New Momma with 5 Newborns

[MissDolittle]

This momma cat just had her 5 babies at the shelter. It's not really the best place for a momma cat to be nursing her lil ones, so I decided to foster them, since my kitten cages are empty anyways.

The kittens are late this year. Usually I'm crowded with orphans at this time. Sometimes they come in end of January already. I'm not complaining though, I'm not getting bored!

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/userpics/10001/mommacat1.jpg

[salt&pepper´smommy]

aww how cute, and the look on the momma cat is priceless. She looks confy though

[Fluffytial]

Sweet! Momma cat looks very happy. She is probably glad to be in a quieter spot with her babies.

[Paul79UF]

That picture makes me really miss my days volunteering at the Humane Society. I was at a satellite office where we only had kittens and puppies. :)

[MissDolittle]

I could live without them...a life without animals would be total prison for me, even though I am not locked up. But that's why they call me the 'crazy German' and I'm proud of it LOL!

[SnyperKat]

Awe! Well, the momma looks to be in good health, and so do the kittens!

[MissDolittle]

Ready for an update?? I moved Serenity with her babies out of the cage into a pen..it was getting too crowded. I think I'm going to post her pictures on petfinder.com, since her adoption fell through :(:

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/userpics/10001/normal_serenity1.jpg

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/userpics/10001/normal_serenity2.jpg

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/userpics/10001/normal_serenity3.jpg

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/userpics/10001/normal_serenity4.jpg

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/userpics/10001/normal_serenity5.jpg

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/userpics/10001/normal_serenity6.jpg

[salt&pepper´smommy]

aww how cute, they look confy. I miss the days when Salt and Pepper were that small, I'm glad this bunch has a feline mom that cares for them. And a human mom that loves them too.

[Kirial]

Hehe, didnt have my glasses on the first time I looked at the new photos, and I kept thinking "what on earth is wrong with that one kitten!" turns out it's a plush puppy....

Adorable photos. If my house wasnt already at risk of being over-run, I'd adopt the whole mess, but then I'd hate to become a hoarder.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Too cute!

[MissDolittle]

Hehe, didnt have my glasses on the first time I looked at the new photos, and I kept thinking "what on earth is wrong with that one kitten!" turns out it's a plush puppy....

Adorable photos. If my house wasnt already at risk of being over-run, I'd adopt the whole mess, but then I'd hate to become a hoarder.

Hehe, if I had a buck for each time I said that I don't want to become a hoarder, I could buy a farm! lol

Well not really, but I've seen them, know the work they cause and the loads they put on the local shelter. We have one lady that keeps moving from trailer to trailer or moves the trailer itself.

She's over 80 years old, is in a wheelchair, and each time animal control cleans out her trailer of all the animals and the judge gave her yet another citation and the order not to have ANY animals..she moves the thing and starts all over...few months later the entire spiel starts all over.

What ya gonna do? Put an old lady in prison? Social services is taking care of her now I think, because last time was so bad that her wheelchair got stuck in feces and she couldn't move at all for 2 days and almost died herself.

I have to follow up on that story, see what became of her.

[Kirial]

I actually have a grandmother who, while not ever having a citation or a single cruelty call, I myself consider to be a hoarder. I suppose it's Grandpa actually that is at fault, as he is the reason they keep turning up. I'm not sure if one can be considered a "hoarder" if the animals are there of their own free will. They do not allow cats inside unless they are sick or recovering from their "Fixing" so all of them are outside. Because their is food and shelter there, the animals keep turning up. A lax attitude toward sterilization also keeps it so one batch of kittens is born nearly every season.

I have seen this be a wonderful thing, in that it kept many good cats from being put down or drown as people know they can just call up Sharon and she'll usually take it in. In addition, people have also adopted her cats several times in the past.

I have also seen this be a bad thing. Because she has on some years had as many as 27 cats come to her food pans (not counting the neighbor cats, they are shooed away, as are cats never seen before) there have been intervals of group disease, and a couple instances of possible inbreeding. These cats are always nursed back to health, but with that many animals around, disease is always just on the horizon.

Because these animals are not contained in a small house, and are regularly fed, watered, and medicated, the local shelters have turned a blind eye. They are already over-populated with their own animals and I suspect they just dont have the means to take in the extra cats. (Down to a healthier 12 this year, as two of the neighbor toms have passed off and four potential momma cats went with me to the vet over the course of the winter, so that's 10 spayed mommas and a couple toms who dont seem to know they are male.)


This "responsible" (or as close as it can be to that term) hoarding is scary enough to be around at times, and I cant imagine how terrible it is to see full-blown hoarding in a tiny trailor, especially if you arnt even well enough to care for yourself, let alone your charges.

[MissDolittle]

I think our definitions of a hoarder is a bit different. To me a hoarder is when it totally gets out of control that human life is suffering due to hygiene issues for example.

Wiki says:

Animal hoarding involves keeping higher than usual numbers of animals as pets without having the ability to properly house or care for them, while at the same time denying this inability. Compulsive hoarding can be characterized as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder rather than deliberate cruelty towards animals. Hoarders are deeply attached to their pets, and find it extremely difficult to let the pets go. They typically cannot comprehend that they are harming their pets by failing to provide them with proper care. Hoarders tend to believe that they provide the right amount of care for their pets.

[Kirial]

I suppose you're right. I only wondered at hoarding because, well, my opinion cant be truely objective as to the severity of the situation, since I am directly involved in the care and control of the animals. If at any point I did think the animals or my grandparents were in any risk of harm, I would definitly intervene further than routine check-ups and 30 dollar surgeries.

Sometimes the line between help and hurt can be very thin, especially when it comes to hoarding, so it's one of those things I've always had a watchful eye on. It's good to see that others find this particular case to be a "low risk" situation.

[MissDolittle]

I hear you loud and clear. I often wondered if I'd go overboard if we wouldn't have the 3 dogs/3 cats limit law in this town. Even though I think I know my limits, isn't that what they all say? hehehehe

[SnyperKat]

In response to the pictures, they were all very cute! And the momma is BEAUTIFUL I can't believe her adoption fell through! She looks so relaxed and sweet, I would LOVE to adopt her myself! I hope she and her kittens all find good homes!

In response to animal hoarding, I do find it kind of sad to see people get to that point. I think that animal hoarding needs to be recognized perhaps as a sort of mental illness that needs treatment. It was related to obsessive compulsiveness after all. I think it would be better for both people and the pets. We had a case here, in the summer of 2004, about a woman and her daughter who had about a hundred cats in their house. The cats were going to be taken away, so out of desperation to keep their 'babies', the women stuffed as many cats as they could into cat cages and hid them in the bushes, and also put a bunch of cats in their shed to keep them hidden. Unfortunately, 25 cats died due to suffocation... the rest were saved. I don't know what happened to the women, but I hope they got some help.

[MissDolittle]

I just posted in another thread that the shelter here had a seizure this weekend, cleaned out a hoarder: 30 dogs, 11 cats. The owner is in the process of being committed.

I also finally got green light to use the shelter's name and make an account on petfinder.com, hopefully this will help some. Once I get the approval I'll see how it works and go back to the shelter and take pics of the dogs they can keep for a while longer (they are not social at all) and determine the behavior, write up an article for each animal and put them up.

The story about the seizure is going to be in the paper tomorrow I think, I'll post it here.

[SnyperKat]

Post it, post it! I want to follow this! :)

[MissDolittle]

Here goes:

http://www.petsandwildlifeforum.com/showthread.php?p=3972#post3972

[MissDolittle]

Pheeew, I just got 5 more kittens. Makes a total of 14 plus Serenity. How was that with the hoarding? lol

The shelter is full and Serenity is hissing at the new litter. They are very emaciated, maybe 2 weeks old. Hopefully they don't have leukemia. I will keep them separated from the others until I know for sure, but since I can't afford a vet or tests, I have to go blind and just watch for the signs such as mucus in the stool and pale gums.

I cannot keep 14 kittens, no way. I got more calls and had to turn down more kittens. I had to make it clear that I'm a wildlife rescue, not a kitten shelter, because my vet was giving out my number for that. But telling them to call Animal Control puts me into the same spot, because Animal Control will bring them to me LOL.

I really have to start a foster care network or something, but all that's gonna happen is more cats out there that won't get fixed and that brings more kittens back to the shelter next year. Can't win for losing in this one.

I put the other 9 kittens on petfinder.com:
http://search.petfinder.com/shelterSearch/shelterSearch.cgi?shelterid=TX1178

[Kirial]

Hehe, you're going to have to hire in-house nursemaids at this rate.

How much are the FLV tests and basic physicals in your area? I think the last FLV specific test I ordered here was $12 something. And it's $9 here for any consult.

As for populations... if only we could convince more people to spay and neutur. But, it is helping, just a little at a time. At least they aren't rabbits eh?

I already narrowed the applicants for my two wards down to five people (out of 19 so far), I guess the two that stick it out for the long haul (30 days or more) are the winners. Soooo I printed up fliers for my office of the kitties you have listed. None of our local shelters have kittens yet this year, so hopefully some of my callers won't mind a commute to Texas. My only relative in texas (sister's mom-in-law) is coming up in the next couple weeks; too bad I wouldn't trust her to transport a box of bricks, let alone kittens.

[MissDolittle]

Wow thanks, I appreciate it!!

Unfortunately the new kittens did show all the signs, so I brought them to the shelter to do with at their discretion. :/

But I still have those 9 kitties and they appear to be healthy in every way.

As to vet costs. A visit is I think $37 without anything. The tests I would have to guess, but I think it's in the same price range.

I wonder if a non-vet like me could order those tests to do at home. I have no problems drawing blood for it and I would only have to test one kitten out of every litter really, because if one has it, all have it and vice versa. At least it's pretty likely.

I have to do some research on that.

Next project is a fundraiser for Serenity, so she can get spayed, since nobody is calling for her or is remotely interested. I did give her the vaccinations I can get here, incl. feline aids and leukemia, but she still needs a rabies shot and get spayed, which will increase her chances for adoption. Preferrably before she comes into heat again lol.

So, that's what I'll be putting up on the websites and blogs today. Maybe a rich person comes across and pays to get the 9 kittens fixed too, hehehe. Oh blame a gal for dreaming lol.

[Kirial]

well, there are two main tests for FLV and FIV, the ELISA (enzyme linked immunsorbent assay) which is the blood/tears/saliva test that doc preforms in-office. My small country doctor doesnt have any x-ray equipment or diagnostic areas, so all that stuff has to be sent off (though complicated breaks or fractures are usually taken up to the health clinic for people and let in through the back door) Then there is the IFA (immunofluorescent antibody test) or the Western Blot, which are the diagnostic you run if the ELISA comes up positive, so you can be sure.

So, I would think you could order the ELISA and do that yourself. It's really a lot like a home-pregnancy kit. You have to mix the blood sample you draw with an anti-clot agent, then put a few drops on a special paper and wait for a colour change or a line. The whole thing takes only 10-20 minutes.

This (http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?PGGUID=11EC6CB5-746F-45FB-8492-BC0106C0FA2E&ccd=IFP003&utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=free&utm_content=36666) is an online listing for one on sale right now, but you have to mail it off to a lab. Unfortunatly, all my searches brought me back to this same product. Seems the only other way is to stop by doc's office and ask for one, but I'd bet this is what he uses too.

[MissDolittle]

Thanks for the info! Unfortunately asking a vet to sell me some tests is like asking them to not to earn the money for the exam and testing. They'd lose like 40 bucks a pop. Not every vet is like your hero over there (does he have brothers that are vets too that want to move to Texas? lol).

Na, I'm afraid vets as well as their products are luxury here, so unless I can order without being a vet, no go.

[jennismortal]

Most of the time, cats have babies without much trouble or help. They are pretty good at taking care of things on their own. However, it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on her, just in case.

When it's time for her to have her babies, she will probably start pacing around, looking for her hidden spot that she has chosen to have her babies. The breathing becomes more rapid, and she will start licking her rear end alot. As each kitten comes out, she will bite the umbilical cord with her teeth, and clean off the afterbirth and stuff from the kitten, and lick it so it will be clean and start to nurse. It certainly wouldn't hurt to be with her, or at least check on her alot, while she is birthing. Sometimes they like privacy and to be left alone, but it's not a bad idea to keep watch just to make sure everything works OK and there's no complications. The length of the birth can vary alot, depending on how many babies she has, if she is a new mom or has had kittens before, etc. It can be anywhere from half an hour to a few hours.



Good source for fish tank aquariums (http://www.fish-tank-aquariums.net)

[MissDolittle]

I hope you will sell tons of fish tanks. I'll leave your posts up since they aren't like the typical spam, they actually make sense, even though they are copied and pasted from Yahoo Answers :).

[baby kitty]

So very precious. Beautiful mama and cute babies