AWWW Gemini's 1st pic

[weekendrescuer]

...and how exactly do you all elect a child take care of spaying a cat? the truth of the matter is that being in charge of what funds go where, her parents should've taken care of it. yes, she could rake leaves and give an adoption fee for each kitten to cover mom's spay, but what does that do if no one will take her to the vet's ofice? nothing. at. all.


We are not all born with a knowledge of care for every creature on the planet and a cloud mansion next to a vet's office. While I am not saying that all decisions made in this case were good, the "flame&blame" aproach does nothing to help reverse the situation. As frustrating as it is to most here, it's over. Done with. We can't un-impregnate the cat, and we can't pre-neuter the tom.
The cat is knocked up, the male is gone, the family can't afford one cat, let alone 3-9, and the parents don't care enough/are too broke to spay it. The best we can do now is offer info and hope everything goes well. It seems that in your situation, if something goes wrong during birth, you'd just end up losing your cat AND the kittens.

www.kitten-rescue.com has info on what to do in case the mom dies, as well as general kitten-care tips.

http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html has a list of low-cost and free spay/neuter clinics throughout the US.

http://www.messybeast.com/handrear.htm more info on handrearing kittens

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/howto15.html info on feline pregnancy and what to do when birth time comes


I hope she does fine and you can convince your parents to get her & the kittens spayed and neutered. Helping save up for it yourself and explaining the pros & cons of spay/neuter may help convince them to do it.

[carole]

Just for the record I have always stated her parents are the ones responsible here, however she is the poster, not them, so we can only tell her what should be done and hope she can have some influence on her parents somehow, I do understand she is only young and does not control the finances, and can only do so much,but she can still play an important part, even if she is the one to educate her own parents, does happen sometimes.

[barncat]

Again, the advice you are getting on emergency care of kittens is great... but do not panic about all the things that could go wrong. Most cats have healthy kittens without much trouble.

Be aware and prepared, but in most cases, the female does just fine. Good food (whether special food or just as much of her regular food as she wants to eat), a safe warm place to keep her kittens and plenty of fresh water and she will most likely do fine. Putting old clean towels in her nest box is a good way of giving her a soft warm bed that is easy to wash, but if that's not an option newspaper is a good insulater (warm) and can be thrown away when dirty.

Some cats become very protective of their babies, so if she gets hissy don't take it personally or worry. Some cats love to have their person admire their kittens. Watch your cat to see what makes her comfortable. (One of my females back inthe day used to come in the house for treats and cuddles between giving birth to kittens... that was very unusual. Moms don't usually eat while they are in labor, but Sootie was hand raised from two days old (her mom was killed by a car) and she was a very devoted mommy cat.)

[catmandu]

The Found Cats,Porchies Angels and I are praying that the Kittens are born healthy.
As one who for the first time had Kittens in the house,due to Starry Pouncette,I pray that the Momma Cat and Babies will be All Right,and That The Momma Cat wont have to go through this again.

[momcat]

Amen to that, Gary!