Sakiz just gave birth and one of the kittens won't feed

[Sarthur2]

Kittens eyes do not always open on the same day. One eye can open and the other may open a few days later. Do not pry the eyes open though. That is damaging. The other eye will open in time. Do not worry.

 

[kutubira]

Hi.

It's been a long time but I wanted to give you people an update about how the kittens and Sakız are doing.

Yellow (The second one) turned out to be more white than the other one. He got blue eyes and very nice fur. He took my socks every morning and hid them somewhere for me to find. He was very playful with both people and his sibling. He tried to run away a couple of times. He failed in all of them and took a beating from his mother. It was fun to watch Sakız getting mad at him. She would hit him and then lick where she hit him. Either Yellow or Arthur figured out how to turn my router off. Got mad at the provider a couple of times but then I found out that they were just pulling a prank on me.  

I gave Yellow to a girl who lives in my street, but I do not know where. The girl communicates with my friend's sister and according to her, he likes where he is. 

Arthur, the first one did not deserve his name. Yellow got stronger than him and he stayed skinny. But he was very playful as well. Sometimes he would 'hide' in my bed and waited for me to lie down. When I did that, he attacked to my arm for a while, then fell asleep between my body and my arm. He gave me some sleepless nights. When Yellow came to sleep with me, Arthur would start a fight and try to send him away, but they would end up sleeping together on my arm. Sakız would stay only for a while and then she'd be like "Enough of this, I'm going to somewhere else to sleep. They are your problems now."

Arthur had to stick with me longer than Yellow. I put an online advertisement for him. Lucky for him, someone who lives 100 meters away from me saw the ad and took him. He had experience with dogs but not with cats. The guy makes me feel that I gave Arthur to the right guy. On Arthur's first day at his home, he observed him and noticed that he did not poop. He called me at 5 am to ask me if that is normal. He calls me often to ask how to deal with certain issues. He calls me when he is not sure how to deal with anything related to Arthur. He took Arthur to my place for visiting his mom. Sakız seemed like she did not care for the first ten minutes. But Arthur knew how to make her love him again. Arthur was still comfortable with my place as well. But I asked him not to do that for a while.

I was always worried that they would behave aggressive and their new owners just take them back to me, because Sakız had a very long aggressive period. But they did not do that as far as I know. I applied what was recommended to me with Sakız in this site to them. I feel they know that biting and scratching is not really a good game to play with people.

And Sakız... She might be getting bored. I always wear same coat every time I go to the hospital. So she knows when I'm going out for about 12 hours and she just hugs my legs. I sit down for a minute to pet her. Then she lets me go. She welcomes me at the door and she lies on my belly while I listen to music lying on my bed for a while. When she gets bored, I get up and do whatever I need to do. She knows where I keep her food. I think I don't even need to check her food. She lets me know when it's finished. Same goes for water. She starts to meow near bathroom door, so I either let her drink from the tap or refill the bowl. Also, we started to have real conversation where nobody understands nobody. She looks at me and meows for a while. Then I start to talk. When I finish, she starts meowing again. This goes on until either of us gets bored. It's usually her, though. Think I'm a boring person. I think she figured out how to turn lights on. I always find a light on, the light that I never turned on the whole year I lived here. 

Lastly, me. My expenses decreased dramatically. I spent 200 TL for the kittens and Sakız in a month and they stayed with us for 3 months. Now I spent 50 Turkish Liras for Sakız. 

 

[handsome kitty]

I had been wondering how things were going.  Thanks for updating. 

Have you told Arthur's owner about this site?  It's good that he is asking you questions when he is unsure.  It's a good feeling when you know the kittens have gone to a good home. 

 

[talkingpeanut]

Did you get Sakiz neutered?  I'm wondering how that might have changed her aggressive behavior.

What about the kittens?  Did you talk to the new owners about spaying/neutering and vet care, all that?  Sounds like you found great homes.

 

[kutubira]

@Handsome Kitty  

Yes, it is a great feeling. I got attached to the kittens and although it was not that hard to let them go, it would be tough to wonder if they are doing fine or not. 

The owner doesn't know English, but I told him that he can find help on the internet. You tend to ignore the parts of the Internet where you do not have anything to do. He might have been thinking "Who asks questions about kittens on the internet?". He also knows I'm here to help him with any kind of issues. I specifically told him that I won't be taking Arthur back in case they did not get along. But he'll tell if there is a problem and let's keep this between us, I'd take Arthur back if he doesn't want him anymore. 

@talkingpeanut  

Sakız is not neutered yet. She stopped being aggressive long before she was pregnant. That's a big problem we left behind thanks to this community. She got sweeter and sweeter since then. She's so sweet around me that my friends tell me that she is in love with me. Now I am worried that she might not stay same after the procedure, so I'm delaying it until the next March or April. I won't open any windows, so she cannot leave. 

I told them about how Sakız gave birth, how we could hear her voice from outside of the apartment. They were both angry about the cats on the streets and how they are treated. I explained them that some of those cats are the kittens of cats like Sakız and probably Arthur and Yellow, so I think they'll neuter their kittens. I also told them that it might stop their aggressive behavior. I did not even need to talk them about vet care, because they both came with a box or something similar to put the kittens in and take to the vet before taking to their homes.

When we sent the word that we are looking for owners, I told everyone that there will be a quiz about how kittens should be looked after, so they both came prepared. I also told that I'd be observing them around the kittens for a while to determine if I let the kitten go. I tried to be through about how I picked their home. Owners were actually nervous about the quiz lol.

Arthur has a great home, that's for sure. His owner shares his photos with him, calls me to ask about even unimportant stuff. Also Arthur has the ability to make people love him. Their whole apartment love the kitten. I am not sure about the other owner, but I hear only positive stuff from them as well. 

 

[talkingpeanut]

It's great that you two are so close now. Just wanted to mention that it's dangerous for her to go into heat many times. It can lead to a uterine infection. On top of that, it's uncomfortable and stressful for her body to have blasts of hormones. It's something you might want to consider sooner. It shouldn't change how she feels about you.

 

[smokem]

Hey there!

Its so great to hear an update.In my humble opinion(an american expression) you did great

with Sakiz and the situaTION.

Its great to hear from someone who doesnt come from "the land of plenty" and still trying to do the correct thing.

That is how we do things here ,you learn from doing then you pass it on to others.

I remember you saying the situation for stray cats in Turkey is dismal.I think you are taking a step to improve

conditions for these creatures(cats).Keep teaching others to look out for the less fortunate,human or pet-isnt that the point.

I assume you will get Sakiz fixed when you can afford it or when you get tired of litters of kittens.

God Bless,

Smokem..

 

[kutubira]

Thanks for the good wishes.

@talkingpeanut

I love how she is right now and I want this to go on forever, but I won't delay the procedure more than I have to. I want to find a time where I can be with her all the time after the procedure.

@smokem

People have positive feelings towards cats and dogs, but still stray ones suffer time to time from the cruelty. These events are not so common but because the government doesn't have anything for the stray cats and dogs, they are under risk of being exposed to this cruelty. In my neighborhood, if they see an animal, they throw some food to them, but that may not be the case. It is not the certainty of the cruelty but the possibility of cruelty that makes it bad. They may get exposed to violence the moment they let their guard down, and that would break their hearts. Ugh... The situation in Turkey and how I feel towards this cannot be expressed in a paragraph, so let's say it's not bad for all, but not very good either.

Because the government don't have any proper mechanism for these animals, the next best thing you can do as a cat lover is not put another one to the streets.

I postponed the procedure due to lack of funds for it, but the whole experience cost me more than the procedure. Toys and extra food and vitamins etc. for Sakız during the pregnancy, search for formula and then settle for goat milk with The Third, almost 3 months of feeding the three cats with very very good appetite... And I'm not even counting the small precautions for the kittens. The moment that the fact that I spent more than I would've spent for the procedure hit me was when I gave the first kitten away. The bowls were not near empty when I got home this time. They were full. The litter was clean(er).

So yeah, neutering thing is happening. I just don't know when.