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[email protected] May 1st 08 11:08 PM

Kitten rescue
 
We have 2 queens who have had litters on our rural back porch. A stray
tom killed all but one of one litter and all but two of the other. Since
then, we have locked out all the barn cats except for the two mothers,
who we let in and out at their whim. The kittens are in shelters we made
for the animals to overwinter in. None of the three kittens has opened
their eyes yet.

One queen is pretty feral and won't allow us to touch her. As discrete
as we can be, she abandons her 2 kittens for hours at a time. As I
write, she has been out of the porch for over eight hours today. One of
her kittens has come out of the box multiple times over the last two
days, screaming at the top of his little lungs. They won't accept kitten
formula. They are too young to bottle feed.

The other queen (with just one of 6 kittens left) is very attentive to
her young one. She goes outside but returns quite frequently to nurse.
She lets us pet her, but is otherwise very wary of us.

We are concerned that the neglectful queen's kittens may die if left
alone like she is prone to doing. We can't leave the porch open because
the murderous tom is still hovering around here. I am seriously
considering putting the two neglected kittens into the other queen's box
while she is out of the porch.

Is this a good idea? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how else we
can save these little guys?

Cat Guy May 4th 08 02:20 AM

Kitten rescue
 
lid wrote:

We have 2 queens who have had litters on our rural back porch.


Why don't you do the humane, responsible thing and spay the female
cats?

They are not queens. They are female cats, and they should be spayed
if nothing else.

All cats can be caught in a raccoon cage if you train them to go into
it for food. Put food in the cage once a day for a week or two. They
will get used to it, and then on the last day (when you've made
arrangements with a vet), you put food into the trap (on a paper
plate) and set the trap. They will go in, and get caught.

Have a large blanket or sheet ready, and quickly cover the trap with
the sheep. Cover it completely, and then put the trap in a garage or
quiet place until it's time to take the cat to the vet for your
appointment.

Some vets have a box large enough to put a raccoon cage into it and
apply some gas to knock the cat out, and then they can take the cat
out and spay it. But most times, after spending the night in a dark,
quiet place, even wild cats can be docile enough to remove from the
cage and be handled by a vet.

We are concerned that the neglectful queen's kittens may die if
left alone like she is prone to doing.


Why did you let the situation get out of hand?

Why didn't you get the cats spayed before (or while) they were
pregnant?

Now look at the situation you have to deal with.

I am seriously considering putting the two neglected kittens
into the other queen's box while she is out of the porch.


That will probably work.

And stop using "queen". Cats should not be identified based on their
slang reproductive labels.

It is not desirable, or humane, to allow any female cat to be (or
become) a "queen".


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