This morning when I drove up to the grocery store, someone was pulling a box of kittens out of a dumpster. 🙁 There are five of them, all of them pitch black. I am estimating that they are around 7 weeks old. Only one isn’t eating.
Yes, they are here…sigh. So much for my resolve to give up rescuing. I guess someone wants me to continue.
They are set up in the bedroom and I will let them be for a few days before attempting to sex them or name them. I love black kittens- black cats have amazing immune systems and rarely get sick. But heavens, I don’t need five of them! I already know that chances are slim they will be adopted out being they are black. Around here, folks are foolish and mighty superstitious.
whaa what non sense..black kitties are beautiful! We might decide to stop doing something.. but if its something we love.. we enjoy doing.. its extremely hard to stop.. especially when its animal rescue, an animal in distress is an extremely powerful call on us animal lovers. Courage Mary!
I hope those new cuties make it, and who now someone might give them a home…
Someone definitely wants you to keep rescuing! Kittens pulled out of a dumpster just as you were arriving? Looks like you don’t have a choice in the matter. 🙂
There is a black cat rescue in our area because they are less likely to be adopted. It’s too bad people let superstition get in the way of loving a beautiful black kitten.
Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water!!! 🙂
I’ve had black cats all my adult life and except for the fact that their hair shows up worse on the furniture, I see nothing to indicate that they’ve caused me bad luck in any way…
We’re having trouble with our latest rescue kitties. Their mother quit nursing them 2 weeks ago — she was the worst mother ever, wouldn’t clean the kitties, wouldn’t nurse. Anyway now they have diarrhea and are losing ground on the formula — I suspect worms, but can’t reach the vet until next week, not in the office. The kitties are nearly 6 weeks old, but look like they’re 3 weeks old.
Classof65
At 6 weeks old they can be safely weaned. I would get them on kitten food (canned) and dry and mix some benebac into their canned food. You can also go to a health food store and buy some high grade probiotic capsules and mix the powder with the canned food. Hopefully mom is spayed now? Unlike us, cats don’t get to choose whether or not they want a family. Forced upon them, some Queens just don’t want to deal with the kittens. It is a strain on them all the way around to care for a litter. You can get benebac at petsmart, petco or a good feed store.
The mother cat is scheduled to be spayed tomorrow. I find that I detest her unreasonably because of the way she treated her children! Just a temporary thing…there were plenty of times I made mistakes with my own kids. 🙁 I’d like to find her a good home, but, there again, she is black and I may encounter difficulties placing her. Do you screen the people who contact you before giving them a cat? We did not screen anyone who took the kitties from the last litter and, although they all seemed okay and brought their kids to help choose a kitten, now I worry that I should have done more than I did.
We’re feeding these kittens wet food and kitten chow. We had bought and fed some supplement from the vet, but we’ve run out and since the vet is not available until tomorrow, we’ve been feeding warmed cow’s milk in the meantime. They love the cow’s milk! They’re just like a litter of piglets at a trough as they lick it up! I know that cow’s milk is probably too rich and may give them diarrhea, but they don’t drink water much and I think they need the fluids. We are 30 miles from any pet-store, but will stock up on formula tomorrow from the vet.
Hopefully this is our last litter of kittens. We do have one feral queen who feeds here and she has brought us the single kitten from her last litter. We intend to catch her and get her spayed as soon as she weans this last kitten. We were able to find a home for the kitten from her litter-before-this, but were unable to catch the mama before she got pregnant again. This time we’re determined to get her spayed.
Thanks for your comments and suggested solutions to my problems — I never intended to get into this situation, but, with your help and the vet’s, we’re muddling through.
Classof65
A good friend of mine is the head of the cat program at a local non-kill shelter and she swears in her experience black cats make the best pets. She has always said they are the most loving of all. She tells people that all the time but the black ones still get passed up. I have had cats all my life and currently have 5 including the love of my life Magic and yes he is black. The people passing on black cats are truly missing out!!