Foster Cat Concern

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fostercatattic

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When kittens are born do they need to see a vet? At what point?

And any advice on finding people to adopt the kittens? I know that’s a ways a way but I’m just anticipating having an attic/house full of kittens

And I really appreciate all the response!! You guys are so helpful!!
 

Sarthur2

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Kittens generally wean around 6-8 weeks. I advise spaying mom cats at about 8 weeks. Kittens need to stay with mom for 12-16 weeks, and should get spayed/neutered and vaccinated around 12 weeks so they do not develop sexually. Kittens should definitely be fixed before going to new homes.

Here are helpful links:

“kittens To Good Homes” – How To Find A Good Forever Home For Your Kittens – Cat Articles

When To Spay Or Neuter A Cat? – Cat Articles

Why You Should Spay And Neuter Your Cats – Cat Articles
 

jefferd18

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The owner will not pay for a vet. I can’t actually force them. So i am asking about pregnancy precautions and such.
Well, it sounds like you have a cat then, which is what I was kind of thinking all along.

As far as pregnancy precautions go: How old is she- is this her first litter? How big is she? Female cats usually don't need any aid when it comes to having kittens, however if she is very young and this is first litter, there may be complications.
 

theyremine

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Check rescues in your area. Our rescue will spay mom and bring her utd on vaccines at no cost if you surrender the kittens to us. Then the kittens will be vetted and adopted out to good homes.
 
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fostercatattic

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Check rescues in your area. Our rescue will spay mom and bring her utd on vaccines at no cost if you surrender the kittens to us. Then the kittens will be vetted and adopted out to good homes.
Ohhh thank you so much this is helpful.
Well, it sounds like you have a cat then, which is what I was kind of thinking all along.

As far as pregnancy precautions go: How old is she- is this her first litter? How big is she? Female cats usually don't need any aid when it comes to having kittens, however if she is very young and this is first litter, there may be complications.
She is *I think* about 2 or 3 years old. And as far as I know this is her first litter. But also to be honest I don’t really know how truthful this information is.
Like at first, I was certainly (100% could be my mistake) but I’m pretty sure they said ‘yeah both spayed’ when they got left at my place.
BUT when we asked about phoenix being pregnant and showed pictures, brother said ‘nah she just gets fat’ and that allegedly they had thought she was pregnant before but turns out she was just fat

BUT to be honest, this family is sadly kind of notorious for being poor pet owners. They have ‘adopted’ and then dumped pets on other family members before.
Plus if the cat is spayed, and people are saying ‘is she really spayed???, she seems extremely pregnant!!’ it seems like the obvious response would be ‘no there is no way she could be pregnant, we had her spayed’

BUT in these conversations they didnt say that at all, it wasnt even brought up, they just said that ‘she is just fat and gets like that when she eats too much’

But that makes no sense. And also I know these are a lot of the peoples involved first cat ever. So they don’t know about the nipples. Or the firm belly. Or weird behavior changes.

Also just to point out potential dishonesty which might lead me to believe once again that the cat is unspayed is that this family claimed they would pay for litter and food while we were fostering but hasn’t. Unless my roomate has accepted the money but not shared it with me who has bought almost all of the litter and food for this entire experience. But thats another story sorry for ranting...
 
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fostercatattic

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Ohhh thank you so much this is helpful.

She is *I think* about 2 or 3 years old. And as far as I know this is her first litter. But also to be honest I don’t really know how truthful this information is.
Like at first, I was certainly (100% could be my mistake) but I’m pretty sure they said ‘yeah both spayed’ when they got left at my place.
BUT when we asked about phoenix being pregnant and showed pictures, brother said ‘nah she just gets fat’ and that allegedly they had thought she was pregnant before but turns out she was just fat

BUT to be honest, this family is sadly kind of notorious for being poor pet owners. They have ‘adopted’ and then dumped pets on other family members before.
Plus if the cat is spayed, and people are saying ‘is she really spayed???, she seems extremely pregnant!!’ it seems like the obvious response would be ‘no there is no way she could be pregnant, we had her spayed’

BUT in these conversations they didnt say that at all, it wasnt even brought up, they just said that ‘she is just fat and gets like that when she eats too much’

But that makes no sense. And also I know these are a lot of the peoples involved first cat ever. So they don’t know about the nipples. Or the firm belly. Or weird behavior changes.

Also just to point out potential dishonesty which might lead me to believe once again that the cat is unspayed is that this family claimed they would pay for litter and food while we were fostering but hasn’t. Unless my roomate has accepted the money but not shared it with me who has bought almost all of the litter and food for this entire experience. But thats another story sorry for ranting...
ok and to answer the question more specifically, it seems she is growing every day, she is bigger than the photos I posted but its kind of hard to portray so i used those. And yeah I’ve been thinking, she was pinking (i think) when she arrived which was 5 weeks ago, so I’m thinking we’re soon to burst??
 

cataholic07

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kittens are fully weaned at 8 weeks but they should stay with mom until 10 -12 weeks old for the most socialization. Are they helping with food/litter cause yah its going to get pricey once the kittens are eating wet or solids lol
 

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Often (at least where I'mfrom), if a cat is spayed they will have a tattoo on their belly. Specifically for cases when a cat is found as they wouldn't have any way of knowing. Not sure if you have, or if she would let you, but you might take a look at her belly. If there is one she isn't likely pregnant, just fat.

Also, if she's 8 weeks along (21 days for pinking up + 5 weeks you've had her) you should be able to visibly see kittens moving. I had a foster that fooled us all for 5 weeks before we realized she was just fat. Biggest give away was that there was no fetal movement when there should have been

This isn't fool proof of course, movement from a singleton litter could easily be missed. But, if you see fetal movement then she (obviously) is undoubtedly pregnant.
 

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Sounds like she may have 1-2 weeks left. Difficult to say for sure.

Definitely find a clinic for both cats to be spayed eventually.
 
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fostercatattic

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Often (at least where I'mfrom), if a cat is spayed they will have a tattoo on their belly. Specifically for cases when a cat is found as they wouldn't have any way of knowing. Not sure if you have, or if she would let you, but you might take a look at her belly. If there is one she isn't likely pregnant, just fat.

Also, if she's 8 weeks along (21 days for pinking up + 5 weeks you've had her) you should be able to visibly see kittens moving. I had a foster that fooled us all for 5 weeks before we realized she was just fat. Biggest give away was that there was no fetal movement when there should have been

This isn't fool proof of course, movement from a singleton litter could easily be missed. But, if you see fetal movement then she (obviously) is undoubtedly pregnant.
Yeah often I THINK I see/feel movement but its hard to be sure
Sounds like she may have 1-2 weeks left. Difficult to say for sure.

Definitely find a clinic for both cats to be spayed eventually.
Often (at least where I'mfrom), if a cat is spayed they will have a tattoo on their belly. Specifically for cases when a cat is found as they wouldn't have any way of knowing. Not sure if you have, or if she would let you, but you might take a look at her belly. If there is one she isn't likely pregnant, just fat.

Also, if she's 8 weeks along (21 days for pinking up + 5 weeks you've had her) you should be able to visibly see kittens moving. I had a foster that fooled us all for 5 weeks before we realized she was just fat. Biggest give away was that there was no fetal movement when there should have been

This isn't fool proof of course, movement from a singleton litter could easily be missed. But, if you see fetal movement then she (obviously) is undoubtedly pregnant.
Sorry I think I messed up posting my response to this..::but yeah sometimes I can see the movement and feel it I THINK but am not sure 100% and havent really gotten any verification. But it does seem like there is movement. Her nipples are so prominent tho, no one could be like ‘oh yeah thats a totally normal, fixed cat belly’
So thats why I think we’re pregnant
 

Bratcat31

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Yeah often I THINK I see/feel movement but its hard to be sure


Sorry I think I messed up posting my response to this..::but yeah sometimes I can see the movement and feel it I THINK but am not sure 100% and havent really gotten any verification. But it does seem like there is movement. Her nipples are so prominent tho, no one could be like ‘oh yeah thats a totally normal, fixed cat belly’
So thats why I think we’re pregnant
I'm most assuredly not trying to imply she isn't. 😊 It just sounds like you aren't/weren't 100% sure so was giving some ideas to be definitively sure. Well, definitely sure prior to babies popping out. LOL!! I will say there has only been one time I wasn't absolutely CERTAIN the cat was pregnant by 8 weeks and that was my one freeloader. Her nipples were prominent and pointy but stark white!

I don't know if this video will work but its a video I took of my last foster cats fetal movement.
 
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fostercatattic

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F fostercatattic how's it going? She doing OK?
She’s doing okay, no kittens yet. I keep thinking they’ll come any day now but then I wonder if really she is just fat. I’ll be sure to update if she has them or if the date passes where she’ll have to leave and go back to her owners
 

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Hmm well if she about to burst you should be able to see movement at this point. Like literally see the movement, I did with my preggers foster :) It was creepy and cool at the same time lol.
 
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fostercatattic

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Well once again I am stumped. She hasn’t given birth, she doesn’t appear to be any rounder, I thought I saw movement last week but this week I can’t.
I just do not understand why her nipples are so big and saggy. Why, why why why WHY would her nipples be so prominent if she is not pregnant? Thank you all so much for the answers.
 
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fostercatattic

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Well once again I am stumped. She hasn’t given birth, she doesn’t appear to be any rounder, I thought I saw movement last week but this week I can’t.
I just do not understand why her nipples are so big and saggy. Why, why why why WHY would her nipples be so prominent if she is not pregnant? Thank you all so much for the answers.
 

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Bratcat31

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Well once again I am stumped. She hasn’t given birth, she doesn’t appear to be any rounder, I thought I saw movement last week but this week I can’t.
I just do not understand why her nipples are so big and saggy. Why, why why why WHY would her nipples be so prominent if she is not pregnant? Thank you all so much for the answers.
It doesn't seem to me like she's pregnant. If memory serves, based on the timeline, at this point she would be 9-10ish weeks along (5 weeks ago her nipples were already looking to be pinked up = 3 week mark + 5 weeks that you had her since then when you posted, + almost 2 weeks since the thread started = 9-10 weeks). She would generally be undoubtedly pregnant looking and fetal movement would have been very obvious over the last week or so.

Now, if she's already a chunky monkey and she's having a very small litter (1 or 2 kittens) those two statements aren't as applicable. So, that's always an option on why her nipples are big but she doesn't look like she's growing much.

Fortunately, in another week and there should be no doubt. Hopefully you (and the owner) have gotten lucky and she really isn't pregnant!! That's always quite a relief for me when it happens.
 
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