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Kittens in the barn. Help?
I need help. My FIs parents have ouside cats (yeah I know). The stray population in our area is insane and one took up at their house. She was looking a little fat and turns out she was pregnant. We noticed last week and she delivered 3 this morning.
Their landlord said they can stay til Monday but after that they need to find a new home. Mom is being spayed as soon as she weans. She is only about 9 months old. We are taking them home with us Monday. We have a dog free area in our house where they will be safe. The barn is not safe and as young as she is I am worried about her running off and leaving them. If that happens I am prepared to bottle feed them around the clock.
It has been years since I had a cat. Talk to me about kitten care, good food for a nursing cat, litter, weaning, and how to be stron enough to give them to good homes when the time comes. They will be speutered before they leave my home.
You all have been amazingly helpful in the past. Help me help these kittens!
Re: Kittens in the barn. Help?
I'd get in contact with a few local rescues to give you good kitten-care/mama cat-care tips.
I know mama kitty will need more food than usual to account for nursing her babies, and I'd recommend checking out petfoodratings.net for good cat foods. Giving her a wet food along with a dry is probably a good idea to make sure she stays hydrated. I feed my kitties a limited-ingredient diet, but before that I fed Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul dry food and either Merrick or Wellness wet foods.
Once the kittens wean (probably around 4 weeks?), they'll need either wet food or dry kibble soaked in water so it softens up. Again, the pet food ratings site will give you a good idea on brands, and then just get either a kitten formula or all life-stage formula for the kittens.
I prefer Arm & Hammer's Natural Corn litter, but it's really up to you. Getting some Cat Attract/Kitten Attract litter to add to boxes to help with litter training might be a big help, too.
The shelter/rescue should be able to give you info on appropriate an speutering age. I really don't like pediatric speutering, but I understand it's often necessary to guarantee it's done before the kittens go to their new homes. An alternative would be to ask for an adoption "fee" that you'll return to the new owner once they present you proof they've speutered their kitty.
GL with all of them! Thank you so much for taking care of this little family and getting them on the road to better lives.
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
The plan was for the cats to have the guest bath that is off the kitchen. My dogs both have food allergies so they aren't allowed in there. We have a 41' gate between their part of the house and where the cats will be. We are also putting a gate in the bathroom door to keep them in there at night.
I spoke with my vet and they said as long as she nurses for 6-8 weeks just to let her do her thing. If she stops nursing before then I will need to take over. I live outside of Raleigh, NC and we have plenty of rescues. I have already contacted one and they are speutering all of the cats for free. They received a grant from petsmart charities and it is only offered for the town I live in because the stray cat population is so out of control.
Believe me I have no intention of letting these kittens become outside cats. If I am able to find them homes on my own I will. They will all be fixed before I look for homes. If for some reason I can't find homes for them I will work with a rescue.
Oh that's awesome!!
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
I will check out the ratings! I used another site recommended here to find a dog food for my dogs. I was looking to feed wet because I know she needs to stay super hydrated. I plan to feed the kittens wet food as well.
I have never heard of cat attract litter but mom has never lived inside so that is probably a great idea for us. We will be litter training everyone! We can't do corn litter because my Lab mix is horribly allergic to corn. He won't be in the litter but I don't want to risk having it on my clothes or in the air and him having a reaction.
I know my area. If they paid the fee to adopt they will just call it a loss and never have them fixed. The rescue I spoke with would like to get it done ASAP. The said as long as the kittens are 3 lbs they will do it at 12 weeks. Mom will be done 1 week after she weans.
I think FI knew I would want to take them in because when the landlord started talking about taking them off somewhere and leaving them because he doesn't want a bunch of cats around and he called me. I instantly said no way in hell. I said as long as they can stay until Sunday I will pick them up that night and take care of them. I am a dog person but thinking of those poor babies being shipped off somewhere with a stressed out mom without a food source made me so sad. I generally like their landlord and I understand not wanting a cat explosion on your property but that is not the way to handle it.
Thank you for your advice!
We got a flier about it about a week before we figured out she was expecting. They only require you prove you live in town and that the cat is a stray you feed in your property.
No worries on the corn litter. There are other "natural" litters out there, if you're inclined to go that route (Swheat Scoop [wheat]. Yesterday's News [recycled paper].) Of course, you can just use the tried and true clay litters, too.
Cat/Kitten Attract are clay-based litters, but I just layer/mix them with my regular litter (they're on the expensive side) .
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6