# Stray cat mom delivers kittens at work. What to do?



## Glenn Bullion (Sep 28, 2010)

A cat they've been feeding at our work delivered kittens outside.  3 of them.  Right now, Mommy moved them all to a nice, safe box, and is taking care of them.

Should we call someone to get them now?  Wait till they're weened in a few weeks?  Take them somewhere ourselves?  Kinda at a loss here.  Right now, they're just feeding the Mommy and letting her take care of them.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Pending info from one of the experts here (I'm not), I'd probably contact a local animal shelter and see what they recommend.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Not an expert either but if you take them away from mom they will more than likely die.  Mom will have to go too or you need to wait until they are weened.


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## susie (Mar 4, 2011)

Take them all to your local vet or animal shelter.  They will more than likely be put down, but it saves the babies suffering and maybe they can rehome the momcat.  

Or go to the pharmacy and get a bottle of ether and some cotton and a plastic bag....put the babies into the bag along with an ether-soaked wad of cotton....close the bag and they'll go to sleep and then die when the oxygen runs out.

Or take just the babies to the shelter or the vet and keep the momcat.  But have her spayed so that this doesn't happen every few months.

Or adopt them all, and give away the babies to people who will have the spayed and castrated.

Doing nothing isn't helping them.  Even if some of the choices aren't pretty.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I don't even have words how disgusting this post is. Sick.


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## Glenn Bullion (Sep 28, 2010)

We adopted our latest cat from a no-kill shelter.  I guess that's where my first call will go.


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## susie (Mar 4, 2011)

Atunah said:


> I don't even have words how disgusting this post is. Sick.


Yeah, I know it's difficult. But have you got any other suggestions?

The disgust should be directed at the previous owner of the cat.


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

Let Mom raise her kittens as only a mother cat knows how.....in six weeks throw an office party. 
Three door prizes will be happy, healthy kittens going to good homes.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

NapCat said:


> Let Mom raise her kittens as only a mother cat knows how.....in six weeks throw an office party.
> Three door prizes will be happy, healthy kittens going to good homes.


Agree. Negative to the suffocation. I think I'm going to be sick.


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## CocoaDragonfly (Apr 4, 2011)

Yeah, I don't see what the problem is? Did the mother abandon them? If not, leave her be. She'll know what to do. Just keep feeding her. Then everyone can chip in and have her and the kittens spayed/neutered.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Glenn Bullion said:


> A cat they've been feeding at our work delivered kittens outside. 3 of them. Right now, Mommy moved them all to a nice, safe box, and is taking care of them.
> 
> Should we call someone to get them now? Wait till they're weened in a few weeks? Take them somewhere ourselves? Kinda at a loss here. Right now, they're just feeding the Mommy and letting her take care of them.


The best scenario would be to find someone who wanted to take the mom and the babies home and take care of them until the babies are weaned, and then try to find them homes. They'd be safer and warmer.

I second NapCat's idea. It would probably be a great way to find homes for the kitties.

Dawn


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

CocoaDragonfly said:


> Yeah, I don't see what the problem is? Did the mother abandon them? If not, leave her be. She'll know what to do. Just keep feeding her. Then everyone can chip in and have her and the kittens spayed/neutered.


Yeah, that sounds perfect. Unless you're worried for the safety of the kittens (are there any raccoons or anything nearby?), I'd just let her raise them in peace until they get older.


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

Seems to me the office needs to name their momma cat & the kittens.  If the office has been feeding her, she's not a stray - she's relying on the office & has adopted you.  Keep feeding her until the kittens are old enough to adopt out & she can be neutered (as someone else suggested, the office people who are taking care of her should foot the bill) or adopted too.


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## Sienna_98 (Jan 26, 2009)

If you don't have a no-kill shelter where you can safely drop them off, I'd recommend asking the local shelter for contact information on the cat rescue group(s).  Contact them and they should be able to give advice on where you can get inexpensive vet care (shots, etc.) and what mom and babies need.  Right now is the beginning of kitten and puppy season.  Our local shelter can see anywhere from 15 - 20 litters on any given Saturday/Sunday for the next 5 months, so all the rescue groups tend to be full, but they are usually happy to give advice.


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## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

First choice would be to find a local rescue group that will take them. Second choice would be to either take them to a shelter or keep them at your work until they're a bit older (and while you work on finding a rescue group to take them). You can go to Petfinder and look up rescues and shelters in your area.

If you've been feeding momma cat, then certainly keep that up. Kitten food would be the best thing to feed her--she can use the extra calories and nutrients while she's nursing. Also keep plenty of fresh water available at all times for momma cat. She needs plenty to drink while she's nursing.

If you opt to let her and the kittens hang around work for awhile, then have the humans spend lots of time handling the kittens. The more socialization they get with people at a young age, the more adoptable they will be.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

When we got litters of newborn kittens in they usually did not make it up for adoption simply because the resources were not there. If they were at least a month old, they could go into foster care. 6 weeks was better. Spring and summer is kitten season and so shelters are going to end up overwhelmed. There were days when we'd get in dozens and dozens, run out of room and be unable to find any other place or rescue with room. I cannot stress enough what a huge deal it is to spay/neuter. Even if there is a stray in the area that you don't want to turn it, it's so worth it to capture him or her and get that done, even if you release the cat again.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

susie said:


> Yeah, I know it's difficult. But have you got any other suggestions?
> 
> The disgust should be directed at the previous owner of the cat.


How do you know there's a "previous owner" of the cat. It's possible that the mother cat was a feral all her life also. Let's not assume the worst of people.
As to the killing of the kittens and re-homing of the mother, actually, if the whole family ends up in a shelter, the kits are more likely to be adopted and the mother end up being euthanized.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

CocoaDragonfly said:


> Yeah, I don't see what the problem is? Did the mother abandon them? If not, leave her be. She'll know what to do. Just keep feeding her. Then everyone can chip in and have her and the kittens spayed/neutered.


I'd go this route. Just make sure the kitties have enough to eat and when they're big enough to be seperated from the mother you can have them spayed and look for homes for them.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

scarlet said:


> How do you know there's a "previous owner" of the cat. It's possible that the mother cat was a feral all her life also. Let's not assume the worst of people.
> As to the killing of the kittens and re-homing of the mother, actually, if the whole family ends up in a shelter, the kits are more likely to be adopted and the mother end up being euthanized.


Not unless the kittens are older. Until then, mom (if she is friendly) has the better chance. You're right that the odds will flip-flop when the kittens are a little older.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

MichelleR said:


> Not unless the kittens are older. Until then, mom (if she is friendly) has the better chance. You're right that the odds will flip-flop when the kittens are a little older.


Sorry, Michelle, I meant when they were a couple of months older. I know babies are hard to house.

I agree with the feed the mom and watch them for now camp.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Yep, I would feed the mom and wait until the kittens are a bit older.  Then see if anyone wants to take them in.  Or the no kill shelter would be okay.  We have one near us, and they are wonderful.  They help a lot of cats get good homes.

Vicki


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

Your local shelter may have foster homes for exactly this situation.  However, usually the mom has to be friendly in order to move them.  DO NOT SEPARATE MOM FROM HER KIDS.

Your local shelter will be able to give you the advice you need.  Worse case, leave them where they are, or at least try to get them into a secure location inside somewhere.  

I know in our area there is a very inexpensive spay/neuter clinic that will "fix" mom and the kittens when they are about 6 weeks old.  They usually do it for free if the cat is a stray.


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## DachsieGirl (Jun 30, 2010)

I agree with those who suggest looking into no-kill shelters and rescues.  Because cats are hard to place, it wouldn't hurt to start this process, even though the kittens shouldn't be adopted until they are a few weeks old.  I would not take them to the shelter--I saw something on the news about the shelters in our area and more than 90% of cats are euthanized at shelters.

I was in a similar situation a few months ago--found a very young kitten in my trashcan, about 2-3 weeks old.  Since I already have a full house, I wasn't really in a position to keep him, but I took him to the vet and bottle-fed him and thought we might just try to keep him since I know cats are hard to find homes for.  We raised him until he was about 3 months old and he started driving my other cats crazy.  So I went to Petfinder and wrote to every cat rescue in the area--I got very lucky and found a great home for him, a professional pet sitter who had recently lost two of her cats to old age and who loves him to death.  And my other cats got to go back to their peaceful existence.

If you don't have any luck with the rescues for a while, I'd make sure the mother has plenty of food and spay her and the kittens as soon as they are old enough, and take up a collection at work to get them their shots.  Then keep feeding them until you can find them homes.  At least that way they have a shot at life, whereas at the regular animal shelter (not the no-kill types) will most likely have to put them down.  You might also try posting flyers at local pet stores and vet offices, and even use Facebook or other social media to see if anyone you know would be interested in adopting them.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Here is my no-kill speech:

Shelters are good, all shelters that exist to help animals are good, no-kill shelters are -- all other things being equal -- not better than regular shelters. No-kills, while wonderful, get to be no-kills usually by being limited admission -- turning away animals when the numbers get too high. They also tend to euthanize a fair amount for the same reasons other shelters do (health issues, sometimes age, sometimes temperament), and that's usually a fine-print thing. The animals that are turned away have to go somewhere, and that somewhere is not less humane, but rather staffed by people who are willing to make the hard decisions in a society where people are irresponsible. 

Not all shelters can be no-kill. No-kills get to be no-kills because there are other places taking on the burden of the animals that don't make it in. It was many years ago I read this statistic, but I doubt it's better now -- for every human born, there are 15 dogs born and 47 cats. Something has to give. No one who works at a shelter and loves animals wants to make the hard decisions, the no-win decisions, the ones that even the Wisdom of Solomon couldn't make easy or fair. 

So, yes, if you can get an animal into a no-kill do it, and she will have a better chance. She will also take up a space in a system that is still over-burdened, and there will be another animal somewhere in the system that will feel that one less space.  Nothing, nothing, is more important than spay or neuter for a long-term humane society, so that when there is a mom with kittens, there is also really room for her.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

DaschieGirl said:


> I would not take them to the shelter--I saw something on the news about the shelters in our area and more than 90% of cats are euthanized at shelters.


Ohhh that's so sad. I caught a guy dumping 3 kittens on the side of the road a few years back, so I took all the cats in. I kept one, gave one to my roommate (it was later killed by a coyote...still really sad about that), and dropped one off at the humane society because I didn't know what else to do. She was sick too and breathed kind of noisily. I always hoped that she got adopted, but those statistics do not sound good.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

*sigh* Much has already been said.

Shelters and rescues in the spring have kittens flooding out the wazoo, and at this age the babies are highly susceptible to URIs that can kill them. They can eat solids by 3 weeks of age (at the earliest) so the best idea is for a kind soul at work to take the whole family in for at least that period of time. Mom can get preggers again while nursing. *double sigh* 

If the mom allows y'all to approach, she's not feral but more likely a once-owned cat. Unless you can actually catch her to get to a shelter/foster home I wouldn't approach or mess to much with the nest or she'll move them where you can't find/reach the kittens. Feed KITTEN food (it's highest energy/protein) and will help with the energy drain on mom, and when the babies are old enough to nibble, they'll have that as familiar food. 

Absolutely start interacting/handling (if it doesn't spook the mom cat) as early as possible, especially if they're in a confined area like a foster home. Prime kitten socialization is even earlier than dogs--2-7 weeks of age! And the kittens can be spayed/neutered early-early-early, too, by 8-12 weeks or 2-4 pounds. 

Alley Cat Rescue (www.saveacat.org) sponsors "Free Feral Cat Spay Day" on April 27, you might chekc the website and local vets to see if anyone is participating. Good luck!


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## susie (Mar 4, 2011)

You all are very lucky to even have shelters that will take in cats.

This week, a very pregnant young cat was dumped on my property and she went to the vet last night to be aborted and spayed this morning...I'll be going in about an hour to pick her up and bring her home.  Would anyone like a very friendly and sociable grey striped alley cat that's good with dogs?  And spayed.

I have a wonderful vet.  He lets me pay little by little (I'm a single mom, and pretty poor), and sometimes I know he doesn't charge me the full price.  Still, the cat will cost me 125 euros, which is probably over $150.00.  I had the cat aborted because there is no way I could have afforded to keep the kittens as kittens are impossible to give away.  I was offered a bottle of ether so that I could wait for the birth and...., but damn, that's hard to do...and anyway, it would not have solved the problem of the momcat getting pregnant all over again next week.

I am really, really pissed off at whoever it is that dumped the cat.  This is a very small town and they KNEW what they were doing.  They KNEW that I'd take care of the momcat.  I have to wonder if they'll come back and 'steal' back their cat once she's been done and her bandages have been taken off?

Buggers!


ps  reading about those 'no kill' shelters...I'd think it would be best, if you really wanted to save a life, to adopt from a 'kill' one, because that way you'd be sure to save one, since the ones at the 'no kill' get to live and the ones at the 'kill' don't unless they're adopted.


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## susie (Mar 4, 2011)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salies-Animaux-Secours/101469796565374

We don't have a cat shelter, but our town does have a dog shelter. Here's the Facebook link.

Those are my babies...I'm the one who gets to go and take care of them every day and feed them and walk them and clean up their poops. You could say it's a 'no kill', because we've managed to give all the dogs away so far....and so did the caretakers that did the job for the last 20 years. The town hall pays for the food and the vet, but the humans are all volunteers.

Anyone want a French doggie?


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Susie, the dogs on the FB page all look so happy! Great work finding 'em all homes. 

And kudos, taking care of the dumped cat. Yep, makes ya wanna scream.


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## susie (Mar 4, 2011)

That dumped cat is SUCH a sweetie.  Just purrs all the time.  And follows me around wherever I go.  The vet also clipped one of her ears so that it was obvious that she'd been 'done'...I guess they all use this system to tell about strays (sometimes the town hall will pay for spaying/castration of wild cats).

I don't see her as staying a stray, though.  She's adopted us and we are stuck with her.

When I went to go and get her after the op, there were three batches of newborn kittens waiting for their dose of ether.  The vet used to do it for free, but now he charges $25. a batch.  So sad, when you just know the momcats are going to go out and get pregnant again right away.

I guess the ones at the vet are the lucky ones....I won't begin to tell you the ways that people here dispose of newborn kittens.  Ether is the least cruel.


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## Glenn Bullion (Sep 28, 2010)

Update.

What was said above happened.  Mom moved them somewhere    They still see the mom running around though, so it can't be too far.  They've got a huge supply of food going on (I gave some kitten food myself).  So I'm guessing everything is okay with the kittens.


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Glenn Bullion said:


> A cat they've been feeding at our work delivered kittens outside. 3 of them. Right now, Mommy moved them all to a nice, safe box, and is taking care of them.
> 
> Should we call someone to get them now? Wait till they're weened in a few weeks? Take them somewhere ourselves? Kinda at a loss here. Right now, they're just feeding the Mommy and letting her take care of them.


I would let Mommy take care of them a while longer, let them enjoy their security and later on, find good homes for them.


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