Mother cat has buggered off for a walk leaving her 3-week-old kittens and I want to go to bed

[castille]

I've called her but she hasn't come, and I can't lock her out - the kittens shouldn't be without their mummy all night, surely? Or can they?

I have to be up early and really need to go to bed

That would explain her very long absences, Pink. We'd planned to get her "done" next week.... if she comes back at all. Either that or maybe she's got another home and keeps being shut in?

If she does come back, she will definitely be under house arrest here until the kittens are on solids.

Bedtime now, have left a window ajar for her in case she makes an appearance and kittens have had some feed but they didn't like it much

poor mites

another home is a possibility too, she could well be someones cat and they think she keeps buggering off!

i don't normally like collars as they can be dangerous but could you put a loose on on her with a little note attached somehow saying 'this cat has kittens at our house, please ring XXXXXXX' ? that way if she is going to another house you'll know when they ring.

Good idea Pink, the DDs are on to preparing a tag already so we'll do that IF she ever comes back - it's been over 24 hours now.

The kittens don't much like the milk feed so the vet suggested we pop in and get some powdered kitten milk which they may like more. They are exploring and play fighting this morning so don't seem too bothered by their errant mother's absence...

some kittens will be interested in solids as early as 3 weeks, maybe get some kitten food while you're out and mix it with some milk and leave it down for them? generally the age they start fighting and running around is the age they become interested in food so worth a shot

also, i hate to say this but have you checked the roads near you? almost every cat we've lost has been to the road

I replied on your other post the first time she left... it does sound like she has another home somewhere. Maybe the owners didn't realise that she was pregnant, so won't know that you have her kittens. 24 hours is a bloody long time. And for it to keep happening i don't think she is out wandering for that length of time. Is there any way you could follow her to find out where she is going?

We are increasingly thinking that, Dreamaway. DD1 wants to follow her next time but until she comes back there's not a lot we can do. It's been so long we're thinking she might not come back at all now.

I look for squashed cats on the roads when driving, but have seen nothing nasty yet.

This morning I bought the kitten formula and the vet's assistant gave me some kitten food to start them on in a week. It's really hard getting them to take the bottle though, they took a small amount each but they weren't happy about it and I think we stressed them out trying. You'd think they'd be starving and grateful!

Castille I used a wee dropper, and the kitten licked the drips as I squeezed them out, going to buy some kitten food tonight, hes starting to leap about and bite at toes so he must be doing okay!

How long had you got the mummy cat for?

yeah, a dropper or syringe works best ime.

do you have a local shop? could you ask door to door?

female cats don't have huge territories so she has to be close by if she's in another house, i'm sure her owners would be very upset if they knew they were keeping her from her kittens by keeping her in but they probably think they're keeping her safe at home.

she must be in agony with her milk poor mite, she'll end up with mastitis if she doesn't feed soon

We've been out this afternoon putting up posters everywhere we can think of and the vet now has our details.

Plum - the mummmy cat isn't ours, she just turned up on our doorstep one Sunday looking hungry, so the DDs fed her some tuna or something. She hung around, and 4 days later gave birth to kittens in our porch! She seems so domesticated and soppy that she must belong to someone.

Have tried a syringe for the kittens' milk, not much luck with that, but will see if I can find a dropper. They don't like it very much, it's probably not a patch on mummy milk

Well Castille how did the cat hunt go?

Sounds like shes back at her old home and they're probably keeping her in

I think so too. She hasn't been back here since Thursday and so far there's been no response to our poster campaign.

On the positive side, the kittens have taken to the milk now and feed quite well with a syringe.

Ahh thats good,
I can't believe how much our wee man has come on, he's starting to explore everywhere, even thogh dh said he wasn't allowedin living room, when he ventured in last night dh had him up on his knee

SHE'S BACK!

She'd been gone for two and a half days. But she appeared at the back door just now meowing crossly, DH let her in. She is apparently shocked at the state of her babies - all sticky and smelling of powdered milk, probably - so is cleaning them madly. Kittens look much happier.

She is now confined to the utility room forever

Lovely news about mummy cat's return and Lucky's confidence.

Please dont let her out again. Get her neutered as soon as her kittens are weaned, but please dont let her out.

My cat is due any day, and wails at the window. There is no chance shes going out.
I kept her in all week she was in heat, it only took one DD and an open window...
She needs neutering at around 6 weeks after kittehs are born, otherwise her milk will dry up and she might reject them.

But please dont let her out again util she is neutered. She could be on heat again.

Purple - don't worry, we intend to.

She did escape yesterday through an ajar window but was back within 15 minutes, much to our relief. Now she's under house arrest, but it's tough because it gets too hot in the utility room if we don't open a window, and she's such a slight cat she can escape through the tiniest crack. We need to get tough on the litter tray because she's really not keen on it.

We're booking her in to be neutered within the next fortnight.

Could you move them into the kitchen instead?

Nope, kitchen has no windows, only French doors to the garden - an even easier escape!
DIY DH has found a way to fix the utility window open enough to let cool air in but not enough to let cat out though, so they won't roast

omg castille, poor mommma cat! is she still able to feed them? she must have been in agony with her milk poor love.

sounds very much like she was detained by her other owners... put a collar with a note on her in case she does escape again just to be sure it doesn't happen again.