Mia's Kittens [updates]

DiamondPuppy0809 · July 2012

QUESTION: I'm seriously concerned about one of the black males as he has a very swollen belly and it's extremely hard when I touch it. He meows very loudly when I do gently touch it. My vet isn't open until Monday and won't even take calls or emergencies. <a href="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2624.jpg"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz32 ... G_2624.jpg</a> <a href="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2625.jpg"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz32 ... G_2625.jpg</a> I'm assuming she's not stimulating it to go the bathroom enough, but I'm not sure. Any ideas? ANSWERED

So one of my good friends found a kitten around the area he lives last winter and kept her. She's an indoor/outdoor cat and of course, they didn't spay her. She got pregnant, obviously, and now his parents won't let her indoors because they don't want her to have the kittens in their house. I was so devastated to hear this, what if the kittens get hurt or killed? Outdoors isn't a very safe place with dogs wandering around off leash and bears, cougars, and foxes making regular appearances in the area. My best friend asked her mom if she could take Kitty in and take care of her and her babies until they're old enough to go to their new homes. She said no. I couldn't help but tell my mom the situation and ask if I could take care of them at our house. She agreed because it worried her as well. So, I'll post pictures of Kitty soon and show you guys what she looks like. I'm hoping my friend won't want her back or something because I don't want her to go back, unspayed, and get pregnant again. That would lead to me having to take care of the babies again even though it's not my responsibility. I really want her to go to a new home that will spay her. Or, maybe my mom will get attached and we could keep her? I have the money to spay her and she'd be a great mouser. Our other cats are useless with that. xD I've never raised kittens before or prepared for a cat to have kittens (all my cats have been spayed and neutered before they are old enough to breed), so please let me know any do's and don'ts that apply to this situation. I'll need all the information I can get, I already looked up a few concerns but I could always have them confirmed or get more detailed answers. Thanks guys! We're picking up Kitty in about an hour! Oh, right. Her name is Kitty, according to my friend. I guess he never got around to actually giving her a name? I'll probably end up giving her a name or nickname while she's here, Kitty just doesn't have enough thought put into it. =P UPDATE: I've started calling her "Mama Mia" xD So, I've officially sort of named her Mia. Subject title has been changed to "Mia's Kittens" instead of "Kitty is Expecting." Here's some photos! Sorry for the bad quality, I had to use flash on my iPhone because my Canon Rebel was left at a friend's house. Mama Mia! <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2563.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2563.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2565.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2565.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2567.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2567.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2564.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2564.jpg"; class="bb-image" />

Animalsaremything · July 2012

Thats sounds awesome! You are so nice to be doing that ! I would do the same thing and take a kitty in, even though I have 5 haha! I have wlephed puppies &kittens before so if you have any questions feel free to PM me !

DiamondPuppy0809 · July 2012

Thanks, Tiny! I'll be sure to PM you if I have any more concerns. Picking her up didn't go quite as planned. On Sunday, we drove out to pick her up and then my friend couldn't find her. We looked around outside and kept calling her over and over again (normally she comes) but she didn't show up. I just kept hoping that she wasn't off having her kittens somewhere. We gave up and went home after about an hour of searching. Yesterday evening, we went out again to see if we could find her. She showed up immediately by the back door but she was thin and it was obvious she had given birth to her kittens somewhere outside. I was so worried, cats normally hide their kittens so well. We tried putting her down and just watching where she went, but she's so friendly that she kept coming back to us for pets. We waited for about an hour and a half before we saw her climb into the broken window of an abandoned car and slip through the old speaker holes into the trunk. We found the trunk release, opened it, and found the four little kittens! I made sure to double check the whole car to make sure there weren't any others hidden somewhere but I didn't find any. We gathered the kittens and momma kitty and brought them home. I was so glad we didn't have to leave without finding the little ones.

She was so comfortable with us, she started nursing the babies right in my lap in the vehicle. She adapted so quickly to my bedroom once we were home as well, I'm lucky she's such an easygoing cat, she didn't show very many signs of being too stressed. I'm picking up kitten food for her to eat while she's nursing later today. For now, my friend is watching them at my house while I'm babysitting kids until Friday. I'll probably post pictures of each kitten and momma Kitty as soon as I get home. I didn't want to cause them any stress last night since we were moving them around so much, so I didn't get any photos.

Animalsaremything · July 2012

Omg I would be soo scared! I am glad they are safe& Healthy! Congrats! How many boys&girls? lol! Yep if you have any questions feel free to Pme me!

DiamondPuppy0809 · July 2012

I'm not sure who's a boy and who's a girl yet, when I get home tonight I'm going to try and figure it out. It sounds a bit difficult at first. =P

Animalsaremything · July 2012

Haha its not that hard lol

DiamondPuppy0809 · July 2012

More pictures added to original post but here's two of the four kittens. <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2574.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2574.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2580.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2580.jpg"; class="bb-image" />

EmmeZoec · August 2012

They're adorable! I love the momma! Good luck with sexing them, I hear its a lot harder with cats/'kittens then with other animals like dogs or horses.

Minx · August 2012

Tho are some big kittens!!

Animalsaremything · August 2012

Those kittens are soo cute!! I love the mother!

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

VampireVenom wrote:

Tho are some big kittens!!

They do look big, don't they? But actually, Mia is the size of a 7-8 month old kitten. I think she's a really young mom, her previous owners don't know how old she is. I'm guessing she's about 10-12 months, poor girl is just a baby herself.

Animalsaremything · August 2012

What kind of oweners where they ?Poor kitty! She was left alone!

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

They just let her roam outside when she was really young, resulting in her becoming pregnant at a young age. They also had an intact male that they let roam anywhere as well, probably the male that got her pregnant. They're not very responsible, as with a lot of the people that own cats in that area. There are plenty of intact, feral cats running around. As well as intact dogs. Mia is clearly grateful for having such a safe place for her kittens, she has her food and water bowl filled up 24/7 (something she didn't have where she was before, I witnessed her go into the neighbor's yard just to get a drink from their kid's pool) and she gets half a can of wet food every day. I'm trying to keep her healthy and producing milk. I really think my mom will get attached to her and want to keep her, she loves her already. xD She's just such a sweetheart and she reminds me of my old cat, Kiara, who disappeared one day when I was ten and never came home. I was thinking of asking $50 per kitten when they go to their new homes to cover spaying costs for mama Mia. That way, even if I can't keep her, she can still be spayed with that money and given to a good home. Plus, asking for a high enough fee for the kittens (who will be de-wormed) will result in them going to more dedicated homes.

Animalsaremything · August 2012

That sounds good, make sure you have papers so that the new oweners dont put the kittens back in the wild. And stuff like that.

FlyTM · August 2012

Its depens on the mother, like I'v had a cat that didn't care who picked up her kittens,Tessa, she looked like that girl there but got hit by some drunks driving a car. My other cat was a bit of a ... and if you picked up the kittens, she would move them but like you need to play with them and such or they will come out like one my kittens who I ended up keeping becuase she is so anti social with anything but me T.T.. our hand raise kittens came out great family house cats becuase we had to step in and spent more time with them. The only thing I would say is if they healthy and getting bigger they should be alright, just de-flea the mother if they need it, I would only worry if a kitten is not putting on weight and are losing it, only thing I would say to keep an eye out for but every cat is different as a mother, my girl Tessa loved being a mother so did one of my other girls, I had two that didn't want to be mothers and two that never had a chance -got them fixed in time- T.T.. Don't have this problem anymore though, all my girls are now fixed!!

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

I'll be sure to play with them a lot.

I'm done babysitting in two days so they'll have my full attention, although they probably won't need it a lot for another two weeks anyway. I have a super anti-social cat named Lizzie and she's the biggest spazz ever. She doesn't even trust me and I've lived with her for her entire life. I wouldn't want one of these kittens to live that kind of life... hiding under a bed all day from perfectly loving, dedicated owners... More photos! I have tiny hands but this is to show the sizes of Mia and her kittens. <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2586.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2586.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2589.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2589.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2590-1.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2590-1.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2591.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2591.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2592.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2592.jpg"; class="bb-image" /> <img src="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2593.jpg"; alt="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2593.jpg"; class="bb-image" />

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

Okay, so! We have three boys and one girl, as far as I can tell. Both blacks are males as well as the grey. The tortie (or calico?) one is a female. Here's a short video. Sorry it's sideways! <a href="http://s840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/?action=view¤t=IMG_2583.mp4"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://s840.photobucket.com/albums/zz32 ... G_2583.mp4</a>

FlyTM · August 2012

Its rare for torties to be males like its rare for gingers to be females xD some gene thing ;D They are pretty kittens so I'm sure they will find good homes.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

I'm seriously concerned about one of the black males as he has a very swollen belly and it's extremely hard when I touch it. He meows very loudly when I do gently touch it. My vet isn't open until Monday and won't even take calls or emergencies. <a href="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2624.jpg"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz32 ... G_2624.jpg</a> <a href="http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz327/Molly-Doll/IMG_2625.jpg"; target="_blank" class="bb-url">http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/zz32 ... G_2625.jpg</a> I'm assuming she's not stimulating it to go the bathroom enough, but I'm not sure. Any ideas?

EmmeZoec · August 2012

I know when my friend had some orphan kittens they were able to make them go to the bathroom by rubbing their stomachs a certain way or something. It might be worth looking up online. Is the mom deformed? I'm not a cat expert but I know dogs/puppies can get big bellies when they have worms.

Animalsaremything · August 2012

Yeah I think it is worms so you can go online and get de worming medicne.

Horsegirl210 · August 2012

It's possible that it may be worms. Poor baby. Yeah I think you can get worm stuff at the pet store or online. Btw they're all super cute!

SC`s Stars II · August 2012

Most animals are born with intestinal parasites of some kind. It's most likely worms that the kitten has. It could also have to do with the kitten not going to the bathroom enough. Watch closely for when the kitten eats and when he/she is done gently rub their stomach to induce a bowel movement

Kittens can't be dewormed until they are about a month old but it varies with the type of worms they have. Check with your vet to see what they recommend.

FlyTM · August 2012

I know you can deflea the mother becuase they jump between her and the kittens, I'm trying to remember if is was safe to worm the mother while kittens are feding because its gets into the milk and may help them or not ugh.. I hate when I forgot import stuff like that =.=' and most the time when you see animals with bellys like that, they have worms, if its not worms than seeing the vet is the best idea.

Trianna · August 2012

If you think they aren't going enough rub their...um, downstairs... with a warm, moist cloth. The mother should be licking them, but if it's her first litter she might be a bit overwhelemed. It's very important to make sure they are going enough, as in addition to impaction there's also a risk of infected anal glands if they aren't having enough bowel movements, or kidney damage if they don't urinate enough. As a side note, tortis and calicos are almost always female because black and orange pigment are carried on the x chromosome, and as most males are xy they can't express both.

MadDingo · August 2012

Trianna wrote:

If you think they aren't going enough rub their...um, downstairs... with a warm, moist cloth. The mother should be licking them, but if it's her first litter she might be a bit overwhelemed. It's very important to make sure they are going enough, as in addition to impaction there's also a risk of infected *edited* glands if they aren't having enough bowel movements, or kidney damage if they don't urinate enough. As a side note, tortis and calicos are almost always female because black and orange pigment are carried on the x chromosome, and as most males are xy they can't express both.

I was going to suggest the cloth as well. The warm water will stimulate them to defecate/urinate. And was also going to say the same about the chromosomes. It is even the same in guinie pigs xD

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

Thank you for all of the answers, guys. I spent a lot of time looking things up and such, I think he's simply just a piggy kitten with worms. He likes to eat, he's the first one to cry when mom leaves after feeding them and he's always shoving his siblings around when Mia steps in to feed them. They probably all have worms so I'll be purchasing that around the time I can treat them with it. Last time we had to buy de-wormer off of my vet it came to about $125 for 2 large dogs, 2 small dogs, and 2 cats. So I'm hoping 4 kittens and 1 cat won't be nearly as much because the costs are coming out of my pocket and they're not my cats (however, I am truly loving the experience to raise them anyway, it's amazing. I do love the fact that I'm helping these animals as well). We named all the kittens just so that we have something to call them for the next 7ish weeks. Blake, Blaze, Zeke, and Scarlet. I'll post pictures with their names later so that you guys know who is who! Zeke has had his eyes open for 3 days now and Blaze and Scarlet have half-opened eyes. Blake (the kitten with the big tummy) looks like he's trying to open his eyes but not much has happened yet, I still keep a close eye on him.

MadDingo · August 2012

You should be able to buy a worker at your local store for cats. We did. It will not cost you nearly as much.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

Animalsaremything · August 2012

Oh my godd!!!!!! When you go to the vet make sure the vet checks there eyes. They have a little bit of stuff by them.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2012

tiny dancer wrote:

Oh my godd!!!!!! When you go to the vet make sure the vet checks there eyes. They have a little bit of stuff by them.

Yeah, I'm sure he'll check everything. But I'm not sure I'll be able to take them to the vet, I might need to leave that up to the new owners because the money will come out of my pocket. I have no problem de-worming but vet check-ups are extremely costly here, especially for a litter of kittens.

Luckily, I might be able to get a local rescue involved that will have them vet checked with shots and create spay/neuter contracts. If not, I'm telling my friends and keeping them updated, hopefully they can go to people I know if the rescue is not an option.

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Mia's Kittens [updates]

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