Emotional roller coaster ride. If there is anything that did not go wrong it our attempts to rescue a cat family, I can not think what it could be.

[mkatjp]

I am very happy how this developed. Now you have more cats than me. I guess I need to find some more. Hahaha!
I hope you will find some good homes for them.
Has your son already decided which one he wants to keep?

 

[CatJ]

We have those interested in adopting coming over this weekend to see them. He has not decided as we told him to wait until they are all healthy and have had their shots. He has a favorite, though.

 

[dahlia]

Your update made my day. In looking at the pictures, it is incredible how much better they look now. Thank you for saving them.

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for all those pictures! I can see how hard this was, although I never doubted your account. The cats all look good, considering what some of them went through.

There is a definite book here if you ever feel like writing it.

 

[Furballsmom]

Your description of that ditch enabled me to envision it fairly accurately, wow (and what an incredible pain in the neck to deal with for both feline and human!!)

The last photo of them is absolutely wonderful!!

 

[CatJ]

Update. A welcome but troublesome development.

After doing little more than a very good impression of a stuffed animal, Sano, the mother cat, has started hissing. It was actually Kuno who started hissing, which was then taken up in turns by her brother, Hoki and then Sano. Today, Sano jumped at me as I approached the cage and swiped at me as I took her empty food dish. Glad I had two layers of leather gloves on that hand. This is a welcome change as she is finally starting to act like a mother defending her kittens. She did so before capture but has not since, until recently. Makes life a lot more difficult though. While I can still get her to comedown from a hissing fit, when she is attacking, her receptors are turned off.

Kuno and Hoki are no longer terrified and are now much harder to give eye drops to. At first, the were petrified and it was easy to do so. Now they twist and squirm as our cats do. I can no longer give Kuno her eye drops with out using the purrito method. She has stopped hissing at me. Hoki has not yet perfected his egress maneuvers. He was the first to mellow out but his mother’s recent hissing and lunging has confused him. Kuno is now the mellowest of the 4. Hano is unique in her reactions. Non stop hissing as I approach, she is still too terrified to offer resistance yet allows me to scratch her chin. She is the only one who grows. Sano did growl at me twice, but that was before they were captured. She did so when she realized I was near when she and 3 of her four kittens were in the house and I was waiting for the 4th to enter so that I could trap the whole family at once. She has not growled since capture.

They are not nursing as much as before. Earlier I noticed that the two who were away from their mother the longest purred while nursing, Kuno, who as far as we know spent just a single, well fed night away from her mom, hasn’t purred while nursing.

A friend wondered if it was possible for there to be two brownish and two dark colored kittens from the same litter. Given the fact that the parents are stays and the mothers black and brown colorization, I am not surprised by this but his question has me wondering now too.

 

[Jcatbird]

Yes. It is possible. Also, mother cats will adopt kittens that are orphaned or lost. Cats in colonies often share care giving. Very glad to hear the mother is coming around and the babies are okay.

 

[strider rose]

this is wonderful news and im so happy for you

 

[fionasmom]

This really quite natural and has happened to me as well. Cats and kittens rescued from a desperate situation who are stressed and weakened will often regain their strength and "come to their senses" so to speak and begin to hiss and act out. Wear your gloves, and continue to try to socialize them as if they were newcomers. I have had to purrito long standing pets to administer medication. Thank you for continuing to care for them.

 

[CatJ]

Last night, the mother, Sano, started calling her kittens with her bird like call! First time I had heard since we trapped her. She and all her kittens have started playing in the cage when they think they are not being observed. As soon as the realize they are being watched, they act like stuffed animals. Reminds me of The Far Side cartoon of cows standing on their hind legs until a car comes by. A cow shouts “Car!” And all the cows then stand on all fours until the car passes.

 

[CatJ]

I am very happy how this developed. Now you have more cats than me. I guess I need to find some more. Hahaha!
I hope you will find some good homes for them.
Has your son already decided which one he wants to keep?

Sorry, another post I was sure I replied to. Will still have just 2 cats. These are just visiting, though one will stay. As they are still not healthy, we told him to hold off choosing which kitten too keep. His favorite, though is Hoki.

 

[Furballsmom]

I'd forgotten about that cartoon, how funny and what a great description lol

 

[CatJ]

Escaped!!

Last Friday I took the four strays for what has become a weekly trip to the vet. Two, Kuno and Hoki, were able to get their first vaccine shots. I need to bring them back around August 15th for their second shot. Hano could not get her’s as she still had diarrhea and Sano could not because she might be pregnant again! Some new medicines, but once they run out, they are done. Sano’s ran out this morning and Hoki’s this evening. I think 4 days is the longest amount of meds remaining. The next visit to the vet is in two weeks instead of 1, unless someone’s health takes a turn for the worse.

Hoki has lost weight and his ribs are all too easy to feel again when petting him. We had switched from the high energy canned food except for when mixing with medicine giving them dry food otherwise. I have started feeding him extra portions of the canned food and leaving some in the cage along with the dry food that everyone else seems to not have any problems with. He and now Kuno purr when being pet.

Sanno has started vocalizing for the first time since capture. She is, at this moment, giving her bird like call. Is she still hoping for the return of her missing kitten? Her mate? She has also become very aggressively defending her kittens, positioning herself between me and them when it’s time for their feeding, hissing ad lunging as I near the cage. Just ordered animal handling gloves that cover the entire arm. They arrive in 2 days. As I stated earlier, glad she has snapped out of her stupor and has began acting like a mommy protecting her babies, but it does complicate things.

Two of my wife’s friends from work ( that is an interesting side story in and of itself) came to visit and see the cats Monday, which was a holiday here. We have found a home for at least one, Kuno and possibly for Sano and even Hano. Hoki is the favorite but my son wants him and he gets first choice. All this depends on them getting a clean bill of health. I hope, pray, that none have any viruses that prevent us keeping and finding homes for them. My wife’s friends were here for much longer than we or they planned. Everyone just had too much fun playing with the kittens. One has a lot of experience with domesticating strays and she was able to help Sano calm down a lot. At least for the time she was here. They brought a lot of cat toys for them and kitten food and snacks. Much appreciated.

Monday morning I was having a hard time getting up, as usual. Not a morning person and having to stay up later than I usually do taking car of 4 stay cats makes getting up hard. My wife bursts into the bedroom and shouts “Taihen DA!” Loosely translated here as “WE got a PROBLEM”. At least one cat escaped the cage! They are kept in a large two story cage in our tatami mat room that has sliding doors separating it from the Western style living room. We keep the doors opened enough to allow better air flow and for us to peek in but not enough for our cats to enter. Through this opening, my wife saw Kuno walking around the room. By the time I got dressed and down stairs, Kuno had renters the cage but Hano and Sano were not inside. If Hoki got out, he had returned before we saw him. Hano was easy to find as she kept hissing and growling, giving her hiding spot away. Sano took a bit longer to find, behind my son’s book case. Took a while getting her netted and back into the cage, but she was a lot less trouble than I feared. She has been very aggressive towards me ever since. I have included a photo of the cage with them returned. I have not yet, in the photo, cleaned up the horrible mess they made. I covered as much of the room as possible with tarps as they love to fling cat sand all over the place and at least one still had diarrhea. Do not want that on the walls, floor or furniture. You can see in the photo that they have pulled them down from the furniture. They also knocked over an incense burner full of ash and there are little ashen kitty prints all over the lacquerware and, well everywhere really. Took a day to clean up completely.

Question. Look at the photo and see if you can figure out how they escaped. Both doors were closed and locked. After those who are interested answer, I will share a photo showing how they did it. I suspect most will be as shocked as we were.

All the kittens are currently asleep on the upper level while mommy is eyeballing us from the second level, in front of the door.

Pics, the cage, Kuno protecting Hoki and Sano And little miss hissy and growling fit, Hano.

 

[CatJ]

This really quite natural and has happened to me as well. Cats and kittens rescued from a desperate situation who are stressed and weakened will often regain their strength and "come to their senses" so to speak and begin to hiss and act out. Wear your gloves, and continue to try to socialize them as if they were newcomers. I have had to purrito long standing pets to administer medication. Thank you for continuing to care for them.

Yes, ironically, the purrito is needed more once they become more comfortable around me. At first, they are terrified and just tuck their tails underneath and let what ever happens, happen. The two who are no longer frighten of me are the ones who twist and squirm.

 

[Furballsmom]

... between the bars? Out through the top?

 

[CatJ]

... between the bars? Out through the top?

Stay tuned to find out.

 

[CatJ]

Well, I was hoping to post a short video my son took of the kittens playing in the neighbors yard before they were driven away. I guess we can not post vids or it is too long.

BIG and sudden changes. The person who said she would like to adopt Kuno has said that she would also like Sano, the mother for herself and can find a home for Hano, the gray kitten. We are overjoyed that we found a home for two and a pipeline to a good home for the last! However, she would like to have them tomorrow afternoon. We are parting with them earlier than we envisioned. My son is particularly saddened to have all but one of the cute fur balls depart so suddenly and at the same time. He has decided to take the day of for his Saturday morning practice so that he can play with them before we take them over to their new home.

Our vet was extremely kind to tell my wife over the phone all the recorded information they have have on the three for us to give to the adopting woman. Hoki will again be on his own and we anticipate him calling for his family for quite some time. I would like to keep Hano together with him as we look for a forever home for her, but as she spent the longest way from her mother and is the one most recently returned to her family, she still needs her mother. The kittens have been playing a lot today. Hoki will be lonely.

Question. We have to keep him separated from our cats for a total of 2 months when we can get him tested for AIDS and all the rest. Now that he is free of fleas and can properly use the litter box, can he share spaces with our cats but at different times? We do not want to keep him in the cage the whole time but need to protect Foo and Mia from any diseases he may have and him from they protecting their territory. We would like to allow him to run free in rooms that Foo and Mia are not currently in and return him to his cage when they want to enter. Any health risk to this?

 

[fionasmom]

How to upload a video
These instructions might help you to upload a video.

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV).
FIV is usually transmitted through bite wounds. Risk and Transmission section of this article explains that. Ask your vet just to be sure that he is in agreement, but what you are proposing where there is not contact should be fine.

As for escaping.....how flexible are those bars if a cat desperately wanted out?

You are having great luck, but are also doing a wonderful job with this family.

 

[CatJ]

Thanks!

The bars are not flexible enough for them to get through.

Hint. We know the path they made to escape but have no idea how they did it. We are able to prevent a repeat.

 

[Hellenww]

Pushed out the litter drawer? Knocked off the water bottle and out through there?