet her she snuggles against my husband and sits on his lap, etc. Occasionally I have hugged my husband and she's actually hissed at me. Do you think this will get fixed when we spay her?

I have to say, this is a first for me :scratch: I have not heard of this sort of behavior of a cat reacting to someone hugging her favorite person. Meaning that your husband is whom she has bonded with. Don't take it personally - she will settle once she is spayed for sure. When females are in heat - they can react completely off kilter from their normal temperament. Next week it could be you the favorite and the husband on the outs. Hang in there - your both doing great.

 

[revenwyn]

So we have a collar on her and got her a harness and leash. She is fine with both collar and harness being on her. She even seemed fine walking on the lead at least inside the house. So I thought I'd take her just next door, to an area she was familiar with (it's a coffee house that allows pets on leashes on their porch. She had her kittens under their porch, so the area was familiar to her.) Well, no sooner do we set foot outside than she goes ballistic and starts to try to wriggle out of the harness. She couldn't get out, so I dropped the leash and she almost catapulted herself back at our door. No, she didn't try to run off, she was trying to run back to the house. This tells me that she really does not want to try to get out, in fact she wants nothing to do with being out. Now she's hiding under the couch, and I'm leaving her there for now, but she'll probably come out before the evening is over.
 

 

[revenwyn]

So apparently, the lady at the vet's office forgot to actually write down our appointment. So we have to get one ALL over again. I found this out because there's an organization that will pay for half the cost of the spay. But when they called the clinic they found that there was no appointment matching our information! Mother's not nursing little guy much anymore, and he feels bony. As in, I can feel his ribs under his fluff. He needs to see a vet QUICKLY and get dewormed, etc. He doesn't seem to be very hungry either. I'm reliant on other people for transportation and so we have to set up appointments ahead of time. I can't believe the vets office did this. I would choose another vet, but the problem is this is the ONLY clinic in town that has good reviews. It's very frustrating.

 

[feralvr]

So we have a collar on her and got her a harness and leash. She is fine with both collar and harness being on her. She even seemed fine walking on the lead at least inside the house. So I thought I'd take her just next door, to an area she was familiar with (it's a coffee house that allows pets on leashes on their porch. She had her kittens under their porch, so the area was familiar to her.) Well, no sooner do we set foot outside than she goes ballistic and starts to try to wriggle out of the harness. She couldn't get out, so I dropped the leash and she almost catapulted herself back at our door. No, she didn't try to run off, she was trying to run back to the house. This tells me that she really does not want to try to get out, in fact she wants nothing to do with being out. Now she's hiding under the couch, and I'm leaving her there for now, but she'll probably come out before the evening is over.

 

OH MY.... a couple of months back we had a thread going here on the feral forum where a newly adopted socialized feral cat got away from his owners when they took him to a park. I am so glad she ran to the door and not the other way. Absolutely she showed you that she wants to be indoor only :heart3:

 

[feralvr]

So apparently, the lady at the vet's office forgot to actually write down our appointment. So we have to get one ALL over again. I found this out because there's an organization that will pay for half the cost of the spay. But when they called the clinic they found that there was no appointment matching our information! Mother's not nursing little guy much anymore, and he feels bony. As in, I can feel his ribs under his fluff. He needs to see a vet QUICKLY and get dewormed, etc. He doesn't seem to be very hungry either. I'm reliant on other people for transportation and so we have to set up appointments ahead of time. I can't believe the vets office did this. I would choose another vet, but the problem is this is the ONLY clinic in town that has good reviews. It's very frustrating.

Well - and at least they are going to pay for the surgeries too. So you are really on their schedule :shame:. Oh dear - on Cookie being so thin hno: I would see about getting some Hill's A/D from the vet and a syringe for feeding. You might need to "jump" start his appetite and the A/D will do that, plus it is highly nutritious. There are many brands that make a kitten formula. But I would see about the A/D first. I hope Cookie will be alright. I wonder IF you could just get him in before the surgeries - just to have him checked out and get him started on a dewormer. Best of luck in all of this.

 

[revenwyn]

We did get Cookie to eat a little bit of kitten food, and drink a little bit of milk replacement, before his mother drank the rest. She did nurse him for a little bit. I'm going to tell the vet's office that they HAD scheduled me for that day and time, or at least they had given me a time to come in, and that because I had already arranged for transportation with someone to get there (and that is hard for us to do) we need to go there at that time, or as close to it as possible, or else we will take our business elsewhere and publicize their mishap online.
 

 

[feralvr]

Glad to hear that Cookie did eat something and even nursed Good luck with calling the vet - I do hope they will understand what you are trying to do for these kitties and that you HAD a ride to their office all set up for tomorrow. I hope that it all works out. :cross: