What to do with young family?

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rachel polanskis - 03 Apr 2004 09:58 GMT

Hi,

I have a little problem. While my own cat, Cleo Carrington Smith,
is well cared for and lives permanently indoors, there a cat with
3 kittens who has been abandoned by the house around the corner.

The mother has been visiting for some time, but we didn't start
feeding her until we heard she had had kittens and judged on her
obviously emaciated condition. Now she has a lot of form
and condition back, thanks to our feeding, but of course the
3 kittens have come for the ride!

We are also now feeding the kittens since they are obviosuly weaned
now and not getting food anywhere else.

What we've decided to do, is to get the mother desexed and then
just let her live locally and we would probably move her if we
moved, but as an outside cat.

But what about her 3 kittens? I am trying to sit with them
while they eat and they are slowly getting used to our constant
talking but they are still very skittish and only appear at
meal times, so I am worried they will not socialise properly
and get a home.

Does anyone have advice? We can really only keep the one cat,
since we're not even supposed to have pets at all! How can
I best socialise these kittens? It is a shame that my neighbours,
who say they like cats, refuse to help and no one is really
interested....

The other problem is that Cleo and the mother cat (we call her MiniPuss)
hate each other and Cleo is getting territorial by peeing in different
parts of the house (shoes and things). What do we do? Cleo
was never really socialised much with cats except in her early feral
kittenhood.

rachel

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Rachel Polanskis Kingswood, Greater Western Sydney, Australia
grove@zeta.org.au http://www.zeta.org.au/~grove/grove.html
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin, 1759

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Gail - 04 Apr 2004 03:44 GMT

You should catch the kittens as soon as possible. You can use a have a heart
trap to catch them. Place them in a room by themselves (even a small room
will do) with litter box, food, water, and a bed. It will not take long to
socialize them and find them homes. Place have the mother spayed ASAP. She
could be pregnant already. Your house cat should be vet checked. She may
have a urinary tract infection. You are wonderful to care for the mother and
these kitten.s
Gail

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> rachel

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Lotte - 04 Apr 2004 05:51 GMT

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
> "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
> deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Rachel --

If you have the mother cat neutered, your cat will likely get on better with
her, but female cats are notoriously territorial, even after they are
neutered. Over time, they should come to tolerate eachother, especially if
one is outdoors and the other indoors.

If you can catch the kittens now, it should not be difficult to socialize
them. If they're weaned, they can be separated from mother (who will likely
thank you for it!) and kept indoors around people until they get used to it.
Your pet cat won't care much for this, so keep them separated, or, even
better, have a friend foster them while you find homes for them. Removing
the kittens to another location may also help calm Cleo's territorial
pee-marking.

Finally, go around the corner and make the lives of the people who abandoned
the cat a living hell, by whatever means necessary. Also ask round, look on
the internet, and call local vets to see if you can find animal rescue
groups near where you are that can help -- it's too bad the neighbors are
indifferent, but rescue people are among the most generous people I've ever
known and should be able to at least give you some guidance.

Bless you for opening your heart to these little critters. May your kindess
come back to you ten thousand-fold.

L.

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zuzu22@webtv.net - 04 Apr 2004 14:41 GMT

Rachel wrote:

> What we've decided to do, is to get the
> mother desexed and then just let her
> live locally and we would probably move
> her if we moved, but as an outside cat.

This would not be right. This poor kitty has already been abandoned
once. You wouldn't be much better than the people that dump this cat if
you do something for the *cute little kittens,* but not her and force
her to live as an outdoor cat when you could take the time and make the
effort to find her a safe indoor home where she will receive care, love
and attention.

> But what about her 3 kittens? I am
> trying to sit with them while they eat
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> properly and get a home.
> Does anyone have advice?

Set up a room where you can keep the cats separated from your resident
cat, then bring the mother and kittens inside. You may have to use a
live trap to get the kittens. You can socialize them so they can become
adoptable using techniques found here:
http://www.feralcat.com/taming.html

Your resident cat will likely adjust to and may even become friends with
the mother cat once she is spayed provided you do a ***very slow***
introduction over a minimum of several weeks. If you don't want a second
cat then please do the right thing for the mother cat and find her a
wonderful, *responsible* home, just as you should do for the kittens.
She deserves nothing less, especially after what she's been through.

Megan

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rachel polanskis - 06 Apr 2004 14:12 GMT

> Rachel wrote:
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> effort to find her a safe indoor home where she will receive care, love
> and attention.

Perhaps you are right. In fact I called the vet today and they had
a solution for me. There is the Animal Welfare League but I don't
have a car to get there - it's miles out of the way and taxis won't
take cats. I am currently trying to work out what to do as they
will take all 4 cats.

> Set up a room where you can keep the cats separated from your resident
> cat, then bring the mother and kittens inside. You may have to use a
> live trap to get the kittens. You can socialize them so they can become
> adoptable using techniques found here:
> http://www.feralcat.com/taming.html

We have a space problem and can't really do that but the next best
thing is happening and these kittens are actually socialising very
quickly, so it will hopefully only be a few more days. I have actually
been able to handle the kittens now. I am a pretty good amateur cat
behaviouralist and these kittens are responding to my efforts. I find
you have to talk to them constantly, for one thing....

> If you don't want a second
> cat then please do the right thing for the mother cat and find her a
> wonderful, *responsible* home, just as you should do for the kittens.
> She deserves nothing less, especially after what she's been through.

I would have a 100 cats if I could, but we live in a tiny apartment.
One cat already dominates the landscape! I am determined to find
a good home for these 4 cats though - MiniPuss is actually very
lovely and is very chummy with me. The three kittens are very
cute and rambunctious and at least I am socialising them while
I find a home. If the AWL can help, I'll use them. I would never
leave an animal for dead, ever.

rachel

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zuzu22@webtv.net - 07 Apr 2004 00:09 GMT

>There is the Animal Welfare League but I
>don't have a car to get there - it's miles
>out of the way and taxis won't take cats. >I am currently trying to

work out what to

>do as they will take all 4 cats.

Are they a no-kill shelter or do they euthanize cats after a period of
time? This is something important to know because if they are not a
no-kill shelter then you may be handing the cats a death sentence. As
cute and adoptable as this family might seem, there are tons of other
cats that are just as cute that are competing for a limited number of
good homes, so it is imperative that you make sure that the shelter does
not euthanize. If you can find good homes for these kitties yourself
that would be the best option. Maybe your vet can help.

Megan

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