Some of you know that I have spayed and neutered most of the feral cat colony except for Mamma Kitty and Simba-I can't catch him to save my life!
They live in our old shed, and my husband had cut out a "doggie door" for them so they could go in and out whenever they wished. They have a luxurious life for feral cats!
Mamma had these six precious kittens on February 9, 2014.
February 10, 2014
February 12, 2014
When the kittens were about a two days old, Nala started getting into the crate with Mamma and the babies.
February 11, 2014
I saw her needing on Mamma and thought she was soothing her and helping keep the kittens warm. Then one day I noticed Nala was sucking on a nipple! Mamma’s milk didn't look like it was coming in too well and I worried I would have to help feed sooner than the usual kitten age of 4 weeks. Maybe Nala was helping get it all going, or maybe she felt she still needed some milk, but I kept telling her to quit stealing the milk! My husband calls her the Milk Thief! A day or two later she wasn't getting in the crate anymore. Feral cats’ behavior is somewhat different I guess, and they are all related, but who knows with animals, right? But I noticed Mamma’s milk was coming in a lot better than before, but maybe it takes that long for her to produce a lot, I have no idea! I’m flying blind here!
I had to switch out the crate for a bigger box on February 19, because they were growing like weeds and almost able to peek out over the top of the crate and it was getting crowded!
crate on February 18, 2014
New BIGGER box February 19,2014
A few days went by, and I noticed Tinkerbell started getting into the new cardboard box and cuddling up to the kittens.
This photo is from March 5, 2014
She would literally scoop a couple of them up in her arms. She didn't like me touching them much either. Mamma didn't mind me touching them though. It was chilly out so I figured Tink was helping keep the kittens warm. Those babies were toasty during that second arctic blast called Titan. I also noticed some of the kittens were going to her nipples and sucking. I thought Oh how sweet! She’s pacifying them.
I called the vet to see if she could be producing milk, and it could be possible. Even though she was spayed.
As you can see, this box is now too small. The kittens were starting to walk and I figured they needed more room to grow. The poor babies were going round and round in circles! So I put together a longer box on March 5, 2014 and put the babies in it around noon. ( I had bought a three foot long rabbit cage for them but where the wires were welded there were sharp areas all over so I had to return it)
So, since Mamma had the babies, I have been going in the shed at regular four hour intervals to feed her extra can food to keep up her energy. I had completely forgotten that I needed to be feeding her kitten chow until March 6th and she has been eating that up regularly and doesn't want the soft food at all anymore!!!
Anyway, so I was talking to the hubster over at his shop that sits parallel to the shed and I decided I wanted more coffee and had turned to go inside the house.
My husband saw Tinkerbell carrying something in her mouth coming form the direction of the shed. We saw a white tummy and freaked out! SHE HAD ONE OF THE KITTENS!!! My husband ran to try to stop her from going under the trailer, (they have a spot under the porch that's easy access for them), while I walked as fast as I could to the shed to see if what we saw really was a kitten. I counted ...one....two....three...four.... I stared in disbelief! We saw her with the second kitten she had kitnapped!!!
Unfortunately Tinkerbell had made it under the house with the kitten. She had taken Rumpel and Snow. My husband ran back to his shop to get a small piece of plywood to block up the doggie door on the shed and to prevent her or anyone else from kitnapping anymore babies........
Dennis runs back to the trailer and starts ripping off the skirting. Even if Tinkerbell did have milk, we didn't know if she was going to be able to care for them properly, or if she would kill them or leave them out in the field somewhere or what she was going to do. I wondered, if she was pregnant when she was spayed (more than likely was) and if she was having some kind of issues with not having kittens and then now she got attached to these kittens and wanted them for her own. I have no idea! I do know that the mothers run off with babies that are ill and won't survive, but this was different. And Tinkerbell's eyes looked crazy strange too. I mean literally crazy!
It was dusk at this time and we're freaking out because its getting down to freezing tonight and we are worried about the babies. Tinkerbell may or may not have milk but she doesn't have the mother's instinct and we didn't want to take any chances.
So we shine our flashlights underneath and in the front right corner of the house there sits Tinkerbell with Snow who's crying loudly. Broke our hearts! So hubby goes over to that part of the house and starts banging on the skirting hoping to run Tinkerbell away from the baby. I'm still by the back porch making sure she doesn't come out with Snow on this end. Then he rips off the skirting over there and dives in after Snow. I walk around the house and he hands her to me. I wipe her off and cuddle her because she's shaking. I imagine from both cold and the loud noise scaring her.
I put her in the shed with Mamma and Emma was so excited to see Snow and Mamma cleaned her right up. I get back and the hubster is belly crawling all underneath the trailer. At one point he got himself stuck under a tie down. Even though he gets into small confined places at work he said he started to panic but then talked himself out of it. Told himself to "man-up". He got loose and continued to look while I kept looking too from the outside with my flashlight. We found nothing! No sign of Rumpel anywhere and he wasn't making any noise.
Hubby took a break to gather himself and to see if he could hear anything underneath the trailer and I went to go feed the outside cats. It was about 7:30 pm now, dark out and getting colder. About 15 minutes later, I was inside washing the cat dishes and crying and praying that he would find Rumpel alive and well. I felt so sad for the baby.
Then I heard rapping on the pipes. I thought Dennis was trying to get the kitten to meow or something again. Then he started yelling my name and I walked as fast as I could outside asking if he was OK. Dennis had squirmed over by the back porch. He had found Rumpel! He had heard him crying in the insulation and had to reach up in there to get him. He was afraid the little guy was going to run from him but he didn't.
I took Rumpel inside and gave him a warm bath to get the insulation off him, then put him out with his family in the shed. They were all excited to see him.
My husband is my super duper hero. He saved 2 precious lives tonight!
