Board 8 > Question about Raising Kittens

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um, @Zigzagoon I guess?

Well, heres the thing

I've been raising 5 kittens these past few months. A stray cat I adopted was actually preggers, I couldn't bring myself to take the cat to get spayed and eliminate the babies. So I bypassed the free surgery so she could have her babies

they are now 10 weeks old

but as of right now, I have 8 cats in my house. The original 2, the mama, and now her 5 babies

there will be time for pictures later btw

but anyways, I believe 10 weeks is a decent age to separate them from their mother, I've been thinking about giving a couple of them away.

however, the thought of tearing this family apart is whats tearing me apart. These kittens start wailing if they're in another room with the door closed because they're not with their siblings\mother

I can't imagine what they'll be like if they don't have access to them at ALL

I know animals don't think like us. I know they do love each other, and I do know the mother will eventually start treating them like roommates instead of her babies, but I'm more concerned about the siblings. Will the cats miss each other? Will they feel sadness about this?

I know I'm probably thinking too hard about this but I've grown attached to them and I know they're attached to each other, so I want this to be as painless as possible
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I think it actually is better to separate them younger, it's unfortunate because they do feel scared about being moved somewhere else. But as long as they go to a caring home that knows how to put up with their crying for a few days, they'll be fine. They get over the separation pretty quickly, provided they get plenty of attention from their new owner.
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You're tearing a family apart. They will grow up and do coke and be unemployed very soon, and it's all your fault.

Bring out the bricks, have 8 cats, or have them be a blight on society. Those are your only options

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I have a cat that was part of litter of strays found in a parking lot at work. All of them were separated and adopted by different people, but we agreed to bring them back to work occasionally so they could see each other.

The first couple of times we did it they seemed to have fun seeing each other. After that though they didn't seem to care at all. *shrug*

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CassandraCain posted...

They get over the separation pretty quickly, provided they get plenty of attention from their new owner.

This basically.

I got my kitten from a litter of 4 and he was perfectly fine after like an hour of roaming around my house.
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Grand Kirby posted...

I have a cat that was part of litter of strays found in a parking lot at work. All of them were separated and adopted by different people, but we agreed to bring them back to work occasionally so they could see each other.

The first couple of times we did it they seemed to have fun seeing each other. After that though they didn't seem to care at all. *shrug*

Real talk, this is how it goes. My cat had two kittens and it took about 6 months of them meeting back together before they did not give a shit about seeing their parents

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Yeah pun be strong, it's actually harder on you than it is the kittens.
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I figure thats the case :(
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But yea, thanks for the replies, guys

I feel better knowing they'll get over it
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Raising Kittens would be a good name for a mid-'90s death metal band.
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It's too soon. You need to wait until 12-15 weeks for best result. I've raised (initially) with my mothers help more litters than I can count, and many were half-breed Siamese... so desirable AND not inbred. Give it at least 2 more weeks unless you're giving to someone who knows at least as much or more than you about raising kittens. This isn't an emotional health thing for them, it's if they can transfer from mother's milk to another food source.
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they've been eating kibble for a few weeks now

and they've been eating wet food for longer. I think the transition wouldn't be hard
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Yes, and select breeds may develop differently... but are they 100% off mother's milk? I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass, I just want to make sure they really are ready to move on to new households. If the mother no longer provides any nutrients then I suppose they advanced faster, but my mom really made sure it was 100% when I was growing up and she really impressed it on me.
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we

want

pictures
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Aecioo posted...

You're tearing a family apart. They will grow up and do coke and be unemployed very soon, and it's all your fault.

Bring out the bricks, have 8 cats, or have them be a blight on society. Those are your only options

This is just awful, but I laughed.


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NFUN posted...

we

want

pictures

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Yeah they'll be fine. We've had four litters (finally got the mama spayed so no more of that!) and most of them have gone to separate homes, and all have been reported back as quite happy and healthy.

Also:
Waluigi1 posted...

NFUN posted...

we

want

pictures

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tag for pics
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Raise them all yourself and become the neighborhood cat lady

"But I'm a guy"

I know what I said

No, they haven't kicked mom's stuff yet

She still feedfeeds them

UltimaterializerX posted...

6-8 weeks is the correct age to wean a kitten. Wait too long and the cats are old enough to remember their mom well enough to have issues with separation anxiety.

Oh is that what it's called? Wean? Is that something you have to do manually yourself? Not naturally
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I guess I may as well ask here because the behavior is peculiar. The mother of the kittens started isolating herself away from everything. She just sort of hangs out in the same spot now. She used to walk around everywhere. Her kittens walk up to her sometimes and she doesn't seem to mind but what does this mean. I haven't seen her feed them. Is she sick? Is this part of the weaning process?
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I feel like thats an answer to the first post, not that one
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And now one of my original two cats is limping , she's holdin her front left leg up while she walks. God dammit what's going on with my cats
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Still waiting on those pics just fyi
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I took my cat to the vet and they said they were unable to determine whats exactly wrong with her but they did identify it was trauma, they gave her some antibiotics and shes better. Its probably the fastest 60 bucks they've ever made

now the 2nd cat, the one thats become stand offish

she now growls at the kittens when they come by. Probably part of the weaning process.

but shes starting to puke brown liquid. It STINKS. Its disGUSTING

so I think theres something actually wrong with her too. Vets are closed til monday
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Waluigi1 posted...

Still waiting on those pics just fyi

if you read the topic you'll see my cats are suffering right now, so that can wait
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shes still throwing up that vile mess

I don't think she can keep anything down

I've tried googling her symptoms, which I know is usually not a good idea

but most things tie it to some some of organ issue or having to need surgery

I don't know if I can afford a cat surgery right now

I'm scared for her right now
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:/
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Stay strong pun

I have no advice, my cats have never puked up anything other than hairballs and food because one of them is too dumb to pace himself.
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So apparently I got stupidly lucky when I took my cat to the vet

they're now booked for the rest of the month

I'm assuming someone canceled when I made my appointment with the leg cat the other day

there IS another vet but its super prestige and fancy and expensive, but I have no choice.
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Looks like I got a spot in the afternoon

but I can't find the cat right now

it was odd

she fed the kittens again last night.

I haven't found any barf puddles so far today
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I found her, shes as well as a can be right now .

I was fearing the worst
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I took her to the vet, they did a bunch of tests and they even did an x-ray, and they can't really determine what's wrong with her. She has bacteria in her stool so her GI tract might be infected. They theorize she also might have an ulcer in her stomach and it's bleeding, and she's vomiting blood.

I'm getting Deja Vu though, and not in a good way. Before Tina passed away, my first cat, we took her to the vet because she lost bodily functions, she stopped eating, and start drinking. Kept her overnight, couldn't find anything wrong with her. And she died a month later. This is mirroring that scenario almost exactly. My cat lost bodily functions yesterday, she started peeing on herself
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I'm pretty irritated, the bill is over $500 now and they don't know what's wrong with her or if they can even fix her
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:(

that sucks
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They called this morning and they said she was reacting well to the meds. She hasn't thrown up and while they didn't mention she soiled herself, I'm sure they would've if she had

they still don't know whats wrong with her though, or what was wrong

its very discouraging.

as I've said, this happened with my first cat

took her in cause she was sick, soiling herself. They couldn't find anything wrong

they hospitalized her

she came back home

and she died a month later. If my cat gets sick again I might just have to put her down, its just disheartening they don't know whats happening
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How old is this cat?
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Shes a year and a half. I've had her for 3 months
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all I can think of is maybe there's something she got exposed to while she was here, but I have five kittens and two other cats that are a okay. I feel like these were two coincidental situations instead of something reoccurring because I think the kittens would have gotten sick first
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Well I hope she is ok. Having a sick pet sucks. :/
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My kitty cat has roundworm atm. It's not fun.

Any update on yours?
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So she was relatively the same when I brought her back home but she was just not throwing up. But yesterday she actually jumped up on the counter to see if she could find some food. This lets me know she's doing a lot better. Giving her her meds it's surprisingly not hard. But one thing that concerns me as she doesn't drink water. I haven't seen her do it since she got back. The closest she gets is just laying down next to the water and staring at it. Also, she started nursing the kittens again. That also struck me as odd
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Things are a lot better but I just can't rest easy yet
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also forgive the triple post, but my other cat with the limp is pretty much 100% now
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My cat was doing better, but the past two days shes been throwing up again

its not the vile, nasty puddles she was initially vomiting, but she clearly can't keep it down anymore either

god dammit
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I gotta say, the reason why I tried keeping this topic up is I thought I'd get a bit more help from the experts or something. Ghost town, man
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I dunno anything about cats but it sucks man, sorry
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