- Joined
- Mar 28, 2017
- Messages
- 16
- Purraise
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I'll try to be as brief and yet as comprehensive as possible. I have no experience with cats but have been doing a lot of reading this last week. I recently moved to an area with a feral colony that is not being taken care of properly - neighbors are feeding but held off spaying b/c they thought original owners still were "taking care" of what they thought were indoor/outdoor cats. Anyway my first priority is Mama Cat. She gave birth this morning to 5 kittens while I was sleeping; 3 didn't survive, 2 did. (don't know if stillbirth or something else) I'm hoping to take care of them until they are old enough to be weaned so I can bring them to a local org for screening, spaying, and hopefully adoption. Mama is very friendly and as an abandoned former pet, a good candidate herself. She has been trying very badly to adopt us but...we cannot.
I am hamstrung by finances, time, and so-so spousal support LOL. $ - I am unemployed and we currently just barely make it on my husband's pension and self-employment which fluctuates. Further, we just spent most of our limited savings on annual and emergency vet care on our dog before we discovered fatal cancer.. Time - I am job hunting and also spending time with a nearby relative. I need your help with my questions so I don't spend hours I can't afford on the internet trying to reinvent the wheel. Support - Husband is a good guy and wants to help the cat and kittens - but on his terms ( perhaps because less than 2 wks ago our dog's tooth abscess turned out to be due to a cancerous growth which went crazy aggressive after being biopsied and poor baby didn't last a week.) He does not want the cats in the house. Our garage is filled to the brim with furniture and boxes and there's no room for her there either.
We have lots of great animal orgs here but no one has room for a lactating mom and kittens. I have to get them weaned before they will take them.
Currently Mama and the 2 surviving kittens are in a shallow plastic bin lined with towels on our patio. I know the bin isn't large enough and need to get something bigger. We are in Florida - it's 79 outside here - and I've made her a concealed area that's hidden enough for her to feel secure and not exposed to predators or other humans. They're in the corner under a roofed area sheltered from rain.
1. Mama and babies are still on the yucky birthing towel. I know I need to change it but I want to get a heating pad in there for the kittens...and can't do all this until I have a bigger box/bin. Trying to see if a neighbor has one so I can spend my few pennies on food. Question 1: research says to keep the heating pad on low but since they're not inside in regulated temperature, do I turn that up at night? I read more kittens die from too much heat than cold so I want to wait for a bigger box so they can crawl off the pad if they get too warm. Question 2:: what size box/bin should I try to get? They need more room to move around in than they have but it seems cats prefer confined spaces so I'm quite unsure what is best. Question 3: How far should litter box be from nesting box and food and water?
2. Research says mom needs tons of extra nutrition for lactation and recommends kitten food. I've read until my eyes are crossed it seems that the consensus is that all wet is best, but any wet is better than none at all if that's what circumstances dictate. Question: what are your recommendations for low to moderate cost wet and dry kitten food of at least middle or better nutrition quality? I don't know pricing of cat foods or how much to feed - my knowledge is dogs only. I'm sure I can't afford all top quality wet or all top quality wet and dry but maybe I can get top or at least high quality wet and stretch with a moderate quality dry??? And how often to feed? Free feed dry with wet xx times a day??? HELP please.
3. Do I have the weigh the newborns every day as recommended? I'm concerned about one of the kittens - I call him/her Snowball (white coloring). He/she seems weaker than the other (whom I'm calling Pepper, mixed black and white coloring.). Mama is TOO friendly. If I got out there to check on them she wants to be petted and will squirm and move to get herself into a better position for petting...sometimes dislodging the nursing kittens or "smushing" one under her - and Snowball doesn't seem to be able to move fast enough to get out from under her body. I know the weight record is to catch signs of a failing kitten but I don't know if the orgs here will do low cost vet care beyond spay/neuter/blood tests so I'm not sure the weighing is necessary if I can't afford the vet care for a failing kitten. I'd almost rather not remove the kitten just to weigh it if it means unlatching it from nursing. I'm told Mama has already had 2 litters before I moved her but I'm concerned she may accidentally squash Snowball. Pepper seems stronger, and Mama has been so open to us handling her and the kittens and not being very protective that I'm wondering how strong her maternal instincts are.
4. How do I properly "dispose" of the 3 babies that didn't survive? Currently they're in a shoebox size bin in my garage. I don't want to call animal control if they will want to take Mama cat. I'm not sure hubby will be ok with us burying them, though.
5. Besides food, water, a litter box, a bigger nesting box, and fresh towels, what else do I need for the next few weeks before weaning?
Please and thank you VERY MUCH.
I am hamstrung by finances, time, and so-so spousal support LOL. $ - I am unemployed and we currently just barely make it on my husband's pension and self-employment which fluctuates. Further, we just spent most of our limited savings on annual and emergency vet care on our dog before we discovered fatal cancer.. Time - I am job hunting and also spending time with a nearby relative. I need your help with my questions so I don't spend hours I can't afford on the internet trying to reinvent the wheel. Support - Husband is a good guy and wants to help the cat and kittens - but on his terms ( perhaps because less than 2 wks ago our dog's tooth abscess turned out to be due to a cancerous growth which went crazy aggressive after being biopsied and poor baby didn't last a week.) He does not want the cats in the house. Our garage is filled to the brim with furniture and boxes and there's no room for her there either.
We have lots of great animal orgs here but no one has room for a lactating mom and kittens. I have to get them weaned before they will take them.
Currently Mama and the 2 surviving kittens are in a shallow plastic bin lined with towels on our patio. I know the bin isn't large enough and need to get something bigger. We are in Florida - it's 79 outside here - and I've made her a concealed area that's hidden enough for her to feel secure and not exposed to predators or other humans. They're in the corner under a roofed area sheltered from rain.
1. Mama and babies are still on the yucky birthing towel. I know I need to change it but I want to get a heating pad in there for the kittens...and can't do all this until I have a bigger box/bin. Trying to see if a neighbor has one so I can spend my few pennies on food. Question 1: research says to keep the heating pad on low but since they're not inside in regulated temperature, do I turn that up at night? I read more kittens die from too much heat than cold so I want to wait for a bigger box so they can crawl off the pad if they get too warm. Question 2:: what size box/bin should I try to get? They need more room to move around in than they have but it seems cats prefer confined spaces so I'm quite unsure what is best. Question 3: How far should litter box be from nesting box and food and water?
2. Research says mom needs tons of extra nutrition for lactation and recommends kitten food. I've read until my eyes are crossed it seems that the consensus is that all wet is best, but any wet is better than none at all if that's what circumstances dictate. Question: what are your recommendations for low to moderate cost wet and dry kitten food of at least middle or better nutrition quality? I don't know pricing of cat foods or how much to feed - my knowledge is dogs only. I'm sure I can't afford all top quality wet or all top quality wet and dry but maybe I can get top or at least high quality wet and stretch with a moderate quality dry??? And how often to feed? Free feed dry with wet xx times a day??? HELP please.
3. Do I have the weigh the newborns every day as recommended? I'm concerned about one of the kittens - I call him/her Snowball (white coloring). He/she seems weaker than the other (whom I'm calling Pepper, mixed black and white coloring.). Mama is TOO friendly. If I got out there to check on them she wants to be petted and will squirm and move to get herself into a better position for petting...sometimes dislodging the nursing kittens or "smushing" one under her - and Snowball doesn't seem to be able to move fast enough to get out from under her body. I know the weight record is to catch signs of a failing kitten but I don't know if the orgs here will do low cost vet care beyond spay/neuter/blood tests so I'm not sure the weighing is necessary if I can't afford the vet care for a failing kitten. I'd almost rather not remove the kitten just to weigh it if it means unlatching it from nursing. I'm told Mama has already had 2 litters before I moved her but I'm concerned she may accidentally squash Snowball. Pepper seems stronger, and Mama has been so open to us handling her and the kittens and not being very protective that I'm wondering how strong her maternal instincts are.
4. How do I properly "dispose" of the 3 babies that didn't survive? Currently they're in a shoebox size bin in my garage. I don't want to call animal control if they will want to take Mama cat. I'm not sure hubby will be ok with us burying them, though.
5. Besides food, water, a litter box, a bigger nesting box, and fresh towels, what else do I need for the next few weeks before weaning?
Please and thank you VERY MUCH.