Stolen kittens. New update: Mama cat might need a home

Our lives are ruled by kittens right now! Soon enough, they will be more independent. They’ll be ready for homes in mid July. Our local no kill shelter is full to bursting with kittens. I’ll check again when it gets closer.

If anyone knows of anyone down here looking for a nice, exceptionally tame, kitty, these guys need homes. Three have long hair and will not do very well as barn cats. We have a long haired barn cat and she is hard to manage down here. They get skin infections from the heat and knotted fur from the hay.

It’s amazing how sociable you become when you’re loaded down with kittens. I’ve called people I haven’t spoken with in months. And, somehow, I manage to bring up kittens during the conversation, lol!

There are two girls and two boys.

The black, long haired calico, Sierra, is a little princess. She has a squeaky mew and demands much from her servants. But she’s sweet.

Smoky, the grey, long haired calico, was weaker than the others at first. She has good survival skills and really bounced back. She is quieter than her sister, but the first to fall asleep on you while bottle feeding.

The boys are Eric and Spike. Eric, the orange, long haired, is the biggest of all and the sweetest. You can hear his purr already (the others can purr, but it’s too soft still). He’s more mellow than the others.

Spike, the only short haired and a brown tabby, is the trouble maker. He’s going to be a lot of fun. He also likes to snuggle down next to you. None of the kittens have any white markings. Good thing they’re getting tame, lol!

Order of the pictures: Smoky, Sierra, Spike, and Eric, then a group shot. And, yes! We have some litter box action already. Yay!

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I took in a kitten with eyes barely open and sooooo tiny and and two others not much bigger and loaded with fleas and weak. My vet said after they were bathed to use a topical flea med (drop type) on them - just a tad because the fleas were more life threatening than using a tiny amount of a flea killer. Ditto on deworming. Where are you? I wish I could take one - I’m such a sucker for kittens! WELL DONE!!!

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@moonlitoaksranch welcome to the world of fostering!!! I’ve got 2 litters of 4 kittens from the feral colony in my neighborhood who are taking up ALL of my free time LOL.

Is there a local rescue that can help you get the kitties vaxed and fixed when they are old enough? My local animal shelter was worse than useless and I had to reach out to a few local rescues before I found one that could help. They have been super helpful and its nice to know that when my little boogers are old enough (pics on are on the Neutering a cat that isn’t technically yours thread) They have also helped and been a great resource when one of the feral mamas got sick and I had to take her to the vet twice!

Are you weighing the babies everyday to make sure they are gaining weigh?

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Thanks for the info. Yes, we do have a local spay/neuter clinic that gives discounts for rescued feral kittens, thank goodness. We used them when we raised the first orphan, which became our cat, lol. Not really the point of fostering, but when your kid, and even your husband, fall in love with the kitten…well, there you go.

We have been weighing them daily and recording their weights as ounces. They started out at about 10 to 11 ounces and now the biggest is 14 and the littlest is in the 12s (after only 4 days, haven’t weighed them yet today). They seemed to be a bit behind and may have been dehydrated from the fleas, so some of that may have just been water weight, so to speak.

We feed 4 times per day, which seems about right. It takes an hour or more to feed them all (each gets three rounds on bottles and burpings in between). All four are pretty solid on the bottle now, but sometimes will fuss a bit before they settle. Three are eating wet food from a paper plate twice a day and one is still wanting extra bottle feeding instead. He’ll eat a little from a baby spoon, but loses interest. Not sure their age, but every day they are far more mobile. Just playing clumsily on Sunday and today they are wrestling and biting each other. They are mostly using the litter box (that just started yesterday, which is nice that I don’t have to stimulate their bums as much). They might be older than we thought and were just behind. I think they have some control over their claws now, the biggest one has an audible purr, and some have eyes that are changing color from baby blue. Maybe they’re four weeks?

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what good babies! Mine didn’t take to bottle feeding, so I’m glad I kept the feral mom with them (it let me sleep through the night!) Isn’t it wild how much they can grow and change in just a couple of days?

I’m hoping my husband will fall in love with one of my foster kittens and we can keep one… but do I really need a 5th cat? most likely no. I promised him that I would not keep ANY of them, but he could keep one if he wanted LOL

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That is a silly question.
That is like saying “should I buy this pony?”.
Of course you need a 5th cat.

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Oh, five is nothing. :slight_smile:

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I have five. Go for it! :laughing:

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We had three and that was a lot. Our niece needed us to take her cat when she went to college, so now we’re at four. It’s too much for our little house. At the moment, we have eight, including the kittens, but they are temporary. More than four is not an option and we’re hoping the extra one goes back to our niece when she gets an apartment. Three seems like a luxury now. Sigh.

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As I have told my sister SOOOOOO many times when she comments that “I don’t need another cat/dog, etc.” after I have taken in a needy orphan. It’s NOT about what I need, it’s about what the animal needs! Yes, of course, keep another one. I have about 10, all rescues and all spayed/neutered and all but one in the house. One is a barn kitty by choice and very attached to my 29 year old retired broodmare. Thank God for those who care! Our local shelter helps with ferals and I’ve helped with the fostering along with another lady who lives nearby.

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Those little faces, too cute. They are melting my heart. Kittens make me happy.

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Last night was rough. The fleas cannot be adequately controlled until the kittens are older. There are no products approved for kittens this young. We gave them another bath last night and used a flea comb and our fingers to remove as many as possible. The vet gave us something to spray on the flea comb, but you can only use it every 2-3 weeks and only one spritz on each kitten. It didn’t do much. We’re washing their bedding and doing our best, but fleas will keep coming back until every last one is killed.

More little monster pictures. I’m going to start them on free choice formula soaked kitten food today.

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They are so cute!

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What is it about orange (male) cats? I have never met a small orange male cat, and those I knew as kittens were always bigger than their siblings.

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Where are you located? Send me a pm. I might be interested in adopting one.

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The kittens have an appointment Friday to get dewormed and a check up. I think these guys are going to make great house cats. Too tame for the barn.

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fleas are the WORST! I’ve had some success with bathing them in unscented Dawn dishsoap and flea-combing while the fur is still damp but boy is can be a battle! Are the babies in your house or in the barn still?

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They’re in the house, of course. :laughing: Our house pets were treated for fleas the day we found the kittens. See, born feral, but they’ll make good lap kitties!

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excellent lap babies! they will get good pets for sure. Good luck with the fleas - its like a never-ending battle. damn parasites.

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