Born in the Great Outdoors

[simon1]

The one on the right in the picture was born yesterday under a bush at the front of the house when I found it. Mom had abandoned it...it's her first litter.

After awhile I pulled it from under the bush and put it on the front porch and Momma licked it a bit, then went away. After the newborn kitten was there for awhile it looked like it was about dead...had flies on it and wasn't breathing very well. Looked like it would be dead in a few minutes.

I brought it in, washed it off and got the placenta off of it, and gave it some milk...it was all we had at the time.

The one on the left in the picture was born about an hour later on the back porch. Momma ran off again.

It was brought in and washed up also, and fed a bit.

A couple of hours old.



Feeding time...which is all the time. SWMBO just went to town to get some KMR for them. I said I wasn't raising kittens again, but when you see one lying there with dirt on its face and flies starting to swarm....

 

[Lightcs1776]

Yeah, I said no more cats in the house (we already have two dogs). Daughter moved back home with her two cats. Hard to say no sometimes.

Sent via mobile

 

[TheVez2]

I had a similar experience about 6 months ago. A momma cat had 5 kittens on my back porch. I discovered them when they were about 3 days old. One of them died, and she looked after the other 4 for another week. Then she moved 3 of them away and never came back, abandoning the last one. I'm allergic to cats, and have always hated them. But I didn't want the thing to suffer and it was awful listening to it cry. So I brought it in and bottle fed it.

Now I have a 6 month old cat! His name is Monkey.

 

[simon1]

Monkey looks happy and healthy, KJ. We raised two about three years ago and they turned out just fine.

We just put the basket outside and Momma came up and smelled of them like she didn't know what to do, then packed one of them off behind a pile of firewood and is nursing it now. We'll see if she comes back for the other one in a bit. If not we have some KMR now.

 

[simon1]

SWMBO finally packed the other one out to where Momma nested up and Momma took it, so maybe we can take the KMR back. We'll see what happens in a couple of days.

 

[BSAGuy]

Nice rescue.

 

[simon1]

Nice rescue.

Yeah, I don't think either one of the kittens would have made it. I brought Momma in last night after the babies had been cleaned up and fed, and she just looked at them and backed up like she didn't want anything to do with them. She may have been a little dingy from having them, she never had any before.

Momma just came out from behind the wood pile a few minutes ago...so she's been out there with them for a good three hours. Maybe she figured out what she needs to do now.

 

[simon1]

Update...I went out to check on the kittens while Mom was eating and taking a potty break. Found a dead kitten.

At first I thought it was the black one, but upon closer inspection both of the ones we brought in last night were still alive. Apparently Mom had another one we didn't know about. Glad I brought those two in last night or Mom may have lost the whole litter.

I just checked again and Mom is out there in her nest with both of them.

 

[BigFoot]

That's awesome. I raised 4 of them once. It is a lot of work but so rewarding. The worst part is getting them to go to the bathroom.

They all lived and were adopted.

 

[Hoka Hey]

Good on you. I'm a sucker for strays.

 

[simon1]

Good on you. I'm a sucker for strays.

Yeah, SWMBO got this started after my Husky passed...she took in a stray and it went from there. Great, great, great, great, great grand kitties. My inside cats are fixed but you can't catch the barn cats. My sweetheart Husky was a great cat runner offer. I miss her.

The worst part is getting them to go to the bathroom.

I've never had a problem with getting bottle raised kittens to go to the bathroom...it's just getting them to go to the bathroom in the right spot.

I'm gonna go check on the kittens again in a bit, but it looks like Mom has a handle on it today.

 

[Ad Astra]

Save 'em, Mike! And beauty job, KJ.

The Great Cat will repay your kindness some day.


AA

 

[simon1]

Save 'em, Mike! And beauty job, KJ.

The Great Cat will repay your kindness some day.


AA

They seem fine now...she (we) saved three out of four. Momma moved them, again, to a cardboard box, covered by another cardboard box, underneath the roof of the carport. I think Momma is learning well on the first litter. Had some severe rain the last few days and the babies are warm and dry.

I need to take some more baby pictures.

I hope the Great Cat in the sky will repay me...I need all the help I can get.

 

[Ad Astra]

It worked for my friend John. He saved one, and the Great Cat repaid him with seven more of its furry children.

Seriously, you have to believe in karma. Like feeding birds, a kindness has to be repaid, if only by the law of averages.

Kittens are pretty irresistible, and cats have some practical value in the country.


AA

 

[simon1]

Kittens are pretty irresistible, and cats have some practical value in the country.


AA

Yeah, the only snakes I've seen in the yard in awhile have been...in pieces. There are some mice dragged up on the porch every once in awhile. They seem to like bringing me "presents."

 

[Ad Astra]

Ours is always grabbing (snakelike) glass lizards and bringing them up; wish she wouldn't. Some day it might be a pygmy rattler or a coral snake - and she'll surely get nose-bit.

I have a nice scar from that last spider-bite; wish the critters would leave be.

AA

 

[simon1]

Hopefully the spider bite will heal up after awhile. That sucks. Throw on a powdered mustard and water paste, made into a poultice and applied with a gauze pad taped to the bite, for a few minutes to a half hour at a time. Just don't let the mustard burn you.

I went out to take some more baby pictures and Momma had moved them...again. I think she has got this down now. I'll find them again. They are two weeks old today, so Momma should be bringing them out pretty soon. I've gotten Momma pretty well tamed down over the last month or so.

Since I didn't find the new kittens today I took some pics. of the little bit older kittens that are getting frisky now. I've about got them acclimated to me. Their Mom has run them off but Little Momma seems to have adopted them...like they need that...they have been eating solid food for awhile now.

I can't upload pics. right now, been having severe internet problems for the last couple of weeks...like no service for a week and a tech. came out yesterday and at least got download service working. Upload speeds are at 0.01 Mbps at best, if the speed test on uploads does not fail to even register.

I have a new internet server being installed next Monday.

Hey Aaron...I got a good pic. of Jax for you tonight. I've got Jax trained to go down the road about a quarter mile and potty in the neighbor's yard.

Who says you can't train a cat.

 

[Hoka Hey]

You're a talented man. The cats here just about have me trained, but you can just tell they are still not happy with my performance.

 

[Ad Astra]

The cats have trained my wife; it's hysterically funny.

AA

 

[simon1]

The cats have trained my wife; it's hysterically funny.

AA

That hits pretty close to home. I think the little 2 year old calico that came up during a rain storm when she was about a 12 week old kitten has trained SWMBO.

Don't try to train a cat at home, guys. I'm a professional cat herder with years of experience.