The Barn's Gonna Get Busy

[KittenBarn13]

Hey y'all!

So, for those of you who don't know, my county has lots of stray cats. We try to help by taking strays from the valley to our barn, where they are given food, water, shelter, and a family of horses, goats, chickens, and other cats, as well as me, my family, and the barn workers!

But we screwed up

Our current kittens are 3 males, Fez, Kelso, and Hyde. They are all brothers, they came from an employee's friend's cat. Then there's Hoot, a female rescued from living alone in a pasture. And finally, Marshall and Jethro, sisters from somewhere that I forgot...

They reached sexual maturity a couple months ago. We screwed up and waited too long for spays and neuters, and now we think Marshall, Jethro, and Hoot may be pregnant

So, since cats can have 1-12 kittens, we can end up with up to 36 kittens. And I don't have a very pro-36-kitten family

When my dad first told me, he said it was either abort all the kittens or euthanized the pregnant cats. No way in Hell will I let my 3 sweet girls die, and no way in Hell will I go against God's will and abort them

I know that religious rules normally apply to humans, but I'm both a man of God and an animal lover

I have x-rays scheduled to see if the cats are pregnant, and spays/neuters planned for later. The females won't be spayed if they are pregnant. And if they are pregnant, then I need advice

1. Should I separate the males and females just in case?
2. How should I house the females if they're pregnant?
3. Hoot hates people. Is there a way to get her caught for appointments and separation without putting too much stress on her?
4. If we have a smaller amount of kittens, we may be able to keep them, but if we have a larger amount, they go to good homes. Is it realistic to think that I can find them each a good home? I run a pet sitting business and can use my ads to get the word out, but I want to make sure I talk to each adopter and make sure they'll be good to the kittens
5. Marshall, Hoot, and Jethro are barn kittens. If I keep them in a warm room, can they have kittens in the barn? I'd bring them in the house, but my dad wouldn't let me, and we recently had to put down my mom's cat. She's probably not ready to keep another cat in her house
6. Should I be talking to my vets about what to do from here, or should I be doing my own research?

Thanks! And wish me luck on helping my sweet kiddos become parents

Wow, I sound like an insane pet parent. I guess that's what I am, soon to be a grandpa!

I'm gonna stop talking before I sound even more insane

 

[Margot Lane]

You don’t sound crazy you sound like a cat lover. I’ll let the experts here field the advice part except to say…try to spay and neuter the next batch! If you love animals then hopefully you also love the many wild birds where you live that all cats are prone to eat.
Good luck, grandpa! (And fun names, btw.).

 

[KittenBarn13]

You don’t sound crazy you sound like a cat lover. I’ll let the experts here field the advice part except to say…try to spay and neuter the next batch! If you love animals then hopefully you also love the many wild birds where you live that all cats are prone to eat.
Good luck, grandpa! (And fun names, btw.).

We will definitely be spaying/neutering ASAP! We had a lot of winter prep to do this year (we are in the beautiful but cold state of Montana) and it just escaped our minds for too long. And I wish I could take credit for the names! But it was a barn employee who named the ones from That '70's Show, and her sister named Marshall and Jethro

 

[dustydiamond1]

Hopefully some of our resident feral & kitten experts will be able to answer all your questions soon.
I think all pet parents are a bit insane so Welcome to the Club, you're definitely in the right place and in great company!

 

[Sarthur2]

Neuter all the male cats immediately so there will be no more pregnancies.

Get the females X-rayed immediately to determine gestational ages of the pregnancies. If any of them are less than halfway along, they can be spayed / terminated. Halfway is about 35-42 days. Once the cats have 21 days left you do not want to spay.

How old are the possible pregnant females? If they are less than a year they are still kittens themselves and pregnancy, labor, delivery, and nursing are hard on their still-growing bodies.

Yes, the cats can have and raise kittens in a warm room in the barn, especially if they are separated from the males (who are sometimes aggressive towards kittens), and all other animals.

The pregnant cats who continue their pregnancies need as much high nutritional food as they want. This means high quality wet and dry food through 8 weeks of nursing, at which point they get spayed.

Kittens should leave their moms no earlier than 12-16 weeks and should be spayed and neutered before going to new homes.

As far as stressing a cat to get to the vet, you can spray Feliway calming spray inside the carrier, and cover all but one end with a towel. If she is calmer going with another cat, put two in together. That works for me with some of my cats. They feel calmer with a buddy. Is there no mobile vet clinic that comes out to farms in your area?

Do not delay on any of this or you will be overrun with cats. As much as I love cats (I have 9), I am against uncontrolled breeding and firmly believe that cats live longer, healthier, happier lives when fixed. Also, kittens eat a lot and are expensive to raise, fix, and vaccinate, not to mention if a mom needs a C-section or kittens need to be hand-raised with formula around the clock for weeks.

You’ve got a lot on your plate with vet visits (when are the appointments?) and I hope everything proceeds smoothly. Do keep us posted and we are here for you!

K KittenBarn13

 

[KittenBarn13]

Neuter all the male cats immediately so there will be no more pregnancies.

Get the females X-rayed immediately to determine gestational ages of the pregnancies. If any of them are less than halfway along, they can be spayed / terminated. Halfway is about 35-42 days. Once the cats have 21 days left you do not want to spay.

How old are the possible pregnant females? If they are less than a year they are still kittens themselves and pregnancy, labor, delivery, and nursing are hard on their still-growing bodies.

Yes, the cats can have and raise kittens in a warm room in the barn, especially if they are separated from the males (who are sometimes aggressive towards kittens), and all other animals.

The pregnant cats who continue their pregnancies need as much high nutritional food as they want. This means high quality wet and dry food through 8 weeks of nursing, at which point they get spayed.

Kittens should leave their moms no earlier than 12-16 weeks and should be spayed and neutered before going to new homes.

As far as stressing a cat to get to the vet, you can spray Feliway calming spray inside the carrier, and cover all but one end with a towel. If she is calmer going with another cat, put two in together. That works for me with some of my cats. They feel calmer with a buddy. Is there no mobile vet clinic that comes out to farms in your area?

Do not delay on any of this or you will be overrun with cats. As much as I love cats (I have 9), I am against uncontrolled breeding and firmly believe that cats live longer, healthier, happier lives when fixed. Also, kittens eat a lot and are expensive to raise, fix, and vaccinate, not to mention if a mom needs a C-section or kittens need to be hand-raised with formula around the clock for weeks.

You’ve got a lot on your plate with vet visits (when are the appointments?) and I hope everything proceeds smoothly. Do keep us posted and we are here for you!

K KittenBarn13

Spays and neuters are scheduled. We scheduled spays in case they aren't pregnant. That's happening on the 24th (I'd do sooner but that was the soonest). They are all between 9 and 10 months somewhere. And I think there might be mobile vets, I'll ask around. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Sarthur2]

When are the X-rays scheduled to determine the situation?

Are there other vets in the area who have earlier spay and neuter appointments? The situation is time-sensitive, as you already know. By the 24th (3 weeks away), any cat who is pregnant will only be that much further along.

When are the neuters scheduled? The males can be done now to prevent roaming and impregnating other strays.

K KittenBarn13

 

[di and bob]

I tried to wait until my female (who showed up when we moved to the country) was not pregnant, but by the time she was in her third pregnancy in the same summer, I bit the bullet and took her in any way. I went from 1 cat to 6, (I think some of her newborns may have died, or she had very small litters) she came into heat again way before the babies were weaned, they were three weeks old! So you have to keep them separated from the birth of their kittens or they will always be pregnant all the time!

 

[KittenBarn13]

When are the X-rays scheduled to determine the situation?

Are there other vets in the area who have earlier spay and neuter appointments? The situation is time-sensitive, as you already know. By the 24th (3 weeks away), any cat who is pregnant will only be that much further along.

When are the neuters scheduled? The males can be done now to prevent roaming and impregnating other strays.

K KittenBarn13

The 24th is the soonest we could get at all. The X-rays should be within the next week, but we haven't been able to get them scheduled yet. And there aren't any other nearby strays that we know of, but I will ask around so people can keep me posted on any cancellations that we can take

 

[KittenBarn13]

I tried to wait until my female (who showed up when we moved to the country) was not pregnant, but by the time she was in her third pregnancy in the same summer, I bit the bullet and took her in any way. I went from 1 cat to 6, (I think some of her newborns may have died, or she had very small litters) she came into heat again way before the babies were weaned, they were three weeks old! So you have to keep them separated from the birth of their kittens or they will always be pregnant all the time!

Just to be clear, you mean to separate the males and females from each other when the females give birth and until they're spayed, right?

 

[Willowy]

Yes, do separate them now, just in case the females aren't pregnant yet. Confine the girls, just in case there's a random tomcat out roaming around.

Is there any chance your dad will kill any of them? I don't have good experiences with farmers in this regard, and I'm afraid he may kill them when you're not around and tell you they ran away or "his gun slipped" or "they accidentally fell in the water trough" or something like that. If there's any chance of that, then go through with the spays even if they're farther along. . .this is better than killing the mothers AND the kittens. I assume you're against killing any cat if you're against spay/aborts, so make sure he will respect that.

But yeah, if the ladies are pregnant now, they're certain to be more than halfway along by the time the spay appointment comes up, so it's probably best to prepare for kittens, if you can make your family behave themselves.

They can have the kittens in the barn if there's a heated room, and if it's enclosed to prevent predators. Rats still may get in, but a well-fed healthy mother should be able to take care of that. If they're in an unheated or unprotected area, the survival rate will be much lower. And if you want the kittens to go to good indoor homes, it's best to acclimate them to indoor living and litterbox use if at all possible. Do you think you'd be allowed to keep them in your room?

I won't lie; finding good homes will be nearly impossible. There's a reason there are that many strays in your area. You can ask the vet if they can help, even just putting an ad on their board.

 

[KittenBarn13]

Yes, do separate them now, just in case the females aren't pregnant yet. Confine the girls, just in case there's a random tomcat out roaming around.

Is there any chance your dad will kill any of them? I don't have good experiences with farmers in this regard, and I'm afraid he may kill them when you're not around and tell you they ran away or "his gun slipped" or "they accidentally fell in the water trough" or something like that. If there's any chance of that, then go through with the spays even if they're farther along. . .this is better than killing the mothers AND the kittens. I assume you're against killing any cat if you're against spay/aborts, so make sure he will respect that.

But yeah, if the ladies are pregnant now, they're certain to be more than halfway along by the time the spay appointment comes up, so it's probably best to prepare for kittens, if you can make your family behave themselves.

They can have the kittens in the barn if there's a heated room, and if it's enclosed to prevent predators. Rats still may get in, but a well-fed healthy mother should be able to take care of that. If they're in an unheated or unprotected area, the survival rate will be much lower. And if you want the kittens to go to good indoor homes, it's best to acclimate them to indoor living and litterbox use if at all possible. Do you think you'd be allowed to keep them in your room?

I won't lie; finding good homes will be nearly impossible. There's a reason there are that many strays in your area. You can ask the vet if they can help, even just putting an ad on their board.

I made sure I talked to my dad. And he's the only one I'm concerned about. He's the weird @$$hole link in the family. Everybody else in the family is on my side. At least, everybody in the family who lives nearby. My mom, my step dad, my grandma, and my brother. We also have neighbors who want to help, they'll keep an eye out for weird stuff happening with my dad. I don't know, I think he's just insecure and tries to push everybody around for his ego or whatever it is, and just makes everybody hate him

Anyway, we have a boiler room in the barn. It's got the water heaters that have a thicker outside and don't burn, and it's a warm room. We don't get rats, just little mice. Only thing close to a predator that can get in is my goats, and they love the kittens. Even then, we try to enforce the "no goats in rooms" rule, so then they don't get into the tack room and steal grain. I was thinking that I could put together some nest boxes and toys and such in there, keep them fed real nicely, keep them taken cared of and warm in there. And the mamas used to use a litterbox, so they can get back on that and the kittens can learn as well

I thought it would be hard, but I already have a bunch of people who want kittens. I think we'll be able to find homes. If I have any trouble, though, I'm willing to search for homes elsewhere. I'll do what it takes to keep my "grandkids" safe

 

[KittenBarn13]

Alright, I think we're in the homestretch! We're getting the males neutered next week, and the females are going into a warm room to be cared for. We were never able to get ultrasounds or x-rays done, but the ladies look about ready to pop! I think they'll have kittens within the next 2 weeks. Our neighbor, a vet tech at the local animal ER, is helping us out with all this. She's gonna help find homes and get supply set up. Also, if anybody has kitten name ideas, give me a holler! I have some names that I'd like to use: Bo, Luke, Daisy, Sheev, and Cooter, from Dukes of Hazzard. So far, I've just been obsessed with Dukes of Hazzard names. If anybody has any non-Duke names (or you can keep going with the Dukes of Hazzard theme!), tell me!

 

[Margot Lane]

Phooootooooooos!

 

[KittenBarn13]

Phooootooooooos!

I'm getting stuff set up this weekend, I'll send some pics of the ladies. And the good Lord knows I'm posting kitten pics when they're born! I don't know whether or not I mentioned it, but they'll probably be born in the next week, or the week after that at the latest

 

[Willowy]

They probably won't be having them this next week, if you weren't sure they were pregnant at the beginning of the month. Cat pregnancies generally go like: 1-3 weeks, can't tell they're pregnant. 3-6 weeks, well. . .maybe. 6-9 weeks, DEFINITELY pregnant! I once took in a pregnant stray who looked like she would pop any minute and she didn't have them for another 3 weeks. So they could have longer than you think. Or not! Just be ready for anything, I guess.

 

[KittenBarn13]

They probably won't be having them this next week, if you weren't sure they were pregnant at the beginning of the month. Cat pregnancies generally go like: 1-3 weeks, can't tell they're pregnant. 3-6 weeks, well. . .maybe. 6-9 weeks, DEFINITELY pregnant! I once took in a pregnant stray who looked like she would pop any minute and she didn't have them for another 3 weeks. So they could have longer than you think. Or not! Just be ready for anything, I guess.

Didn't think about that. They look rady, but they still haven't had them. Maybe next week or the week after

 

[KittenBarn13]

So do you guys think that I should keep the room they have the kittens in open? Or should I restrict their outside access? I don't know, because I think it'd be safer to keep them inside, but the cats are gonna be upset, since they can go wherever, up until they get put in the room

 

[Sarthur2]

Most cats will stay with their kittens quite a bit the first 3 weeks, or be close enough to come running when they hear them cry. Their focus needs to be on the kittens during this early, critical period, so maybe let them out of the room a couple times a day for an hour while the kittens are sleeping.

 

[KittenBarn13]

Most cats will stay with their kittens quite a bit the first 3 weeks, or be close enough to come running when they hear them cry. Their focus needs to be on the kittens during this early, critical period, so maybe let them out of the room a couple times a day for an hour while the kittens are sleeping.

But other than that, I should keep them in? And what about after the 3 weeks?

Also, should I supervise them while they're out, just to make sure they stay close?