June 12, 2008

  have become a foster mother. Not to a human, but to 5 baby kittens. The mother was a stray that a friend took pity upon and fed. In gratitude, she deposited 5 kittens under his front porch and then injured herself a week later. The boys found out that hand rearing kittens is more work than they thought. They kept trying to feed them when they squalor, but I showed them that the kittens were merely cold when they were still mewing and were not interested in the bottle. I gave them a hot water bottle and it was like magic.. they were happy campers again. I volunteered to take the kittens until they are off the bottle if they continued to care for the mom. The guys were all too pleased with that arrangement!

If left to her own devices, a female cat may have three to seven kittens every four months. This is why population control using neutering and spaying is so important. Animal shelters are overrun with unwanted cats and there are so many feral cats who are left to roam and multiple yet some more.

41% of the cat population are strays according to the National Pet Alliance Report. At the third largest shelter in the United States, Santa Clara County, California, 36% of the stray animals handled are dogs, vs. 64% cats. Euthanasia totals are 80% cats and 20% dogs.  A  US national survey found nearly 25% of households fed stray cats. Average domestic cat can have 4.25 kittens, and 2.1 litters per year. The life span of feral cats is 2-3 years, the average life span of the owned cats, based on respondents' answers, was 7.02 years. An indoor cats life is significantly longer. Both my cats are indoor cats only.

You may spay your cat (male or female) at 6 months of age. Some vets will do it sooner. Please spay and neuter your pets to help prevent unwanted animals.

Picture Below: The five babies I am taking care of right now. They are 16 days old today and just got their eyes open the last couple days. Trying to get a picture of them all lined up, is well.... like herding cats!

Two of the kittens are already spoken for, but if you would like to put your dibs in on one, please contact me by email. I will have more pictures of them soon.