A few weeks ago our neighbours got evicted for not paying their bills. When they moved out they left three cats behind. We found a home for one of them, another hangs out at another neighbour's house and catches birds, and the third one we've been keeping an eye on. She was pregnant and gave birth this morning (I heard a cat howling at about 5am that was probably her).
Unfortunately she had her kittens at yet another neighbour's house, and we wanted to take care of them -- a co-worker said a friend of hers would take two kittens, and we plan on taking the others to the humane society or a local no-kill shelter. This evening I went over there and bundled up the four kittens in a towel-lined laundry basket and brought them into our house. The momma cat wasn't there at the time, but she came running when I shook the food dish we kept putting out for her.
The first hour or so they were all in the house the momma cat picked one of them up and carried it around the house. The kitten was meowing, the mother was meowing and trying to get outside. While this was going on I was concerned about the warmth of the other three, so I got one of those neck warmer things that's full of beans or rice or whatever, popped it in the microwave for a minute or two, and stuck that in the basket with the kittens. I finally got the mother to actually stay in the basket and nurse the kittens, and I left her alone for another couple of hours.
However, every so often I hear her running around the house (I'm hiding out in the bedroom to give her some privacy and to get used to things -- the basket is in the laundry room at the other end of the house). She's apparently trying to get back to where she had the kittens originally. Is there anything we can do to help things out, other than leave her alone with the kittens as much as possible? I just went in there, she was purring and let me pet her. I didn't try to pet the kittens as I don't want to get human smell on them.
Is there anything else we should be doing? We've got a bowl of food right by the basket for her, and she seems to be nursing fine. Then again it hasn't even been 24 hours since they were born, and she does look to be a relatively young cat, no more than a year old. I don't know if this is her first litter or not.
One small twist: we have a six-month old neutered male cat that normally runs around the house. I've trapped him in the bedroom with me for the duration of the festivities. They got along before, but now that the female's given birth I would imagine her attitude towards him might change a bit. I don't want her getting antsy over him, and I don't want him to feel pissed off about another cat invading his house.
Oh, and we're planning on having the mother spayed as soon as we can. I wish more people would have their cats spayed or neutered...
And the kittens are so cute!
Unfortunately she had her kittens at yet another neighbour's house, and we wanted to take care of them -- a co-worker said a friend of hers would take two kittens, and we plan on taking the others to the humane society or a local no-kill shelter. This evening I went over there and bundled up the four kittens in a towel-lined laundry basket and brought them into our house. The momma cat wasn't there at the time, but she came running when I shook the food dish we kept putting out for her.
The first hour or so they were all in the house the momma cat picked one of them up and carried it around the house. The kitten was meowing, the mother was meowing and trying to get outside. While this was going on I was concerned about the warmth of the other three, so I got one of those neck warmer things that's full of beans or rice or whatever, popped it in the microwave for a minute or two, and stuck that in the basket with the kittens. I finally got the mother to actually stay in the basket and nurse the kittens, and I left her alone for another couple of hours.
However, every so often I hear her running around the house (I'm hiding out in the bedroom to give her some privacy and to get used to things -- the basket is in the laundry room at the other end of the house). She's apparently trying to get back to where she had the kittens originally. Is there anything we can do to help things out, other than leave her alone with the kittens as much as possible? I just went in there, she was purring and let me pet her. I didn't try to pet the kittens as I don't want to get human smell on them.
Is there anything else we should be doing? We've got a bowl of food right by the basket for her, and she seems to be nursing fine. Then again it hasn't even been 24 hours since they were born, and she does look to be a relatively young cat, no more than a year old. I don't know if this is her first litter or not.
One small twist: we have a six-month old neutered male cat that normally runs around the house. I've trapped him in the bedroom with me for the duration of the festivities. They got along before, but now that the female's given birth I would imagine her attitude towards him might change a bit. I don't want her getting antsy over him, and I don't want him to feel pissed off about another cat invading his house.
Oh, and we're planning on having the mother spayed as soon as we can. I wish more people would have their cats spayed or neutered...
And the kittens are so cute!