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Well, the good news is that Raku continues to show up for feedings. The bad news is she's pregnant! I didn't notice her belly the first few feedings because she was always crouching low to the ground, but last night I saw her walking sideways and noticed the belly. It was especially noticeable when she crawled under a nearby gate; she barely fit. I called my vet to see how late an abortion can be done, and he said a month into the pregnancy is as late as he'll do it. He also said that other vets might do it later, but from my description of her belly, he said it's too late to do it and recommended I let her have the babies.
So, I guess the game plan now is to feed and water her so she can be healthy and let her take care of the babies. I was feeding her Innova lite (what my cat eats), but from what I've read it's a good idea to give her kitten food, since it's so rich and nutritious. I just bought a bag of Authority kitten food, so I'll see how she likes that (I'm going to feed her after I write this). Then, I'll trap the babies at the appropriate time; I thought I saw that it's best to take them at 12 weeks, but I'll go back and look it up to be sure. Also, I have to find out when it's best to spay momma, because I know she can go into heat soon after giving birth. There's some kind of window of opportunity there; too soon and the kits will be defenseless, too late and the whole thing starts over again. Man, I've seen info on this type of thing but I never paid attention at the time. Of course, any advice from you guys is much appreciated!
Oh, and I did contact the rescue groups mentioned before; they all seem to be way north or way south of me (I'm in Milpitas, which is just north of San Jose). I did call them, but they were all closed today. I believe they only take care of cats if the cats are in that city (I'll call all the places tomorrow to be sure of what the policy is). On most of the answering machines they say that they are filled to capacity and one place, the NIKE animal rescue, has shut down their medical facility. The most promising place is Fix Our Ferals, which actually does the whole neuter/vaccination/clean-up thing for free, but it's in the East Bay. Still, like I said, I'll call them and see if they can do anything for me.
Well, the good news is that Raku continues to show up for feedings. The bad news is she's pregnant! I didn't notice her belly the first few feedings because she was always crouching low to the ground, but last night I saw her walking sideways and noticed the belly. It was especially noticeable when she crawled under a nearby gate; she barely fit. I called my vet to see how late an abortion can be done, and he said a month into the pregnancy is as late as he'll do it. He also said that other vets might do it later, but from my description of her belly, he said it's too late to do it and recommended I let her have the babies.
So, I guess the game plan now is to feed and water her so she can be healthy and let her take care of the babies. I was feeding her Innova lite (what my cat eats), but from what I've read it's a good idea to give her kitten food, since it's so rich and nutritious. I just bought a bag of Authority kitten food, so I'll see how she likes that (I'm going to feed her after I write this). Then, I'll trap the babies at the appropriate time; I thought I saw that it's best to take them at 12 weeks, but I'll go back and look it up to be sure. Also, I have to find out when it's best to spay momma, because I know she can go into heat soon after giving birth. There's some kind of window of opportunity there; too soon and the kits will be defenseless, too late and the whole thing starts over again. Man, I've seen info on this type of thing but I never paid attention at the time. Of course, any advice from you guys is much appreciated!
Oh, and I did contact the rescue groups mentioned before; they all seem to be way north or way south of me (I'm in Milpitas, which is just north of San Jose). I did call them, but they were all closed today. I believe they only take care of cats if the cats are in that city (I'll call all the places tomorrow to be sure of what the policy is). On most of the answering machines they say that they are filled to capacity and one place, the NIKE animal rescue, has shut down their medical facility. The most promising place is Fix Our Ferals, which actually does the whole neuter/vaccination/clean-up thing for free, but it's in the East Bay. Still, like I said, I'll call them and see if they can do anything for me.
