Covid kittens

[HisArpy]

Born this morning.


Mama is feral and NOT "friendly". She's been dropping 2-3 litters per year and they're just coyote bait. None of them survive long.

We finally were able to trap her a week or so ago knowing she was preggers again. She had the litter overnight. Only 2 from what I can see.

She'll get spayed and ear clipped and released again. She won't "domesticate" because she's been in the wild too long. The kittens will be handled as much as possible until mama is released then it's full on cuddles.

Here's the new family units. No names yet except Covid Kittens and Calico Kitty (mama).

 

[FataMorgana]

Aww. Poor little lass.

 

[RobDownSouth]

My feral is due any day now. Mean as a snake. I've been leaving food at night. Will post pics when the blessed event occurs.

 

[HisArpy]

Kitty gram update.


She's continued to have more kittens; a total of 4 so far. Very long labor, but the kittens all appear healthy and nursing. Good clean deliveries too, no mess.

What it appears we now have:

2 black & white (not tuxedo pattern)
1 White with red patches
1 White with black spots.

She should stop at 4 but there's a chance she could have 1 or 2 more. A slim chance, but still possible.

She wouldn't be able to properly nurse 6 so if that happens, we'd have to intervene and supplement. Hard on mama's mental state, but better for acclimating the kits to people.

 

[HisArpy]

Aww. Poor little lass.

She's in a professional cat breeders cage. It has 2 levels and plenty of room for her to move around if she wants to. Very comfortable for a cat. Not ideal for an ordinary house cat, but for a breeding female, it's perfect.

She's safe from predators with plenty of food and clean water. She's also out of the horrible weather we're having right now. That means she and all of her kittens should survive.

 

[Tryharder62]

She's in a professional cat breeders cage. It has 2 levels and plenty of room for her to move around if she wants to. Very comfortable for a cat. Not ideal for an ordinary house cat, but for a breeding female, it's perfect.

She's safe from predators with plenty of food and clean water. She's also out of the horrible weather we're having right now. That means she and all of her kittens should survive.

Awwwwww! I love this! You made my day! Great job!

 

[Jada59]

Mom is beautiful!

 

[AlotLikePsyche]

Awww. Kitties! Yay!

Did she have more, or just the four?

Why does her ear need to be clipped? I’ve never heard of that?

Nice of you to protect them.

 

[HisArpy]

Awww. Kitties! Yay!

Did she have more, or just the four?

Why does her ear need to be clipped? I’ve never heard of that?

Nice of you to protect them.

I haven't checked yet this morning so I don't know if she had more. I'm trying to limit my intruding on her because she's feral and could abandon the kittens or kill them.

The vet will spay her and clip just the tip of the left ear off as a visual sign she's a feral cat which has been neutered. That will happen in a couple of months. Once she recovers from the surgery, it's back into the wild for her.

I've posted pics of kittens from one of her prior litters. We found them when they were about a week old before the coyotes did and bottle fed them. I also have another survivor (I've been able to save 4 out of dozens) but haven't posted his pic here. Here's the 3 I've previously posted again - Mama makes beautiful kittens.

Ginger:

Leah. She's sitting the door to one of the cages similar to the one Calico Kitty is in right now. Behind her is a "semi" feral we had neutered and then released again, there's a 3rd one in my yard too. We trapped her and she had her first litter safely in a cage before being altered and released again. I've posted pics of them on the board too. Anyway, Leah:

Spot:

The cats have their own room where they stay at night. When it's bedtime, we tell them "Bedtime!" and they head for their room as a herd. (They been trained with cat munchies to like going to bed.) During the day they can roam the whole house so they're not kept in cages unless there's some reason for that. We're not breeding any longer so we don't have any Toms or open females.

None of them shred on the furniture or spray. All are litterbox trained and they're really really good cats.

 

[AlotLikePsyche]

Oh, I see. They are precious.

 

[HisArpy]

Oh, I see. They are precious.

You sound like you need a cat. Upcoming special! Buy1 get 1 FREEEEE!!!!

 

[AlotLikePsyche]

You sound like you need a cat. Upcoming special! Buy1 get 1 FREEEEE!!!!

I already have two, but I definitely want like eight or more! Maybe some day... most apartments only allow two, so not in the foreseeable future.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Spot:

Last spring I had not one but two litters of feral cats in my rather large back yard: Grey tabby had a litter of 5 black/grey tabby and grey cats underneath the back hedges, and a Spot clone had a litter of of three white cats on the side yard under a protected eave. This happened about two days apart.

Each had their own territory. Back porch was "feeding ground" aka neutral territory.

I noticed about a month and a half later that Grey mama was down to four kitteh, but to my shock, spot clone was now nursing her three white spotted kitteh as well as one grey tabby one!

 

[FataMorgana]

Oh god that ginger is a delicious little fecker.

 

[thør]

Sautéd with Hoisin sauce?

 

[HisArpy]

Oh god that ginger is a delicious little fecker.

He's a redhead. With all the baggage that comes with that.

Mama only had the 4.

If you look, you'll notice that the red one has "stripes" on his flank and pelvis. He's a tortise shell tabby but the pattern won't be fully realized because the white interrupts it.

I'm hoping the blacks are tortis as well. Their daddy is a black & white torti and that's where all the kittens seem to get their patterns from. Mama gives the color.

 

[HisArpy]

I already have two, but I definitely want like eight or more! Maybe some day... most apartments only allow two, so not in the foreseeable future.

So, this is like a "warning future crazy cat lady" alert?

Having done the breeding/rescuing thing, I can tell you that 8 cats will exhaust you with just feeding and cleaning the litter box. You'll also go through a lot more litter than you would if the cats were in smaller numbers too because you have to completely change it more often.

Some cats will be standoffish in a large crowd so you could wind up with affectionate cats that suddenly become "meh" types.

Then there's the cost of cat munchies. That goes astronomical after 4 cats. And let's not even get started on how many toys they have to have (and lose on an hourly basis).

Stay with 2. You'll be happier. So will they.

 

[FataMorgana]

He's a redhead. With all the baggage that comes with that.

Mama only had the 4.

If you look, you'll notice that the red one has "stripes" on his flank and pelvis. He's a tortise shell tabby but the pattern won't be fully realized because the white interrupts it.

I'm hoping the blacks are tortis as well. Their daddy is a black & white torti and that's where all the kittens seem to get their patterns from. Mama gives the color.

None of those are torties. For a start, you don't get male torts. I would say the mum is calico rather than tortieshell also.

 

[FataMorgana]

Molly, my tortie.

 

[FataMorgana]

Ps. Please send me the ginger!

 

[HisArpy]

None of those are torties. For a start, you don't get male torts. I would say the mum is calico rather than tortieshell also.

Ginger would disagree with you. So would the vet who neutered him.

The one on the left is Ginger. The one on the right is Smiley - also a male Torti from the same mom, different litter. He's the 4th kitten I was able to rescue. He's been neutered too.

What you can't get are "tri-colored" males. That's a female specific linked genetic trait. Mama, being a tri-colored calico, has that genetic characteristic. She has not, as far as I know of, had any calico kittens.

This is a (admittedly horrible) shot of the male we think is the dad.

You can clearly see the torti pattern in his coat.

 

[Fermina_Daza]

I already have two, but I definitely want like eight or more! Maybe some day... most apartments only allow two, so not in the foreseeable future.

When I lived in an apartment I already had one cat and one dog. Then one day this orange tabby that had been stalking us ran inside my apartment. He still lives with me - but I always said if the complex had an issue I would let them know it was THEIR cat. I was just providing shelter.

LOVE that you're going to have mama kitty spayed so she doesn't have anymore babies. I imagine the shelters are going to have an awful time with kitten season starting soon and everyone on lockdown.

 

[FataMorgana]

Ginger would disagree with you. So would the vet who neutered him.

The one on the left is Ginger. The one on the right is Smiley - also a male Torti from the same mom, different litter. He's the 4th kitten I was able to rescue. He's been neutered too.

They look so like my Pip. Gorgeous.

 

[FataMorgana]

Ginger tabbies are not torties. Your vet must be a bit of a twat. Male torts are very very rare and usually sterile.

 

[jaF0]

Is this what's known as a cat fight?