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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Rescue cats - experiences on adopting the 'mum'?

24 replies

Strikeuptheband · 16/05/2017 14:16

Hope I can get some experiences here. We were looking at cats at a rescue centre yesterday and met a cat that had some quite young kittens (think 3 weeks old). We had actually come to look at potentially young adult cats and older kittens, so we were meeting the mum. She was very lovely and known for being very friendly and affectionate. She was actually found as a pregnant stray, so has been there for quite a few weeks. She won't be ready, obviously, until her kittens are older. She was our favourite out of all the cats we saw, and we have now reserved her.
I suppose I was wondering if anyone who has adopted the mum could give me their experiences really. Were there any issues that I should look out for? She will be spayed in a few more weeks, and will come to us when the kittens are around 10 weeks old and looking to go to new homes. Did anyone find their cat missing their kittens by this stage? Also, does having had a litter of kittens and being spayed afterwards (rather than before) have any imact on future health or temperament? She will be our first female cat too. Very excited to be a cat household once again after our lovely boy cat died in the new year .
Thanks, would be interested if anyone can share their experiences. I know from looking at rescue centre pages of cats to adopt that young pregnant females are often up for adoption, so some of you must have adopted them, right?

OP posts:

Fluffycloudland77 · 16/05/2017 14:36

We adopted an ex queen & she was fine. She might call for her kittens for a day or do but it wears off.

She didn't have any health issues from so many litters.

BorpBorpBorp · 16/05/2017 16:56

Will you definitely just be getting the mum on her own? We got BorpCat1 with one of her kittens, though they were both adults when we got them, and they got along so well together. After the kitten (actually a 2yo cat) died, BorpCat1 missed him a lot, and we got a new 8 week old kitten to keep her company. She has definitely adopted the new kitten as her own and is much happier than when she was on her own. She is a very laid-back, tolerant cat generally.

She doesn't have any health issues, but she is still young (about 4).

CocktailsInTheSunshine · 16/05/2017 17:00

I did and seventeen years later she is still an incredible affection and loved member of the family.

Wolfiefan · 16/05/2017 17:04

We adopted a 2 year old mum and her 18 month old son. She lived to be 19!

isseywithcats · 16/05/2017 17:53

i work as a volunteer at a cat rescue centre so see lots of moms with kittens and the kittens going off to thier new homes so post kitten reaction, generally speaking in the wild mom cats would push thier kittens away from them at around 9/10 weeks, and by the time they are 12 weeks most of the moms have had enough of them, i foster moms and kittens and by the time they go back to the centre the moms arent normally having much to do with the kits , and generally the moms dont miss the kittens for more than a few hours,
the main impact being spayed has on a female cat is she wont come into heat, she wont get pregnant over and over, she wont get infections of her womb cos there wont be one, so you will actually have a healthier happier cat

moonbells · 16/05/2017 19:03

We adopted a white tortie mum and her smallest black and white kitten. They hid behind the washing machine for a few days but gradually came out. She really didn't like him being about after he got bigger - rather a 'why are YOU still here?' situation. Getting them in the same room was painful and we still feed them separately. They still squabble a bit but will actually sleep a foot apart these days and play together, but then he's four and she's possibly 5-6. He is now a hulking thug who kills pigeons and has a purr like a diesel monster truck. She took a couple of years to trust us but now she is a total lapcat with a rolls royce purr (you can barely hear her). She is also rather large but that's due to eating anything that's not nailed down, so keeping her weight down is a constant struggle. We think she was so starving that she learned to not leave food.
I love my beautiful furry tortie.

DollyParsnip · 17/05/2017 08:02

We adopted a Mum and her Son, she was a very young Mum and we think her kitten was her only one. She was about a year when we got her, her Son about 5 months.

She is very timid but has come out of her shell in the last few months, her Son was an extrovert from minute 1 . She is very wary of us, hates sudden moves or noises and had to be taught how to play but she is really lovely - makes your day when she allows you to stroke her or briefly jumps on your lap.

They get along really well, they get a bit grumpy at times but have found their own boltholes they disappear to. They feed alongside each other, an initial issue we had was that she would hang back to let Son eat as much as he wanted first but as she's learned to trust us she's become happier to eat at the same time.

This was there busy day yesterday, Mum on the sofa, Son at the top. Good luck!

Rescue cats - experiences on adopting the 'mum'?

PaulSimonsMatesMissus · 17/05/2017 08:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Strikeuptheband · 17/05/2017 13:02

Thank you all for being kind enough to reply and tell me all about your lovely cats. I have enjoyed reading all about them and I am really looking forward to bringing our new furry friend home. It's great to hear about such positive stories and of long lives.
I have been a little deflated actually telling people IRL about her excitedly, only to have about 80% of them asking why we didn't just choose a kitten. Why can't people be more open to adopting adult cats? The truth is, she will be our third rescue cat, none of them have been kittens, and yes this time I kind of wanted a kitten to have that experience. But then when I met her, I could just see her being part of our family. It's a bit of a shame that as she's a stray we won't know exactly how old she is, or what her story is, but she was very friendly towards us and I am hoping she will enjoy having us attend to her every whim being our cat .
isseywithcats I hope that that is how it will be for her too. Is 9 weeks early to separate or is it usual in rescues? I know that a lot of pedigree breeders don't let their kittens go until 12 or 13 weeks? And can I ask - for insurance purposes (for a stray) how do you give their date of birth? Is it an estimate?
Thanks again to everyone for your replies .

OP posts:

isseywithcats · 17/05/2017 17:17

our rescue adopts out at 12 weeks some rescues especially if they dont do neuter on kittens adopt out earlier, i dont really know on that one, but kittens are fine going from mom at nine weeks

and a quick visit to a vets and they should be able to give you a reasonable age guess for her, and put on insurance documents an age that the vet suggests or as shes going off for spay ask the rescue to get an estimate from thier vet and use that, most of our pregnant strays are around 9-12 months so we use 12 months as a default age unless the feeder knows they have been around longer so are a bit older

isseywithcats · 17/05/2017 17:20

and if every person who came though our gates only wanted a kitten boy would we be in trouble fortunately some people no way in the world want a naughty little but cute kitten phew say to your friends and what are the rescues supposed to do with the mom cats and see how they wriggle out of that one

Melfish · 17/05/2017 17:34

Our cat was a young mum- she'd had her kittens and they were rescued by the local cat rescue, and she was fostered by a lady for a few weeks whilst waiting for a home. She was still a bit bald from spaying when we got her but she has always been very friendly and chatty. She doesn't seem to have 'missed' her kittens and is quite happy patrolling the local gardens and bossing us about at home. She's the first cat for all of us, we wanted an adult cat so at least she'd know what to do!

avocadosripe · 17/05/2017 17:35

Can we see a photo of Mummy?

AwkwardSquad · 17/05/2017 21:09

We adopted a two year old mum too. She's about seven now, and she's lovely. Very affectionate (in her own way).

gobbin · 17/05/2017 22:33

We adopted mum and both kittens. They're now 5/6 years old and are quite independent of each other but will snuggle up in various paired combos (not as a three anymore, don't know why). They're fab.

NorthernLurker · 19/05/2017 00:11

Our mia was a young mum. Her kittens had been rehomed when we met her and she seemed totally fine. Never called for them.

TheLongRider · 19/05/2017 11:52

These days I prefer older cats to kittens. You've a better idea of their personality and if they'll settle with you. We acquired a cat who had her kittens and she was very happy on her own with us.

When I was a child we had a mum and son, the runt of the litter. He was as thick as two short planks and she was a tiny ferocious hunter who would bring home rabbits as big as herself to feed him. She minded him rather in the style of an Irish Mammy, making sure he had plenty of food and forcibly washing him! He was devastated when she died and genuinely mourned her loss.

SapphireStrange · 19/05/2017 16:35

Dolly, they're BEAUTIFUL!

Sorry, no advice for the OP, just had to say that.

Original poster

Strikeuptheband · 20/05/2017 17:16

Isseywithcats
Thanks for advice. They do neuter at this rescue, but they (I believe) let them come back for it? My first 2 cats were rescues and I think they used an estimate for the date of birth (even though they weren't strays).
Melfish Your cat sounds lovely.
Loving seeing all these lovely photos and hearing the stories of your cats but worried if I post a picture it will 'out' me! Promise I will name change to a more catty name and post on litter tray when she's here though 😀.
Thelongrider Love your description of mum and son . Would love to have one of the kittens too but doubt my DP would agree.
So excited! The time will go so slowly now!

OP posts:

Elbi · 20/05/2017 22:30

She sounds lovely :) You can tell much more about personality with older cats. She should be fine on her own too - we have a mother and daughter and while they're super affectionate with us, I'm sure they would have preferred a home each! I think it's true that mum cats want to send their kittens off independently after a while.

AprilLudgateDwyer · 20/05/2017 22:40

We adopted a mum and one of her kittens. She never missed he other kittens and actually hated the remaining kitten!

EarlGreyT · 21/05/2017 10:43

It's a bit of a shame that as she's a stray we won't know exactly how old she is, or what her story is

Her story is likely along the lines of: previous owner got a cute female kitten, they didn't bother neutering her, surprise surprise cat became pregnant at around 6-8 months old, previous owner eventually realised cat was pregnant and couldn't be bothered to deal with it so dumped said cat. Unfortunately this happens all too commonly.

Variant of his story is that ex owners dealt with cat having previous litters and homed kittens, they still didn't neuter cat, the cat became pregnant yet again, ex owner decided they couldn't be bothered with homing another litter of kittens and dumped the cat.

Original poster

Strikeuptheband · 22/05/2017 14:36

EarlGreyT I realise that it is probably one of those things. Anyway hopefully she won't get lost again as she will have her microchip installed with our details on. And she won't have to worry about getting pregnant again either.

As a cat that was found wandering, pregnant and lost with no owner, I can only assume she's also possibly wandered due to being on heat? Hopefully once spayed she won't be any more likely than average to wander off? At least she was found and taken care of before her babies were born!

AprilLudgateDwyer and Elbi

Thanks for reassurance. I feel kind of guilty that we can't take on one of her kittens, but you are reassuring me.

So excited! Only downside is the waiting! But at least the kids have photos of her and we all know she's ours!

OP posts:

moonbells · 23/05/2017 10:45

EarlGreyT yes I think that is what happened to Mooncat. She was found with six kittens which they thought was unlikely to be a first litter. She is now thoroughly spoilt and I love her. I am well trained

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