Surprise kittens in the shed!

Hi everyone!

It's been quite a while since I've posted on here - I registered in 2004 and used to post about my tabby girl, Kacey (who I still have and dote on!) but life got away with me and I haven't been on this forum much at all since then.

Anyway! My partner Kym and I have two cats: Kacey (mine, female) and Ming Mong (Kym's family cat, male). Both are desexed and mainly stay in the house, although Ming loves to go outside during the day when he can. Kacey is scared of the big-wide-outside so she stays in the house. I tried to bring her outside but she gets scared and runs back in the house.

ANYWAY...

Lately Ming has been getting beaten up by other neighbourhood cats in the backyard. It's been a bit of a worry actually - he got attacked by two cats (a big grey one and a smaller white-patchy one) on Friday afternoon and ended up with a cut leg, poor baby. Then yesterday, Kym said he saw the white patchy cat in the backyard, with two kittens behind her!!!

So I then realised that this white cat must have had kittens in the shed in Kym's backyard! It's a very old dilapidated shed - door doesn't shut properly, windows have no glass etc, and it has lots of old junk in it - perfect for a cat to hide away to have kittens. I went out there this morning, and sure enough - white mummy cat, and two adorable black fuzzy bubby kitties.

But what on earth am I to do? I would LOVE to keep them all, but we've already got the two... I don't know if we can have five cats, and I don't think I can afford to look after five cats either. The kittens are VERY skinny, and one (my favourite) has a nasty sore on the top of her head. Mummy kitty is very protective of them. I don't know if she's a feral/stray or if she belongs to a neighbour (if she does belong to a neighbour, they are going to get an absolute roasting from me for letting their cat wander the neighbourhood without being desexed!!). I've named mummy kitty Misty (it suits her) and I've named the kittens Allie and Mia - girls names, but I haven't been able to check their gender yet! I don't want to get too attached to them because I don't think we'll keep them... even though I would love to.

I think ideally I'd like to keep Misty and tame her (provided she is a stray), and I'm already very attached to Allie as well, but I think we'll have to rehome Mia... I really don't want him/her getting put down. I am very keen to get Allie to the vet though. Aside from the nasty sore on the top of her head, I'm also wondering that she might even be blind... just the way she was walking and blundering around had me a bit worried...

I went out there and gave them some cat food (mixed some dry and tinned food together) and some water. Misty wouldn't touch it while I was there, but the kittens demolished it - both of them mowed it down. They're both quite skinny so I wasn't surprised. I went out an hour later and the bowl was completely empty - most of the water gone too. They must have been so thirsty! Poor little bubs! Obviously they're old enough to be eating solids now, and I doubt their mum can provide them with all that much... I'm really glad we found them when we did. This afternoon I beat together some egg with a splash of milk, and mixed some cat food with it (urgh!) but the babies loved it. Mia stood in the food bowl to eat it, and got her little paws all eggy! SO cute!!

I'm worried about the kittens but I'm also really worried about Misty - she seems pretty wild (she hissed at me already, but she also seems very frightened of me) so I hope she's willing to 'negotiate' with me soon 8-[ I couldn't see a collar on her, so I am very keen to get her to a vet to see if she's microchipped. If she's not, I'm going to get her desexed asap. But first she has to be safe to handle... eeek! 8-[ She keeps disappearing, but I think she's probably lurking in the back of the depths of the shed. I've also seen a big grey cat in the shed tonight who I suspect may be the father of the kittens. I've seen him around the neighbourhood a fair bit, and I've seen him chasing Ming (this solves the mystery of why those two cats were attacking poor little Ming on Friday - they were defending the babies). The kittens are still in the shed - they are just SO cute!! I keep going out there just to look at them. I am in love! I'm going out there a lot and trying to get the kittens to trust me. Even if Misty buggers off, I want the kittens to stay so I can make sure they get a good start to life... But I hope Misty learns to trust me as well. I really want her, even though she hissed at me, haha!

I've never looked after really young kittens before, so it's a bit of a learning curve - if anyone has any suggestions for what I should do, I'd love to hear them! Bearing in mind that I can't handle them yet (although I have stroked Allie) but I'm hoping to be able to pick them up within the next couple of days. As soon as I can handle both babies, I'm planning to take them to the vet. Same with Misty - IF I can ever handle her. Not sure what to do about the grey cat...

Anyone here with experience with stray cats? Anyone here in Adelaide who might be keen to adopt one?

Photos of the fur-babies:


Kittens in the corner of the shed by the gap in the door (I took this through the window) - just after I'd given them food this morning.


Both babies eating the food


Eating again - Allie on the left (you can see her sore head), Mia on the right.


Still eating...


Adorable pic of little Allie - Allie-cat, hehe!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/ ... /egg-1.jpg
Kittens curious about the eggy mixture I made them


Mmm yummy eggy stuff!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/ ... /egg-4.jpg


Allie decided she'd had enough!! Cuuute!!


But Mia had fun playing in it, and got it allll over her paws, and even some splashed on her head!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/ ... name-2.jpg
Then Mia sat outside for a bit and tried to sort-of clean herself... then she went back in the shed

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/ ... /Misty.jpg
Misty

:m4: :m28:

 

they are still pretty young as their eyes are still blue.
The sore on the head of one of them looks a lot like what one of my current fosters has....she is digging her head up from ear mites which I'm working to get rid of.
Don't even dream of bringing these babes into your house w/out vetting them first!!! I know our first inclination is to care and nurture but they do need vetting before going near your cats.
Maybe you can find a shelter to at least take the kittens and give them a chance to have a good life. Perhaps trap mom and get her spayed and then release her. But the kittens....at least try to get them some care and a chance.
And if this is your neighbor's cat - kick their arse for me too

 

They are adorable! The kittens look like Halaroo's Moe and Misty looks like Cassie's Booger. I agree with Mary. If you can rehome them that would be best. If not, you can capture them for spay, neuter, shots and release them back.

 

Thanks guys!!

No sign of the fur babies today so far - I'm hoping they are just asleep in the depths of the shed. It's quite a warm day so I wouldn't be surprised. I've left fresh food and water in there for them, and hopefully I'll see them this afternoon.

I've already found a possible home for one, so that's good. I still want to keep Allie but Kym isn't keen on us having a third cat. Still, I'm sure I can win him over... :wink:

 

Still no sign of my fur-babies

I'm starting to think that Misty has moved them somewhere else... I'm so worried about them though, especially Allie with her sore head. I've been out there searching for them but there is no sign, and they didn't touch the food I left for them yesterday :cry:

Come back kitties It's not just the fact that I've fallen for them in a big way, but I'm also worried because I don't want two more stray cats roaming the neighbourhood and stirring up trouble... and making more stray kittens!!

 

Whoops, double-posted! Internet playing up I think - sorry!

 

Hi. Just wanted to welcome you back. Great pics you took. :y_the_best: I wish the kittens all the best and hope you can find homes for them. I agree that the mama cat should be spayed. Let us know what happens.