First Time Mother Cat...

[Akkatia]

Hey guys, I have a clouded calico barn catthat's been pregnant for a while now, and she's never had kittensbefore. I went into the barn this evening to feed the rabbits, andafter I fed the cats, I heard kittens up in the barn. Now I speak formyself when I say that I am very experianced with cat litters, but thisis unlike anything I've ever seen. I went up there, and found the nest.There was only three kittens. But one of them was straying away fromthe rest of them. I picked it up to look at it and I was shocked. It'sface was deformed, it eyes took up like 75% of it's face, and it's chindidn't even come together to form it's mouth. I sat it down and pickedup another one, and it was a normal-lookied tiger cat, maybe a bitsmaller, but fine. So I sat it down and picked up to last one. It wasnormal also, but it's neck was limp, and I sat it down on the hay andwatched it. It's legs were moving like it was dreaming, and it wouldmove it's mouth around. I sat it in one of my hands and rubbed it withthe other, thinking that it wasn't all the way out of the trauma ofbeing born. But it didn't work. I think that they're all premature,because Skye, the "mother," looked a little skinnier, but I don't thinkthat she was done yet. And yet, she was waiting on cat food when I wentin the barn!! What do I do? I know the milk replacement recipe, shouldI hand feed them? Please help here!!

 

[pamnock]

These types of hereditary deformities are notunusual in cats. I HIGHLY recommend that you do not continueto let these animals breed and you need to have all your cats spayed orneutered ASAP.

The deformed kittens need to be humanely put down by a vet.



Pam

 

[m.e.]

Yeah, what Pamsaid. Sounds like some pretty serious birth defects, and it's notlikely the kittens will continue to live for very long anyway. It'sbest not to let them suffer.

Several highly experienced breeders I know have run into similarproblems. The responsible thing to do is to stop breeding cats fromthat line, as most defects are congenital/hereditary and willpop up again.

As for the healthy kitten, hopefully s/he can continue to nurse frommom and will grow strong. You may need to hand feed them if momma catdecides to abandon her litter; cats will do that when they sensesomething is wrong with the kittens. Hopefully she will care for herkitten, but at least you know what to do if she doesn't.

 

[Akkatia]

I'm not a cat breeder, that goes first, lol.

I don't think it's a possibility to spay/neuter them...(money-wise, ifyou know what I mean...) I mean, there's like, ten of them! All female!And there's one tom hangin' around here that got them all pregnant. Ican't even catch some of these cats, they're wild. The one that had thethree kittens we're talking about are one of those wild ones. She's abeautiful cat, though. We get at least one more stray every summer, andthey come and go. We were thinking this time that when most of thebabies grow up, we could put them in the pet shop, or sell them to goodhomes, for like, $5 for each one.

Why should I put them down if there's a little possibility of maybethey can live? Couldn't the deformed one have a chance, maybe it couldgrow up and just never look normal, like some humans... When I go outto the barn this morning, I'm not expecting the one with the limp neckto be alive... it was pretty severe. I don't know what to do!! Should Itake the kittens and put them in a basket in my room, and bottle feedthem every once in a while, (I've done that before) or should I leavethem be?

 

[pamnock]

It's very irresponsible to let those cats breed. Period.

You are again asking what to do despite the advice you were given --and again I will state that the kittens need to be humanely put down bya vet.Your cat population also needs tobe decreased.

Diseases and deformities will be the norm for the cats on yourproperty. I'm assuming that none of the cats are vaccinated,so rabies is also a concern. You do not have the money northe knowledge to care for cats that may contract feline leukemia aswell as many other common cat diseases. It's senseless,irresponsibleand inhumane to let these animals suffer.

Call you local animal control agent for some advice and help on how toget this situation under control. There are some agenciesthat assist in spaying and neutering expenses.



Pam

 

[naturestee]

pamnock wrote:

Call you local animal control agent for some advice and help on how to get this situation under control. There are some agencies that assist in spaying and neutering expenses.

:yeahthat

Many shelters and animal welfare groups have low-cost spay/neuter programs for cats and dogs. I think my shelter does cat spays for only $30 if you have financial need. There are also groups out there that aim primarily to spay/neuter feral cat populations.

It would also be irresponsible to sell "barn cats" as pets, unless you properly socialize them AND get them vet-checked and tested and treated for diseases before putting them up for adoption. Feral cats can be carriers of many diseases that could affect other cats at the new home.

 

[Akkatia]

It wouldn't help to do that! There are so many stray cats around here, and they would just keep coming and coming! When our barn cats get sick, we takethem to the vet. Spay/neutering is out of the question.I'm sorry, but this subject isn't helping me.

Why would you put a kitten that could actually have a chance in life put down? I don't understand. If it was a human, we'd try our best for it. Don't you think we could try for these kittens?

 

[pamnock]

Akkatia wrote:

Why would you put a kitten that could actually have a chance in life put down? I don't understand. If it was a human, we'd try our best for it. Don't you think we could try for these kittens?

I can't see any reason to add a deformed, unaltered cat to the population in your barn only to produce more of the same and increase your veterinary expenditures when you are unable to properly provide care for the cats you have.

I'm sorry that we cannot provide the easy answers that you are looking for. Being responsible and doing the right thing isn't always easy.

I'm leaving for show in New York for the weekend, so won't be able to continue responding on this thread (which is probably for the best anyhow).

Perhaps someone else will be able to offer you more helpful advice.

Pam

 

[AnnaS]

The only thing I can add is that even if those kittens will survive, it will be very hard to find somebody to adopt them and they would not survive in the wild. And for sure they will need to get neutered if when they grow up.

 

[Greta]

Akkatia wrote:

I mean, there's like, ten of them! All female! And there's one tom hangin' around here that got them all pregnant.

If there's only one tom, you could just neuter him. It would help alot, if not eliminate the problem completely. Ty contacting your local animal shelter. they often have "neuter/spay days" where you can bring feral cats and have them spayed/neutered for free.

 

[Akkatia]

I can't catch him. He's not ours, anyway. But I don't know how this post that was supposed to help those kittens got onto the useless subject of our cats. Thanks to all of those who tried to help the kittens.

 

[KatyG]

How are the kittens doing? From what you say about the one with facial deformities I think it may have something known as anencephaly. It is a neural tube defect where the forebrain does not form properly and neither does the proper skull structure. It can occur in humans also and I don't think the cause is known. Since you say its mouth has not formed I presume it is unable to feed. I am sorry to say the prognosis is not good for an animal exhibiting such severe deformities and if it is still alive it may not survive very long.

The other one sounds like it has either sustained brain damage during birth or perhaps the neural system also failed todevelop properly. I could not find any information about this sort of defect so I am not sure if it can survive or not.

Is the mother suckling the kitten you say looked healthy?

 

[Pipp]

Mother nature is a wondrous thing, but also very cruel. If she didn't controlthe populations,the world would be overrun. Your barnyard, left to nature, will be dealt with ina far less 'humane' manner without humans stepping in.

The cats will obviously continue to breed -- 10 cats,3litters a year -- next yearthere could be 100 cats.Mother Nature willmake sure these cats are controlled -- she'll introducedisease, deformities, parasites, abscesses, starvation, and succumbing to the elementsand predators.

There is nothing to be gainedby heroic,futile effortswhich even if successful willonly speed up this process in the future.Most may becute and healthy this year, and maybe next year. But ultimately, you're condemning dozens, probably hundreds of poor catstosuffering and early graves.

You're willing to let nature take its course with the mothers --even if they escape all of the above, theywill have awfullives asexhausted kitten factories destined for very early deaths -- and their future offspring, by choosingnot to intervene. Yet you'reworrying aboutthe lives ofjust two kittens out ofwhat willbe many dead and deformed babies whilenot even attempting to control the populationbefore nature does it for you, and that'sjust plain wrong.

It's a stunningshow of misplaced priorities.

 

[Akkatia]

Hey, Pipp.

Yeah, we do control our population by selling the kittens as pets, actually. Didn't I already mention that? And the kittens we sell are tame, healthy, and playful. better yet, when we sell them, some become housecats, and all of them are taken to them vet. So who said we weren't controling the population? Ten barncats is our definite limit... if any more come around, we put an ad in the Pedler's Post. Sorry I didn't make it clearer.

The mom cat moved her kittens close to the barn wall... the one who had the neck injury didn't make it, but the other two are coming along just fine.The mom cat is actually not as timid as usual toward me now.

 

[rabbit_whisperer]

http://www.messybeast.com/freak-cats.htm



This website has some stuff about defects.