Alright, whose up for a story?
I signed up to foster momma cats and kittens, I got my first litter, a group of older orphan kittens who just need a place to socialize and grow until they're old enough to be neutered. I had them for two weeks, thought it was easy enough, had the time and room necessary so I volunteered to take on another set.
This group... I got a mom and three kittens yesterday. If you've read my title, you know something is about to go down. Mom cat is scared, not hissing or swatting, but pretending that she isn't there and hiding in the back of the carrier. She's young, like... I'm not sure how old but somewhere between six and ten months. She's practically a kitten herself. Kittens are a week old at most. Before I went home, the shelter warned me that one of the kittens didn't seem to be doing too well.
I leave the carrier in the crate, there's still plenty of room for them to move around if they want, but I try to leave them be to get settled in. I check back in on them, and mom cat is still planted in the carrier. Wanting her to eat, I pick up the carrier and start taking the kittens out and gently putting them into the crate. When I grab the second kitten... It was dead. I was devastated. My family finished taking the mom and other kitten out while I went to call the shelter.
Later I noticed mom cat hadn't fed her babies since we brought her home. She's been stiff and ignored her two squealing bundles. Again I let the shelter know, they suggested that the mom cat might take a day or so to settle in before feeding her kittens again. They offered to let me pick up some kitten milk replacer when they opened the next day just in case.
Worried and perhaps paranoid for the remaining two kittens, I .went to walmart and picked up some milk replacer and bottles myself, I fed the two myself because I couldn't bare to leave them hungry until then.
Afterwards I left them with their mom and went to bed.
The next morning the mom cat was gone. I have no clue where she went. The crate I had her in was actually two crates put together so they would have plenty of room, I figure she must of forced her way through where the two meet. I hadn't thought it would be large enough but somehow she got out of the crate. Then she should have been in the sunroom still, it had two doors and both were close. But there was a window to the kitchen which I often used to refill their water dish, I must have left it open. That meant she could be anywhere inside the house, or because of all the in and out foot traffic, she may have even managed to get outside.
I searched and searched for her, but couldn't find any sign of her. I left out wet food and even put a trap outside for her. I hope I find her soon, it's really scary not knowing where she went or even if she'd okay.
I started bottle feeding her kittens, and will continue doing so every two to three hours. I have all the pamplets and instructions for how to care for orphan kittens. I keep rereading them over and over to make sure I'm doing it right. These kittens are not orphans, but might as well be since mom kitty is too freaked out to answer her babies cries.
I've talked to the shelter, but there's not really much they can do to help me. I wish I knew where mom cat has gone, it's my fault she got out and it's eating me up that she's gone.
Any tips at all will be welcome, I think it's pretty clear now how inexperienced I really am with all this. I just wanted to help, but somehow I just made things a whole lot worse for these cats.
I signed up to foster momma cats and kittens, I got my first litter, a group of older orphan kittens who just need a place to socialize and grow until they're old enough to be neutered. I had them for two weeks, thought it was easy enough, had the time and room necessary so I volunteered to take on another set.
This group... I got a mom and three kittens yesterday. If you've read my title, you know something is about to go down. Mom cat is scared, not hissing or swatting, but pretending that she isn't there and hiding in the back of the carrier. She's young, like... I'm not sure how old but somewhere between six and ten months. She's practically a kitten herself. Kittens are a week old at most. Before I went home, the shelter warned me that one of the kittens didn't seem to be doing too well.
I leave the carrier in the crate, there's still plenty of room for them to move around if they want, but I try to leave them be to get settled in. I check back in on them, and mom cat is still planted in the carrier. Wanting her to eat, I pick up the carrier and start taking the kittens out and gently putting them into the crate. When I grab the second kitten... It was dead. I was devastated. My family finished taking the mom and other kitten out while I went to call the shelter.
Later I noticed mom cat hadn't fed her babies since we brought her home. She's been stiff and ignored her two squealing bundles. Again I let the shelter know, they suggested that the mom cat might take a day or so to settle in before feeding her kittens again. They offered to let me pick up some kitten milk replacer when they opened the next day just in case.
Worried and perhaps paranoid for the remaining two kittens, I .went to walmart and picked up some milk replacer and bottles myself, I fed the two myself because I couldn't bare to leave them hungry until then.
Afterwards I left them with their mom and went to bed.
The next morning the mom cat was gone. I have no clue where she went. The crate I had her in was actually two crates put together so they would have plenty of room, I figure she must of forced her way through where the two meet. I hadn't thought it would be large enough but somehow she got out of the crate. Then she should have been in the sunroom still, it had two doors and both were close. But there was a window to the kitchen which I often used to refill their water dish, I must have left it open. That meant she could be anywhere inside the house, or because of all the in and out foot traffic, she may have even managed to get outside.
I searched and searched for her, but couldn't find any sign of her. I left out wet food and even put a trap outside for her. I hope I find her soon, it's really scary not knowing where she went or even if she'd okay.
I started bottle feeding her kittens, and will continue doing so every two to three hours. I have all the pamplets and instructions for how to care for orphan kittens. I keep rereading them over and over to make sure I'm doing it right. These kittens are not orphans, but might as well be since mom kitty is too freaked out to answer her babies cries.
I've talked to the shelter, but there's not really much they can do to help me. I wish I knew where mom cat has gone, it's my fault she got out and it's eating me up that she's gone.
Any tips at all will be welcome, I think it's pretty clear now how inexperienced I really am with all this. I just wanted to help, but somehow I just made things a whole lot worse for these cats.
Wow! You have certainly entered the world of foster with a bang! And doing fantastic - you have awesome instincts. Yes, there was a tragic loss but you mustered on; a lesser soul would have aborted the mission. 
