Neutering a cat that isn’t technically yours

[BatCoach]

yay pics are working! Its a good thing these kittens are cute -they are running me ragged! I tweaked my lower back while cleaning the lower cage on Thursday so cue the salonpas patch and ibuprofen. At least us horse-gals are no strangers to dealing with lower back pain.

I opened the garage door this morning to Daisy walking around the garage wanting attention. They somehow broke the zipper (which was admittedly pretty janky and skipping teeth) on the top of the play-pen and pulled the whole top down. A few of the boy kittens were using the cozy cat cave to showcase their kitten ninja warrior skills and spring from the top of the cat cave to the lip of the playpen. I had zero time to plug this ‘slow leak’ of kittens escaping. I had to clean the other 2 cages and feed everyone, and still get to the office.

I tossed a blanket on the top of the pen, and put everyone back in and got ready for work. When I came down to move my car, Daisy had escaped the blanket, but the babies were in place. I put her back in, and went to work.

I asked DH to remove the blanket since if she gets out again, she wont be able to just hop back in a care for the kittens, or eat/drink with the blanket on without making a huge mess by jumping on it and collapsing it. If a baby gets out, she can at least scruff it and carry it back in. Its kind of the lesser of two evils, but I’d rather have them have full run of the garage than get separated from each other and panic and create a big mess while panicking. Its days like this I wish I worked from home!

Rescue is bringing out a tall cat condo tomorrow at 6pm, so just have to deal with this until then. sometimes you just have to shrug it off and say “cats man, what are you going to do?” No matter what, at least its better than livin’ out in the streets!

In other news - here are some cute pics from Saturday!

Woody 5 weeks -
Sully 4.5 weeks -
3 of Marlow’s babies (sully, Celia, and Randal)

Jessie weeks -

Milo and celia -
Jessie, Mike, Woody and Buzz

Buzz 5 weeks -

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[ThreeWishes]

Those videos!!!

[BatCoach]

yes, more videos are on the horizon! “Uncle” Milo makes many a cameo. Since the kitties are bouncy, big and basically made of rubber, I am no longer afraid of them falling off the couch or taking a header off the coffee table.

I now bring a box of them up to the living room and tell Milo he is on the clock as chaperone and go back to garage to clean cages and love on Daisy for a bit. He is basically my kitten baby sitter. I pay him in catnip flavored Temptations and he makes sure the kiddos don’t go down the stairs or roughhouse too hard. He’s like the nice retired gelding you put out with the weanlings to keep them in line. Our other 3 cats have declined this position, so I’m very pleased that Milo wanted the job.

[shiloh]

OMG. They are so cute. Sailor Jerry is a little doll. and is that Buzz or Woody in the washing video?

I’m telling you I could watch kittens and kitten videos all. day. long.

[BatCoach]

the little orange washing wonder is Woody - he is a little purr machine and a bundle of trouble (like most orange boys!)

[BatCoach]

Good news -

• I saw the white & gray patched feral mom when parking in the parking lot yesterday. I ran to the garage and grabbed a can of kitten food for her. She gobbled it up, so I got her a 2nd one. I tried to follow her to see if she would go back to her (presumably still alive and OK) babies, but she just kept hiding under cars. Eventually I gave up the waiting game since I still had to attend to the crew of 11 in “Hotel de la Garage”. I do suspect her kittens are over the brick wall in the brush & trees of the neighbors yard, and she just hops the fence for food.

• The topless playpen is actually working quite well. Daisy is 100% enjoying her newfound freedom of being able to walk around and take a break from the kids. Her confidence is rising and she lets DH pet her, I can pick her up and even put her on my lap for some snuggles. If a rowdy kitten escapes (looking at you woody) she lets them wander a bit, then scruffs him and puts him back in.

• Marlow is getting picked up by the rescue tonight for her spay surgery. Her babies are a bunch of kitten food eating champions so although it is on the earlier side to spay her, I think we will be OK. I can always toss them over to Daisy if they need a milk snack. Marlow is beyond ready to get out of the garage!

• Sailor Jerry is coming into his own. He is over 2lbs and filling out. Eye is 100% better. Really bummed I didn’t take new pics - will try tonight. He plays with the toys in his cage and is such a tidy little boy. I brought him into the living room, but he is still very scared of household noises and overwhelmed by the environment change. I let him walk around, but he eventually just hid under the couch for like 40minutes. He’ll get there though - it just takes time and patience.

The Bad -

• Buzz is losing weight, like ALOT of weight. At first I thought this was just the normal ups & downs of weaning, but when I looked at my weight records, he is steadily trending down. He is now the same weight as Celia - who is much smaller and 4 days younger!

  I am at a loss for how this is happening. They still have their mom, who is a fabulous milk machine, and there is always kibble and kitten canned food in their cage. Of course, some kittens are quicker to adapt to the canned food mush (KMR mixed with kitten canned food) than others, but he refuses to eat it. I have tried everything, rubbing it on his lips & paws, mixing kitten food w/ human chicken baby food, feeding straight human chicken baby food. Nothing takes. Even then the other kittens are nursing and getting a snack, he doesn’t always join in.

His energy level was waning yesterday, so I syringe fed him some straight KMR. I also put the heat-pad in the play pen since I went down a “Fading Kitten Syndrome” research rabbit hole. I was up until 12:30am trying to feed him, trying a honey/water mixture and praying he would just eat ANYTHING or nurse. I went to bed after he latched on Daisy. I fully prepared myself that he might not make it through the night.

This morning he was pinging around, trying to jump out of the playpen, but had lost ANOTHER 5 g! His poops are good and solid, I just can’t figure out why he is losing so much weight. Any ideas?

Rescue is coming to trap 4 kitties, take Marlow for her spay, and deliver a new playpen for Daisy. Hope that trapping goes quickly and we get the un-fixed ones we are trying for.

ETA - I’ve seen some foster kitten boards recommend goat’s milk, so I figure I might as well pop over to Whole Foods on my lunch break and give it a try.

[ThreeWishes]

Could it be roundworms @BatCoach? Maybe the little fellow has a bigger load ? Huge respect for all you do!!!

[BatCoach]

could be! that’s a solid possibility I’ll have the rescue rep. take a look and access when she comes over tonight.

[dressagetraks]

Hopefully Buzz will pick back up soon.

I can sympathize with Marlow. I remember when I bred my heart mare, Missy, had to try it just once even though her heritage was unknown. I bred to an Arabian since Arab crosses well with everything, and I got my gray that I have now. Very pleased with the result. Missy was a dutiful mother, but when it came down to weaning the colt, she couldn’t have been happier. I put her in the separate pasture, and she raised her head and sniffed the air like “I’m free” and trotted straight off. Colt was throwing a fit and whinnying and cantering around, and she was all, “Bye, kid!” I had to laugh. Yep, had about enough of that motherhood thing.

[BatCoach]

The goat milk was a hit! I syringe fed Buzz, and left a dish out. Mama Daisy loved it, so did most of the other kittens. He didn’t gain, but he stopped losing, so I’m taking this as a good sign - its nice to have another supplement tool in the tool box.

The trapping was slow and we didn’t get the 4 were were hoping for - just 2. I guess it is a good thing that we have more ear-tipped than non, so part of the struggle is shoo-ing away the friendlier ferals that we have already trapped and fixed, and waiting for the shier, more elusive kitties who are running around intact.

The new play pen is double the height of the old one, and is wire mesh instead of nylon. Its nice and secure, but Daisy hates it. During the hullabaloo of swapping playpens Daisy ran and hid under an old armoire we have in the garage. I figured she would come out after everything was set up and investigate when the noise calms down. There is a bench between the playpen and amorire where she can easily hop on the bench, then hop into the tall, topless pen.

well #catlogic - she didn’t figure that out. I had hopes that overnight she would find her way into the pen (because cats) but judging by the full kibble bowl in the pen, and lack of her mama-sized poo in the litter box, I don’t think she spent any time in the new playpen last night.

I have an open bag of kibble at the feeding station, but rather than go for the easy meal, she decided to grab an new, unopened bag of kibble, drag it to the middle of the garage and chew on that until it opened instead ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Fortunately the kittens in the pen seemed no worse for wear - they had a heat pad and a cozy kitty cave. Sometimes you have to shrug your shoulders and let them figure it out - if I had all day to hang out in the garage with them I’m sure Daisy would come out and I could carry her to the pen, but sorry girl, Foster Mama has to go to work.

Marlow returns today from her spay. I got to enjoy one blissfull day of a nice, peaceful, hiss-free clean cage before she returns with her own brand of chaos. The spay vet is actually requesting that she be picked up early since she is acting so wild and stressed (yea… she’s a 100% feral cat what did you guys expect?) I’ll hang on to her for a few days. I don’t want to release her prematurely, so I’ll listen to her kittens and do what they tell me. Her litter turns 6 weeks on Tuesday, so they are well on their way to being weaned.

[ThreeWishes]

Bless you @BatCoach. Years ago I trapped a feral Momma and 2 of her 5 kittens. Never got the others. The Momma was like a Tasmanian devil on PCP. She urinated all over my truck, hissed, spit and growled. When I picked her up from the TNR place her nose was bloody from repeatedly pressing it against the Hav A Heart trap. I put her back into the crate with her two fixed kittens and it looked like someone exploded a GD bomb in the litter box the next morning. Opened the cage door the next day and stood back… if a cat could shoot you double middle fingers she surely did. Her two kittens disappeared over time but Mama remained. And she’s as docile and kind as can be. I cannot pick her up but I can pet her, feed her, and put advantage on her for fleas. Hopefully Marlow will be as grateful as Momma.

[ThreeWishes]

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Momma.

[Brown_Derby]

@ThreeWishes

Bless you @BatCoach. Years ago I trapped a feral Momma and 2 of her 5 kittens. Never got the others. The Momma was like a Tasmanian devil on PCP. She urinated all over my truck, hissed, spit and growled. When I picked her up from the TNR place her nose was bloody from repeatedly pressing it against the Hav A Heart trap. I put her back into the crate with her two fixed kittens and it looked like someone exploded a GD bomb in the litter box the next morning. Opened the cage door the next day and stood back… if a cat could shoot you double middle fingers she surely did. Her two kittens disappeared over time but Mama remained. And she’s as docile and kind as can be. I cannot pick her up but I can pet her, feed her, and put advantage on her for fleas. Hopefully Marlow will be as grateful as Momma.

I’m sorry but I laughed out loud at this. Beautiful kitty! My truck was peed in by a baby goat. I did manage to get her to stop bleating by playing country music (I’m not a big fan).

I wonder if Daisy’s new playhouse has some lingering dog smell.

Best reality show ever.

[BatCoach]

@ThreeWishes

if a cat could shoot you double middle fingers she surely did

HAHAHA a fantastic visual that I can totally picture! I know she currently sees me has her jailor/ mistress of torture. The 2 back to back vet visits certainly did not help. I’d love it if she kept on returning to the feeding station once released, but cats are going to cat. Just never know - she might surprise me.

[ThreeWishes]

Lol! Good to know about the country music!! And these animal interventions DEFINITELY need a reality show!

[ThreeWishes]

Your feral cat population definitely sounds bigger than the intermittent dumped dogs and cats I’ve faced and tried to save living in the “country” (really just open space surrounded by city and suburbs). Marlow may never become a snuggle bug but I guarantee she will be grateful. Mama was probably barely 6 months old and skinny skinny skinny when her kittens showed up. She’s pleasantly fat as a tick now and the Sheriff of my front yard. She leaves me a couple of squirrel tail tributes a month. I’m guessing for all that pee lol

[BatCoach]

haha squirrel tail tributes!! love it!!

Yeah, our county animal shelter (30+ million dollar one) has been embroiled in controversy for years. One director stepped down, was replaced by a director who had no animal care experience or knowledge, but was an HR manager in a different county department. Since then programs have been slashed, included TnR. This is the worst kitten season in YEARS and the shelter is not taking in any cats, only sick kittens who get euthlisted after like 3 days. Its really terrible. With intake closed, more cats are getting dumped on the streets, and with no TnR program, feral cats are breeding. The mismanagement is crazy.

I

[ThreeWishes]

I’m sorry @BatCoach. Seems the same here TNR programs run through the county million dollar shelter were just simply gone in the last year. When I spayed Momma and her kittens it cost me less than $100 5 years ago. And they got vaccines and feline leukemia testing. When I tried to neuter Chester there was NOTHING. The nearest TNR was over an hour away and had a 2 month wait so I took him to a local vet and spent $300 because they wanted to also treat his eye. Which is scarred and dead. No discharge no inflammation just probably blind from being a fighting Tom. I wish there was some tier of vet service that takes care of these forgotten cast away animals …in the end it makes more sense for people like you and I to step up and do the wrangling and work of saving them. And stop the endless shit show that happens with feral cats. And other peoples F ups.

[BatCoach]

preach it sister! you are awesome and I love that ole Chester found you

[ThreeWishes]

How are all the kitties today @BatCoach? I threw an Amazon box outside and went later to break it down and found this lol. Why do cats Boxes so much?