AesSedai
Member
My life was SO busy. Then they came. Now it's one continuous backache, literally.
I've been feeding the mom for awhile. She's a stray. She was semi-feral but warmed to me and I could pet her. I noticed her stomach getting much larger then I noticed the teets. I knew she was nursing her kittens somewhere. Time went on and the mom was around more and more so I thought that maybe the kitten or kittens may have died.
My mom was over on xmas eve day. She knew all about the mama cat and the not yet seen litter. She's sitting on the porch and what does she see? Mama cat rolls out with her 4 kittens from under the home next to us. It was clear to my mom that it was their first outing from the way the mama cat and they were acting.
We have hawks, falcons and VERY large owls in our backyard. As soon as my mom informed me of the lil live parade, that's the first thing I thought of...they'd be dinner for some baby flying ones. I had NO choice. I had to bring them all into the florida room/porch.
The mama knew me and trusted me so so did the kittens (after a few minutes of trepidation on their part). 4 incredibly beautiful kittens and the mom have been on the porch since then...xmas eve.
It's sooooo hard on me physically. There's lots of stress. Trying not to let my cat run onto the porch because she would kick butt and ask questions later. She tolerates no other cats, period, and has never even seen a kitten before (Tess is 8 yrs. old...she was a stray that fit in the palm of my hand when I got her).
Then there's the stress of getting the mama cat fixed (got lucky here...she's set to be fixed on the 3rd and I think she's already pregnant again so the timing is perfect) and the stress of finding homes for these kittens.
I was told that a certain organization here would help me. I left a message last Thurs, FrI and today. Still no response.
Their litter has to be cleaned 3 or 4 times a day (5 cats after all) and my back is really hurting. Then there's the food...all through the day I have to be sure they all have food and water.
All this while I'm trying to keep my Betta Zen, 2 Ghost Shrimp and a snail alive. I have to do water changes on all of them every other day. Every 3 days and Zen's container is way too dirty. The 10 gal that is Zen's home is torn down. Brush algae, skin and gill flukes and Hydra saw to that so Zen's hanging out in a 2 gal. container until I can get his 10 gal back up.
I couldn't not bring the kittens onto the porch. If I took them to the pound, they'd be put down...they have too many as it is there. The resources here in Tampa aren't that good because all of the organizations are so overpopulated as it is.
I can't express how angry I get when I think about the IRRESPONSIBLE human that let this female cat outside without having her fixed. Like they cared anyway....they either dumped her in our neighborhood or used to live here and moved out without their cat. Grrrrr. She came to us to be fed daily so noone else was feeding her and this went on for 6 months before the babies came.
There's no excuse for not having your animal fixed...I'm sorry. Tess has never been outside and I knew I'd never let her out but I still fixed her! in case she got out. People who don't fix their animals and then let them out and ignore the possibility of kittens or don't take on the responsibility of the kittens should their animal have them.....has NO concern or consideration not only for the animals and the horrible life they live as strays but they could care less who has to come along and clean up THEIR mess.
I'm so sick of it...and angry.
And I vented....here. I had to.
I need homes for these 4 lil females, good homes, so badly. Did you know that around here people will pick up kittens feigning desire for a pet and then sell them to laboratories or people with snakes etc??!??!!?? So it's not even an easy thing to find loving owners for these lil girls (their all girls, done nursing, eating kitten chow). You have to almost literally interview them!! But what else can I do?
If anyone knows of an organization or no-kill shelter in Tampa Florida that they think could help me, I'd be in your debt! These are the places I've contacted...
I've already contacted The Animal Coalition of Tampa (how I got the mama cat fixed on the 3rd for $50), St. Francis (this was who was supposed to help me get the kittens adopted, per animal coalition, and they haven't called back yet....but it is the holidays too. They are SO adoptable right now...so cute. The older and bigger they get, the harder it'll be. Hillsborough County Animal Services don't do adoptions and the Humane Society is playing a really messed up game that's too long to go into. Suffice it to say that they are no help.
I can't physically do this much longer not with everything else I have on my plate (I take care of my disabled mother as well)
Hurting and Worried,
Karyn
I've been feeding the mom for awhile. She's a stray. She was semi-feral but warmed to me and I could pet her. I noticed her stomach getting much larger then I noticed the teets. I knew she was nursing her kittens somewhere. Time went on and the mom was around more and more so I thought that maybe the kitten or kittens may have died.
My mom was over on xmas eve day. She knew all about the mama cat and the not yet seen litter. She's sitting on the porch and what does she see? Mama cat rolls out with her 4 kittens from under the home next to us. It was clear to my mom that it was their first outing from the way the mama cat and they were acting.
We have hawks, falcons and VERY large owls in our backyard. As soon as my mom informed me of the lil live parade, that's the first thing I thought of...they'd be dinner for some baby flying ones. I had NO choice. I had to bring them all into the florida room/porch.
The mama knew me and trusted me so so did the kittens (after a few minutes of trepidation on their part). 4 incredibly beautiful kittens and the mom have been on the porch since then...xmas eve.
It's sooooo hard on me physically. There's lots of stress. Trying not to let my cat run onto the porch because she would kick butt and ask questions later. She tolerates no other cats, period, and has never even seen a kitten before (Tess is 8 yrs. old...she was a stray that fit in the palm of my hand when I got her).
Then there's the stress of getting the mama cat fixed (got lucky here...she's set to be fixed on the 3rd and I think she's already pregnant again so the timing is perfect) and the stress of finding homes for these kittens.
I was told that a certain organization here would help me. I left a message last Thurs, FrI and today. Still no response.
Their litter has to be cleaned 3 or 4 times a day (5 cats after all) and my back is really hurting. Then there's the food...all through the day I have to be sure they all have food and water.
All this while I'm trying to keep my Betta Zen, 2 Ghost Shrimp and a snail alive. I have to do water changes on all of them every other day. Every 3 days and Zen's container is way too dirty. The 10 gal that is Zen's home is torn down. Brush algae, skin and gill flukes and Hydra saw to that so Zen's hanging out in a 2 gal. container until I can get his 10 gal back up.
I couldn't not bring the kittens onto the porch. If I took them to the pound, they'd be put down...they have too many as it is there. The resources here in Tampa aren't that good because all of the organizations are so overpopulated as it is.
I can't express how angry I get when I think about the IRRESPONSIBLE human that let this female cat outside without having her fixed. Like they cared anyway....they either dumped her in our neighborhood or used to live here and moved out without their cat. Grrrrr. She came to us to be fed daily so noone else was feeding her and this went on for 6 months before the babies came.
There's no excuse for not having your animal fixed...I'm sorry. Tess has never been outside and I knew I'd never let her out but I still fixed her! in case she got out. People who don't fix their animals and then let them out and ignore the possibility of kittens or don't take on the responsibility of the kittens should their animal have them.....has NO concern or consideration not only for the animals and the horrible life they live as strays but they could care less who has to come along and clean up THEIR mess.
I'm so sick of it...and angry.
And I vented....here. I had to.
I need homes for these 4 lil females, good homes, so badly. Did you know that around here people will pick up kittens feigning desire for a pet and then sell them to laboratories or people with snakes etc??!??!!?? So it's not even an easy thing to find loving owners for these lil girls (their all girls, done nursing, eating kitten chow). You have to almost literally interview them!! But what else can I do?
If anyone knows of an organization or no-kill shelter in Tampa Florida that they think could help me, I'd be in your debt! These are the places I've contacted...
I've already contacted The Animal Coalition of Tampa (how I got the mama cat fixed on the 3rd for $50), St. Francis (this was who was supposed to help me get the kittens adopted, per animal coalition, and they haven't called back yet....but it is the holidays too. They are SO adoptable right now...so cute. The older and bigger they get, the harder it'll be. Hillsborough County Animal Services don't do adoptions and the Humane Society is playing a really messed up game that's too long to go into. Suffice it to say that they are no help.
I can't physically do this much longer not with everything else I have on my plate (I take care of my disabled mother as well)
Hurting and Worried,
Karyn
