Kitten Season Has Arrived

It's that time again!  This time I received FOUR kittens, out of a litter of 7.  The mother had been hit by a car and killed.  By the time the kittens were found, 3 of them were near death from cold and hunger.  I took the 3 weak ones, and one healthy one, and another foster family took the 3 strongest of the litter.  I'm now one of the most experienced foster parents, so the Humane Society calls me for the tough ones.

This photo is of them a few days after I received them.  They were about 10 days old here.

This was one of the weaker kittens.  Look at those pitiful little ears!  They were so sad for the first few days.  I could tell they were missing their mama cat by the way they cried and cried.  Even stroking them with a toothbrush (the mama cat tongue simulator!), they didn't calm.  They had no interest in eating and had to be force fed.  I even had to inject them with fluids subcutaenously, which I hate to do.  It's painful for them, but dehydration is deadly.  One kitten in particular was just bones and fur.  A picked her up and yelped, "Mommy, this kitten has NO ORGANS!"  Of course it did, however when you held the limp kitten in your hand, all you could feel was it's skeleton beneath the fur.

After 8 feedings daily, for the past 2 weeks, here they are at 3 weeks old, fat and happy!

 
I'm still bottle feeding them around the clock, but the next weeks will bring big changes as they learn to use a litter pan, eat meat cat food from a bowl, lap water, jump, hunt, and play.

The kittens get lots of loving from everyone.

Even our Milkman took a break from deliveries to cuddle and feed a kitten when he delivered our milk today.  I think he was impressed by the tiny bottle of milk!

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1060463581]

So sweet! They look like they are doing really well. I just love the kitten stage when they are just so frisky.

Wendy@ adoptionandfire.com

[Erin Roberts]

I honestly don't know how you do this. I read from April 8th 2011, down to July 2010 about your fostering experiences with the kittens. More than once, I was in tears.

My parents were, unfortunately, not responsible pet owners (never spaying/neutering their animals) due to finances.

But my mother, bless her heart, could never resist an abused or neglected animal. There was no animal shelter within 50 miles of our home town so there was nowhere for these animals to get the help they needed.

I remember so many cat and dog births I experienced and helped with growing up. Along with various sick and abused animals my mother would bring home and nurse back to health.

I remember the losses and the hours spent up all night helping with births and luckily from all that I learned how to be a responsible pet owner myself.

A while back, my brother saw a brown and black tiger striped cat outside. He didn't remember having let his cat outside, but he opened the door and she walked right in. The food bowl was empty so he went and refilled it. The cat walked over, hunkered down and started happily munching away.

He turned around, walked back into the living room and stopped when he saw his brown and black tiger striped cat stretched out, sleeping peacefully on the couch. He looked back at the identical cat eating in the kitchen then back at his cat on the couch.

He tried to get the other cat to go back outside and she refused to go. None of the neighbors were missing a cat and nobody ever showed up looking for a missing cat. She never left.

Unfortunately my brother is only allowed to have one cat at his residence so I took her in. We became increasingly suspicious about her ever-expanding waistline and eventually the signs were obvious. She was pregnant.

So anyway we now have 4 totally adorable kittens just under 3 weeks old. She did so very well with the birth. She actually snuck off and gave birth to 3 of them without my knowing it, despite my attempts to keep her under constant watch. (And naturally, she had them on my pillow, of all places. Despite the wide variety of birthing boxes we put out in all her favorite hidey holes. Nope. Mamma's pillow was THE place to be, apparently lol)

I guess it went just as it should have gone though because I found her right when she needed me. The final kitten was, apparently transverse (sideways).

I noticed that Shikio kept having powerful contractions and pushing without ever accomplishing anything. She also seemed extremely uncomfortable and restless, moving much more than what I know to be natural. Even given that each cat and each birth is unique and therefore the movements are also unique to each birth.

About an hour passed from the time I found her and the 3 babies she'd already had. Some of that time her contractions lessened and she went for a drink and to the litter box then right back to the pillow.

She began to show even more signs of hard labor, hard unproductive pushing and noticeable fatigue. She would actually turn over onto her back if my hand got close to her stomach. I gently massaged her abdomen for about ten minutes. She had another hard push with no effect, I went back to gently massaging for about five more minutes then she had another hard push and finally the kitten's sac bulged.

At that point I stopped massaging and simply petted her head. (She would actually try to get up and come close to me if I didn't keep my hand close enough to her)

A minute or two later, she passed the body and finally with obvious pain she yelped and passed the head. Almost immediately she got herself up (I had to help hold her a bit, poor thing) and cleaned the baby off. She didn't get to the head quite quick enough and baby wasn't moving.

So I got the warm cloth I had nearby and carefully cleaned the baby's head off and kept rubbing the little one's head. Finally with me and momma-cat working on him, the little guy gave a good shudder and started squirming around. Then he started meowing and seeking food. I was pretty worried for a little while there!

I've always wanted to foster mom some animals that needed love and attention. Unfortunately my financial situation doesn't allow for that. But whenever I can, I always try to rescue my pets from local shelters.

Sorry for the very lengthy comment. Anyway! I have so much respect and admiration for you and your family and I honestly do feel for you when things don't go so well because I know how difficult it is. Best of luck!