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3 kittens born - help



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 7th 05, 06:25 PM
Calvin Rice
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Default 3 kittens born - help

This is about the cat in the threads, 'fearful mother-to-be'
and 'is cat really pregnant'.

I just checked on the cat and there were three black kittens,
with the mother in the place I had prepared for them in the
closet. The kittens were groping around squealing and the
mother was in her usual upright position down on all fours.
That is the position the mother had always been getting into
whenever I came in the room, so she may have been nursing the
kittens just before I went in.

But still it is alarming. Is it possible that the cat would
refuse to nurse the kittens because she doesn't like the
environment? And what should I do then? I would have thought
that the cat would be nursing the kittens no matter what.

Maybe I interrupted the birth process and there are more kittens
to come, so I will stay out of the room for a while, hoping not
to cause any more alarm. One thing I found from my recent
videotaping is that the mother quickly understands that I have
left the room, and then gets up to inspect what food I might have
left. So if she had left off nursing the kittens because I came
in the room, then I feel good about the chances that she went
right back to it.

I wasn't expecting to panic like this, but I must not do some
ignorant thing that will lose any of these precious kittens.
Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

-cr

  #2  
Old August 7th 05, 06:39 PM
Candace
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Calvin Rice wrote:

I just checked on the cat and there were three black kittens,
with the mother in the place I had prepared for them in the
closet. The kittens were groping around squealing and the
mother was in her usual upright position down on all fours.
That is the position the mother had always been getting into
whenever I came in the room, so she may have been nursing the
kittens just before I went in.

I wasn't expecting to panic like this, but I must not do some
ignorant thing that will lose any of these precious kittens.
Any advice is welcome and appreciated.


Wow, I'm sorry, I don't know the answers but I guess you were right and
your orginal plan to take her in Monday would not matter anymore
anyway. So you're a grandpa, sort of. Congrats!

I'm sure someone will answer you soon. I've never been around newborn
kittens. That would be nice if there were only 3, though, but, as you
said, there may well be more to come.

Candace

  #3  
Old August 7th 05, 07:36 PM
cathyxyz
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Calvin Rice wrote:
This is about the cat in the threads, 'fearful mother-to-be'
and 'is cat really pregnant'.

I just checked on the cat and there were three black kittens,
with the mother in the place I had prepared for them in the
closet. The kittens were groping around squealing and the
mother was in her usual upright position down on all fours.
That is the position the mother had always been getting into
whenever I came in the room, so she may have been nursing the
kittens just before I went in.

But still it is alarming. Is it possible that the cat would
refuse to nurse the kittens because she doesn't like the
environment? And what should I do then? I would have thought
that the cat would be nursing the kittens no matter what.

Maybe I interrupted the birth process and there are more kittens
to come, so I will stay out of the room for a while, hoping not
to cause any more alarm. One thing I found from my recent
videotaping is that the mother quickly understands that I have
left the room, and then gets up to inspect what food I might have
left. So if she had left off nursing the kittens because I came
in the room, then I feel good about the chances that she went
right back to it.

I wasn't expecting to panic like this, but I must not do some
ignorant thing that will lose any of these precious kittens.
Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

-cr

1. Try not to panic.

2. As long as the mother has food and water within reach, she should be
fine. I have been through a couple of kitty-births and discovered that
Momma-cats knows their stuff. I sincerely doubt that she would refuse to
nurse the kittens "if she didn't like the environment". One of my cats
had her kittens in my bedroom cupboard - she would stop nursing them if
I got too close, but she was a good momma and they all did just fine.
Cats are really good mothers, so try not to worry too much. As for the
number of kittens - just wait a little longer.... my son's cat had 5
(under the bed) - quite a few hours apart. But they all survived. They
were sooooo cute!

3. Try not to panic.

Best of luck to you and well done to the Momma-cat.


--
Cheers
Cathy
  #4  
Old August 7th 05, 07:58 PM
Calvin Rice
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I went in the room again to leave food, an hour and a half after first
seeing the kittens, and this time the mother was nursing them and
she didn't get up on my account.

So I feel much better now. I only glanced very briefly into the
closet,
without turning on the bedroom light, so the light was too dim to tell
if more kittens had been born after the first three.

I'll make another brief check in a couple of hours. It's great that
the
mother accepted the place prepared for her in the closet. At the
moment everything is just fine.

-cr

  #5  
Old August 7th 05, 08:12 PM
Calvin Rice
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cathyxyz wrote:
As long as the mother has food and water within reach, she
should be fine.


What do you mean by "within reach"? Food and water are in bowls on
the bedroom floor. I assumed the mother would leave the kittens
briefly
to eat and drink and use the litter box in the places where the food
and
water and box have been for the past ten days.

I could put some small bowls of food and water in the closet area where
the cat and kittens are, but I would be very hesitant to do so for fear
that
the mother will be upset by that and move the kittens. Is it not
reasonable
to expect the mother to leave the kittens now and then? Surely the
mother has to leave the kittens now and then when they are born in the
wild.

I'm still open to advice, but I want to be exactly clear about what we
are
talking about, and I would want to err on the side of leaving the cat
and
kittens alone, with the mother not feeling threatened.

-cr

  #7  
Old August 7th 05, 09:13 PM
Calvin Rice
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Karen wrote:
Nearby is good enough. And she may not get up to eat much at first. I
believe the placenta is nourishment for the first day. I'm not a big expert
though. Hopefully more experienced will respond. Hey, congrats! I know
there was a big brouhaha here, but quite honestly, that close to term, I just
don't see that it was even an option. I can't honestly see how that could
not be pretty dangerous.


Thank you. I'm very glad that these little lives were saved, but I'm
also
aware, because of the discussion here, of my responsibility to see
that other cats don't lose potential homes because of these. If the
total number remains three, probably I will keep them all. I bonded
with them instantly, at first sight.

-cr

  #8  
Old August 7th 05, 10:20 PM
Candace
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Calvin Rice wrote:

Thank you. I'm very glad that these little lives were saved, but I'm
also
aware, because of the discussion here, of my responsibility to see
that other cats don't lose potential homes because of these. If the
total number remains three, probably I will keep them all. I bonded
with them instantly, at first sight.


Awww, how sweet. Maybe the mommy cat will get tame meanwhile and you
can keep her, too. Or wouldn't the owner allow that?

Candace

  #9  
Old August 7th 05, 11:43 PM
Calvin Rice
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Candace wrote:
Maybe the mommy cat will get tame meanwhile and you
can keep her, too. Or wouldn't the owner allow that?


The person I've been calling the owner is the son of the lady whose
home the 'feral' cats live around. He has been carrying out a
trap-spay/neuter-release program for a year or more, with this
particular cat being the hardest to catch. In fact she had already
had one litter, causing him to have to have to catch several more
cats than originally planned. Then this cat became pregnant again.

I became aware of the whole thing only when he happened to
mention that he really needed to catch a pregnant cat soon.
But the pregnant cat was the favorite of his mother. The cat had
been rubbing around her legs at feeding time, and the lady was
quite attached to it. There are a few other of the already-fixed
cats around, and the lady is glad to have them. But she didn't
want another litter to be born, so she was in agreement with her
son's effort to catch her. They call these cats feral because they
are unable to pet them. But the cats hang around the yard and
are fed.

When I got involved, the lady agreed with my desire to save the
kittens, though she hated to be parted from the cat for so long.
Therefore I have planned all along for the mother cat to go back
home to her, after the proper time for separation from the new
kittens, which will be at least six weeks from now. The son will
have the mother cat spayed before he returns it home to his
mother.

So, the answer to your question is no, I wont be keeping the
mother cat. In the following weeks I will be trying to find out what
will be the proper time to separate the mother from the kittens.
All I know at this point is that it will be at least six weeks from
today.

-cr

  #10  
Old August 8th 05, 12:00 AM
mlbriggs
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On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:43:39 -0700, Calvin Rice wrote:

Candace wrote:
Maybe the mommy cat will get tame meanwhile and you can keep her, too.
Or wouldn't the owner allow that?


The person I've been calling the owner is the son of the lady whose home
the 'feral' cats live around. He has been carrying out a
trap-spay/neuter-release program for a year or more, with this particular
cat being the hardest to catch. In fact she had already had one litter,
causing him to have to have to catch several more cats than originally
planned. Then this cat became pregnant again.

I became aware of the whole thing only when he happened to mention that he
really needed to catch a pregnant cat soon. But the pregnant cat was the
favorite of his mother. The cat had been rubbing around her legs at
feeding time, and the lady was quite attached to it. There are a few
other of the already-fixed cats around, and the lady is glad to have them.
But she didn't want another litter to be born, so she was in agreement
with her son's effort to catch her. They call these cats feral because
they are unable to pet them. But the cats hang around the yard and are
fed.

When I got involved, the lady agreed with my desire to save the kittens,
though she hated to be parted from the cat for so long. Therefore I have
planned all along for the mother cat to go back home to her, after the
proper time for separation from the new kittens, which will be at least
six weeks from now. The son will have the mother cat spayed before he
returns it home to his mother.

So, the answer to your question is no, I wont be keeping the mother cat.
In the following weeks I will be trying to find out what will be the
proper time to separate the mother from the kittens. All I know at this
point is that it will be at least six weeks from today.

-cr



IMHO eight to 12 weeks would be better. MLB

 




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