My name is Ashley, and I have always been an animal lover, but mainly dogs! I live in a country area, where the local kill shelters are always full of animals hoping to be rescued. I adopted Kagen, my Jack Russell mix, in 2007, and then I adopted Jasper, my Aussie mix, in January of this year.
There have always been a lot of stray/feral cats in the area as well. I got my current cat when it was a few months old, and it was fairly wild. It took some time to get him use to us, but he's turned into a good indoor/outdoor cat. He's neutered, of course, so he doesn't bother anyone when he's out and about. His name is Boo, and we've had him for about a year.
At the end of July, a stray cat popped up, and it was very friendly, like it was someone's pet, but it was skin and bones. I fed her, and started posting her online to see if someone was missing her. No one was, apparently. I contacted the local animal shelter to see what the chances of her being rescues would be, and they said pretty good, but asked if I would wait about 2 weeks in hopes the shelter numbers would be down. But when the 2 weeks was up, the shelter was still maxed out. So I have let her remain her until further notice; we're calling her Cassie. I also believe she may be pregnant. Her belly seems quite big, but not overly big. Thinking she may be pregnant with a couple kittens.
As if that wasn't enough, a lady in the area found 4 orphaned kittens in her barn. They had been seeing the feral momma cat, but she seemed to have disappeared. It was told someone was trapping wild cats in the area, but no sign of her in the pound. We waited around that whole day (last Thursday), hoping the mom would return. But at dark, when she hadn't, I was worried the crying kittens would attract predators. Ended up getting formula from Wal-Mart at midnight, and we were feeding them until about 1:30am. They have been staying with me since, and they're doing really well. We think they're about 3 weeks old. I'm hoping to raise them until they're about 8 weeks, and get them all fixed before rehoming them(my Vet only charges $25 per cat, if you have more than 2-3). I have never had to bottle feed kittens before, but I'm growing VERY attached to them!
Here's the gang.
There have always been a lot of stray/feral cats in the area as well. I got my current cat when it was a few months old, and it was fairly wild. It took some time to get him use to us, but he's turned into a good indoor/outdoor cat. He's neutered, of course, so he doesn't bother anyone when he's out and about. His name is Boo, and we've had him for about a year.
At the end of July, a stray cat popped up, and it was very friendly, like it was someone's pet, but it was skin and bones. I fed her, and started posting her online to see if someone was missing her. No one was, apparently. I contacted the local animal shelter to see what the chances of her being rescues would be, and they said pretty good, but asked if I would wait about 2 weeks in hopes the shelter numbers would be down. But when the 2 weeks was up, the shelter was still maxed out. So I have let her remain her until further notice; we're calling her Cassie. I also believe she may be pregnant. Her belly seems quite big, but not overly big. Thinking she may be pregnant with a couple kittens.
As if that wasn't enough, a lady in the area found 4 orphaned kittens in her barn. They had been seeing the feral momma cat, but she seemed to have disappeared. It was told someone was trapping wild cats in the area, but no sign of her in the pound. We waited around that whole day (last Thursday), hoping the mom would return. But at dark, when she hadn't, I was worried the crying kittens would attract predators. Ended up getting formula from Wal-Mart at midnight, and we were feeding them until about 1:30am. They have been staying with me since, and they're doing really well. We think they're about 3 weeks old. I'm hoping to raise them until they're about 8 weeks, and get them all fixed before rehoming them(my Vet only charges $25 per cat, if you have more than 2-3). I have never had to bottle feed kittens before, but I'm growing VERY attached to them!
Here's the gang.