We started putting food out for one cat that was coming around. We have no idea if he’s stray or not. He has no collar. He will not let us near him to pet him. He comes around every few days for more. Other neighbors also feed him.
A pregnant cat started eating the other guy’s food recently. This preggo cat also has no collar but seems friendly and enjoys being touched.
Is there anything I can do to determine whether this preggo cat has a good home or is a stray? My wife and I don’t want to find helpless kittens living under our house in the near future.
We also have 5 animals in a small house already and have no room for any more. Local cat places are booked solid with foreclosure kitties.
How pregnant is she? Looks a bit round, or looks like she could have them any second?
What I would do is put an add in your local papers declaring that you’ve found this cat, see if you get anything. Probably won’t. You can also post some signs around the neighborhood.
If no response in a few days, I’d put an add in the paper to try to find a foster home for her. It might sound unlikely, but you’d be surprised. We fostered a pregnant cat and her kittens, and it was a blast. We’d do it again in a second. And kittens are pretty easy to give away.
You can get a cheap breakaway collar and attach a note to it. Something like “Are you the owner of this cat? If so please call xxx-xxxx and let me know so I don’t have to take her to the pound.”
Ehh…personally I wouldn’t care if she were owned or not. Anyone who lets an unspayed female be an outside cat doesn’t need to have a cat anymore. I’d take her into my home and ‘adopt’ her until I could find room at a local no kill shelter for her. But then again I’m a bit of a bitch when it comes to irresponsible pet owners.
The problem is we had 4 animals already when my wife found 2 kittens and took them in them as fosters. The local shelters (Sacramento, CA) were full.
One of the 2 kittens had FIP and we spent a over $100 taking it to the vet and putting it down. The other one we decided to keep since nobody would adopt a kitten whose brother had FIP, and we would feel obligated to disclose that.
So, in the end, it cost us over $100 and we now have FIVE animals in a small house. No way can we take in another cat and a litter… even if it is allegedly “temporary.” I am trying to nip this in the bud so it doesn’t get to the point of having to take any more animals in.
While simultaneously doing what we can to see the cat has a home.
I like the breakaway collar thing. If the cat has an owner, perhaps we can offer to help them get the kitties to a foster parent or help give the litter away once they are born.
We put a collar on the pregnant cat, with our phone number. Nobody called.
A few days later, she was still pregnant. We had a feeling she might belong to a certain neighbor, but the neighbor was never home when we knocked on the door.
Yesterday, she was no longer pregnant. We followed her, and she went straight to that neighbor’s house. She went into the back yard, so we posted a note on the neighbor’s front door offering our help.
Yesterday evening, the neighbor came knocking on our door explaining the cat was not hers, but she had been feeding it. Then, she took us over to her house.
Momma cat had given birth to 7 kittens in a suitcase in her garage. The neighbor lined the suitcase with towels and put a little tent over it with another towel.
We took the little kitty family into our house and provided food, a makeshift bed, and litter box. Momma cat was very hungry.
Momma cat is now known as Charlotte. All 7 kittens seem healthy.
I searched Google for tips on caring for newborn kittens and found this little tidbit…
Oh, Bearflag, you had me so worried there for a second! I’m glad you took in the poor kitty. You are a doll for doing it. Kudos to you and your family!
Yes, we want pics!!! New baby kittehs! Yes, yes, yes!
And don’t worry about wiping the babies’ bottoms. Charlotte will undoubtedly take care of it.
Our daughter’s cat had kittens about the time daughter was 8.5 months pregnant, and her momma cat developed a severe mammary infection. So we took the kittens to our house so momma cat could heal. We already had four or five cats at the time. We had to bottle-feed the five kittens every four hours, and yes, wipe their little butts with damp cotton balls so they’d pee. It works great, btw. When daughter was in labor we had to leave the hospital and go home every four hours to feed the kittens. Ah, good times.
Everyone turned out just fine: daughter, new grandson, momma cat (who we got spayed as soon as she was better!) and five wonderful kittens, who all found new homes (not ours!). We took a ton of pictures, of course, but don’t have any of them with us to post.
Speaking from experience, kittens go fast. You shouldn’t have trouble finding new homes. They’re also a ton of fun, and not that much trouble. We’d foster a pregnant cat again in a minute, it’s really a blast. Congratulations!
Oohh…kittens. Thanks for taking momma cat in. That’s how I came about my kitten Manny - someone took his momma in (three days after Manny, his brother and his sisters were born) and brought them to a no kill shelter when they were old enough to be neutered and weaned.
I really think it makes a difference in how good of a cat he is (relatively speaking - he is very mischievous, steals/breaks things, and slaps the other cats, but he is great around people) due to the fact he was inside and handled by people soon after he was born. Kittens raised like that make great pets.
Please, a few snaps?