need kitten advice

[coyote]

Hi,

Our neighbors have a batch of kittens living under their shed. We have talked to them about taking one of them. We are just waiting for them to get old enough. They are just about there, within a week or 2.

But it looks like they all have eye infections. We are now concidering wheither we should try to capture the kittens and get them treatment. The problem is what if the mother is really wild and we can't capture her.

Is it ok to just let the kittens be for now? Try in a week or to 2?

Thanks,
Mary

[Brandi]

They should be treated. The eye infections can just get worse. They all need to be treated at the same time. i would suggest trying to get the mom first. To bad I am not there I have humain traps for this sort of thing. We help out at a no kill shelter. But getting the mom first is best then it is easier to get the kittens
If you try and get the kittens first the mom might take off and then you have to feed the babies. The babies will need a coarse of antibiotic's.And that will help if they have anything else as well. If they have a upper respitory infection (common in wild litter's) it really needs to be delt with soon or they will just get weak. Is there a no kill shelter some place near by that can help?
I hope this helps a bit. If i was there I would be helping you right now.

[mimitabby]

take all the kittens as soon as possible. they might be dead in two weeks. If the mother is tame, get her spayed as soon as possible. If she's wild, she's going to need to be trapped first. Once you have the mother, it's very easy to get the kittens. But every day you let them stay wild, the harder it will be to tame them. There are people who dedicate their lives to helping feral cats, there are probably some in your area. Start by calling a veterinarian.

So let's say you have the kittens now. It's best not to separate them until they are 8-16 weeks old. The older they are when you separate them, the better socialized they will be.
In the wild, cats stay with their siblings and mothers for months. Then they accept other cats better because they become socialized.
I hope you will take care of all these kitties.
Good luck.

[coyote]

Thanks for the advice mimtabby and brandi. I believe the Human Society has some human traps. They might be a great resource to finding cost effective treatment too (including spaying the mom).

I'm hoping I won't need too much luck. Anybody want a kitty? Just kidding, I can't count my kittens before they are caught.

[mimitabby]

I wish you a lot of luck, if you lived closer, i'd lend you a trap.
keep us posted on what happens. I did the same thing, but i didn't spy my kittens until they were about 12 weeks old and i didn't catch them until they were almost 16 weeks. They all had ringworm AND eye infections.

I still have one of them
this is when i first got her:


here she is all grown up:

[coyote]

She is a cutie. Does she ride the bike often?

[coyote]

Well, here he is....name Ziggy Stardust. He is all of about 6 weeks old and 2 lbs. He has the biggest prrr and tinyest meow.

[Aggie_Ama]

Ziggy Stardust he is so precious!! I had the sweetest little love bug orange tabby named Sammy.

Unfortunately my father was of the opinion cats can go outside when they want and he was hit by a car at just 3 months. I still think of him lovingly even though he was only my friend for about a month. Sorry didn't mean to put up such a sad story.

[mimitabby]

he's adorable! his eyes look a little irritated though.
happy Ziggy stardust to you!

[bmccasland]

Ziggy is SO cute. I was at a friend's house over the weekend and was highly entertained by kitten antics - her's are probably the same age as Ziggy. Just watching the kittens jump into a 6 inch tall box was fun, let alone the wrestling match that occurred once they got in there. Once second they're playing like crazy, and then zonked out asleep.

[coyote]

his eyes look a little irritated though.

Diffenently, you should have seen them last week! We took him to the vet right away. He's in good health but he does have conguntivitis (sp?), had a bad case of earmites and some fleas. He was a bit lethargic the first couple of days but he is really starting to perk up.

We are keeping him in a large dog kennel. He is a riot. He is constantly knocking over his water. It makes a little swimming pool in the kennel So now we give him a little water several times a day.