[luckylady]

On Tuesday morning in our hay barn we found a litter of 5 new born feral kittens next to the body of their mum.  She was definitely dead, poor girl.  One of the kittens still had a very fresh pink umbilical so we deduced that they were no older than 24 hours, perhaps even less.  Phoned the vet to ask advice and he said either take to a cat rescue place or have a go at rearing them ourselves with their support.  We decided to draw up an action plan and my daughter and I are taking it in turns to feed (when she is not at work) and so far they (and us) have made it through two nights despite warning from the vet that they may not make it over the first 24 hours.  We have no idea if they actually got colostrum off mum before she died but I think perhaps they did.  So far so good! 

[Ina]

What a challenge! Good on you for giving it a go.

[in the hills]

Arrrrr .... Luckylady, wishing you lots of luck with the little family 


Well done for taking them on. 

[Clarebelle]

Well done for taking on such a big challenge!  they do ok. What are your plans for them? Will they replace their mum as farm cat?

[luckylady]

Well done for taking on such a big challenge!  they do ok. What are your plans for them? Will they replace their mum as farm cat?

Possibly will keep one or two of them but not all five.  Will rehome them.  Anyone interested? 

[happygolucky]

Thats brought tears to my eyes, so horrid to loose thier mum but thats nature......anyway, hope it all works out for you...

[NormandyMary]

Thats brought tears to my eyes, so horrid to loose thier mum but thats nature......anyway, hope it all works out for you...

I agree Sandy, its a bitter sweet story. So glad that luckylady has taken them on, Im sure that there are many out there who would not have bothered and left the kittens to die. Good luck on rearing them ll, and please post some piccies when you are able. Its the time of year when I get kitten broody, although with 4 cats already, another addition is out of the question!!!

[luckylady]

Thanks for all your support folks. 
Mary, it would never enter my head to leave anything to die if I thought realistically I could help it to survive, I don't know how anyone could.  To my detriment my maternal instincts are sometimes too strong according to OH  .  Done the human baby rearing so now its on to the animal ones, although the night feeds take their toll being older.  Daughter does the midnight feed and I do the others during the night as she has to go to work the next day.  Three nights in and all still surviving with no worries about them.  Amber, the dog we rescued, helps with bottom stimulation and cleaning them - its lovely to see her all maternal too. 
For those dubious, we never leave Amber alone with them and always hold them for her to clean.
Will get some pics up asap but camera battery needs charging so I'll go put that on now. 

[happygolucky]

  looking forward to baby pictures

[luckylady]

Despite our efforts we lost one of the kittens overnight  .  Vet said we have done nothing wrong and it just wasn't meant to live without it's mum.  Three of the remaining four are very active, noisy, feeding well and pooing but the fourth, a little ginger tom, is rather subdued and we are not sure he is going to make it either  .  Because we had lost one I wanted the vet to check the others over and took them this morning.  He was brilliant, each time he said 'are you doing this or that?' we could reply with a resounding 'yes' so we definitely know we are doing the best anyone could do for these little mites.  He said we are doing just as good a job, if not better, than the cat charities could manage at the moment as they are inundated and because of that we have been given the practice's 'charity status' for these kittens meaning we won't get charged for any consults.    for my vet.  Also  for my daughter who is the poo queen - she can't half get these kittens to evacuate!     

[happygolucky]

So sorry you lost one, its horrid, we have lost 3 pups over the past few years with our litters and that upsets me so much,  but thats nature, and you are doing so very well , I hope you keep us updated and eventualy show  us the pictures of 4 very grown up young cats

[luckylady]

So sorry you lost one, its horrid, we have lost 3 pups over the past few years with our litters and that upsets me so much,  but thats nature, and you are doing so very well , I hope you keep us updated and eventualy show  us the pictures of 4 very grown up young cats

Sadly we won't Sandy.  Two more succumbed to whatever is taking them and perhaps took their mother too.  We have two left who seem somehow different to the other three in their attitude to life and are very feisty and doing things 5 day old kittens should be doing albeit not with their mother.  We are not confident yet that they will make it as the last two went downhill very quickly even though the vet saw them and gave them a clean bill of health in the morning.  If these two survive we will be keeping them so wish us luck as I think that is what it is down to  .  Foolishly we have named them - Hector derived from Hannibal Lector as he clamps down on our fingers with his gums as though he is so hungry he could eat us and Mouse as she has markings under her nose like a mous(e)tache  .      for these two little ones.

[happygolucky]

  Arhhhhh, its hard on the heart strings...good luck

[jaykay]

I hope the remaining two grow up to be happy and healthy farm cats  Well done for taking them on a - big job and never easy to raise such young babies.

[Dans]

  they survive and well done to you and your daughter for putting so much effort and care and love into them

Dans