Help! Kitten/pregnant Cat!

Aieko

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Hello everyone,
I’m desperate for help, I have two stray cats that come up to my house often, one is a chubby longhaired orange tabby, I think he’s a male. I have a small calico cat/kitten and I don’t know the gender. She/he is skinny and her/his nipples are huge. She/he also has a broken tail I believe. It’s bent backwards. She/he is very skittish and scared and will only come if you build up trust.


There are her/his nipples, I don’t know what to do, is she/he a kitten? She/he seems very young, 3 months old but she/he could be a small cat. Any advice or encouragement would be helpful!
 
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Aieko

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It's a tortoise shell colored cat so almost definitely a female. It looks like she's either nursing kittens or about to be.
Thanks for the reply, does that mean she could of already had her kittens? I’ve seen pregnant cats before but none this small and none this skinny. I mean it could be worms as well.
 

golondrina

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Hi Aieko, welcome to TCS. Couldnt you follow the female cat and see if she has little ones somewhere. The best thing would be to have a vet see her and ascertain what the situation is. If she is so skinny she would need to be well fed whether she is pregnant or has already given birth.
 

ans5181

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It's hard to say if she is a kitten, but they don't have to be very old at all to have kittens themselves. I have a similar situation where a took in a very young cat, I would be surprised if she was 3 months old, and it turned out she was pregnant. Even living indoors with unlimited access to food, she is a little rail from nursing her babies. I agree it looks like your cat might already be nursing, if she is so skinny it looks like she can't be pregnant. Will she let you follow her to see where she goes?
 

catsknowme

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:welcomesign: Welcome to TCS!:hithere::sunshine:
Poor kitty! She looks like she is nursing kittens. She should be fed a good quality kitten food (40% protein & protein based from meat, not grains) and some Kitten Milk Replacer (KMR) as well. Myself, I have had better results with goat milk. Fresh, raw goat milk from a reputable source is best but the powdered works great too, as does the canned evaporated diluted with water 50/50. She should also have a source of good fresh water (ideally filtered or bottled, if possible, because most municipal water systems use chemicals to treat the water & those chemicals can be hard on the kidneys). The male cat probably would also benefit. One has to wonder if they were abandoned, lost, or feral or...?????? Sadly, cats often get kidnapped and dump by family members who don't like cats, especially when the cats(s) are owned by vulnerable people like the elderly, disabled or schoolchildren :(
If you can provide a safe, weather protected area to feed & put them on a schedule, she will likely try to move her kittens to your place where hopefully they can be caught & homed. and at the very least, it would be excellent if those cats can be trapped, neutered, released (TNR) & maybe even vaccinated, wormed (TNRV) and treated for fleas.
I realize that these are not your cats but you can certainly be part of the solution in preventing an increasing amount of stray and homeless cats. Roughly 70% of feral kittens die before they reach 1 year old and the remaining 30% are faced with hardship and suffering unless blessed with caretakers who manage their colony.
Bless you for looking out for those cats! You can try reaching out to a group of local cat rescues for assistance in trapping and advice on colony management. Sometimes there are programs to help with neutering and possibly feeding homeless cats.
Please keep us posted on any developments! And we are here to cheer you on for your efforts & to offer advice as best we can. :heartshape::cheerleader::clap::rock:
 
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Aieko

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:welcomesign: Welcome to TCS!:hithere::sunshine:
Poor kitty! She looks like she is nursing kittens. She should be fed a good quality kitten food (40% protein & protein based from meat, not grains) and some Kitten Milk Replacer (KMR) as well. Myself, I have had better results with goat milk. Fresh, raw goat milk from a reputable source is best but the powdered works great too, as does the canned evaporated diluted with water 50/50. She should also have a source of good fresh water (ideally filtered or bottled, if possible, because most municipal water systems use chemicals to treat the water & those chemicals can be hard on the kidneys). The male cat probably would also benefit. One has to wonder if they were abandoned, lost, or feral or...?????? Sadly, cats often get kidnapped and dump by family members who don't like cats, especially when the cats(s) are owned by vulnerable people like the elderly, disabled or schoolchildren :(
If you can provide a safe, weather protected area to feed & put them on a schedule, she will likely try to move her kittens to your place where hopefully they can be caught & homed. and at the very least, it would be excellent if those cats can be trapped, neutered, released (TNR) & maybe even vaccinated, wormed (TNRV) and treated for fleas.
I realize that these are not your cats but you can certainly be part of the solution in preventing an increasing amount of stray and homeless cats. Roughly 70% of feral kittens die before they reach 1 year old and the remaining 30% are faced with hardship and suffering unless blessed with caretakers who manage their colony.
Bless you for looking out for those cats! You can try reaching out to a group of local cat rescues for assistance in trapping and advice on colony management. Sometimes there are programs to help with neutering and possibly feeding homeless cats.
Please keep us posted on any developments! And we are here to cheer you on for your efforts & to offer advice as best we can. :heartshape::cheerleader::clap::rock:


Thanks for the reply, I followed her for a few minutes into our neighbors yard until she went under a boat and disappeared, I didn’t hear anything as there was construction going on nearby,I tried looking under it but it was pitch dark, next time I’ll bring a flashlight. I snatched some good quality kitten food on the way home and got exactly what you said. I only drink goat milk since its easier to digest so I have plenty of that. All of my taps have been tested and have an automatic filter. I have an enclosed porch that is warm and dry, even when it rains, both cats come over every day to get fed, so I’m hoping she tries to move her kittens. She came over this morning and I gave her everything you said.
 
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Aieko

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It's hard to say if she is a kitten, but they don't have to be very old at all to have kittens themselves. I have a similar situation where a took in a very young cat, I would be surprised if she was 3 months old, and it turned out she was pregnant. Even living indoors with unlimited access to food, she is a little rail from nursing her babies. I agree it looks like your cat might already be nursing, if she is so skinny it looks like she can't be pregnant. Will she let you follow her to see where she goes?
Thanks for replying, I followed her into our neighbors yard, she crawled under a boat and disappeared, it was pitch black under there and there was construction going on nearby so I couldn’t see or hear anything, next time I’ll bring a flashlight.
 
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Aieko

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Hi Aieko, welcome to TCS. Couldnt you follow the female cat and see if she has little ones somewhere. The best thing would be to have a vet see her and ascertain what the situation is. If she is so skinny she would need to be well fed whether she is pregnant or has already given birth.
Thanks for the reply, I followed her into our neighbors yard but she crawled under a big boat, it was pitch black under it and conveniently, there was construction going on nearby so I couldn’t see or hear, I’ll bring a flashlight next time I follow her. She is super skittish and refuses to get in to any small area, I don’t wanna force her into the crate, she hates being held so it’s extremely hard to put her in, I’ll put some food in it next time she comes over.
 

golondrina

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Thanks for you updates Aieko. I hope you will be luckier the next time you follow her. Hopefully she will end up trusting you and all will be so much easier.
 

catsknowme

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:yess: You are officially a cat rescuer! You have so many resources in place for those cats. I am confident that she will be bringing her kittens to you soon, especially if she has a shelter on your porch where they will be safe from predators :thumbsup:
 

ans5181

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Thanks for replying, I followed her into our neighbors yard, she crawled under a boat and disappeared, it was pitch black under there and there was construction going on nearby so I couldn’t see or hear anything, next time I’ll bring a flashlight.
Good luck, keep us posted! Hopefully she moves her kittens or you can find them and help her move them!
 
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Aieko

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Hello everyone.
Sad to say she didn’t move her kits yet, but I am proud to say that I improved our friendship and trust. She let me pet her belly and its the cutest thing.


It won’t let me upload a video from this phone, but the image works. I’m feeding her Grain Free Formula, Shredded Chicken Dinner, 40% Lean Protein Kitten Food. I added a bit of filtered water to it because I never see her drink any and she definitely needs to drink water.
 

catsknowme

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:clap: Wow! That is amazing trust! I am now very confident that she will be bringing her babies home to you soon. She will be unable to feed them via nursing at some point. I love her colors - I am very curious about her kitten's colors. :rolleyes2: Thank you for the updates:agree:
 
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Aieko

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It's been a long time since I updated this.
She eventually brought her kittens to me, three of them. I brought them all to the vet (I somehow got her into the cage) and did TNRV, I got some old friends to adopt her and her kittens, so all of them are together in a fur-ever home. I would say it was a happy ending. ;)
 
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Aieko

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Thank you all for the continuous support, I really appreciate it. I'll have the photos within a few moments.
 
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Aieko

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Here you all go. Pretty cute. I wanted to keep them so bad but Echo and Jasper would not be happy.
 
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