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- May 19, 2017
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I'm a very long-winded writer and this is my first post, so I will try to be succinct. (Disclaimer: though this was my intent, I just finished writing the post, and it turned out very long anyway. I hope you'll still read on, please.)
Over 1 month ago a pregnant Mama Cat (MC) & a small kitten (BC) show up at our door. We have a 6 year old cat who is our beloved fur-child; he deserves a more full introduction, (maybe best saved for another post). In the interim, we have been able to take the BC (baby cat) to the vet for a well-check and immunizations. We have committed to foster her, and she is living in sequestration until she and our cat can become friends (a topic for another post as well!). The MC (mama cat) came and went for a while, staying away for days at a time, returning famished. We of course fed her and have tried to give her the best care possible.
Upon one of her return visits we noticed that she was most definitely pregnant. We upped the quality and frequency of her food (wet & dry). I placed a cardboard box with fluffy clean white towels out over 2 weeks ago for her nesting/birthing box. She always preferred our doormat, the yard, or the hard concrete of our sidewalk to the comfortable nesting box. Don't think she ever even touched it.
Fast forward to today. I have been on pins and needles, monitoring her, immersing myself into research in hopes of becoming the best feline mid-wife/doula I could be for her. From day 1 she was very friendly, eager to be petted, and in the last several days had stuck extra close and began looking like she wanted to come inside. Who can blame her? It is intolerably hot during the day and she has been ready to pop.
Several factors kept us from making a place for her inside (yes, that would bring us to 3 separate sequestration areas indoors). Chief among the factors that kept us from bringing her in was that we had not been able to catch her to take her to the vet for a well-check so her health status was unknown, and more recently I discovered what look to be segments of tape worms in the fur around her bum. Feeling so guilty for keeping her outside, we really took it upon ourselves to monitor her very closely, always have good food, fresh, cool water available, and give her lots of attention and hip rubs (her favorite).
This afternoon I was just giving her a check before heading out to get additional supplies we would need for a successful birthing experience. Well, as luck would have it, at long last, today seemed to be her day. She had cloudy to brownish discharge which was perhaps her mucus plug. The heat and humidity we unbearable and she was ready to dart inside. From all I had read, I knew it was vitally important that above all, I remain calm, so that she will as well. After a few failed attempts at trying to get her into an enclosed carrier (so that I could safely take her to the basement and set up her own private space whilst she was contained), at the pleading of her cry, I caved and just opened the door to let her in. Our resident cat was loose in the house and I couldn't get him to budge from under the furniture. I began to get frustrated and found myself frantically an futilely scrambling to herd these two cats in separate directions; he to a bedroom, she to the basement. I'm sure as you're reading this you can tell how that went. Horribly and unsuccessfully. I tried luring her downstairs with treats, and she would only come halfway. After a few rounds of hide and hiss, back out the door she wanted to go. I could tell she did, but she didn't. She knew she needed to cool and quiet shelter the indoors could provide, but it was all too unfamiliar and too fast.
Back outside, sweltering, & bewildered, I tried one last ditch effort to make the nesting box a go for her. She hid in the shade of our hedges and I could tell the trust we had built over the course of over a month and a half was coming apart. For all my worry, fussing, and fretting, now, when she needed me to pull through for her, I had failed her. My heart sank...and broke...and then sank some more. I tried to hide my agitation (toward myself, not her) so that she would remain calm and at the very least hopefully stick around the front of the house. I did what I could do, filled her water dish with chilled water and put out more wet food, thinking this might draw her back and give me another shot at helping her.
Maybe it was a mix of built-up anxiety, a deep sense of responsibility to this precious Mama Cat (MC), all colliding with my anger at my failure to be who she needed to me to be in this, her hour of need...but it all crashed down on me, hard. I took myself inside because I had begun crying and I knew if there was any hope of getting her close again, she didn't need me out there all upset. Add to that, several more layers of guilt..."who was I to be crying, she was the one giving birth in less than ideal conditions?"..."what are you doing going back inside when she needs you out there?" This all happened in the late afternoon hours (5-ish). It is now 10:33pm. I went out and made a lap around the house calling for her around 8:40pm, sat outside calling and listening for her and the kittens who I pray made it into this world without incident; but I've not heard a peep. And her food was untouched. I continue to call for her to no avail.
To anyone who may still be reading this way-too-long post (which I intended for it not to be), I want to thank you. And I want to ask for your prayers for this Mama Cat, and for your feedback for me. What could I have done differently? In your experience, do you think it is likely that she will return? Will she bring her kittens? Should I be out scouting the woods as we speak? I'm so very worried about her and those babies.
If you have any insights or advice, this worried heart would love to hear them. Again, thank you for reading such a long post. I'll be holding out hope and will keep calling for her. Hope someone can help me. Many, many thanks!
Over 1 month ago a pregnant Mama Cat (MC) & a small kitten (BC) show up at our door. We have a 6 year old cat who is our beloved fur-child; he deserves a more full introduction, (maybe best saved for another post). In the interim, we have been able to take the BC (baby cat) to the vet for a well-check and immunizations. We have committed to foster her, and she is living in sequestration until she and our cat can become friends (a topic for another post as well!). The MC (mama cat) came and went for a while, staying away for days at a time, returning famished. We of course fed her and have tried to give her the best care possible.
Upon one of her return visits we noticed that she was most definitely pregnant. We upped the quality and frequency of her food (wet & dry). I placed a cardboard box with fluffy clean white towels out over 2 weeks ago for her nesting/birthing box. She always preferred our doormat, the yard, or the hard concrete of our sidewalk to the comfortable nesting box. Don't think she ever even touched it.
Fast forward to today. I have been on pins and needles, monitoring her, immersing myself into research in hopes of becoming the best feline mid-wife/doula I could be for her. From day 1 she was very friendly, eager to be petted, and in the last several days had stuck extra close and began looking like she wanted to come inside. Who can blame her? It is intolerably hot during the day and she has been ready to pop.
Several factors kept us from making a place for her inside (yes, that would bring us to 3 separate sequestration areas indoors). Chief among the factors that kept us from bringing her in was that we had not been able to catch her to take her to the vet for a well-check so her health status was unknown, and more recently I discovered what look to be segments of tape worms in the fur around her bum. Feeling so guilty for keeping her outside, we really took it upon ourselves to monitor her very closely, always have good food, fresh, cool water available, and give her lots of attention and hip rubs (her favorite).
This afternoon I was just giving her a check before heading out to get additional supplies we would need for a successful birthing experience. Well, as luck would have it, at long last, today seemed to be her day. She had cloudy to brownish discharge which was perhaps her mucus plug. The heat and humidity we unbearable and she was ready to dart inside. From all I had read, I knew it was vitally important that above all, I remain calm, so that she will as well. After a few failed attempts at trying to get her into an enclosed carrier (so that I could safely take her to the basement and set up her own private space whilst she was contained), at the pleading of her cry, I caved and just opened the door to let her in. Our resident cat was loose in the house and I couldn't get him to budge from under the furniture. I began to get frustrated and found myself frantically an futilely scrambling to herd these two cats in separate directions; he to a bedroom, she to the basement. I'm sure as you're reading this you can tell how that went. Horribly and unsuccessfully. I tried luring her downstairs with treats, and she would only come halfway. After a few rounds of hide and hiss, back out the door she wanted to go. I could tell she did, but she didn't. She knew she needed to cool and quiet shelter the indoors could provide, but it was all too unfamiliar and too fast.
Back outside, sweltering, & bewildered, I tried one last ditch effort to make the nesting box a go for her. She hid in the shade of our hedges and I could tell the trust we had built over the course of over a month and a half was coming apart. For all my worry, fussing, and fretting, now, when she needed me to pull through for her, I had failed her. My heart sank...and broke...and then sank some more. I tried to hide my agitation (toward myself, not her) so that she would remain calm and at the very least hopefully stick around the front of the house. I did what I could do, filled her water dish with chilled water and put out more wet food, thinking this might draw her back and give me another shot at helping her.
Maybe it was a mix of built-up anxiety, a deep sense of responsibility to this precious Mama Cat (MC), all colliding with my anger at my failure to be who she needed to me to be in this, her hour of need...but it all crashed down on me, hard. I took myself inside because I had begun crying and I knew if there was any hope of getting her close again, she didn't need me out there all upset. Add to that, several more layers of guilt..."who was I to be crying, she was the one giving birth in less than ideal conditions?"..."what are you doing going back inside when she needs you out there?" This all happened in the late afternoon hours (5-ish). It is now 10:33pm. I went out and made a lap around the house calling for her around 8:40pm, sat outside calling and listening for her and the kittens who I pray made it into this world without incident; but I've not heard a peep. And her food was untouched. I continue to call for her to no avail.
To anyone who may still be reading this way-too-long post (which I intended for it not to be), I want to thank you. And I want to ask for your prayers for this Mama Cat, and for your feedback for me. What could I have done differently? In your experience, do you think it is likely that she will return? Will she bring her kittens? Should I be out scouting the woods as we speak? I'm so very worried about her and those babies.
If you have any insights or advice, this worried heart would love to hear them. Again, thank you for reading such a long post. I'll be holding out hope and will keep calling for her. Hope someone can help me. Many, many thanks!
