Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Littlebobo on March 25, 2007, 22:33:24 PM
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Can you help I have recently been trying to help catch a Mother cat and her three little kittens ..I was given a trap by local cat rescue and have also been given some help by vets but the cat in question has another cat who i think is trying to protect her if that makes sense ..anyway earlier today i was trying to trap one of the kittens ( they all look fine by the way) and this bigger cat litterally pounced on me and has taken a chunk out of my hand ( i'm now on anti biotics ) This cat has apparently attacked several other cats and seems to run the joint ...Do you think that this other cat just needs neutering or is there something more sinister I have also decided that i will try and trap him instead of the mum and kittens for now ( i only have one trap) but will try and get both sets to the vets ASAP do you think that this is the right thing to do ?
Sorry for all the questions just a bit worried ..
Lisa ( missing one rather large chunk of her hand lol )
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It does sound as if he's protecting the mum and kittens, some cats will do this. I deffo think he needs to be caught and neutered, it doesn't sound as if he's been done by the way he's acting. How old are the kittens? Are they old enough to be taken away from mum or are they still very young? If they are old enough to be taken away, as this other cat obviously cares about the mum cat, it may be worth releasing them together when they have both been spayed and neutered.
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Littlebobo, I meant to ask are you covered by Tetanus? Cat bites can be very nasty and ideally you need a high dose antibiotic.......make sure you keep an eye on any wounds. Well done for helping these babes out :hug:
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You dont think he will hurt the kittens do you ?..they are still quite young i think must be about 4/5 weeks old although i am not sure ..
Have to admit i am pretty scared about catching this other cat will be getting the gauntlets out me thinks ;) ...
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Yep have me tetanus jab right up to date and have it all wrapped up i look like a right mess at the moment with my hand in a bandage and also have a black eye from where i feel over on Monday last week lol..Never realised a cat could actually sink its teeth in so hard !
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Yep have me tetanus jab right up to date and have it all wrapped up i look like a right mess at the moment with my hand in a bandage and also have a black eye from where i feel over on Monday last week lol..Never realised a cat could actually sink its teeth in so hard !
You poor thing......make sure you do keep an eye on the bite though, they get very painful and easily infected :hug: It's hard to say if he'll hurt the kittens, I trapped a feral mum and kittens last year and "dad" was visiting on a daily basis, he was so good with both mum and babies and they'd all run up to him when he visited.....lol. If you're worried about him hurting them, I'd get him, get him neutered and if possible keep him with you until the mum is ready to be released and do them together making sure he is kept contained from the kittens. If you need advice or you get stuck, you can pm me and I'll send you my phone number, xxx
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No advice (other than to milk your war wounds with your OH) just wanted to say good on you for helping these little ones :)
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Good luck Lise, and good on you for helping
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Pretty much in agreement with Dawn on what you are doing, maybe change the food in the trap - Hi life is quite good as is a tuna based kiten food or tuna in brine seems to work for us.
Also cover the bottom of the trap with a news paper up to the kick plate so that they can't feel the metal and will go in a bit happier - but once door down this will change!
If in doubt take whole trap to vet and get them to do the decanting to a box after the op - this saves on nasty bites and scratches
Good luck and keep us posted also pm if you want to chat having 20 inside ferals and a couple of boys outside like Dawn have a lot of answers to questions unless of course cat changes the rules!
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Thanks Dawn and Liz ..
I was woken up last night by a right commotion so i was out there about 1am this morning with a head torch and dressing gown on (must of looked great LOL) ..Checked the trap and the food had gone but no cat ..dont ask me how that has happened !!..Anyway i got some more food ( although i will get some hi life now if that is best) and went back out with the trap ..anyway trap in place i waited for a while ...and spotted him he looks huge bigger than i thought before !..it was then that i noticed he was limping :( ...worried as well as i cant find mum or kittens now either ...I have asked my neighbours to keep an eye out although as i am not at home all the time i can't leave the trap out constantly as i dont want them trapped in all day ..!..I am not sure whether there is another cat now as the noise sounded like fighting !
Will let you know more tonight ...can't really concentrate at work worried sick now :(
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No advice (other than to milk your war wounds with your OH) just wanted to say good on you for helping these little ones :)
I agree with Helen milk it for all it's worth :evillaugh: :evillaugh:
Best of luck with the wee ones :hug:
Sending lots of love and hugs to Yumi and the boys :Luv: xxxx
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Some of the cats who are trap wise can get the food with their paws and back out of the trap without setting it off - We had this issue when trying to get our mob after the great escape and soon resorted to the traps being so light triggered there was no way even just a hair on the kick plate shut the door still we did manage to trap our blind boy at 21 when he smelt the food and wandered in also had Jazz the Jack Russell and 2 magpies and a crow so keep trying!
It can be trial and error but keep at it and keep the trap covered at all times, we have labels on our traps to just in case someone looks in at it - we do get phoned and it is a nice way of knowing people care.
During the mob roundup our neighbour who goes to work at 4am checked the traps on the track and reset as his boy Buttons liked all the free food and just waited to be let out - he still goes in the traps and just waits calmly to be let out no noise or commotion - wish some of ours had been like that!
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Funny about dad cats. We had a liter of 4 and "mum" bought in, turns out mum was actually dad! Never have found out where mum got to :-:
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I thought that mum drove male cats away, even dad, for fear of him killing the kits to bring her back into heat? Never heard of a tom cat playing a paternal role. Willing to be corrected on this, in which case it seems as though he wasn't being aggressive, but protecting his brood, pretty much like a lion.
:luck:
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I'm not sure if it's the norm with male cats to take on a paternal role but it does happen. With big Cats, they tend to kill the offspring but generally this only happens if they are not the father, a dominant male wouldn't want to be rearing a "weaker" males cubs, he would want his own genes to continue.
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Sorry i have not been on ..been so tired but after a few VERY long nights have managed to get some success ...
Trapped the male cat early last night and he is only young (under 5 years old so i am told) although he is HUGE ...although VERY skinny (you could see his ribs clearly) got him to the emergency vets and they have him on a drip and looks as though he has a wound to the back of his leg which is why he is limping he was actually very quiet all the way there looked quite sad to be honest and was even good with the vets.
They are going to neuter him once he is a bit better and do a few tests while he is under to make sure it all goes okay other than his leg though he seems fine (fingers crossed)
I went back and was able to find the mum and kittens ..Mum was actually purring which made me feel great although not sure if this was a good or a bad sign as i know that they can do this when they are ill as well !
Managed to get mum and all her kittens ...they are gorgeous little babies one white with just a little black dot on their back paw and one tabby and black and white kittens ...Mum is fine although a little malnourished she is going to be spayed and has apparently been almost friendly with the team at the vets so possibly could be homed :)
I will try and get some pics although my Camera is STILL Not working so not sure i will have any joy !!
Thanks for all your advice ..Oh and Desley is would seem that the KFC did work lol
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Well done, great result ;D
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Thanks Gill..Fingers crossed we can get the kittens fab homes and hopefully mum too ..although think we will be realeasing dad he is a bit on the wild side lol
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Aww, give him a couple of weeks for his hormones to calm down and you may get a nice kitty. We got one back from the vets a few weeks back, he was living stray for 2 years and the vets made it very clear he was mean, hes now a soppy old wuss of a chap, who loves his fuss (still smells a bit tho :evillaugh: )
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Aww, give him a couple of weeks for his hormones to calm down and you may get a nice kitty.
I agree 100%, sometimes we have taken in an unneutered tom that has been as wild as they come, not true feral but what I call garden cats (those that were possibly someones pet but left to its own devices) and within 2 or 3 weeks after neutering they have become extremely loving and giving.
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Well done Lisa, what a fantastic result for you and the little kitties.. :)
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Aww, give him a couple of weeks for his hormones to calm down and you may get a nice kitty.
I agree 100%, sometimes we have taken in an unneutered tom that has been as wild as they come, not true feral but what I call garden cats (those that were possibly someones pet but left to its own devices) and within 2 or 3 weeks after neutering they have become extremely loving and giving.
exactly so I caught a huge tom (grey) who had been giving everyone the slip(mind you if you turn up with ruddy great catch poles and crates no wonder)he was seduced by some dried food and quiet talk everybody had assumed he was feral but as ela says he was probably a garden cat upshot was he settled with the lady who called me and last I heard he was still there and very loving and loyal to her and his harem of 3 girls all neutered.
well done for caring for these little ones.
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Just catching up a bit.
Excellent work Lisa. :clap: :clap:
Interesting points about leaving it 2 weeks to have him neutered. I'll bear that in mind in the future.
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Interesting points about leaving it 2 weeks to have him neutered.
Beanie we are meaning 2 weeks after neutering they start to become less aggressive, not leave for 2 weeks then neuter. (perhaps that is what your brain thought but your fingers differed) Talk about let your fingers do the talking. No one more knows more about that than me. ;D
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Hi Ela,
My defence is that I currently have a flu virus bug m'lud. ;) Totally misread it. Doh!
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Hi Ela,
My defence is that I currently have a flu virus bug m'lud. ;) Totally misread it. Doh!
No defence Pete :evillaugh:
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I think Dawn is being a little harsh. I will accept the evidence for the defence this time. But don't let it happen again. ;D
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currently have a flu virus bug m'lud
Is that real flu or man flu ;D
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Ha ha
So it's more community service then? :lick:
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Um, no proper answer then, I take that to mean you have what we ladies and SOME men would call a cold then ;D
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No I wish it was. It's all the symptoms of the flu vrus which I won't bore you with.
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No I wish it was. It's all the symptoms of the flu vrus which I won't bore you with.
What he mean's Ela, it was a cold :evillaugh:
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What he mean's Ela, it was a cold
I know. sorry Beanie
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Interesting points about leaving it 2 weeks to have him neutered. I'll bear that in mind in the future
I wouldnt be able to take the smell that long! I dont know how people can live with unneutered cats, the queens cry all the time and the toms stink! :sick:
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I dont know how people can live with unneutered cats,
I know what you mean but in rescue you are supposed to keep unneutered Maggie's (strays) for 2 weeks ;) before neutering and pedigrees 4 weeks.
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Can imagine all the fights too
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All mine have the chop as soon as they come in as well.......I do not want smelly tom cat smell in my house :sick: In my eyes, they should all be done anyway, so if they have nuts, they don't get to keep them long :evillaugh:
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All mine have the chop as soon as they come in
I dis say supposed to and the words under my site address spring to mind.
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You lot do make me giggle ..great news BTW mum and all kittens have homes to go to :D
Mum and one of the kittens are going to Vet nurse and other two kittens are going to a really love home as well :rofl:
Vet Nurse is looking after them until they are old enough to go to new homes as they were only 5 weeks old ..!
Well Jaws ( as I have lovingly called him) has been given the chop and should be releasing him tomorrow he has been quite aggressive although reading your posts do you think i am better to perhaps wait and see just that i dont have anywhere for him to ??..think i will talk to the vet tomorrow and see if they can help !!
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Aww, am so pleased the mum and kitts have a good home, not sure what the best thing to do with the male is, he may come round, but I know it isn't an option to keep him at yours, so if you have nowhere else for him to go, maybe releasing him is the best option, and seeing how he acts then?
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I will have a chat with the vets and see if they can help, they have some good contacts and i have some hopeful possibilities that could keep him for a bit we shall see ...
Fingers crossed that Jaws may come round !!
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That's great news :) Fingers crossed you manage to find a home for him as well and well done :hug:
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Hi Lisa just catching up with this thread and that's great news about the Mum and babies ;D
Hopefully Jaws will settle down and find a nice home :)
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Definately try to keep him, they are initially very angry about things ( whose doing the dirty with their favourite little torti at number 2 lol ) he may be feral but often aren't.
Our latest, Macy, lived 2 years fighting for grub, he scared the hell out of the vets and me :-[ and now is sooooo soppy you wouldnt believe it was the same beast!
Glad mum and babies have got their futures sorted so quickly, hopefully Jaws will be as lucky too
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Hows Jaws doing now Lisa?