So I'm a new kitty mommy

[candyshopgirl]

So when we first moved to our little house in the country there was this little tiny manx cat that kept showing up.It was terrifed of people and would only eat if you weren't around. Well she got her self preggers. And all of a sudden she got loveable. Well hell bells taco shells I walk out saturday around 7am and she meowing in the corner of the porch with little feet moving around her. So I get a box and two old towels and bring her inside. She ended up having three babies,a orange manx,a tabby and a calico.
Let me tell you what this cat did not know what she was doing. She kept sitting on them ,she was cleaning herself not the babies and she didn't want to rip the sac on any on them. the manx kitten was a little shit.She got it half way out(it came out feet first).And then she refused to push anymore and then the baby stopped moving. So me being the crazy lady I am get a towel and start working it out. So finally the little shit comes out and she refused to clean it again.So I torn the sac and it wan't breathing.So I took and breathed in it face and wrapped it in a towel(something I learned from animal planet)and moved it in a whooshing motion. It FINALLY starting meowing. Little shit. But now mom and babies are doing fine.She being such a good kitty mommy NOW!!!

[One-Fang]

Aw, YAY YOU!!! You rock! You saved a kitteh life!

[AdminAssistant]

I wonder if the new environment scared her? That could explain it.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I wonder if the new environment scared her? That could explain it.

It's been known to happen, of course the reasons could also be various. . .

Been there, done that with kitty midwifery. Our late manx, Bambi, had 3 litters before we lost her (hit by a car several years ago) but she did just fine with her babies. We did, however, have to take her to the after-hours vet almost 2 days after she'd had her 3rd and last litter because she kept straining and we were afraid there might be another baby inside that couldn't get out.

Turned out it was constipation . . . she went home after being there almost 4 hours and immediately started doing Mommie Duty as soon as she was placed back with her babies.

We did have another cat who for some unknown reason refused to clean off her babies or deal with the afterbirths. It was like she expected ME to do all that.

So, I did the best I could at cleaning them up (new kitty moms will eat the afterbirth - I draw the line THERE) but she did manage to take care of them . . .except when I'd come around to check on them and then she'd get up and practically beg to be center of attention.

And then you have some mommies who growl and hiss when you even look at their babies, let alone touch them. Especially if it's their first litter (Miss Monkey-Monk was like that with her first bunch - she wouldn't even let ME peek over the back of the nightstand, where she had them bunched up in the corner. And this was AFTER she'd had them right dab in the middle of my bed. )

Cats are like people - they have different personalities and are very individual. Enjoy the new babies . . . they do have a tendency to grow up in the blink of an eye.

Oh, and a fun fact on Manx cats: They'll have manx kitten every OTHER litter. With Bambi, her first litter had 3 with stubby or no tail and 1 with a tail. Her second litter were 4 with tails (two of them, Stan and Wendyburger are still with me) and her last litter she had 3 with no tails, 1 with a stub tail.

Colors will vary as well. Bambi was a a smokey grey color (called Blue Smoke) and I suspect the father was one of our orange cats (whose mother was calico). Her first litter colors were 2 black, 1 gray and one calico. Second litter were one calico, 1 gray and 2 black/grey tiger striped. Third litter was 1 black, 1 yellow (both no tails) 1 calico (with stub tail) and one gray/white with no tail.

You never know what you'll get . . . it's like opening a box of chocolates.

[Chazzie]

I'm glad you saved the kitties. (:

That aside, I would be very careful when dealing with mother cats and kittens. Mommies don't like it when their babies have human all over them. She'll probably hide the babies from you a few times. I once had to fish out my cat Wookie's entire litter of five... out of the chimney!! I never thought leaving the flue open would lead to that!!

[The Last to Know]

I'm so glad you saved the kitten! You are awesome! Please post pictures when you can - please - pretty please. :-)

[fireheart]

Kitties!

*melts from cute overload*

Anywho, just a word of warning-if she mated with another Manx cat, not all the babies may survive long. Something to do with genetics (most Manx breeders try and keep a partially tailed or a tailed variety). If she mated with a regular old cat, then the babies should be fine.

[BookstoreEscapee]

You never know what you'll get . . . it's like opening a box of chocolates.

Reminds me of the litter my friend's mom's dog had. Mommy is a Basset Hound, daddy is her sister's black Lab (no, they did not intend to breed them, why do you ask ). Eight of the eleven puppies survived. When I saw them at about 3 weeks old, 5 of them were pretty much solid black, two were black with brown facial markings reminiscent of a Rottweiler, and the last one was blond. Looked like my friend's yellow Lab got in there somehow (except she's a girl so not possible).

They kept one of the Rottie-looking pups. Now she's full grown, howls just like her mother, and reminds me of an overgrown Dachshund.

[Rapscallion]

Anyone seen a manx cat on the Isle of Man? Hey, that would be me!

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

This thread is useless without pics.

I've only had one cat that got fussy with her litter and people, and she was a bit off anyway. She never did quite get the hang of being a mommy-cat. We'd have to almost forcer her to feed the kittens, and once we had to bring them in from where she'd dragged them outside. I'm surprised they even survived.

Every other litter I've been around has had people all over them, and the mommy cats have had no issues at all with that, except when they want some quiet time for themselves.

^-.-^

[JoitheArtist]

I love kittens!! Our cats were generally fine with us picking up the babies just as soon as they were dry. We did have to help one cat with a breech birth: NOT PRETTY. But both cats survived.

We did have one kitten that choked on a tiny piece of meat my mom had given it. Mom, being a nurse, did the Heimlich Maneuver and saved the kitten's life...but the cat became a vegetarian! No kidding, that cat would kill you for a taste of broccoli...


Have fun with your new kitties!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

We did have one kitten that choked on a tiny piece of meat my mom had given it. Mom, being a nurse, did the Heimlich Maneuver and saved the kitten's life...but the cat became a vegetarian! No kidding, that cat would kill you for a taste of broccoli...

Speaking of kitties with tastes for odd foods, Autumn Mohair would help himself to popcorn if I had a bowl made and wouldn't offer him any.

Just stick his head in and start munching he would. After that time, he always got his own small bowlfull first.

Don't fool yourself . . . we don't train cats, they train US.

[BookstoreEscapee]

We have pics somewhere of my tiny kitties (at a few months old at most) on top of the pizza box trying to drag off the leftover pizza crusts that are bigger than they were.

Never had to deal with mommy cats. My kitties were orphans (my cousin's wife raised them their first seven weeks). When I was in high school my brother brought home a tiny orphaned kitten (a few weeks old, probably) that he almost ran over when he was leaving 4th of July fireworks. Kitty was all black, it was dark with lots of traffic...how he even saw the thing I'll never know (guess there's a reason he's the only one in the family who doesn't wear glasses). We kept him for about a week (named him "Roadkill" ) and then someone he worked with took him. The best part was that my mini Schnauzer was afraid of him.

[Cat]

Aww babies!!

Breeding manxes is similar to Scottish Folds, if you breed a Folded fold to another Folded fold. you'll get sick kittens You have to breed them to a straight earred fold.

[fireheart]

Speaking of kitties with tastes for odd foods, Autumn Mohair would help himself to popcorn if I had a bowl made and wouldn't offer him any.

Just stick his head in and start munching he would. After that time, he always got his own small bowlfull first.

Don't fool yourself . . . we don't train cats, they train US.

That is funny

Our first cat Harrison (a beautiful Russian Blue), named after Harrison Ford (my mum's an Indy fan) was a somewhat quiet cat, but always liked to sniff the shopping when it was brought in. One night, mum had to go take care of something, next thing we know, we hear this ripping noise. Come running back into the kitchen...

And there he was, sitting on the floor, a ripped bag of mushrooms at his feet. He'd been munching on the mushrooms in the shopping load.

After that time, we had to put them away first, but from time to time, we'd use a mushroom to lure him out of a hiding spot or give it to him as a treat.

He also LOVED prawns. Mum used to buy 4 just for him and he'd hang around, trying to eat the prawns BEFORE she'd get the shells off.