We have a feral mother who has had kittens under our house. We have known of these babies for approx 2 mos. now. Mom sometimes is near her babies, however, most times one of her kittens is next door with her and the other 2 (the ones that are most shy) are under the front of our house. We feed them (all four of them) a couple of times a day and provide them with constant fresh water.
We have an additional mother and her two kittens who we intend to keep with us that we have been caring for for the past 2 1/2 years. We have taken them to have them spayed/neutered, their ear cropped, FIV tests (negative) and their vaccines. This was somewhat costly.
My concern is that two of the three kittens have some sort of eye issue. They have a discharge coming out of them and one of the little one's (we call her Star) eyes is shut. DBF picked her up yesturday and wiped it clean and tonight it is completely shut again. It also looks like the other little one (we call her Mango) who sleeps under the house with Star has a little something starting in her eye. My other family keeps away from the others and vise-versa.
I would love to have these kittens go to good homes as they have the most precious little personalities. How soon can I take them from their mother? I'm trying to get the funds together to take them to have them looked over but since money is so tight - I don't know how I can afford it. Are there any low cost solutions to help with the cost? I can't seem to find any.
With my last brood, I was told that they could be spayed/neutered as soon as mom stopped nursing them and I did that. I don't ever see their Mom nursing them and I want to take them at the beginning of next month to have them fixed/tested. I simply can't stand to see any animal suffering and they don't understand that we only want to help them. They are still under the impression that we are going to eat them when we go near them (except to put down their food). We are trying to get Star tonight so that we can wipe out her eyes and put some Visine drops in them (just in case she has dirt in them) but after 45 mins. we have decided to give up tonight. She's too scared right now.
I want to do what is best for them and just don't know what that is. Are they better off with their mom?
How do I socialize them if I can't get near them except to feed them?
How do I afford to have them checked out by a vet? The last feral kitten we found (Sunny) we ended up bringing in to live with us. We have spent well over $800 getting him healthy and have approx. $300 more to go. I don't have that kind of money and ended up selling my gold jewelry to pay for his medical care (and I'd do it again in a heartbeat- I just don't have anymore jewelry to sell).
What are the chances of them finding suitable homes if I have to take them to the Humane Society? It would kill me to take them there, but if I had to in order to find them a forever home - I would do that.
I apologize for the lengthiness of this posting, I just have so many questions and concerns with these precious little babies.
We have an additional mother and her two kittens who we intend to keep with us that we have been caring for for the past 2 1/2 years. We have taken them to have them spayed/neutered, their ear cropped, FIV tests (negative) and their vaccines. This was somewhat costly.
My concern is that two of the three kittens have some sort of eye issue. They have a discharge coming out of them and one of the little one's (we call her Star) eyes is shut. DBF picked her up yesturday and wiped it clean and tonight it is completely shut again. It also looks like the other little one (we call her Mango) who sleeps under the house with Star has a little something starting in her eye. My other family keeps away from the others and vise-versa.
I would love to have these kittens go to good homes as they have the most precious little personalities. How soon can I take them from their mother? I'm trying to get the funds together to take them to have them looked over but since money is so tight - I don't know how I can afford it. Are there any low cost solutions to help with the cost? I can't seem to find any.
With my last brood, I was told that they could be spayed/neutered as soon as mom stopped nursing them and I did that. I don't ever see their Mom nursing them and I want to take them at the beginning of next month to have them fixed/tested. I simply can't stand to see any animal suffering and they don't understand that we only want to help them. They are still under the impression that we are going to eat them when we go near them (except to put down their food). We are trying to get Star tonight so that we can wipe out her eyes and put some Visine drops in them (just in case she has dirt in them) but after 45 mins. we have decided to give up tonight. She's too scared right now.
I want to do what is best for them and just don't know what that is. Are they better off with their mom?
How do I socialize them if I can't get near them except to feed them?
How do I afford to have them checked out by a vet? The last feral kitten we found (Sunny) we ended up bringing in to live with us. We have spent well over $800 getting him healthy and have approx. $300 more to go. I don't have that kind of money and ended up selling my gold jewelry to pay for his medical care (and I'd do it again in a heartbeat- I just don't have anymore jewelry to sell).
What are the chances of them finding suitable homes if I have to take them to the Humane Society? It would kill me to take them there, but if I had to in order to find them a forever home - I would do that.
I apologize for the lengthiness of this posting, I just have so many questions and concerns with these precious little babies.