So, this happened ...

[tripperfunster]

We live in the country, and 'stray' cats like to come and hang around our house. I use quotations, because they are at SOME point, owned by our neighbour who thinks that having a shit-ton of wild cats running around is somehow a good thing, so he lets them breed willy-nilly, never vaccinates or fixes any of them and feeds them only occasionally. (lest they not hunt mice, amirite?)

We take pity on the poor, starving, pregnant things and feed them. One cat we named Mama (for obvs reasons) has given birth a bunch of times in our shed, and we feed them, collect the babies when they're old enough and take them to the humane society. (we used to adopt them out ourselves, when we had the pet store.)

Mama is not a friendly cat, and has even thwarted my attempts to trap her to get her fixed. She does hang around the house, and let us touch her babies, but refuses to be touched herself. Cue last week, when my hubby was in the shed for something, and almost steps on this little newborn kitten. He had no idea where Mama was, so put the baby in an open box with a hot water bottle, in hopes that she would come back for it. Nope.

The next day he found where the babies were, and snuck this little one in with the other 7. SEVEN! OMG. Three days later she moved the babies under our chicken shed, but left this one behind. Hubby found her again, and tried to shove this little guy in there too, but the next day he was crawling around in the cold grass mewling.

Mama was at our front door, eating, so he took the baby to her. She licked it a few times, finished eating, then wandered away, not giving two fucks about baby kitty.

The poor thing was FREEZING cold, so we brought it in the house and I've been feeding it every few hours. yay me! Not

Ironically, we just got a new kitten a couple of months ago! (from a different cat that gave birth here) and our other cat is a baby from Mama's litter last year. I DON'T NEED ANOTHER CAT!

I mean, he might not even live. They often abandon kittens that aren't quite right, but seriously, this thing lived for it's first 24 hours with no food, and then spent the night in the cold with no food a few days later and is still kicking, so he's a fighter for sure! Hubby named him 'Squishy' :D

Comments

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Argh! I hate irresponsible people who get animals and refuse to look after them! Perhaps if Squishy survives you will be able to find him a nice home somewhere else - he'll certainly be better off away from your dick-for-brains neighbour.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

He is a dick-for-brains on so many levels, really. This is just one.

We already have 3 dogs and 2 cats and really don't need another, but I'm not very good at 'giving things up'.' Especially little tiny baby ones. ;)

[alisanne.livejournal.com]

Well he has a name now so...congrats n your new cat! :)

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Oh God, so true! And hubby named him, so that bodes well! (I would keep ALL OF THE ANIMALS.) He is generally the voice of reason.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

It may be something as simple as the kitten is deaf. My sister and Mom found one with the umbilical cord still attached like that. They were told that if the mother is undernurished during the pregnancy that sometimes this happens. With vitamins and feeding up, Little Bit grew into her hearing and lived a long life but being my Mom's cat, mimicked her with allergies to flea bites and probably those scented room plug-ins as her washing her fur through the skin abated after we took those out.

Mom was very premie and is allergic to SO many things and *GRINS* just turned 90. She's had mastectomies,a heart by-pass surgery, and a spinal tumor removed. Grandmother when she divorced Grandfather left Mom with him, who eventually gave her to his sister to raise, thank God.
Mom's scrappy. Your kitten reminds me of her.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Wow, your mom IS scrappy! Yes, this little kitten is a fighter, for sure! And we've finally managed to actually SUCKLE on the bottle, instead of me using a syringe to deliver the milk. He's starting to each like a champ!

[facecat.livejournal.com]

Am assuming you know how to stimulate him to go to the bathroom, KMR, warmth & all that. It's a tough time keeping such an itty bitty alive. Good luck.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Yup, all of that. Most of it in theory until now, but I was aware about the potty stimulation. I've hand raised lots and lots of baby tropical birds, but no mammals until this.

I do know that they can be very tricky to raise, so I'm prepared for the worst, but hoping for the best.

[facecat.livejournal.com]

I suggest using cotton balls for stimulation. I had been using paper towels until I figured that would be a bit rough on tiny, tender kitty parts.

Also suggest KMR milk replacement. Have heard too many horror stories about other products. Also, no human milk - gives them diarrhea.

Again, good luck & bless you & kitty.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

bless you for taking care of kitties. =^..^=

[synn.livejournal.com]

aww! I would have a hard time not keeping him too.. I hope he lives though, and ends up in a good home (yours or elsewhere :) )
I was just visiting my mother who has started feeding a local stray - and adorable ~1 year old calico who was clearly socialized by *someone* at some point, but doesn't appear to have a home now.