Pregnant Stray: What to do

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T - 17 Feb 2007 07:14 GMT

Started feeding a female stray. Now she is obviously pregnant. What
shoud I do. Take here to a shelter? Get her spayed (with abortion).
Just keep feeding her and deal with the kittens?

Help!

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Rhonda - 17 Feb 2007 07:42 GMT

T, if you can, get her to a vet for a check and testing. The vet should
be able to tell you how far along she is and if it would be safe for a
spay. Make your decision from that.

We took in a pregnant stray that was ready to deliver (or so the vet
thought.) She said she would spay, although she really didn't want to
that far along. We made the decision to isolate her in the house and let
her have the kittens, because the vet told us even if she spayed at that
point that some may still live. If she was not so far along, we would
have not had a question about having the spay.

Having the litter outside would be the worst of both worlds. She will
not leave the kittens for awhile and may not be able to get to the food
source. The kittens will be exposed to the elements.

Mom also needs to be on a rich food -- our vet had us put her on kitten
food. She said to change over gradually to not upset her digestion. She
was on that food until her kittens were weaned.

Good luck and it's great of you to take care of her.

Rhonda

> Started feeding a female stray. Now she is obviously pregnant. What
> shoud I do. Take here to a shelter? Get her spayed (with abortion).
> Just keep feeding her and deal with the kittens?
>
> Help!

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kraut - 17 Feb 2007 13:29 GMT

Definitely take her indoors someplace and keep her there until she has
her babies then get her spayed.

I took Kitty in at four years when pregnant and found homes for all
the kittens and had her fixed. She is 15 / 16 now and my baby, She
has not been out since and has not wanted to or tryed. I tryed to let
her out a couple times right after but she would have none of it.

>T, if you can, get her to a vet for a check and testing. The vet should
>be able to tell you how far along she is and if it would be safe for a
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
>Good luck and it's great of you to take care of her.

>> Started feeding a female stray. Now she is obviously pregnant. What
>> shoud I do. Take here to a shelter? Get her spayed (with abortion).
>> Just keep feeding her and deal with the kittens?
>>
>> Help!

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sheelagh - 17 Feb 2007 16:37 GMT

> Started feeding a female stray. Now she is obviously pregnant. What
> shoud I do. Take here to a shelter? Get her spayed (with abortion).
> Just keep feeding her and deal with the kittens?

Hi,
Please have the heart to allow her to depend on you just whilst she
has her kittens,& until the kittens are old enough to be homed?
If you have already been feeding her, I would think that she assumes
that you will have the kindness to look after her during this
vulnerable period.
Rhonda is right, she might have her kittens outside..

(I have no idea where you come from, but if it is cold, you can be
sure that she will have the kittens anywhere that she feels is safe
enough, & then stay with them until she feels it is safe enough to
leave them..which might be too long for both her and the kittens
too!!)

If you can find it within your heart, keep the kittens until they are
ready to home. Mummy will do most of the work, until they are old
enough to eat solid food...then all you have to do is allow them some
dry or solid food, & a Kittie litter. As soon as the kittens are
8weeks old, & as long as they are feeding independently for more than
a wee, then they can be re-homed & mummy can be spayed so that she
never has to be put up with being raped again...
( this is coming from an ex breeder, so I assure you that it what I
tell you is the truth!)
I wish you the best of luck, & if you need any support to get through
this, then there will always be someone here who will be willing to
advise you day or night should you need it, ok?
Please do come back & let us know how many kittens mummy has & how you
get on too as long as you don't mind?
Best Wishes,
S;o)

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Sherry - 19 Feb 2007 06:17 GMT

Like Rhonda said, give her shelter, vet care till the kittens are
born. Ideally, neuter the kittens before homing them. If you're not
able to do that, check with your local humane society. Kitten season
hasn't really hit hard yet, and possibly they would be able to home
them. Visit them and check out the facility and see what you think
their chances are. Shelters won't adopt them un-neutered or
unvaccinated.
Good luck. I hope it's not a large litter. Sigh.

Sherry

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cindys - 19 Feb 2007 13:01 GMT

> > Started feeding a female stray. Now she is obviously pregnant. What
> > shoud I do. Take here to a shelter? Get her spayed (with abortion).
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> unvaccinated.
> Good luck. I hope it's not a large litter. Sigh.

--------------
I agree that the pregnant cat needs shelter and vet care until the
kittens are born, but I don't think a shelter would consider that it's
"T"s (the OP) responsibility to have them vaccinated and/neutered.
This is generally something the shelter would expect to do themselves.
(although it is obviously less costly for them when an animal has
already had vaccinations/neutering before arriving at their facility).
The reality is that the younger the kittens are, the more adoptable
they are. People are attracted to two and three-month-old kittens more
so than six or eight-month-old kittens. I don't think it's advisable
to spay/neuter a two or three-month-old kitten. A lot of times,
shelters have "spay/neuter agreements" with the families that adopt
the kittens, i.e. the family leaves a deposit which is refundable when
they bring a spay/neuter certificate back to the shelter to prove that
they have had this done.

What I would if I were "T" is to check with local no-kill shelters
right now. Hopefully, they will be able to take the pregnant cat off
his hands and place her with a volunteer who will foster her through
her pregnancy and delivery. If "T" wants to be this person, he can
become an official "foster" home for the shelter, and then they will
often pick up the cost of medical care for mom and the kittens and
also provide advice and emotional support. Once the kittens are
weaned, the shelter takes responsibility for screening potential
adoptive families for both mom and the kittens. Generally, this is the
sort of situation (stray cats) where a no-kill shelter will take the
cats off your hands. The situation where they will not take the cats
is where someone has a pet he doesn't want any more (no comment).

I would stay away from the humane society entirely unless it is a no-
kill humane society (is there such a thing?) Because if it's a regular
kill humane society, they will euthanize mom and/or any of the kittens
who doesn't get adopted within a certain amount of time.
Good luck.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.

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Annie Wxill - 19 Feb 2007 16:22 GMT

>...> The reality is that the younger the kittens are, the more adoptable
> they are. People are attracted to two and three-month-old kittens more
> so than six or eight-month-old kittens. I don't think it's advisable
> to spay/neuter a two or three-month-old kitten....
> ---Cindy S.

You have a lot of good advice and comments. I don't know where the pregnant
stray is, but the trend in the U.S. is for an early spay or neuter once the
kitten weighs 2 lbs. (sorry, I don't remember the conversion rate for
metric), which is approximately 8 weeks old. As far as I know, the kittens
recover rapidly.

Annie

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Sherry - 19 Feb 2007 16:37 GMT

. Ideally, neuter the kittens before homing them. If you're not

> > able to do that, check with your local humane society. Kitten season
> > hasn't really hit hard yet, and possibly they would be able to home
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> kittens are born, but I don't think a shelter would consider that it's
> "T"s (the OP) responsibility to have them vaccinated and/neutered.

That is not what I wrote. I suggested that if T is *unable* to
vaccinate/neuter, he needs to turn to a humane society who WILL. I
realize that some people just aren't financially able to spend that
kind of money, neutering an entire litter. And the most important
thing is, each kitten NEEDS to be neutered before homing.

snipped
I don't think it's advisable

> to spay/neuter a two or three-month-old kitten. A lot of times,
> shelters have "spay/neuter agreements" with the families that adopt
> the kittens, i.e. the family leaves a deposit which is refundable when
> they bring a spay/neuter certificate back to the shelter to prove that
> they have had this done.

I'm sorry, but I disagree. A three-month-old kitten is old enough.
I've been there with the spay-neuter agreements. Even the most well-
meaning people let it fall through the cracks, and don't get the
surgery done. Shelters have to call & nag to make sure they've held up
their agreement. Even *one* kitten slipping through can create dozens
more litters.

> What I would if I were "T" is to check with local no-kill shelters
> right now. Hopefully, they will be able to take the pregnant cat off
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> cats off your hands. The situation where they will not take the cats
> is where someone has a pet he doesn't want any more (no comment).

Ideally, this is the perfect solution. Not always possible, but it
doesn't hurt to ask.

> I would stay away from the humane society entirely unless it is a no-
> kill humane society (is there such a thing?) Because if it's a regular
> kill humane society, they will euthanize mom and/or any of the kittens
> who doesn't get adopted within a certain amount of time.

Not necessarily. At our H.S. there are no kittens ready for adoption.
Just adults. Kitten season hasn't hit yet. It's a good time for a
cute, homeless kitten to be there.

> Good luck.
> Best regards,
> ---Cindy S

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