Archive through April 22, 2003
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TV ClubHouse: Archive: 2003 April: Cats (ARCHIVES): Archive through April 22, 2003

Sia

Thursday, April 17, 2003 - 08:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL, Lobster, I hadn't considered enrolling Liz in college courses. Maybe we'd better take one via the 'net first. Any suggestions for a good cat-college, anyone?
catbooks

Spygirl

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 03:09 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
NEED HELP!!!!


Those of you may know that I've been feeding a stray cat who is pregnant. I knew she had the kittens yesterday b/c she was skinny and still cleaning herself up. I searched and searched for the little ones with no luck.

I returned home today and my dachshund went outside. After a while I heard his frantic bark - the sound off one that he does when he's found a squirrel or other animal. I raced outside (in my shorts, tshirt, and sandals). On one side of my backyard is a whole bunch of brush and overgrown bushes that needed to have been removed years ago (I rent, so I don't do it). Anyway, I looked in to see that Toby and Henry have surrounded the cat who is huddled over her kittens hidden between three logs (in a triangle). I start fighting my way in the brush, getting clawed, scratched, and whatever else by all the limbs and branches. I make it to the log just as Toby completely attacks the mamma and the mamma cat hops the fence and takes off - leaving the babies unguarded. I think my presence was what sent her over the edge.

Anyway, I snatch up Toby and Henry just before Toby goes in for the first kitten. I then fight my way out of the brush again (keep in mind that toby weighs 21 pounds and Henry weighs 10) holding two squirming and fired up dogs. I get to the door, put them inside, lock the doggy-door and return to the yard.

The mamma cat has not returned at this point, and I realize that there is no way the kittens can stay there. I go back inside, get a box, put a towel in it, and go back out. I round up the 4 kittens - absolutely beautiful, btw - 2 solid black and 2 solid pearl colored ones (right now) - and put them in the box. Then, for the next hour, I crawled through the brush, setting up a safe zone for them, complete with plywood walls, cinderblocks to keep out the dogs, and some leaves for padding inside.

I get the kittens and try to find mamma. She was in the front yard (under the carport where I feed her), and she wouldn't come close to me with the box-o-kittens. I took the kittens back to the backyard and put them in the safe spot (still in the box). That was 2 hours ago. I tried to pick up mamma and take her to the kittens - that resulted in a very deep and painful cut on my pinky in addition to a dozen or more deep scratches and cuts on my wrist and arm.

The kittens continue to sleep in the box and momma is no where to be found. How long do I wait before I become concerned that mamma won't find the kittens or come back? We've got about 3 hours of daylight left.

P.S. This is her first litter. She's a young cat.

Justme

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 03:21 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hi Spy,

I'm not an expert but I too have just rescued a momma and her babies but they were about three weeks old when found. Is it safe to take the babies back to where the mom kitty is? If it is, she will probably move them to where she thinks is a safe place.

Tagurit

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 03:49 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Spygirl, we went through a similiar situation last spring. We had a pile of brush that needed to be burned. DH had prepped the area (waterhose, etc as he is a firefighter) and then slowly started the fire. Within 2 seconds he heard tiny meows. He immediately stopped the fire and checked it out. There were 4 beautiful day/s old kittens. Just the cutest little things. Anyway, he moved them out of harms way and we left them. We watched (we have a fenced in yard by the way) for momma's return. By nightfall we saw her coming and going. Next morning the kitties were gone along with momma. (Have to say it too a LONG time for that brush pile to be touched to be burned.)

Another story with kittens involved - last summer we were at my mom's chatting with a neighbor when I heard faint meows. I made dear dh go and investigate. He went to one house (they are modular homes and have openings in the foundation) and saw a kitty right outside the foundation crying his little heart out. He brought him to me and then went home to get his fire gear to crawl underneath the house and got the other four! You could tell they weren't fed in a long time. A neighbor mentioned seeing a cat a week or so ago but hadn't since. At that time there were loose nasty dogs roaming in packs. We put two and two together and ended up taking the kitties home.

We called a cat rescue who told us we had to feed them by dropper every two hours - if I remember correctly we were told to feed them goats milk (I think). We did this for two days. We were just exhausted. Our son was two at the time and my dh works 24 hour shifts. We ended up begging the rescue to take them. They finally did. They all went go great homes and we still donate food and litter to the rescue program. :)

I hope the kitties are ok and I am sure momma will come back. Just don't get too close again! No more injuries for you! :)

Moondance

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 03:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/4902/happyhealthy.html
and also!!!
http://www.kittencare.com/askKC_LittleKittens.html

These sites is amazing... I will look more into it but what I would do is keep the kittens warm and safe... of course you know me I would have them in my bathroom all toasty and feed them with a dropper every 2 hours no problem but I am freak... I also would trap the mom and take her to get fixed asap. Anyway, not sure what the weather is like there... if she is a first time Mom and young sometimes they don't get the hang of it and we have to take over for her. The most important thing now is to make sure the kittens are safe.

I wish I was there to help!!!

Tagurit

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Moondance! You aren't a freak for wanting to take care of adorable kitties!!:) You are an amazing, wonderful, caring person!! I wish we could of kept the kitties we feed for awhile but it was so hard. I still wonder how they are doing. That day the ones were in our backyard both dh and I were constantly by the door checking. We barely got anything done. I do see some of the kitties all grown up around the neighborhood. I think everyone feeds them. :)

Moondance

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:08 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL Thanks Tagurit but I am a freak! The crazy catlady!!!:)

I really wish we all lived closer to one another... I would be over to Spy's house so fast!

Hang in there Spykittenmomma!

Spygirl

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:08 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
It was clear that Toby was staking out the "safe" area and the mamma was not going to return. I got the box-o-kitties who were sound asleep, and took them to the front/side yard. I saw the mamma in the neighbor's yard, so I sat down wiht the kitties and woke them up. They started crying and the mamma came running. She snatched the one I put on the ground and took off. I waited on her to come back for the others, but no luck yet. I left the box hidden, but in the same area she got the other one from and came in to post. I'll go back and check in a few minutes to see if she came back for the others. My worry is that she is taking them somewhere that isn't safe, but you can't really reason with a wild cat.

The weather is beautiful, actually. I think tomorrow it is supposed to rain, but it is warm out and they are plenty warm. I'm hoping that as I type, the kitties are being returned safely to a new home. I wish I could bring them inside, but Toby would never let it happen <sigh>.

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep 'em coming - I'm open.

Spygirl

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I heard the "sound off" bark from Toby and ran back out to see another kitty missing from the box!!! Two down...two to go.

Scootersmom

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:19 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Good luck Spy. I'm hoping Momma kitty comes for the rest of the babies too and gets them to a safe area. Wish I lived closer, I'm afraid I would be just like Ms.Moon, with a dropper and up all night.:)

Spygirl

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:25 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
All have been relocated to the neighbor's backyard somewhere. I talked to the little girls who live there earlier and they said they were going out of town until Sunday. I'll leave them a note Sunday morning warning them that the kitties are somewhere on their porch (from what I could see). I'll also keep my eyes and ears open in the meantime. At least they are out of the way of the neighborhood dogs (and mine!).

Mygetaway

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:26 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
{{Spy}} Sounds like an exciting day for you. Sorry you got so scratched up. Maybe she'll find the safe area you made for her? Good luck with the rest..

**edit** whoops, I see I didn't refresh soon enough.. Glad to know you found out where they are for now!

Juju2bigdog

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:32 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Uhhhhhhhh, Spygirl? I don't have to say told ya so or anything, do I? Yay Spycatgirl!!! What do you think about Flopsie, Mopsie, Peter and Cottontail for the new kittens?



My guess would be the momma cat will take care of her kitties just fine. Don't worry too much about them. Although you might have to feed momma AND find homes for the babies.

Moondance

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:44 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Good job Spy!
(could ya just send me the box-o-kittens PLEASE)
Just ship 'em with my MaryKay order... yeah thats it!
:)

Scootersmom

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Yay! LOL Ms. Moon, my thoughts exactly! :)

Spygirl

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 04:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL Moonie!! My box-o-kittens is now sadly/happily empty. I would feel tons better if the mamma had just joined the babies in the safe zone, but I know nature doesn't work that neatly. The mamma is working off of intuition, not logic, so I'll have to get over it :)

I will probably help find homes for the kittens. I did the same thing in the fall of 2001 with the kitties born under my house. The runt almost died and I took it to the vet (do NOT ask about the bill) and it lived. They all have happy homes now and I had that mamma fixed.

Moondance

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 05:13 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
MsSpyKitten!

Scootermom and I would be dangerous together!

Pamy

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 06:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
WOW!! What a day you had Spygirl!!! I have been there, in fact 3 of the cats I have now were from wild stray moms that I had to help along, including my Dopey that the mom kept trying to abadon! Hopefully when the kitties are a little bigger you can get them and tame and fix them, or else you will have more wild cats. Like, Moonie, I wish I was there!!!

Curiouscat

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 08:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
This discussion of stray cats and their kittens brings back memories of a 35mm film I saw in school when I was in Grade 4 (mid-1970s) about a young boy who ends up with a stray kitten who's mother is killed, I believe. Less than ten years ago I came across it in an elementary school library in book form with still shots from the movie inside. Does this ring a bell with anyone? I remember my whole class was in tears at the end of the film. I'm hoping someone knows the title [fingers crossed]

Mygetaway

Friday, April 18, 2003 - 11:59 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Not sure if this belongs in cats or dogs, but look at these two "babies" of mine.. all snuggly. I wish it had came out lighter, I couldn't play with it much.

tag-sasha

Lobster

Saturday, April 19, 2003 - 03:51 am EditMoveDeleteIP
AWWW!!! MGA, great pic!

Curiouscat

Tuesday, April 22, 2003 - 05:03 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Here's an "artsy" shot I took of my Dad's cat on Easter. He looks like a ghostly kitty in the woods. I didn't even doctor the pic, it's just a reflection shot in the window.

shadow

Mygetaway

Tuesday, April 22, 2003 - 06:42 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Very cool Curious! What a cute kitty.

Squaredsc

Tuesday, April 22, 2003 - 08:36 am EditMoveDeleteIP
kool curious.

Moondance

Tuesday, April 22, 2003 - 11:34 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Very sweet MGA!

Very cool CC!