Kitten Ranch

[Dishonored]

 It's that time of year again! So far this year we've had five litters for a total of sixteen kittens. Four have died due to genetic defects and bad weather, but the rest are healthy, fat, and growing fast.

Wendy's litter:


Domino's litter:


Skeek's litter:


Wendy's litter is a combination of hers and Baby's, and sadly the white and black-and-white pictured were two I lost. Baby has a terrible genetic problem, and so far only three kittens out of six litters have lived, two with serious problems as adults. I can't get her fixed because she's too feral and paranoid to get to the vet.

[ZacAttac21]

About Baby... Have you tried trapping her, to take her to be neutered? And have her 2 problem children been neutered?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

alternatively, talk to the vet about perhaps ways of getting her; darts or drugged food leap to mind, but he (or she) might have some better ideas...

[Dishonored]

 We've tried trapping her, but so far it hasn't been successful. And unfortunately the local vet isn't willing to make house calls for anything except serious emergencies. I have a dozen farm cats; drugging the food isn't an option for the same reason traps won't work. One of the others will always get into it.

The two adults haven't been fixed yet. Nameless and Riddler are both indoors, and Nameless has never come into season. Riddler's body was rejecting his own teeth, causing severe swelling and infections, so I had to have surgery on him to remove almost all of his teeth. That was just a month ago; I haven't had the money or a chance to have him fixed yet. Since Nameless is my only indoors female, getting the males fixed isn't a very high priority.

[Razmoudah]

Thankfully my five kittens are all doing well.  They still aren't interested in food that isn't "mama juice", and I feel sorry for C.C. with them starting to have several, if not most, of their teeth in, but they're doing great for being four weeks old.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

We've tried trapping her, but so far it hasn't been successful. And unfortunately the local vet isn't willing to make house calls for anything except serious emergencies. I have a dozen farm cats; drugging the food isn't an option for the same reason traps won't work. One of the others will always get into it.

Ah, I see. Fair enough - it was just a thought. I mean, for my money I'd be "drug the lot, and have a bunch of sleepy cats for a day - how would you tell the difference?", but that does mean a lot more food put out, and more money. So I can see why you wouldn't want to. ;-]

The other half of your conversation explains more, which is also fine. No critique was intended.

[Dishonored]

Ah, I see. Fair enough - it was just a thought. I mean, for my money I'd be "drug the lot, and have a bunch of sleepy cats for a day - how would you tell the difference?", but that does mean a lot more food put out, and more money. So I can see why you wouldn't want to. ;-]

The other half of your conversation explains more, which is also fine. No critique was intended.

*snip*

I didn't take it as critique, really. I did the mass feeding trick about a decade back, trying to get an injured feral to the vet. The feral didn't get enough of a dose, while two more docile ones ended up going to the vet because the dosage they got was too high. It's really hard to portion out proper dosage when the cats involved have a wide range of weights and sizes. On one end, Skeek weighs about three pounds soaking wet, while Crosshairs tips the scales at just over twelve. 

Good to hear your kittens are doing well, Razmoudah. Mine are between three weeks and two, depending on the litter.

On a side note, apologies if I sound more pedantic and long-winded lately. I'm undergoing a lot of stress from something else, and I tend to both talk and type like this when I do.

[ZacAttac21]

This is just an idea, but what about catnip? Might make her docile enough to capture.

[Razmoudah]

Or it could make her so wound up that they could track the disturbance from space with satellites via Google Earth.

[Dishonored]

This is just an idea, but what about catnip? Might make her docile enough to capture.

Sadly, she doesn't go for it. She's extremely paranoid, barely touchable at the best of times, and any attempt to hold/grab/pick her up turns nasty fast. My father and I wore leather gloves for both of our attempts to grab her and take her to be fixed; she tore through the gloves, sprayed crap all over both of us, and bolted. It took her three days to come back after the first try, and four after the second.

Or it could make her so wound up that they could track the disturbance from space with satellites via Google Earth.

  I do have one that can outrun a rabbit in a short sprint; I should get her tested for catnip doping.

[Razmoudah]

Nah, most cats are technically capable of that, they just choose not to put in the effort needed for it.

Now, if you have one that every time you think you've got it figured out it finds a new way to be a crazy and unpredictable feline disaster........that one may be catnip doping.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I didn't take it as critique, really. I did the mass feeding trick about a decade back, trying to get an injured feral to the vet. The feral didn't get enough of a dose, while two more docile ones ended up going to the vet because the dosage they got was too high. It's really hard to portion out proper dosage when the cats involved have a wide range of weights and sizes. On one end, Skeek weighs about three pounds soaking wet, while Crosshairs tips the scales at just over twelve. 

Oh. Oh, dear. I hadn't thought about that problem. Eurgh. That's a big problem. :-/ I sympathise, but don't have any helpful suggestions. :-/

Oh, and talking is always welcome. Type away, we're happy to listen. ;-]

[Gabi]

This is what my brother and I did to trap a cat who had come from the street and didn't trust humans: we set up a cage with a string tied to the window, keeping the cage's door open. We put food inside the cage and went into the kitchen to watch her through the window. After a while, when she saw we weren't getting any closer, she decided to go for the food. Then we cut the string, letting the cage's door drop.

[Dishonored]

Yep, but with a dozen cats on the loose, the food gets eaten by the others instead.

[Dishonored]

 Double post because I'm updating.

The little calico in Wendy's litter, Dora, wasn't eating right. I tried to give her soft food, make sure she had plenty of suck time, wasn't bullied, etc. None of it did any good, and she died last night. The other three in Wendy's mixed litter are doing fine, though, and starting to eat soft food, although Lucky may end up being blind. She's the last of Baby's kittens, and her eyes are constantly swollen shut. No goo, just swollen as though she's allergic to something. Time will tell.

On another note, Skeek brought her babies up to the patio last week due to the heat, a wandering tom out back, and lack of room in her nest. Everything was fine until it rained, and I had to bring them indoors overnight. I built them what I thought was a waterproof nesting box, and both Skeek and her kittens were happy with it.

Last night, however, a nasty storm blew in, and while the nest was good, it wasn't wind-proofed. Trees were downed, things got blown all over, and I had to go out and rescue them from what was left of the nest. Skeek and her babies are relaxing indoors in a clean, dry cage for the next day or so, until I can figure out what to do with them. She refuses to keep them in the fully weatherproof catboxes; if it wasn't for the other cats, the problem would be solved. LOL

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Heh. Thanks for the update. Nice to hear you're trying, even if the cats are declining to accept your help.

But then, that's cats all over. >.>

[Dishonored]

 Das Katzchens!

Another fuzzy update! Little black Lucky's eyes have healed, the swelling went away, and she can see just fine. And yes, I named a black cat "Lucky".  All three of Wendy's babies are doing good, climbing and running fine, and even starting to eat soft food.

Unfortunately, two of Skeek's outdoor babies were having difficulty walking, so we took them to the vet. He wasn't sure if it was a birth defect or an injury, but both have weak rear legs. The legs are functional, but have little strength in them and causes them to flop from side to side while pulling themselves with their front legs. Since they are otherwise strong, healthy kittens, we opted to give them kitten physical therapy and see if they outgrow it with time rather than have them put down. One is already showing signs of improvement.

We're aiming for two weeks as a release date for the indoors kittens. By then they should be ready; one litter is now, but we're waiting to be certain.