A few of you here know about my recent kitty drama - took her and sick kittens to vet. They lost the mom for a couple of days. Turns out she was up in the loft of the building and couldn't get back down. I was ill at the time and couldn't go to try to coax her down myself.
In any case, here they are: home, wormed, vaccinated and perpetually hungry (and do I mean the mom too!)
Reece is a good mom about keeping the kits licked clean. They are very curious and ambulatory. One likes to make his way inside the house; the tiniest one is always wandering off all alone away from the siblings, the orange gray one is greedy and always hunting for food and the last, the twin of the tiny one likes to walk around too - like an explorer. I'm trying not to worry about them. We can't have them inside.
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:31 pm
All you can do is the best you can do and they have a much better chance with you looking after them than they did without your special loving care. cat_3nodding
All you can do is the best you can do and they have a much better chance with you looking after them than they did without your special loving care. cat_3nodding
That's true. Thanks. smile
PS: I see they let you change you avi again. smile Sorry if I'm late in noticing.
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:41 pm
Dana C Scott
I forgot to tell you that they two larger ones look just like our Hercule Poirot. He's one that's had a little illness, but he's fine now.
The two smallest ones look like our Ferb. He is the sweetest cat. He will try to climb up your leg or jump on your back a go for a ride. He's so trusting that you have to watch him to make sure he doesn't roll right off of your shoulders. *eep* That's painful.
I forgot to tell you that they two larger ones look just like our Hercule Poirot. He's one that's had a little illness, but he's fine now.
The two smallest ones look like our Ferb. He is the sweetest cat. He will try to climb up your leg or jump on your back a go for a ride. He's so trusting that you have to watch him to make sure he doesn't roll right off of your shoulders. *eep* That's painful.
Yup. Little claws can hurt. Cat seem fond of feet and crawling up legs.
Opera (not pictured) like biting (doesn't hurt) and then licking you. She's incredibly playful. We have to do a still picture of her. She's murdering that cat toy I made recently.
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:16 pm
Dana C Scott
Felina75
Dana C Scott
I forgot to tell you that they two larger ones look just like our Hercule Poirot. He's one that's had a little illness, but he's fine now.
The two smallest ones look like our Ferb. He is the sweetest cat. He will try to climb up your leg or jump on your back a go for a ride. He's so trusting that you have to watch him to make sure he doesn't roll right off of your shoulders. *eep* That's painful.
Yup. Little claws can hurt. Cat seem fond of feet and crawling up legs.
Opera (not pictured) like biting (doesn't hurt) and then licking you. She's incredibly playful. We have to do a still picture of her. She's murdering that cat toy I made recently.
Aw... I hope she'll be still for a pic. You may have to make another one. lol.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 7:05 pm
Dana C Scott
How is the flea situation? If they have too many, they'll get anemic. We found a dog that was just covered in them and we dipped (of course I know you can't dip kittens) him and thought that was good enough, but we ended up having to take him into the vet for medication. I hope they're doing good.
The three have been in a nursing frenzy today. All curious about the house rather than being outside, all ambling around, sleeping and fighting - being children.
We put the Frontline on the mom and the older kitten today too. Hoping for the death of many fleas. smile
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 6:54 pm
Sorry to say....
The little kitten that went with her mother on Thursday to the vet, passed away, apparently suddenly. I've been trying not to think about that. She had a lot of weight seemingly overnight and as much my friend and I tried to wipe her filmy eyes, they kept getting stuck shut again. She had a bad case of Cat Flu - the only one affected.
I'm updating this because tonight, the 2nd white striped one, whose twin passed away first, was killed by the Tom I'd been chasing away from the house since last week. He used to come and yowl at the front, nearest my bedroom window. Tonight, he found a way in through the back and into the yard. He had that kitten, my favourite one, before the mom could beat his a$$ and chase him off.
The last kitten, the biggest gray and black striped one, hid in time and is still hiding now, under the house. He had run inside and eventually hid here in my room - never came in here before.
It's hard to be so helpless in the situation, but we did try to give this litter the best fighting chance. Feel like I didn't do enough...
I'm so sorry... *HUGS*... Lucky can, at least, now get an entire litter's worth of undivided love and care, but that's not really much consolation just yet. Man, those toms... when I was five, six years old my best friend and I would go out to her barn to look for kittens, and we knew we'd have to be super careful, of course. Hardly ever found any, though. And the ones we did find, it was always because they were a few weeks old and active, up and playing. And, of course, they were never in the same spot the next day. Those farm cat queens took absolutely no chances -- between toms and rats to guard them against and hunting to do, they must have almost never slept for the first couple months when they'd have a litter... which means a lot more when it's a cat than a human, when you think about it... wink
Is there anything you can do about the tom, a cage trap or something, ask the vet if they price differently for TNR neuters (I know of one in my area that apparently offers free spays and neuters, and even trap cages (with a deposit, of course) in an effort to get a trap-neuter-release momentum going, so it's not unheard of. And if he's a stray or feral, and comes in close proximity with your cats, maybe he ought to be checked out for problems, maybe given some shots, if only to add a layer of protection for your own animals.
Give Lucky and his mom an extra chin scratch from me.
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:21 pm
faolan
Thanks much, for the hugs and the suggestions. The Tom isn't one we could get that close to to catch. It only comes around at night and only been doing so lately. Other than throwing huge rocks at him (which I'm loathe to do since he might have an owner that loves him), not much we can do.
Not much is free in Barbados, but I've been thinking that if grows to that age when he starts getting randy, 'Lucky' might be better off neutered. Toms are always fighting over territory and women. >.<' I wonder if his not being a mating competitor would make a difference...
I'm still worried that the Tom may come back, perhaps when the mom isn't around. I heard, they kill the male kittens on purpose. Not sure how true that is...
Tried to pet 'Lucky' tonight but he wasn't having it - too terrified. Felt very sorry for him.
Yeah, it affects the roaming instinct, too -- if the males aren't neutered, then they'll eventually "move out", it's just a fact. One of ours hid on the day they went to the vet's, so for awhile he and his brother were going by "Ballson" and "Ballsoff", but eventually we settled on calling them Bro and Bubba. Yeah, they didn't get their names til they were, like, five years old xD. That was about when Bro started roaming. At first, he'd go out at night, show up sometime late the next day, or the day after. As time went on, he'd be gone a week, ten days, two weeks... sometimes he'd been in fights, but he always had that "I'm fine, stop fussing -- besides, I look better than the other guy" attitude. Dad swears he once saw him clear on the other side of town, a good ten or more miles away. Last time he came home was about... six years ago? Something like that. The part that amuses me, though, is that I don't know how common black cats are overall, but I see them all the time here, all over town. I mean, those genes of his spread. Kind of unsettling, too, if one unaltered cat can have that much of an effect. Which is my long-winded way of saying that I'd very much recommend neutering him.
And yes, toms will absolutely kill kittens -- supposedly only if they're not their own offspring, but I'm not sure how accurate their version of paternity tests are. It's instinctive -- when a male lion takes over a pride, he doesn't want to waste time bringing up another male's offspring (and a loser, no less), so he kills any cubs. Most wild cats, big and small, are single mothers, so males don't often encounter kittens, but anyone on a farm has seen it, too. That's why the queens hide their litters so well -- the toms are just as much a danger to them as the rats are.
But as for fighting, my two boys have been neutered since they were kittens (if it's done right away, before puberty sets in, as it were, then you don't get the mental changes that testosterone causes -- aggressiveness, roaming, things like that). There are a few feral cats in the neighborhood, too, though, and a couple in particular who've been around for several years. Bubba and Eddie do not allow them on the property. In fact, right now I have my friend's two cats here for a few months while she gets her "where to live" situation straightened out, and it turns out that the younger of the two, docile and timid as he is, is also intact. Hopefully I'll be able to get him taken care of next week, knock on wood. In the meantime, he's actually taken up residence in a shed on the far side of the house, because although his housemate has settled comfortably into the dormitory (garage) with the others, Bubba and Eddie are not making exceptions to the "no balls in the house" rule. xD
He'll come around, just keep showing him you're not scary -- talk when he's nearby, be reassuring. Don't look directly at him or move directly toward him, just let him get used to the idea that yeah, it can be scary out there, but you're just what you've always been -- a safe, dependable rock which happens to give great ear rubs and chin scratches. cat_whee
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:34 pm
Dana C Scott
Sorry to say....
The little kitten that went with her mother on Thursday to the vet, passed away, apparently suddenly. I've been trying not to think about that. She had a lot of weight seemingly overnight and as much my friend and I tried to wipe her filmy eyes, they kept getting stuck shut again. She had a bad case of Cat Flu - the only one affected.
I'm updating this because tonight, the 2nd white striped one, whose twin passed away first, was killed by the Tom I'd been chasing away from the house since last week. He used to come and yowl at the front, nearest my bedroom window. Tonight, he found a way in through the back and into the yard. He had that kitten, my favourite one, before the mom could beat his a$$ and chase him off.
The last kitten, the biggest gray and black striped one, hid in time and is still hiding now, under the house. He had run inside and eventually hid here in my room - never came in here before.
It's hard to be so helpless in the situation, but we did try to give this litter the best fighting chance. Feel like I didn't do enough...
I'm sorry that you lost more kittens. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. Hubby says, "You can't watch them all the time." *hugs tightly*
One of our mamma cats ate her own litter. We are all hoping that they died first, but we're not sure.
I'm sorry that you lost more kittens. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. Hubby says, "You can't watch them all the time." *hugs tightly*
One of our mamma cats ate her own litter. We are all hoping that they died first, but we're not sure.
Yes, there was not much else to do. Thank ye and hubby too. smile
I think it's just something cats do. If I hadn't removed the kitten, I'm sure Reece would have done the same. I couldn't bear the thought. Usually we ask the Dad here to do that kind of thing, but this time I did it myself. Likely in your case, they were dead first - likely a weak litter or something. *shakes head* It doesn't seem that cat ways are people ways ...
The last kitten is stuck to his Mom like glue. He seems to be doing fine.
