Need Some Opinions - Help!

No, no. Beba, the younger cat is going for testing/spaying tomorrow NOT Mia who has just had the babies. Mia is taking good care of her two babies that survived. They will remain together for at least 6-8 weeks, so I am told.

Beba will be tested, vax'd, and spayed and then returned to current foster - all tomorrow. At the same time, she will microchipped and then placed on the Cats Can for adoption/fostering. Until such time such time that Beba is adopted, or re-fostered, she will remain in current foster's home and in the same room with Mia and her babies. Anyone who fosters/adopts her will have to sign papers about returning her to Cats Can if they choose not to keep her, agree to NOT have her de-clawed and to keep her as an indoor only cat.

Mia is on hold until babies are properly weaned...

It will probably be good to go on and get Beba spayed. The sooner those hormones are avoided or stopped the easier to civilize her.

I saw Mia and babies - all going well there. After petting Mia for a while, I fed her some more canned food (her 4th of the day!) - and, then it was "yeah, no offense, but this food is tasting pretty good...yum, yum, yum. (Where is the emoji showing a cat scarfing down food????)

Then on to Beba, who I opened the cage and petted her to her heart's content. She was very, very relaxed, even purred. Then, the foster who will take her for 'the procedures' tomorrow came to pick her up. Beba was instantly comfortable with her. As is the usual stunt with this cat rescue lady that was holding her, Beba may not be back - if someone want to either adopt her or foster her during her spay recovery. Wow - talk about whirlwind... These people don't fool around...

No one knows anything for sure. But, I learned some lessons over the last couple of days. Beba could have been 'tamed' (call it whatever you want), had she not been 'coddled' by my neighbor for the past 4 months - trying to keep Beba and Mia together. And, then maybe Mia would not have gotten pregnant - because they both would have been trapped much earlier.

Said so many times before - Que Sera Sera.

Just have to have better food in your yard, so any others that come by can be trapped ASAP. Feeby say, "i told you so."

Newest information:

Beba has no diseases, so she was vax'd, and she was spayed. The foster lady who took her to the spaying wants to keep her and work to socialize her more before a more permanent foster or adoption will be considered. So, Beba is gone - no more visits. I hope this is the right thing to do for Beba. Does it make sense to you all?

And, then on to Mia and the babies. They are doing well. But, the foster who has them is going to be away for about 24 hours, and said they will be fine on their own for that period of time. Leaving lots of food and water. And, she seems to think there is no problem doing this. Didn't seem to be interested in letting me look after them while she is gone. How do you all feel about this too??

I think Beba is on her way to a wonderful life. As for letting Mia stay home alone for 24 hours, she'll be fine. The kittens are too young to get into trouble and as long as there is lots of food and water, that is all she needs. I wish she would have let you or someone at least check in on them, but I am a worrier. It sounds like all is going well!

As good as it can be going, I guess. It is what it is and I am pretty much just an interested bystander now. They are not roaming anymore, and are safer than they've ever been. Just have to remember that when I go down the path in my head of wishing their current circumstances could maybe be just a tad bit better than they are.

it's human nature to feel so attached, you saved them! It is hard to let go, I wish things could have been different. But like my husband tells me quite often, "you can't save them all, just do the best you can". Every time a new stray shows up. We have very territorial inside cats and can't take any in, besides our house is way too small. But every time a new one shows up, abandoned and so scared it breaks my heart. It is neverending. Being outside is way too dangerous, sooner or later something bad happens. You gave them both a better place to be, be proud of yourself!

Thank you. I never considered keeping them, couldn't even foster them. So, I knew my time with them was temporary. Feeby (my 14+ yo) freaked out every time they frolicked in my yard. If she could have gotten to them she would have put them out of HER misery!!

So, yes, I miss them, but the concern is more about how the rescue lady handled things after the trapping, and the pretty dismal conditions they are/were living in. I am sure she felt she had her reasons, but there was a lot of misinformation/half-truths/white lies/fibs/etc. that went on in just a matter of a few days. Justifiably so, she was more interested in the cats' welfare than how she treated the humans who trapped them. I actually don't like her very much at this point, but she did what she felt she had to do. She 'knows her stuff'.

Hopefully, Beba is doing well and recovering from her spaying - and getting to feel comfortable with her new foster. She is in a better place than she was with the cat rescue lady. Might actually see her one more time in the next few days, not sure, but maybe. I have to decide whether that is even a good idea.

In all honesty, I hope that Mia and her babies will be moved as soon as is possible to yet another foster somewhere in a better environment than her current living arrangements. But, I am sure Mia cares a lot less about this than me!!!

FeebysOwner said:

Don't have any updates on the babies yet.

But, when talking to cat rescue lady last night, she said her philosophy is that Beba cannot truly be socialized properly until she is separated from Mia. She said Beba won't rely on any human as her 'mother' until a human replaces the mother cat.

Is this true?

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Our female barn feral seemed to warm up to us rather quickly after watching us cuddle, pet, and feed our cats. She was able to observe their approaching us, and after a few months she decided it was ok for my husband to pet her for a few seconds.

FeebysOwner said:

Newest information:

Beba has no diseases, so she was vax'd, and she was spayed. The foster lady who took her to the spaying wants to keep her and work to socialize her more before a more permanent foster or adoption will be considered. So, Beba is gone - no more visits. I hope this is the right thing to do for Beba. Does it make sense to you all?

And, then on to Mia and the babies. They are doing well. But, the foster who has them is going to be away for about 24 hours, and said they will be fine on their own for that period of time. Leaving lots of food and water. And, she seems to think there is no problem doing this. Didn't seem to be interested in letting me look after them while she is gone. How do you all feel about this too??

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They are perfectly fine. They need the stability of their new foster home - The now-familiar smells and sounds, knowing where their food and water is, the location of the litter box. Mom has no predators to watch out for, and she doesn’t have to hunt for food. It will be nice and quiet.

There is no stability of a new foster home for Beba (the younger cat). Turns out this group works an assembly line (just figured that out today). So, one foster to take care of Beba through spay recovery, and another one upcoming to help socialize her more. So, this will next one will be her 4th home since she was found.

Mia and babies will stay for now with the rescue lady that we turned her over to, as I am guessing that they simply have not been able to line up a foster to take care of her and the babies through weaning. As soon as they do, Mia/babies will be moved to somewhere else.

And, that's where we are as today.

Mia's rescue foster sent these pics over this morning. Expect to go see them later today.

Funny how one baby has Mia's coloring and the other looks more like Beba!! Sorry, pic quality isn't that great.

Btw, how long before their crate can be really cleaned up (sure looks like it needs it)?

Such sweet sweet little ones. That crate is a mess. All of the litter everywhere. I hope that it can get cleaned up, but I don't know how much that would disturb Mia and the babies. I guess you could ask the foster mom.

Yeah, I don't think she has cleaned it out at all. Ugh. Originally Mia (the mom) had put her first baby in the litterbox, and rescue foster took a towel and got her out, and added a second blanket as well as turned up the heat. Other than adding litter, I am not sure anything else has been done to the crate.

Not sure how long she plans on letting it go before it gets cleaned. Baby One was born 1 week ago today, Baby Two will be a week old tomorrow. Don't know what's 'standard' in terms of letting them be before you can go in and do a serious straightening up.

Aah!!! Nice clean crate; Mia taking a 'me' time-out from babies (and, other than a few pettings, she chose to spend the time-out to eat more - haha); and babies just hanging out before being returned their newly cleaned up crate!!!

Fantastic!! Looks so much better. Those kittens are just the most precious things ever.

This is probably the last pic I will see of Beba. She is still with her socializer-foster. And, as has been the case with these people all along, this foster lied and told my neighbor (who took care of Beba and Mia before they were trapped) she would let her see Beba either yesterday or today. She begged off - sending a pic instead - fully well knowing my neighbor is soon leaving the country for 3 months.

This is after Beba was taken by her for spaying and not returned to the cat rescue lady in my neighborhood as we were initially told. My neighbor thought she would see Beba after spaying when she came home, only 'home' turned out to be the socializer-foster.

Sorry if this is confusing...I am once again frustrated a little bit for my neighbor, and just venting.

Is this typical of the foster systems in general to tell little white lies to those who turn over cats - or, are my neighbor and me out-of-the-norm for wanting to follow the cats until they are actually adopted???

Got a short-notice "come over now if you want to see Mia and the babies" yesterday late afternoon. So, off I went. Rescue lady said it was OK now to hold the babies, so we did. Everything looks good so far! Mia is eating four 5 oz cans of food a day! I had no idea! Btw, kittens both look to be boys.

Also, since my neighbor complained about not getting to see Beba, rescue lady called Beba's foster, and now we are 'invited' to see her later today.

These fosters/care takers are some unusual people to deal with... maybe they are saying the same thing about my neighbor and me.

Well, I said goodbye to Beba today. I cried. She was actually officially put on the adoption list, and they even had her on display today at PetSmart. She will be handed over to yet another foster, I guess for now, until she is adopted.

I know, I know...it will all turn out OK.