Kittens Everywhere

  I was contacted by a Sweet Home family whose colony eventually was entirely fixed, through the FCCO.  When was that, I try to recall.   I drop trapped most of them one at a time up there, then took them all to the FCCO.  They got the surviving kittens into a rescue in Portland.   

Another female had showed up pregnant and had seven kittens.  They got a FCCO Kitten Caboose appointments immediately for the kittens along with a mom fix appointment.  Yesterday they wanted to borrow a trap and holding cage for the kittens.  So I sent it up to them with the husband, who works in town.  

By evening they had trapped the mom and the kittens and the FCCO agreed to do mom the 31st, when I take up a different colony from Sweet Home to be fixed.   She may already be in heat again.

I was happy to hear they have them all contained now.   Kittens will be tame for their Kitten Caboose appointments in June and mom will be fixed in about ten days.

Also Silverton Cat Rescue contacted me.  They were contacted by an Albany woman feeding an 8 year old cat named Samoa.  Long ago, she was owned, they said, but since then, has been having litter after litter.  Can you imagine her exhaustion?   Many litters in recent years she just abandons.   SCR will take them in, fix the mom once kittens are weaned, and return her.  

This first litter of hers this year three have survived.  Two did not.  I found them dead against their place.

I set a trap and left, instructing the people to watch it, didn't want other cats entering it.  She was in it moments after I got home.  So it was fast.   I then collected mom and the one week old kittens.  I turned mom loose in the bathroom, with the kittens in a large carrier in the bathroom, and let them be.   I don't know how feral she is.  She went a little nuts in the  bathroom at first but then settled in, but not with her kittens.

   

This morning the kittens seem fine and it does look like she'd been in with them, from the appearance of the blanket in the carrier, but they're dehydrated.   I had only some 2nd step KMR, but gave them each some of that with a syringe.  I'm not a very good bottle feeder.   I finally put them up on the shelf where the mom, looking hagard and exhausted, is hanging out.  Their eyes are open and they're crawling, so they're a week to ten days old.

The cupboard door doesn't close firmly so I hope they don't fall out.  I padded the area underneath, just in case.   I wouldn't want another litter either, if I'd had two or three every spring and summer for years on end.  What that does to a mother cat!

SCR is picking them up later this morning. I warned them the babes might need bottle fed.  I think mom is done with the whole mom scene.   Beyond done.

SCR will have the much harder job of fostering them to adoption age and getting them all fixed, including mom, then finding the kittens homes.  That's a long term commitment of time and money too.

Thank goodness for these small dedicated rescues.

The big colony near Sweet Home, where I took two to be fixed so far, has exploded, with three more litters of kittens and another female about to give birth.   The lady doesn't know where two of the litters are, somewhere in the brush she thinks, but the third litter is closer to their fifth wheeler where she can monitor them.  Already two females gave birth, both teens.  Two of one females litter of three died and she took off into the brush with the third, now also presumed dead.  Then a litter of five went to the vet student, who is bottle feeding after the teen mom just left them on the asphalt, when it was very cold and wet.  I gave that colony my five last appointments in Salem for this Monday.  The rest will be fixed at the FCCO the 31st hopefully.   So far still no further appointments can be had at the Salem clinic.   Still hoping though.

Check out this car, that parked next to me at Walmart yesterday.

You never know what you'll see at Walmart.