Chili posted:

Alteisen posted:

No its damage, when the momma cat cat him I had to rush her to the vet when I noticed something was wrong, I have never broken so many speed laws in my life but gently caress it lives where at stake, they couldn't quite tell how long he'd been out not if he'd pull through but thankfully he did.



The derp himself.

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

I’m not really sure. They were born outside; their parents are part of a group of stray (maybe feral or semi-feral?) cats that’ve taken up residence in our backyard. There’ve been stray cats living out there and having kittens for a few years now (we feed them and leave our garage open for them), but recently we heard a rumor that somebody in our neighborhood is trapping and shooting kitties, so now we’re trying to catch as many of them as we can to take them to shelters (or at least have them spayed/neutered).

Anyway the kittens are all venturing out of their carrier now, they’re eating the food we’ve been giving them (both wet and dry, though they seem to prefer the wet) and using the makeshift litter box we made for them, but their still terrified of people. Any time I try to touch them they run, and at least one of them hisses at me whenever I get too close. I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be here but hopefully not too long.

There’s a few more kittens outside that we’re still working on catching, but we’re not really sure how to do that since Mom caught these three by grabbing them off the kitchen windowsill and I don’t think the others have ever been up there. If anybody has any tips for trapping/catching kittens, I’m all ears.


We don’t have any Kitten Chow. We’ve been feeding them the same wet and dry food we feed our other cats because it’s what we have.

We also don’t have any non-clumping litter, although our cats never had any problems with the clumping litter we buy when they were kittens. How is clumping litter dangerous for kittens?

I’d love to read that effortpost if you ever get around to writing it. I need all the advice I can get.

coolusername posted:

Sneaking in here for a quick question.

So, I'm fostering a new cat: 5 years old, former housecat (we think) that was abandoned on the street. He's got some injuries from that.

He arrived 3 days ago, found the futon under my bed and is living there in my bedroom. He clearly sneaks out when I'm asleep and out, since food disappears and the litter box is used. If I lie down on my stomach and reach under, he'll let me pet him for a while and purr, but he sure as hell isn't coming out.

Any tips to help me? Because sooner or later I'm going to have to catch him and get him back to the vet for a check up, and right now I can't even get to him.

I. M. Gei posted:

I am getting a bit concerned about my calico baby.

She seems a bit less active and vocal than normal. I’m not sure if that’s just a passing thing or not, but she has pooped a little more often than the other two kittens over the past couple of days. Could she be dehydrated from diarrhea? What do I give a dehydrated <2-week-old kitten? Is just water okay? Am I not feeding her often enough?

Please help me! I know kittens die all the time from unpreventable poo poo, but I still want all of these ones to live dammit!

PASS THE MASH posted:

Hi I have come into possession of three kittens from a dryer vent. Not sure how old exactly but they have teeth and are eating wet food, drinking, and have all pooped and peed. One has some buildup near her eye that weve been cleaning regularly. They have toys and blankets that smell like us and our dogs in a little kennel. Planning to take them to the vet this weekend. Is there anything major that I’m missing. I’ll pay the cat tax in a second because they’re adorable.

sneakyfrog posted:

welp the old dog was put to sleep.
the other 3 have been successfully driven to michigan.

question: so i have 4 cats, a baby and a wife that need to be driven to michigan, much like the dogs i was planning on just doing a straight shot there only stopping for gas and nature calling.

we have 4 soft crates i have been putting feliway in and leaving open all week so they can play around in them.

are there any that i can safely sedate them with (the cats not the wife and baby) to make the trip easier on them?

its most likely going to be 18-20 hours straight drive.

I. M. Gei posted:

UPDATE: Cats appear to be doing fine so far. I took a bunch of pics of my “shelter” setup that I meant to post earlier; I’ll try to post those today.

Of note, the garage seems to be staying above freezing even when the outside temp is below 32°. The water in the cats’ water dish has stayed liquid almost this whole time and has only iced up once or twice when the temperature got down to the low single-digits, and replaced that water with fresh hot water and turned on the heater fans when that happened.

The coldest weather has now passed and things should start to warm up tomorrow or Friday. The snow and ice might take a few days to fully melt after that, but at least the air won’t be below freezing all day long anymore. I’ll return the second Vornado heater as soon as the roads are de-iced and safe to drive on.

Lady Demelza posted:

I have a feisty, bouncy foster cat who came into foster care because his previous owner was beating him up. His bruises have gone down and, apart from a few old scars, the vet believes there's no long-term damage.

There are still coronavirus restrictions where I live so the lack of adoption plans hasn't surprised me, but one of the staff happened to mention that they aren't sure what's going to happen with him. He's a 2 year old, perfectly healthy, gorgeous cat and he'd be snapped up within minutes as a perfect family pet. The only possible thing is that they're worried about his former owner finding him, but this can't be an insurmountable obstacle to adoption? The last I heard the staff were 'having a meeting with the manager' of the fostering agency, but if there was a decision then it wasn't communicated to me.

Is this....normal? It seems very cloak-and-dagger.

No photos with this post because I've been asked not to put any online.

Skutter posted:

Frankly, she will already be difficult to adopt out because she is blind. But if she can't eat on her own (worst case scenario), that makes it even tougher. I'm also worried about her weight gain, as our rescue fixes kittens at two pounds, and she is really lagging behind on that goal compared to her sibling. The vet says she is doing "fine" so far health-wise, but I am also personally concerned about malnutrition, delayed development, like you said.

Ultimately, she will have a home with us if she never gets adopted. It would just be much nicer and easier if she could feed herself.

Pollyanna posted:

I’m going to give it another couple weeks or so, but I’m considering joining a local foster program for a six-month cohort. I miss having cats around and I want to do something to help cats in need, but I have no idea where I will be or what I will be doing in two years (because lol, america) let alone a decade or more. Plus, I don’t quite know if I’m ready for a long-term commitment so soon after my last.

Am I a reasonable candidate for the foster program? My living situation is a 2-bed 2-bathroom apartment, previously occupied by just 1 cat but the lease allows for 2 max. I am financially stable and gainfully employed, I work from home 3 days out of the week, I can legally drive and I fully own a car, and I have established a relationship with a local veterinary hospital. Arguments against would be that I rent, not own, so I don’t know how a landlord would affect the possibility of fostering.

I’ve also got over a year and a half of experience caring for a senior and special needs cat, with GI issues and twice-daily medication (including biweekly chemotherapy). Both pills and injections. I like to think that means I can help other cats in similar need, but I’m certainly no vet, and maybe there’s something more experienced fosters can see that might throw a wrench in this option.

Good idea/bad idea? Anything I should nail down first before putting my name in?