new kittens on the farm

[pelham lyles]

I have brought home two new kittens to take the place of Grizzy's  son/playmate who died in the winter.  My three dogs and Grizzy are all outside animals, penned at night and while we are off at work as we live in a very rural location. I keep the kitties, now about 4 months old, in a very nice quail flight pen (80 ft. X 20 ft. roofed and tightly screened to prevent other animals getting in and to make sure they don't lose their kitten chow to the others.    It has worked out well as I have slowly acclimated them to the presence of the dogs by one-a- a-time exposure.  For the last several weeks, I have been allowing the kittens out in the yard where we have a large area with lots of trees to climb and things to explore, kitty/doggy nirvana except for the fact that Grizzy is not acclimating well at all.  She is attacking the kitties, and today I was afraid she was going to hurt the smaller one.  I was working in my flower bed nearby and allowed a bit of the stalking behavior to go on until I saw her attack viciously.  I separated them calmly, but am thinking tomorrow of taking a water sprayer with me in the garden to turn it on Grizzy when she goes after them.  Will this be detrimental to getting her trained not to attack?  I can't bring them inside because of my partner's allergies.  Perhaps I should put Grizzy into the quail pen while the kittens are outside.  I have had dogs, cats, and horses all my life and have trained them all without too much mishap, but this concerns me greatly.  Looking for advice here!

 

[talkingpeanut]

Hello and welcome.

You are correct that spraying Grizzly is a mistake.  Any sort of punishment could damage not only your relationship with Grizzly but this process.  Letting Grizzly explore the pen while the kittens explore the farm could help.  You will also need to reward good behavior.  Feed Grizzly near the pen so that the kittens are associated with good things.

Are all of the cats involved spayed / neutered?  You are going to have serious issues if not.

 

[pelham lyles]

Thanks for this timely advice.  I suspected this would be wrong and will try putting Grizzy in their pen tomorrow when I have them out.  She was raised in the same pen when I first got her and her baby Glock.  

Yes, all of them are neutered but the kittens as they are still too young.  They are still getting kitten shots and innoculations on a schedule and I will have them neutered when my vet suggests.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Hello and 

 
Thanks for this timely advice.  I suspected this would be wrong and will try putting Grizzy in their pen tomorrow when I have them out.  She was raised in the same pen when I first got her and her baby Glock.  

Yes, all of them are neutered but the kittens as they are still too young.  They are still getting kitten shots and innoculations on a schedule and I will have them neutered when my vet suggests.

I'm glad to hear that Grizzly is spayed.  It's a much, much more difficult transition if there are hormones involved.  If the kittens are four months old, they are approaching the time when they will start going into heat.  Not only can they get pregnant, but this would throw Grizzly off even more.  When does your vet prefer to spay?

 

[pelham lyles]

She has said she would like to wait a few months.  I am following her lead on it.

I still work full time (am 66) and don't have time nor energy to devote to having to find homes for kittens, plus I am the kind of animal person who will rescue a tormented snake on the roadside and once rescued a pet toad from the mouth of a rat snake!  Spiders get transported out of my bathroom in a spider transport cup.  Animals should not be made to suffer because of lazy owners who allow them to breed whenever they go in heat.  I rescued Walker and Ava with a friend who had found the motherless litter of kittens in her suburban neighborhood abandoned under a bush.  She still has two such litters of kittens to try to find homes for.

 

[talkingpeanut]

She has said she would like to wait a few months.  I am following her lead on it.
I still work full time (am 66) and don't have time nor energy to devote to having to find homes for kittens, plus I am the kind of animal person who will rescue a tormented snake on the roadside and once rescued a pet toad from the mouth of a rat snake!  Spiders get transported out of my bathroom in a spider transport cup.  Animals should not be made to suffer because of lazy owners who allow them to breed whenever they go in heat.  I rescued Walker and Ava with a friend who had found the motherless litter of kittens in her suburban neighborhood abandoned under a bush.  She still has two such litters of kittens to try to find homes for.

I would strongly suggest that you have them spayed sooner rather than later if they are going to be roaming a farm. Cats can get pregnant as early as 5 months and male cats can travel quite far to find a female in heat.

 

[pelham lyles]

I may have misquoted her at "a few months".  She told me last week when I went in for their last shots that she wanted to wait a couple of weeks after that to do the rabies (in a week).  Then, I think she wants to check for HIV or whatever the cat sickness is that can be deadly.  She examined the cats sexual organs and said that they are not quite ready yet for neutering, but as we are visiting her every few weeks, I trust her judgement about the timing.  Thanks for your advice.

 

[pelham lyles]

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• pelham lyles
• Jul 16, 2016

Here is Green eyed Grizzy yesterday stalking the kittens:  Today, I used the same procedure in putting everyone in the front yard while I was gardening and Grizzy behaved herself this time.  I guess yesterday was just her way of introducing herself as the Queen of the farm.  I had all three on the porch swing getting combed today and it seems to have broken the ice!!!!