Accidental Pregnacy Possible

[qtkitty]

I hope i do not get blasted here too for being irrisponsible.

We have 4 cats( 2 males and 2 females). The males are fixed, the females have yet to be. We reciently moved to a new home( a real fixer upper) and have had MAJOR problems with the back door coming open. Feb 16th Sampson opened it while i was cleaning rabbit cages outside and was hit my a speeding truck and was killed.

The second Occurance happend March 4th while we were not at home and could not bolt the back door because the front door was jammed because it was installed wrong and had water damage. That time our 2 females which happened to be in heat got out. I was more worried about their well being and getting them back inside at the time then them getting pregnant. It was almost dark and i was outside SCREAMING my head of searching for them ( and having flashbacks to Sampson getting hit). Shadow came right up to me that night, Delilah i coudln't find. Shadow was still showing signs of heat when i brought her in.

The next day when it was light i found Delilah under the house and she was being a bad little girl and not coming out. I was almost under the house when a Tom cat came out from around a column 6 inches from my face. I thought for a second that i was going to get my face ripped off, but he was friendly. He wanted petted and loved on. He is a dark brown tabby with a manx tail. I still was having problems getting her in, but eventually i was able to get get with food.

Once inside Delilah was showing no signs of Heat any longer. She is also being uncharacteristicly loving and is coming when called. She is also being bolder to the other cats which she usually is the most submissive of them all.

Shadow now has started being a little butthead, she is no longer in heat. She was the most loving girl, now she is getting testy. She will meow and meow and meow at me, which usually means mommy pick me up. Now when i pick her up she will do the im mad meow and semi hiss and give me a light bite, so i put her down. Then she will do the mommy pick me up routine again. Then when i tell her no and go sit down she will crawl up on to my chest like always and love on me and give me kisses. Hoever if i lift the bottom of my shirt to swadle her a little like she loves to do and will usually go to sleep like that, she will get all ticked off .

If they are pregnant it is not an option for me to have them fixed while pregnant, because of my moral issuses. Although i will be finding homes for all kittens produced, and if they do not find homes then they will have homes here with us. I know Shelters are full of animals who need homes and i work with the Humane society to help them with this issue. However, i also know how the shelters are run around here and sadly people are put off by going into the shelters around here. As well they should be because many of the animals there are sick, not to mention the $60+ adoption fee which doesn't include shots or neuter/spaying.

They all have their shots as well.

How can i find out if they are pregnant? How do i need to feed them to produce healthy kittens and healthy mothers ( Delilah is a siamese mix and is always on the thin side atleast i feel that she is although i always think siamese's look thin)? How do bottle fed mothers do with caring for their young?And any other Helpful hints!

I have never delt with pregnant cats before. I have bottle fed and i have cared for sick kittens, but i have NEVER had to deal with this. So i am slightly stumped to say the least.

 

[hissy]

I know you say you have moral issues, but the reality is that your cat is more than likely pregant and that tom that was so friendly could also have been one that passed something to her in the mating. If indeed he was the one who mated with her. The reality is that she was probably mated with multiple times by any tomcat in the area. This increases the risk to her that she might be carrying something and it will pass to the kittens. Just something to keep in mind.

I moved your post because you are not a breeder, nor do you have breed specific cats. Your a victim of backyard breeding because of circumstances that were not in your control. I know you said you wouldn't go ahead with the spay, so just know that there is a chance your kittens might not make it anyway. Again, it depends on how long she was out, and how many males she encountered, their health issues etc...

I would at the very least take your cat to the vet and talk to the vet about this. Good luck!

 

[tnr1]

Also...here is a site that I've seen posted before that is a really good site regarding pregnant cats:

http://www.cat-pregnancy-report.com/

I do understand the moral issue...however, as the person who owns the cats...you must now take responsibility to ensure that any kittens that are born are placed into homes where this type of scenario will not occur. These kittens should NOT be placed for free (there are many articles on why "free to a good home" isn't a good idea) and if possible...the fee you charge should cover the spay costs for the 2 mothers (they should be kept indoors so to not become pregnant again). I do agree that you should work with the Humane Society so that these kittens are followed up regarding spaying/neutering.

Katie

 

[qtkitty]

Yes, i know that there is a possibility that the babies or the mothers might not make it. I will be getting them a vets appointment, although when i called the vet whio took careof my foster kitty to see if i could use some meds they had given me in the past on Delilah's neck where she had been grabbed so many times that it was raw and then from being under the house it was starting to get infected. I had an Anti-inflamitory Anti-Fungal and Anti-Bacterial Cream which was designed for cats and dogs. They did not seem worried with her being pregnant, however they were worried about her getting a worse infection since they said they don't like to medicate unless it's an absolute emergency. They told me to use the cream, and in one application now the infection and redness has gone away.

I worked with the Humane Society, however we have changed counties, now i have no clue about the Humane Society once again. I do keep track of my old group though. I need to ask if they could list any kittens with theirs.

If i am finding them homes on my own, they will cost. Free to a good home is not a good option, not only do people with good homes not think about it, but the people that shouldn't have the animals think about it. When we had baby bunnies, because the girls were not all girls like they were supposed to be, i sold them ( hottots ) for $10 a peice, i encluded as a gift of sorts a gallon bag of 20% fiber pellets, Alfalfa pellets, Orchard Grass, and a care sheet which included hints on where to get the best pellets ( which are also cheaper). Our local Farm Supply store had 50lb bags of pellets 20% fiber for $7 where you could go to the grocery store and spend $4.99 on 5lbs of 16% fiber pellets which does not adiquately fullfill bunnies fiber needs. Okay i am Off topic.

With the kittens i was thinking of doing something simmilar, buying the largest bag of proper nutritional value kitten food. Now since i need to put both females on it so that they can have enough nutrition. Then when i go to "give" out kittens give the new owner a bag of kitten food and care instructions as well as a future food reccomendation that will be healthy as well as money concious.

I always look for money concious foods, because i do not know the persons finances. Some people who do not have much money are much better kitty parents then those who could spend tons on them, KWIM. I felt a lot better giving the baby bunnies out with food, because i knew that it would be easier for the people to care for them right off the bat, even if they had not researched bunnies before they got them like i did. The care sheet i hoped insured future care of the bunnies. I went with my gut on who i felt was appropriate and not first with a phone interview and then with an inperson interview. I aslo asked that they stay and spend some time with the bunnies to choose the one who they connceted with not the one they thought looked cool.

Before i changed them over to cost i was still going to give food with them, but i had ran a for free ad in the paper and had one response from it. The guy wanted all of them didn't care what they looked like or their type or their characters. I told him they were all gone and that i was sorry. With a $10 charge i got normal people who were genuinely happy to take a bunny home.

 

[addy]

I'm in a similar situation, except, my kitty didn't get out. I had my tomcat neutered, but she still got pregnant the week before!

I am completely on the same page as you about spaying while pregnant. All I can say is, I wish you all the best!!! Good luck! And, Congrats to the expecting mothers!!!!

 

[jen]

Hello. I don't believe that you mentioned how old the pregnant female is? I have said this before but, if she is too young to have the babies in the first place then they really should be aborted because she may be too young to properly care for them. If she is under a year she should not be having babies. She could reject them completely, not knowing what to do with them. Then you will be stuck with the responsibility of getting up every 2-3 hours and bottle feeding all of them. She could also kill them if you aren't around when she has them. We had one at the shelter have 2 babies way early and she had them into her litterbox. It was horrible and she killed one of the babies and the other didn't make it 2 hours.

Not to scare you and if they are over a year then it should be okay. Also did you mean that the humane societies near you adopt out cats for $60 that are not spayed/neutered? If they do that is really odd since that like is a humane society rule to fix cats before adopting them out.

 

[hissy]

qt-

It sounds like this pregnant mom is in capable hands.I am sure you will be able to handle whatever gets thrown at you during delivery. It sounds like you have thought things through carefully and weighed all the issues at hand. Most of the time, kittens having kittens can turn out to be disasters, but sometimes it works out.

Good luck!

 

[nano]

I agree with the others that you should assume they are pregnant. As to your questions, that means feeding them a mixture of their normal food with whatever you are going to feed the kittens. As for hints, I would just start stockpiling supplies and searching for adoptive homes.

As for shelters, the local rescue groups in my area only deal with altered cats. They say that firm and with no exceptions. My city's public shelter requires that all animals be S/N and current on all shots before they are released to their owner -- whether an owned stray they picked up or a new pet being adopted. You pay the fees (fines/charges or adoption dues) then come back the next day to pick up the animal.

But like hissy said, you sound very dedicated and sincere so I am at least glad you are there for these cats. I think this is going to be a very difficult situation but you sound upfront and ready to make the most of it. Good luck!

 

[jen]

Yes you do seem ready to take on the responsibility and I didn't mean anything by what I said, I am just pointing out. But you know already so you should be totally fine. You sound like you did weight the options and come to a good decision. Good luck!

 

[qtkitty]

Cats Age

Shadow is almost one year old. We got her at about 3 weeks old and bottle fed her. So i am uncertain if she will remember enough of her mother to instinctually nurse her own. She is larger then Delilah even though she is younger, and its not in weight either she is physcially bigger.

Delilah is 4 years old. Delilah is a petite siamese, she has always been thin in my book. She isn't thin to the point where her bones show, but her tummy is more tucked then i like to see in my cats.

Getting Stuck with Bottle Feeding

Actually i had been planning on letting the Humane Society know that i was willing to be a bottle feeding foster mother again this summer. It is hard for them to find people who have the time and energy to bottle feed, not to mention the experience. I work from home so i have that time.

I actually have been watching sales and have all the things i need to bottle feed, although if its more then 2 kittens i will need to get more bottles, so i can make sure they are sterilized properly. I even have eye droppers for kittens that can not seem to take the bottle.

Shadow was raised on a mix of KMR and my homemade "glop" recipe, of which she prefered the homemade ( i put a drop of Cod Liver oil the batches). Still if she is really stressed out she will come up to me and be like a kitten and bite me like she used to do, but if i go out and mix her up all the stuff for glop except milk and put some water in it she will calm down. (i have a feeling if she is pregnant she will end up having kittens on our bed or somewhere in our room, probubly on our bed between my legs while i am sleeping with my luck. Kevin is so not going to like having kittens on the bed.)

Shelter is Not HS run

The shelters around here are governmently run and are extremely gross to put it lightly. They charge $60 with no shots or fixing, but they gave you a coupon for $40 off a spay or neuter at a vets in the county. Vet costs around here for spay/neuter are OUTRAGIOUSLY high. When we had Luna fixed with the $40 coupon we spent $170 for him to be fixed and have his shots.

The Humane Society however does not have a shelter, they depend on a system of foster homes to create their "shelter". It is a VERY small group of VERY devoted people. The cost for an animal from the HS is half their spay/neuter cost, and if they had to have medical care the HS swallows that cost. If a home is found for an animal and it's a good home or with the foster family they do not ask for even that cost.

The Humane Society has gotten 100's of calls over the years of animals adopted from the Shelter dying shortly after being brought home. The people have hard times getting their money back if at all. At one of the meetings an employee of the Shelter came in to talk about the shelter. She said that it was HORRIBLE. They do not give shots of any kind even the preventative Kennel Cough, if an animal gets sick they gas it. It was way over crowded. They had a case where a puppy was brought in and was there for over a month and suddenly started bleeding. Turned out the dog had a collar imbeded into it's neck and no one had noticed it getting tight, it was gassed shortly after. They also do not allow volunteers and they do not advertise animals as they should.

The Humane Society is sort of Stuck in a hard spot now because they helped the Government to build the new shelter, the old shelter was litterally a shack built on an old trash dump with condemed water which they never put the clorine tablets into the water that they were supposed to. The Humane society helped raise over $100,000 and the government met that price, half of the donated money was supposed to go to spay and neutering the animals. Now the Humane Society can not get people interested in helping to get another individually run shelter in place because people say ohh well it is SO MUCH better then it was.

The Humane Society does however run a Spay Neuter Shuttle where they take dogs and cats out of county to get fixed for a reduced cost, of course now most of the time they are so crowded you have to get the date a month in advance or better. We had 4 animals fixed through that program, our foster kitty Geo and 3 strays. the humane Society fixes strays for free, because there are several different wild prides of cats around town. I think about every fast food place has its own pride, which just keep expanding at scary rates. Most of which are not adoptable, and if caught by Animal Control are put down.

I will have to see if even though i am still not in the county if i can have the girls fixed through their program, since i am still affiliated and help them out when i can.

Finding Homes

When i go out i usually ask them if they would be interested in a kitten, expecially if it is people who i think are kind individuals. I have 2 people who are interested and told me that if they do have kittens to let them know because they are looking for a kitten. Both homes will keep them indoors.

I think there is a possibility that i already have 3 as well since Kevin's mom was pretty interested when we talked about them possibly being pregnant. Her cat is getting older (9 years old) and she would like to introduce another cat soon. She lost her very old kitty 2 years ago and it was 14 or 18 i can not remember. She spoils her kitty rotten so i know that she will take great care of a kitten.

I am still nervious about my babies having babies. I want to keep them as safe as possible so they can stay healthy and they can have healthy babies if they really are pregnant. ( I am pretty sure Delilah is pregnant, she has been EXTREMLY friendly and is laying here on the foot stool with me all the time or on the couch with me .. which she NEVER does .. usually she is on the top bunk sleeping in the sin shine that comes in the window and totally ignoring us humans unless we go into the bathroom so we can turn on the faucet for her to get drippy water

. )

 

[rarepuss]

i was just going to say that i'm really upset at why your both babies are not spayed. additionally, why, if you know there WAS an issue with a back door, did you still let the cats have access to it? Why not keep them in a separate area of the house until you fix it?

as for your moral issues, well, everybody has their 'issues'. I do think you should abort the litters and spay the cats immidiately

 

[qtkitty]

i was just going to say that i'm really upset at why your both babies are not spayed. additionally, why, if you know there WAS an issue with a back door, did you still let the cats have access to it? Why not keep them in a separate area of the house until you fix it?

i did not LET them do anything.. Yes there was an issue with the door and a 130lb dog !! It had never been opened since he passed Feb16. I can bolt the door at night so the cats can't get out, but we have to use that door to get out of the house. As i said before this place is a Fixer Upper.. the front door was installed terribly wrong and had such bad water damage that it will now no longer open. Where could we put them there is an open floor plan to most of the house and the 2 rooms that actually HAVE doors they can open with no problem because one has no door knob and the other is perminately stuck in.

as for your moral issues, well, everybody has their 'issues'. I do think you should abort the litters and spay the cats immidiately

Yes, i do have my moral issues .. and with out them i have no morals so i will stick with my morals. My morals also include NEVER dumping an animal at the shelter and NEVER dumping them anywhere else.

* taking a deep breath and trying to calm my temper *

I was just wanting to let everyone know Shadow is in Heat YAY .. delilah isn't but she usually starts shortly after Shadow. So unless some kitties go into heat when they are prego then WOOHOO then Shadow is Not prego.

 

[nano]

qtkitty: Glad to hear Shadow might not be pregnant. Please save up some money for vet to fix or watch for upcoming free S/N sessions. Good luck!

 

[bengalbabe]

If your cats were bottle fed there is a chance that they will not know how to care for the kittens. However, I don't agree to have the kittens aborted on the chance that they might not make it (of course it's a personal descision). Why not let them have a chance at life? I would just make sure that the kittens are spayed before going to new homes. Hope it all goes well for you and wish you the best.

 

[qtkitty]

Nano~ there are no such thing as free spay neuter sessions around here ... best that they have area few vets that have half off 2 times a year ... which are STILL more expensive then the HS S/N shuttle fees.


bengalbabe~ Thanks ... i am trying to get in touch with either the local HS or the HS where i was from to see what i can do to get them fixed... delilah was not bottle fed and when i brought home geo she treated him like her own and would protect him, let him nurse on her ( although he was nursing in the middle of her chest *lol* ) and clean him.. she acted like mommy .. so i think she will do good..

I am not sure if i should allow other babies into the house.. but i am thinking since there is only one of them pregnant of telling the HS i am willing to bottle feed this summer still. For some reason i am thinking though that Feline Lukemia is not detectable til 2 weeks old .. or that there is something about 2 weeks .. and i can't remember what.

 

[tigerlilys momm]

Hi QTKitty! Yes, my vet also told me that spaying while pregnant also has some complications, just like letting them have the kittens. I have the same issues as you and decided to let my baby (who escaped for the weekend a week before her spay) keep her kittens. She had 6 healthy kittens yesterday and there wasnt a thing wrong with them!!! Only thing I do suggest is taking her to the vet to get a FIV blood test. They can do this 3 weeks after she was exposed for it to have an accurate result!! Good Luck!!!