# I Don't Know What To do (Story and Pic Heavy)



## lilnaugrim

(This is sad, if you can't handle sad just skip down to the cute kitten pictures)

...I really don't know...

Three weeks ago today, the feral cat whom we dubbed as Misha, gave birth to Kittens. There were four, four lovely kittens who hadn't opened their eyes yet. Misha allowed us to feed her of course and to touch her when she wanted to be touched. Soon, she let us touch the kittens.

The first was one that looked very similar to her color pattern. He had a grey body, black head and black tail with white mitted paws and a white stripe on his nose. He was the oldest and the bravest as he was the first to venture out of the nest until Mama picked him back up and put him into the nest. He was dubbed Padfoot. He was going to my friend Naomi.

The second was a White male, unnamed and unclaimed. He had light tan stripes that ringed his tail and his legs. He was very beautiful and always came up to me after their eyes opened and they recognized us.

Third was a Black Female named Fiona going to my friend Marissa. She had a grey body, black head, tails and paws. She was adorable, shy, but cute as a button. She was the first to play with me when I dragged a piece of hay around and she would try to claw it.

And lastly was a White Female, unnamed but claimed by my friend Allison. She was the quietest and the shiest of them all, rarely coming out to see us but she played with her brothers and sisters.

I kept bugging my mom, when will we take them in? When can I set up their home in the cellar where they will be warm and out of harms way? Finally we decided Tuesday (at that point Monday) would be good. Monday came and went and Tuesday came on.

I came home from a house-sitting job in the morning at 7:30, looked over to the shed and saw the door was unlocked and opened but I thought nothing of it. I ran inside and showed, changed and got ready to meet with a new person I was house-sitting for this coming weekend. I drove out, met her and her dogs (she's got fish tanks and might want to do a Betta Sorority with my help!!) I was excited for the job and couldn't wait to help her out!

Around 5 in the evening my mother and her boyfriend and I were outside doing yard work and goofing off in general. I went to the shed to go see how the Kittens were doing since the Bee's had gone to sleep already. I looked into the cubby and caught my breath. _They were gone._

My mom came in and gasp as well, Misha had followed us in and jumped up onto the ledge to look into the cubby and called out for her kittens. _But they did not come out._ We scoured the ground for animal prints but found none and then I told them about how I saw the gate had been opened in the morning.

"Surely a Raccoon could open the gate, but the lock is at the top, why not just jump over at that point? Why bother when there are plenty of compost piles out and other things to eat?" I asked as we stood around puzzled, Misha beginning to cry out for her beloved Kittens.

What else could open the lock? We all witnessed the gate being locked just the night previous. What else could open it but another human? Has someone stolen our kittens?! All of us furious, confused and pained, but none more than Misha.

Who knew of the kittens as well as where we live? None of my friends knew my address but the few close ones and they would never do such a thing! What point is there in taking three week old kittens who aren't even weaned off their mother yet? It's more work than would happen if you would just wait!

Misha stayed by our side the entire night we were out. We went down to our pond and fed the goldfish, she never went more than eight feet away from us, soon her interest piqued in the golden fish. I would have sworn that she almost jumped in to catch one, but luckily for her, she didn't. She meowed up at us asking, "Do you know where my Kittens are?"

Searching around, we looked in all the places around the yard that would be suitable for kittens but we found no signs, not one single sign. Who or what would take our kittens? Misha had no signs of battle wounds on her and we would have surely woken up to kitten and cat screams had an animal come in the night to take them.

But if no animal and no human took them, why was Misha so sad? She would sit in front of the shed the rest of the day, meowing out loudly for her kittens but they would not come.



So now, today, I had to tell my three friends; Allison, Marissa and Naomi that their Kittens would not be coming home. I feel terrible and drained knowing that I promised them something so special and now they too feel the pain of loss. I didn't know how to start off but I eventually concluded my story, much less elaborate than this, but all the same. Allison understood completely and sent her condolences to myself and Misha. I felt terrible as she told me that she had already begun collecting toys and things for her new White Kitten. But nevertheless she understood and said that it was alright.

I wish for all, that I had just taken the Kittens into the basement myself against my mother's orders, although she would have not cared too much once I already did the work for her. But it's gone now and so are they. And now I see everyone else getting new kittens and I just really don't know what to do with myself, I've literally never felt this bad before, like I'm letting all these people down! I know things happen, I've seen it happen before!

I was raised on a chicken and cow farm, I know wild animals come around and I know they are hungry and just feeding their families! But why, of all things, why did it have to be the kittens?

At any rate, I would like to conclude with the pictures I took, tracking their progress.

Mama Kitty Prior to giving birth:


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## MattsBettas

Oh my God I am so sorry. That is absolutely awful, sad, and heartbreaking. How could they just disappear?! Check everywhere... Even garbage cans, etc. horrible, I know, but I have a friend who rescued a pet bunny from a trash bin in an alley.


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## lilnaugrim

MattsBettas said:


> Oh my God I am so sorry. That is absolutely awful, sad, and heartbreaking. How could they just disappear?! Check everywhere... Even garbage cans, etc. horrible, I know, but I have a friend who rescued a pet bunny from a trash bin in an alley.


Thank you Matt. We're trying to watch where she goes to see if she actually did move them. I'm praying so hard right now that she just moved them. I just feel so bad for my friends especially because I promised them a Kitten! That's not something you promise a person everyday! 

We live on 5 acre's of just pure woods so they could literally be anywhere, granted I don't think she would move them that far since we are still her main source of food. But I just can't even think why she would seem so upset if she was the one that moved them.

We even though, you know maybe she hid them so well that she doesn't even remember where she put them. But that's no good, that would not happen with any animal, a mother does not just leave her young!

Sorry, I'm ranting now, I just literally don't know what to think/feel/do. :-(


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## mersf559

aweful:/


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## MattsBettas

5 acres is searchable... If you could get some family to help you could try. That's a lot of space though! Good luck, and I definatly mean it.


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## lilnaugrim

MattsBettas said:


> 5 acres is searchable... If you could get some family to help you could try. That's a lot of space though! Good luck, and I definatly mean it.


Thank you! We will get out searching as soon as we can. I'll have to wait till the weekend because my job interferes but hopefully we can come up with something!

There's also about 10 acres across our road of lots of woods that is state owned. We could search there...technically illegal but no one will know haha

But I'll take any evidence at this point, even just for closure!

But thank you, it means a lot to me. I'll try to keep things updated so you all can know what's going on, can't promise much though.


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## registereduser

The male cats will often kill the litter so they can mate with the mother again. Facts of life. Don't worry, I'm sure she will have more kittens and soon. Since you can't spay her.


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## Riverotter

I am so, so sorry. What could have happened is a raccoon or some predator took one, and she moved the rest and is still hunting for the one. I've got a farm and it's rare to have any predator but humans or sometimes dogs kill multiple things without a trace.
She may have moved the survivors and be looking for the missing ones.

I hope that's the case. I know your heart must be broken.


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## percyfyshshelley

Oh what sweet little kittens. I'm so sorry.


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## jentralala

I'm so sorry  I know what it's like, it's always so very sad. My feral girl would always move her kittens, and I would just watch from a distance to see where she put them, so I could get to them and catch them. I once thought that they had perished only to find she had moved them into the floor of our shed. She had two litters until we were able to catch her and get her spayed, and it took us months to find homes for them all. 

However, _please_ get her spayed. It will make her SO much happier (no more males chasing her around), and it will stop this from happening again. I know it seems easy to find homes for kittens, but trust me, eventually no one you know wants another kitten, and the shelters may not take them. I was able to get our female spayed for $40 at the Neuter Commuter, and she's never been happier. Ask your vets and humane society if they can give you a discount or even if they can do it for free since she's a feral. There are too many cats in this world to keep letting them breed, when there are millions of cats dying in shelters. I don't want to pile his all on you while you're in mourning, but please get her spayed. Kittens are cute and all, but for each kitten you let be born, a cat in a shelter loses a home it could have been adopted into.


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## Laki

How heartbreaking. I doubt she moved them if she hung around the shed "waiting" for them. Even a mama cat trying to fool predators and misguide them from the nest wouldn't wait that long. 

I'm so sorry  I hope you find them though.


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## lilnaugrim

Thanks everyone, and I was pretty sure that I said nothing about her not being spayed in my post. She is spayed now and still no signs of the kittens, we took her yesterday and the darn people still charged us for a regular cat. She was too friendly once they took her out of the trap, just like I had feared. But whatever, it's over and done with now. I'm not currently at my other house so I'm not able to watch her unfortunately but I know my mom will keep an eye out.

Thank you all very much, it really does mean a lot to me.


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## Laki

They might have charged you regular _because _she is so friendly lol I think RU was referring to the last time you posted about this cat. Either way. Not the issue at hand. 

Can you hear mewing when you walk around the field?


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## lilnaugrim

Laki said:


> They might have charged you regular _because _she is so friendly lol I think RU was referring to the last time you posted about this cat. Either way. Not the issue at hand.
> 
> Can you hear mewing when you walk around the field?


Of course, I know that's the reason and of course even if we told them that she just walked into our yard and isn't our cat, which we did, they didn't care.

And no, I've heard no mewing so far and ufortunately we don't have "fields" it's all woods so some parts are difficult to search just because it can get so dense. But we had gone down to the pond on Tuesday while Misha followed us and I could have sworn I heard a kitten mew, found out that it was the stupid Mockingbird that follows us around, the darn thing mocks us and the cat all day long! And it's not afraid of us either, I mean, beautiful bird but very inconvenient at a time like this lol :shake:


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## registereduser

She is spayed? EXCELLENT! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: :notworthy:


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## NeptunesMom

That's so odd. I am sorry for your loss. We have a feral cat out at our pastures and machine barn. For almost 10 years she had litter after litter. We couldn't catch her, but we fed her and cared for her. We actually experienced the same thing as you are talking about multiple times. But, it was because she would move them and forget where she moved them to. My poor cousin (who lives out at our pastures) would spend days ripping apart her garages (she had two), the barns (there are three of them, two smaller ones and one huge one), and walking through the probably 10 acres of woods looking for them. Sometimes she would find them, and sometimes she wouldn't. But, there were times she wouldn't find them and months later another cat would turn up about the right age. We finally were able to spay the mama cat, and the other cats that were around were all male. But, they have vanished so I'm guessing they either died or left for new territory.


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## lilnaugrim

NeptunesMom said:


> That's so odd. I am sorry for your loss. We have a feral cat out at our pastures and machine barn. For almost 10 years she had litter after litter. We couldn't catch her, but we fed her and cared for her. We actually experienced the same thing as you are talking about multiple times. But, it was because she would move them and forget where she moved them to. My poor cousin (who lives out at our pastures) would spend days ripping apart her garages (she had two), the barns (there are three of them, two smaller ones and one huge one), and walking through the probably 10 acres of woods looking for them. Sometimes she would find them, and sometimes she wouldn't. But, there were times she wouldn't find them and months later another cat would turn up about the right age. We finally were able to spay the mama cat, and the other cats that were around were all male. But, they have vanished so I'm guessing they either died or left for new territory.


I know it is weird! I literally am going to tear apart our land, I mean...I promised people kittens! And I think that's the worst of it, they were all preparing for a little bundle of spazzy kitten fluff and now they've got nothing!

We were thinking maybe she was just trying to throw us off but she's never spent a whole day with us like that and sitting in front of the shed to cry was just weird too.


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## registereduser

lilnaugrim said:


> I know it is weird! I literally am going to tear apart our land, I mean...I promised people kittens! And I think that's the worst of it, they were all preparing for a little bundle of spazzy kitten fluff and now they've got nothing!


They can adopt from a shelter anytime.


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## Fenghuang

RU, sometimes, you fall in love with a specific animal. You've been planning and planning to bring them home and imagining yourself spending many happy years with that one. Then, you find out that you will not be bringing it home. You cannot just get another. It's not the same. 

I'm so sorry, lilnaugrim. That's heartbreaking. I hope you find them soon or they turn up.


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## lilnaugrim

Fenghuang said:


> RU, sometimes, you fall in love with a specific animal. You've been planning and planning to bring them home and imagining yourself spending many happy years with that one. Then, you find out that you will not be bringing it home. You cannot just get another. It's not the same.
> 
> I'm so sorry, lilnaugrim. That's heartbreaking. I hope you find them soon or they turn up.


Yeah, that is why I feel terrible because I know that feeling. And thank you Feng! I also hope we can find them, for my friends but also for Misha, she just seems way too heartbroken herself to have just "misplaced" her kittens, you know?


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## jentralala

Does she let you give her belly rubs or pick her up? Check and see if she's still producing milk, if she is after 2 weeks or so she's got them somewhere. See if her teats look really swollen, if they are then she's not being able to release the pressure on them (which can be slightly painful until it re-absorbs). If they're swollen and red then she may have lost them somehow 

I wouldn't give up hope yet. I think it's possible a snake or other predator may have gotten one and she's looking for it, but moved the others. Cats are sneaky, if they don't want you finding those babies it's gonna be near impossible to track them down. And if she lost one, she's going to be hyper protective of their location. And they only take a few moments to feed them and then leave, so she could dart off, feed them, and come back within a few minutes, if they're close. 

Do you have a dog, or can borrow someones? That's how I found the first litter, my neighbors dog started barking at the shed floor :roll:. A few days later, lo and behold, momma cat was leading her troupe out of the floor.


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## lilnaugrim

jentralala said:


> Does she let you give her belly rubs or pick her up? Check and see if she's still producing milk, if she is after 2 weeks or so she's got them somewhere. See if her teats look really swollen, if they are then she's not being able to release the pressure on them (which can be slightly painful until it re-absorbs). If they're swollen and red then she may have lost them somehow
> 
> I wouldn't give up hope yet. I think it's possible a snake or other predator may have gotten one and she's looking for it, but moved the others. Cats are sneaky, if they don't want you finding those babies it's gonna be near impossible to track them down. And if she lost one, she's going to be hyper protective of their location. And they only take a few moments to feed them and then leave, so she could dart off, feed them, and come back within a few minutes, if they're close.
> 
> Do you have a dog, or can borrow someones? That's how I found the first litter, my neighbors dog started barking at the shed floor :roll:. A few days later, lo and behold, momma cat was leading her troupe out of the floor.


Thank you, and no she doesn't let us pick her up. Occasionally she'll roll around in the sand in our driveway so I can see her tummy. I'm not sure how spaying her will effect her, that was thing we were worried about, if she'll keep producing for her kittens (provided they are still there) after.

I'm definitely not giving up though, it's hard seeing the light at the end but I know it's there somewhere! And I'm sure they are out there somewhere too!! When I informed the people I did tell them that there is still a small chance they are alive and well hidden and that I would keep them updated, so we'll see how it comes out!

And no, no tracking dogs out here. There are dogs, but they are either old and don't care or they are ankle nippers and don't want to be bothered lol Besides I think Misha would kill a dog if we brought it onto the property haha I plan on going to search myself tomorrow when I can get back to my mom's so I'll keep everyone updated to what's going on with her and them.

Thank you again everyone for your support!


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## percyfyshshelley

She can still produce milk if she's spayed. Things don't sound good, but you never know. We can hope for the best. Glad she got ahome with you though.


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## lilnaugrim

percyfyshshelley said:


> She can still produce milk if she's spayed. Things don't sound good, but you never know. We can hope for the best. Glad she got ahome with you though.


That's also good to know, we weren't sure how it would effect her. I'll certainly keep an eye on her when she goes back out. Thank you!


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## Skyewillow

I'm sure your friends will continue to be understanding and compassionate. Misha is the one with the biggest loss.

Also, I agree with Fenghuang. It's very disappointing to prepare and wait for a pet, and then to lose them before they could come home to you. Just recently had it happen to me twice. While it's true that they can potentially adopt from a shelter, not everyone CAN adopt from a shelter. We were always turned away because our dogs only went to the vet for their rabies shots, they were never sick, so we never took them, but because our dogs didn't go every single year, we weren't considered "good owners", and couldn't adopt.


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## Destinystar

I am so very sorry...Hugs Dont give up hope maybe the mother only moved them and since you live in such a big area they could be anywhere. Misha is so beautiful and so are her kittens and you did the best you could in taking good care of them this is not your fault in any way and your friends will be sad like you are but they will understand. There are so many homeless kitties out there that need a good home.

My daughter just a few days ago found a young cat that someone had dropped off at the school she teaches at right behind the dumpster with only enough food for a couple of days so she took her and now I am happy to report we have another cat in the family, but since my daughter lives in NC I only have seen pictures of her. I was so happy that she could take her and give her a nice loving home because she was not sure if she would be able to keep her or not but it all worked out so that she can YAY ! 

Keep us posted okay and we will all hope for the best, you have lots of support here when you need it.


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## lilnaugrim

Perseusmom said:


> I am so very sorry...Hugs Dont give up hope maybe the mother only moved them and since you live in such a big area they could be anywhere. Misha is so beautiful and so are her kittens and you did the best you could in taking good care of them this is not your fault in any way and your friends will be sad like you are but they will understand. There are so many homeless kitties out there that need a good home.
> 
> My daughter just a few days ago found a young cat that someone had dropped off at the school she teaches at right behind the dumpster with only enough food for a couple of days so she took her and now I am happy to report we have another cat in the family, but since my daughter lives in NC I only have seen pictures of her. I was so happy that she could take her and give her a nice loving home because she was not sure if you would be able to keep her or not but it all worked out so that she can YAY !
> 
> Keep us posted okay and we will all hope for the best, you have lots of support here when you need it.


Oh that's fantastic about your daughter! That kitty is a very lucky cat indeed!

Yeah, all three of them do understand, it hurts but they understand. And thank you, Misha is adorable  Not as good lookin' as my other two Maine ****'s but she does well enough haha And thank you, it's generally why I like this thread, most everyone is very supportive and it does make me feel better and then I can help Misha out a little more 

:thankyou:


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## lilnaugrim

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!! We found them!!!!!!!!

So actually one of the people that a kitten was going to came over the house today to give me some tin pictures she'd found (knowing I love Capt. America and Iron Man) so I took her out back to see the goldfish in our pond and then we found Misha.

Misha had been going and coming after we let her back outside and we never did an extensive search. I went through our five acres but half of the wooded area I couldn't get to, even my paths I had created through the woods had grown over in only a few years.

So we were sitting on the lawn petting her, she went to the bird bath to get a drink because she'll silly and won't drink the fresh water we give her (it's well water and the same water that goes into our pond) so then we kept trying to call her and she just rather ignored us and walked back towards the house calling out for something.

My mom and I looked at each other and wondered...a little spark of hope came up when Misha laid on the grass and mewed towards the part under our deck where our gas tank is located.

We carefully crept up and found all four kittens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend and I nearly squealed with delight...okay that's a lie, we actually did squeal lol.

After careful planning and thought I was able to pick up the kittens who were cornered behind a plastic bin that held our outside toys like frisbee's, volleyball, etc.

Each kitten was picked up and place into a box, Misha looked like she couldn't care less that I was handling them. She likes me but hisses at anyone else which is normal, I'm the animal lady in the family lol.

So we were able to usher the kittens and mama inside and held them for a little while. Man, got to say, the white boy is a handful and he can climb up shirts extremely well haha.

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited though! I told everyone and they're all excited and about two more weeks and they can go to their forever homes!! I'll be sad to see them go after this whole ordeal but I know the homes they are going to are good homes! At least I'll be able to keep Misha if she sticks around and I'll get to visit the white boy occasionally at my aunt's house :-D

I just can't express how happy I am right now! Thank you all so much for your support through this!! 

:thankyou:


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## NeptunesMom

:welldone::greenyay::redyay::blueyay::thumbsup:

I'll let these smiles express my feelings right now.


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## Riverotter

Oh hooray!!!

That is WONDERFUL!

Now, I know that you've got folks waiting and I know that it can be hard to keep them, but as someone who has fostered MANY litters of kittens let me tell you they will grow into MUCH friendlier cats if you can keep them with their mother for at least 9 weeks AND gently handle them every day.
LOL, all my kittens grow up to be purry cat scarves.
If you'd like more tips on raising uber-friendly kittens let me know.

Congrats again!


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## Skyewillow

YAY!!! I'm so excited for you! -hifive!!-


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## Laki

Oh what a relief!! Glad you found them.. Or, rather, I'm glad Misha led you to them!!


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## lilnaugrim

Thank you all!!! I'm so excited!! And so are my friends haha.

Yup we're keeping them at least 2 more weeks so they'll be 7 weeks by that point I believe but if you suggest it Riverotter, we might keep them till 9 weeks? I'll PM you about that soon because I would certainly love uber-friendly kitties!! I know my friends would too!

:thankyou: :blueyay: :greenyay: :redyay:


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## peachii

I'm so glad you found them!


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## MattsBettas

Oh my gosh that is great lilnaugrim! So happy for you!


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## SeaKnight

Riverotter said:


> Oh hooray!!!
> 
> That is WONDERFUL!
> 
> Now, I know that you've got folks waiting and I know that it can be hard to keep them, but as someone who has fostered MANY litters of kittens let me tell you they will grow into MUCH friendlier cats if you can keep them with their mother for at least 9 weeks AND gently handle them every day.
> LOL, all my kittens grow up to be purry cat scarves.
> If you'd like more tips on raising uber-friendly kittens let me know.
> 
> Congrats again!


Yup, yup. I have found that if at all possible 10-12 weeks is the optimum age.


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## Laki

I second this. When we took in my now-mom's cat Mama (we took her in 2 days before she gave birth to 2 kittens) we kept her and the kittens for 12-13 weeks before finally giving the kittens to friends and then the mama cat to my mom. 12 weeks is ideal because they are naturally fully weaned, pet stores and BYB's unload them at 5-8 weeks because they're the "cutest" then.


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## lilnaugrim

Good to know, thank you! Mama cat has already started to wean them off and we've got some wet food for them to start eating as well as we slowly introduce it. She hisses at them when they try to drink from her too much longer, at least this is what my mom is telling me. I'm not actually at that house today but I will be there tomorrow to start spending some time with them!

Any tips on how to successfully wean them off and what brands of food I should watch out for? I know most of the cheap stuff has a lot of allergens in them and stuff. I'm sure brands differ from each area but my friend is feeding her kitten Taste of the Wild, anyone heard of it?

I'll be getting more pictures tomorrow if y'all want to see them! Hopefully Misha will call them out to me, the kittens like to sit under our wood pile >.> we have a row of wood that's seasoning up for the winter but it's all sitting on two pieces of 4x4 and there are holes they can get into and go underneath, there's a space about...well 4 inches high lol. We thought about blocking up the holes but there's a chance they could get in and not be able to get out so we're just letting them romp around our basement for now.


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## percyfyshshelley

Yay!!!!!!!!!!! First good news I've had all day!


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## lilnaugrim

percyfyshshelley said:


> Yay!!!!!!!!!!! First good news I've had all day!


Aww! Well I'm happy to have made your day go a little better then!!


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## Agent13

OMG!! Congrats. So glad to hear you found them!


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## Saphira101

YAY!!! I am _SO_ happy you found them!!!


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## jentralala

Taste of the Wild is a really good brand, is she feeding wet or dry, though? The wet food has some worries about being mostly fish based which isn't the greatest for cats. Dry is one of the better kinds that's still affordable.

Wet food is best for cats (I mean like full adult cats, not just kittens) for a multitude of reasons, but ones I don't really feel like going into right now xD I'll leave it up to you to research if you're interested. 

Anyways, a cheap good wet food is Fancy Feast _Classics_ (It _has_ to be the Classic one. The rest aren't nearly as good.)

Here's a pretty good list. Today’s best cat foods–reviews of canned and raw options | Natural Cat Care Blog


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## lilnaugrim

Thanks! she was feeding the wet stuff.

However I came home to find that mom had bought them 9Lives wet food but they're already eating the Purina All Natural dry food! (I bought this one because one of my other cats was allergic to another brand we had so it was the next best thing and he just finally grew his full coat back after 4 months!) But we're feeding both the wet and the dry and they try to nurse still but mama cat growls and hisses at them. I'm sure she wants them out of her fur as much as my mom does haha.

But so far so good! We're keeping them up to 10 weeks (I finally convinced my mom. She's the type that says she wants to get rid of them but then goes down and plays and pets them haha) and we've been spending as much time as we can, mostly just playing with a string, not our hands as was suggested.

Poor Misha though, she wants to get out so bad! I'm pretty sure she was a drop off before but spent some time out in the 'wild'. She's litter box trained and hopefully she'll help the kittens with that. We've got a lot of wood chips on the floor and dirt so they've been kind of peeing in that, at least we can pick it up afterwards lol. But I have been seeing some little poops in the litter so hopefully they'll take to it!

We can't exactly clean up much of the floor right now, it's in a state where half of it is painted and makes it extremely hard to sweep/vacuum. So any tips on litter box training would be great!

They're still not quite used to us yet which is to be expected so I can't exactly pick them up and put them in the pizza box litter we've got. They just run away.

But I've got some new pictures! (took 257 last night lol) so I'll get a few of the good shots up once I'm at home!

Thanks all!


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## Laki

You should try to handle them as much as you can so they're used to being handled for their new owners. This is important. And introduce them to things like a water tap in the bathroom, kitchen appliance sounds, clanging things, dropping things. Just general house sounds. 

As for food, with a budget go for the classic fancy feasts wet food. They're expensive bc of their size but nutrition is number one for our little friends so they don't develop the hundreds of long term illnesses associated with pet food these days. 

Cheap good dry food is Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul or Holistic Blend. You can get HB at grocery stores in the health isle and CSftCLS at most pet stores. They're lower end on the tier for healthy proper food but you'll find a lot of different info around. Purina and Iams and anything you can buy at grocery stores and a lot of the ones in pet franchises like petsmart and petco are filled with corn and gluten fillers and then packed with fruits and veggies. Cats are obligate carnivores, this means they derive all the nutrients they need from meat. (cats eat grass outside to supplement the natural grasses and grains they would get in the bellies of their natural prey like mice and birds) other than that they should NEVER eat corn/grains/gluten. These raise the glycemic index and thus cause obesity, diabetes and a tonne of other problems. Wet food is important for cats who don't really drink water (naturally a lot of cats don't drink water bc they get it from their food) but it mimics textures and flavors like they would if they ate real prey. 

When cats have the right food they digest more of it and actually poop less. I was worried when I switched Oliver to proper holistic food bc his waste didn't smell and he only went like once a day! lol Since they digest more we can feed less because it's a hardier more suitable diet.


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## lilnaugrim

I was actually told not to handle them too much for right now until they develop the trust needed. I'll be spending much of my days with them so they get used to my presence and once that happens (should be by next week or so) then I'll handle them a little more complete with pad massages and flea combing.

Also, they're in our basement so I can't exactly bring a kitchen appliance down here lol but they hear things through the ceiling/kitchen floor.

And I've heard about the whole not drinking water but that has never been a problem with our cats. In fact they're always begging for new water or water in general when we forget a day or something. But they've always got some source of water. And we have a bowl and plate of water for them.

Right now they're getting one can of wet food at night (dry food is stocked all day long for them) and another can at night.


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## madmonahan

So happy you have found them!!! They are lucky to have someone like you to care for them! :-D


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## Fenghuang

Yay!

Can I demand more pictures now? >


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## lilnaugrim

Lol yes! I was actually just importing them to my photobucket! Here we go!

Please excuse the mess of a basement lol

Nicknamed Padfoot:


White boy and Padfoot:


Fiona, white boy and Padfoot


All four, Kiki, Padfoot, White boy and Fiona


Kiki!


Padfoot being adventrous!


Padfoot playing in dirt pile lol "Hey...this smells good!"


"I'mma play in it!"


White boy, look at those eyes! He retained his baby blue eyes :-D


Padfoot playing with a shoe string


Kiki and Fiona "I'll clean you up for dinner mom!" -Kiki


White boy, Fiona and Kiki "Hold still mama! I can't get into your ear!"


"I'm trying to help!" -Kiki "Hey...a tail!" -Padfoot


"Mommy said it was okay...but I'm still not sure" -Kiki and Fiona


"Hmmm, I still don't know!" -Fiona "Hey, you're my brother!" -Kiki "No mind me, I'll just wash myself...." -Padfoot


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## lilnaugrim

Kiki!


Fiona, she's got nearly black eyes, in reality they are a very dark emerald color. She's so beautiful but hard to get pictures of!


The white boy!


"I told you I'd help you clean up for dinner!" -Kiki


"Hey...what are you doing?!" -white boy, Misha (mama) and Kiki


Misha is not impressed. One of my favorite pictures of them! I wish all four had been there though


Fiona eating dry food while Kiki waits her turn!


The white boy sure is curious!



"I got your tail mommy!" -white boy


Fiona's dark eyes


They sleep segregated by color, rather hilarious!


Kiki and the white boy


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## Destinystar

Oh wow I just read about your finding the kittens and I am so trilled you found them and oh my gosh they are even more adorable then ever and I totally am in love with the white boy ! Of course they all are awesome little kitties, awww I wish I could have one, best of luck in finding them all happy homes :-D:-D:-D


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## lilnaugrim

Thank you Perseusmom! Yes they all have homes to go to once we're done litter training/weaning and all that good stuff. I want them to be cute and cuddly when they do leave so we're hanging onto them a little longer than my mom would have liked. She still thinks they're going in two weeks but as long as I'm breathing, we're keeping them the full 9 weeks if not 10.

One of the people was very irritated when I told her that but oh well, she can deal. Lol we went to high school together and weren't the best of friends and she's coming over Monday for a kitten "play date", if she tries to take that kitten (padfoot) then I won't be giving him to her and she can go adopt somewhere else. I have other people who are interested just fine and would love to have him 

I'm an evil person I think lol

But thank you! I'll try to update some more pictures on Monday/Tuesday when I'm back there! ;-)


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## Minnieservis

Awww this was a great thread to read! Those kittens are adorable!!! I wanna steal that lil white boy! I'm so happy they're all ok


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## Ickbeth

cute


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## Roemgie

I would like to say she's a stray not a feral cat  feral cat means that she will only let you look at her from 100 yards away and is incredibly terrified of you. Trust me we've had plenty of those -__- but not to be mean but just saying she's a stray  and I'm glad you found the kittens!! (Right?!)


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## lilnaugrim

Roemgie said:


> I would like to say she's a stray not a feral cat  feral cat means that she will only let you look at her from 100 yards away and is incredibly terrified of you. Trust me we've had plenty of those -__- but not to be mean but just saying she's a stray  and I'm glad you found the kittens!! (Right?!)


Yeah we have feral males around, three to be exact that all come looking for her and then bolt when they see us. I know she's not full feral but she definitely spent some time in the woods so yes, just a stray.

But yes for everyone else, the white boy ended up being a girl so she was named Coconut and she went off to her forever-home on Wednesday!! Ugg this is so sad lol But Padfoot is leaving on Monday, Kiki might be leaving on Sunday and Fionna has to stay with us for a while because her owner isn't read yet (she wants a vet appointment the day she brings her home, I don't blame her ) so that's what's happening now.

Coconut went to my aunt's house so at least I'll be able to see her whenever I want to! But she was the first to sleep on me, first to lick me and actually like me. Now it's Padfoot! Ugg that boy is so cute!

So yesterday we had a kitten playdate with Fionna's owner. Right after they were done feeding Padfoot looked up at me (I was sitting in a chair) and mewed and reached up my pantleg. I moved my leg out to create a slant and he climbed up onto my lap to sleep on me!! It was the cutest thing ever I could barely contain myself. And then my mom had to come and call us for dinner, she doesn't want the cats upstairs so I had to put him with his sisters while we went to eat. I put him down and he crawled right back to my shoe to sit on it. Ug, I swear, that cat! Is going to be the death of me when he leaves!

So that's what's happening in the kitten world of Coconut, Kiki, Fionna, Padfoot and Misha :-D


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## jadaBlu

They appear to have sealpoint/Himalayan in them which might be a good point to emphasize if you have to rehome them. Even the ones that are black will still have the personality traits:

http://diannesladypawsbirmans.com/images/deeva_seal_point_kitten_500x456.jpg

Ragdoll

http://angelgirlragdolls.com/files/Teddy.jpg

They probably will be some talkative kitties! How fun!


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## Roemgie

I defiantly don't mean to sound mean! I just know some people who would tuck tail and run if you say Feral (we almost lost a home for our kittens when we said feral kittens when we meant their mom was but they were cuddly). So I just wanted to say that  

That's awesome and sad at the same time!! But I'm glad you're finding homes! 



We only get lucky at the last minute! But we've recently met some amazing ladies who are rescue people!!


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## lilnaugrim

Oh yeah, they all have homes at this point so no need for that :-D

We figured that the momma had some Ragdoll in her and I believe the father was too if we think that it was the one feral we have around that actually was the father. That sentence doesn't make sense lol

But yeah those two kittens in the link do look like replica's of Coconut and Kiki respectively! So cute! We were wondering if she had some Blue Point in her as well because of the way that Coconut looks with her "blue" ears, nose, tail and mitts. But of course since she is a stray I guess we'll never know!


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## lilnaugrim

Well I wanted to update and Coconut went off to her home last Wednesday, Teddy (Padfoot) went on Monday and Kiki will be leaving in about an hour when her owner comes by! Fionna we'll keep until July 2nd when her owner has a vet appt. she wont be allowed in the house until the appt. which is understandable because they have two older cats and another 3 month old kitten as well. And they're going on vacation this next week so she didn't want Fionna and Juliet to fight the entire time without surveillance in the happenstance they don't get along but I foresee they'll be fine ^_^

They've grown so much and now are hitting 7/8 weeks as of yesterday. I'm pretty sure they were already close to a week old when we found them so 7 if you don't count it and 8 weeks in reality. Poor Misha though, she likes to go outside but she always comes back to take care of her kittens, too cute. But she seems to happen to go out every time someone comes by to take their kitten respectively so she comes back in and she's missing one. She's actually quit trying to wean the two girls left in hopes it seems, to keep them close. But poor girl, another will be gone today, at least she will have Fionna for another two weeks


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## lilnaugrim

Kiki has gone off to her forever-home and she's doing well! Only crying a few times but doing well otherwise her owner tells me!

Fionna is left but she's also doing well! She slept on me for an hour and a half last night! I'm hoping now that she should look forward to humans coming down to play with her. She keeps herself quite entertained though so it should be just fine.

Poor Misha, she kept looking under the wood pile and where the kittens normally play to look for her lost babies! God, it seriously broke my heart but she seemed fine after an hour or so and stayed by me and her kitten when Fionna was sleeping on my shoe which I was wearing at the time haha.

But Fionna has a vet appt for July 2nd so that's the day she'll be leaving! Another two weeks with the precious girl, sorry I don't have pics ><


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## Riverotter

Congrats on doing a good job raising them and finding them good homes!!

It is always bittersweet to see them go. I'm glad you'll still be able to visit Coconut, it does help.


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## countyrd419

My thoughts and prayers will be with you. Please keep us informed.


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## countyrd419

My thoughts and prayers are with you. Please keep us informed.


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## lilnaugrim

So all have gone home, Fionna will be leaving in two days!!

So turns out that they all ended up being girls XD whoops! Yeah Padfoot (Teddy)'s owner texted me and goes "So Teddy is actually a girl..." and I'm like "Whoops, there go my sexing skills sorry!" and she just goes "lol" and I haven't heard from again. I hope she gives Padfoot a good home and doesn't shun for being a girl, she's still super outgoing for a kitten so I wouldn't see why there is a problem although I did know she wanted a boy cat. Nothing I can do about it though except keep up tabs on their progress at least 

But everyone else is doing well! Coconut is growing like a weed and Kiki is fitting nicely into her new home :-D


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## lilnaugrim

So Fionna just left to her home, she actually had a vet apt. at 4 (half hour into the apt now) and all's going well!

I've been getting updated pictures of Kiki like, everyday XD lol her owner loves pictures which is great for me!

Coconut is doing fantastic and has now been fixed so that's doing well there now.

And Padfoot/Teddy ended up being called Ivy which I thought is cute ^_^ her owner was a bit upset that she wasn't a boy but still loves her all the same of which I'm super thankful about! I was a bit worried that she wouldn't care for her the same since she wanted a boy so bad but what she really wanted was an outgoing cat and she certainly got one!

So all is well! Mama is doing alright, she seems sad but she's okay. She's losing most of her fur and 2 guesses as to why >.> my mom comes home with a different brand nearly every week for her to eat. I warned her that switching foods was bad, but did she listen? No and now she can't understand why Misha is losing her fur and if I try to suggest that it's the food, my head will be ripped off for good. *sigh* poor Misha :-/

And that's all the updates for today! Thank you all so much for supporting us and helping out! A special thanks to Riverotter too!!


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## Beezu

lilnaugrim said:


> Any tips on how to successfully wean them off and what brands of food I should watch out for? I know most of the cheap stuff has a lot of allergens in them and stuff. I'm sure brands differ from each area but my friend is feeding her kitten Taste of the Wild, anyone heard of it?



I work at a pet food store and have learned a whole bunch about quality of foods. 

Stay away from foods with corn because corn is the #1 allergen in cats and dogs. I would recommend Wellness brand. It is a pretty good brand. While Natura brand foods (innova, california natural, and evo) used to be a great brand, they were bought by proctor and gamble and have had a ridiculous problem with recalls in the past few months. 

Also Blue buffalo is a pretty good brand. But i would totally recommend Wellness. They have a good sized variety of both wet and dry foods. Even for picky eaters who like their food a certain shape 


eta: someone else mentioned taste of the wild, that is an excellent food too. thats what i feed my kitties. 

Also, if you had fun raising these babies, you should look into fostering for shelters. they always need help during kitten season fostering the babies until they are old enough to be spayed and put up for adoption.


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## lilnaugrim

Beezu said:


> I work at a pet food store and have learned a whole bunch about quality of foods.
> 
> Stay away from foods with corn because corn is the #1 allergen in cats and dogs. I would recommend Wellness brand. It is a pretty good brand. While Natura brand foods (innova, california natural, and evo) used to be a great brand, they were bought by proctor and gamble and have had a ridiculous problem with recalls in the past few months.
> 
> Also Blue buffalo is a pretty good brand. But i would totally recommend Wellness. They have a good sized variety of both wet and dry foods. Even for picky eaters who like their food a certain shape
> 
> 
> eta: someone else mentioned taste of the wild, that is an excellent food too. thats what i feed my kitties.
> 
> Also, if you had fun raising these babies, you should look into fostering for shelters. they always need help during kitten season fostering the babies until they are old enough to be spayed and put up for adoption.


Everyone's already grown up and out the door! But thanks for the info. It unfortunately wasn't me buying the food so we ended up with a lot of different stuff....which is bad :/ but they seemed to do well and grow up wonderfully but the last kitten went off to her forever-home today.

As much as I enjoyed it, I'm pretty sure that my mom would kill me if I decided to foster kittens. It's bad enough we had to get Misha fixed and still buying food for her (which she switches up every freaking week) and the poor girl is losing all her fur and she's itchy. I can tell, it's exactly the same thing tha happened to our other cat, Siberian who lost as his fur due to allergies. But she won't hear it, she thinks it's fleas. I just did a full check on her and she doesn't have a flea speck on her and honestly, if they had fleas we would have been infested by now but NOOOO mom knows best.

Gee, look at me, 20 years old and still arguing with my mom about it. It's frustrating she won't listen though, although she grew up with cat's all her life she doesn't really know about good care. We gave good care to our cats, but it wasn't really good care. At least we kept our older cats on the same diet (however it was Meow Mix, the same stuff Siberian was allergic to) but she claims that she get's what's on sale. It's not hard to keep to the same Friskies flavor each time, changing the formula so much is what's killing her >.< but she won't listen to me.

I literally have to relate things to humans all the time. "Okay ma, what do I do when I have an allergic reaction? Depending on what it is, I can get itchy, get hives and rashes, it's the same thing that's happening to Misha. It's not fleas that are making her itch and lose fur, fleas don't make cats lose fur in big tufts like that!" but she still doesn't take it.....


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## Riverotter

I'm glad I could help!!

The thing about changing foods - if it's a good quality food don't worry about it. I change my guy's food pretty regularly because we're really rural and my preferred brand isn't always available. So long as none of the first 3 ingredients are a grain, they never mind. It's the grains in the food that bother them and throw their digestion off balance. it definitely sounds like Misha has an allergy and grain is probably it.

If you were closer I'd give you goat's milk for her! Raw goat's milk helps my guys a lot. Pasturized cow's milk from the store does not compare, and can upset their stomachs.


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## lilnaugrim

Yeah I'm aware about the milk and cat's. It's the same in us, we're not built to digest cow's milk or other milk in that case and thus creating constipation problems or other digestive issues.

As far as the brand, it's been Friskies except for the first three times we bought food where it was Purina All Natural and then it was Meow Mix and then back to Purina and now has been Friskies but it's a different flavor each time, which means a different formula. I haven't looked at the ingredients since we got a type from walmart which was horrible and disgusting but I know Friskies is not a great brand, better than store brands but still not great.

Any way to make my mom see that it's a problem? I've already tried the subtle approach and informing her about it nicely but she still doesn't want to hear it :-/ I know she loves the cat but at the same time hates taking care of it (not that she does much except buy the food, I take care of the rest).

Also how to convince my mom that she doesn't have fleas? I looked her over thoroughly last night and found no fleas whatsoever. Also she's been the basement for just about 3 months now, would we not be overrun with fleas if there had been eggs or fleas on her?? Also, would I not be bitten up by flea's since I spend the most time with them and even in shorts half the time....I know bugs are especially attracted to my blood because of my diet, I can't go outside without mosquito's nearly tearing a whole layer of skin off (well that's not entirely true lol) but either way, I know fleas would love to get on me just for a bite. I know they can't live on humans and needed a furred host, but would that all not be true if she did in fact have fleas of any sort or am I just making this up??


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## Beezu

If she had fleas you would get flea dirt in the comb when you comb her fur. Definitely sounds like allergies. Best thing would be to stop getting the cheap sale food and get wellness which is grain free and reasonably priced. All that stuff like friskies and purina, they all have by products and grains which cause the most problems


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## lilnaugrim

Thanks Beezu. I'll see where I can find that around here, I'm sure someone carries it 

Now I just have to convince my mom >.< Misha is definitely an indoor cat as well but mom won't keep her in after a few more days and I highly doubt she can go to my dad's as that's where we have our other three cats lol I don't think Ieli would be appreciative of me bringing another female home ;-)

We've been keeping her in the basement but I can't be down there all the time from my own allergies so I've been a rebel daughter >< when mom isn't home and I am, I let Misha upstairs, block off the bedrooms and such so it's just the dining room and the kitchen and living room and she just lay's down on the carpet and sleeps or sometimes watches me on my laptop. She whines when we put her out or downstairs so it's clearly evident either she was a house cat before she was dropped off or she acclimated very quickly to house life.

Sigh, now I don't know what to do again lol. I can buy the food once I get my check but I can't do much else and convincing my mom that she a) needs better food b) doesn't have fleas and c) she's a housecat is very, very difficult :/ And I don't want to give Misha away too, that would just break my heart too much :-(


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## lilnaugrim

Oh and by the way! Here are some pictures of the kittens with their new owners!

Coconut when she first arrived home:









Coconut and her little "Care taker" my little cousin Joshua. It's his cat but my aunt takes care of the cats  Josh is 3.









Ivy and her owner Naomi, the girl I went to school with:









Kiki's owner updates the most so she's got the most pictures which is fine by me haha


















She's got the same look Coconut has and that Misha has all the time lol









Kiki and her new owner Alli!









And apparently Kiki was just fine at the vet's office haha









And Fionna on her first night home happy as could be! Apparently she didn't fuss over the bath either!


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## SaltAndLight

Mommy cats sometimes move their babies. Don't give up hope! But it is heartbreaking to lose such sweet kitties. I love kittens...


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## lilnaugrim

SaltAndLight said:


> Mommy cats sometimes move their babies. Don't give up hope! But it is heartbreaking to lose such sweet kitties. I love kittens...


I see another who has fallen prey to the multiple paged threads XD lol


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## Riverotter

Awwww! How wonderful!! The kitties and their new families all look so happy!

And, about Misha, she might prefer to be inside, but keep in mind that you guys saved her life. Some horrible, horrible things happen to cats that heartless people dump, and she's safe from that.
Which is huge.
 Much bigger then her not getting a spot on the couch.
So keep that in mind and don't feel too bad, you guys have already been wonderful to her, and I'm grateful on behalf of cats everywhere, and I'm sure she is too.


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## lilnaugrim

Thank you Riverotter 

I would still worry about her being outside though. I know cat's are meant to be outside and whatnot and normally I don't worry about this with my Maine ***** and all. When I was younger our two other cats Rocky and Poopy-doo (don't ask, my dad named him) actually tag-teamed a grey fox and a coyote so I'm not worried if there are two or more. But Misha is still tiny, she literally feels like she's still only 3 months old, small enough as well! I'm pretty sure she weighs about 4 pounds lol But either way, still worried and I'd rather not lose her now.

Right now has been the prime time for skunks and of course others of which I know you're fully aware of. Just the other night I heard the Fisher Cat screaming as it ripped a skunk to shreds (well I found the skunk the next day...I won't go into details) so just knowing that a Fisher is around is scary enough. :-(

Now I'm just babbling I know, I guess I'm just really disappointing although yes, I understand my mothers reasons but still. Gee, I feel like a 2 year old not getting what they want :-(


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## Viva

Omg I was sooososososos sad when I read that first post...I would LOVE a mostly white kitten...the mother is sooo pretty! I love fluffy cats  You don't even know how happy I am that you found them..I was about to cry (here at work lol). At first the story was very strange but I'm glad they are all safe and sound and the mother just moved them to a "better" spot. What a silly girl.


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## SaltAndLight

Sorry...am I doing something wrong? I'm new to forum posting...


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## Viva

SaltAndLight said:


> Sorry...am I doing something wrong? I'm new to forum posting...


No the kittens were found she was just pointing out to you that you missed the post that said they were found because of the 462947849200 pages on this thread lol


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## SaltAndLight

Oh....yeah, these forums confuse the heck out of me...Thanks for letting me know, Viva.


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## lilnaugrim

Oh sorry about that SaltAndLight lol, yeah no worries though, it happens many times where there are so many pages to one thread and you don't see them ^_^

But yes, everyone is safe and sound and off to their new homes and happy!!


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## SaltAndLight

*wicks away sweat* Whew, feeling a whole lot better about those kitties now.


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## lilnaugrim

Lol yes!! yeah it can be devastating to see a first post like that and not see that there's a good ending to a bad story ^_^


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## TexasBettaGal

I don't know if this wasn't ment to be particularly entertaining but I have been sitting at my computer cautiously scrolling through the thread posts hoping there would be a happy ending! A story very similar to yours is how I got my cat. As a cat (and betta ^-^) lover I found your determination to find the kittens and care for the kittens inspiring!


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## lilnaugrim

Thank you, thank you TexasBettaGal! :-D :greenyay:


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## BlueLacee

Oh god that sounds terrifying. I'm glad you found them


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## lilnaugrim

whoa this thread is old lol.

Oh, the babies are now officially a year old this passed April 20th! Figure I'd give an update while I'm here lol. Each kitten is doing fantastic! All have been fixed by their humans and treated all so well!


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## atb224155

Saw the pictures and happy to hear that the babies were found


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## Pippin

I am so glad that you found them. Kiki is so cute!


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## lilnaugrim

Thanks Pippin, I should try to get some updated photos of everyone so you all can see ^_^


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## Pippin

That would be nice. How is Misha doing now?


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## lilnaugrim

Misha ran away >.< she's been gone since a month after the kittens left. Well, she didn't go too far though, I've seen her once or twice a few miles from our house  She had older kittens before this litter and they still hang around up the street. Their father belongs to a neighbor of ours which means they don't have him fixed.....he's an outdoor cat but I see them with him on their porch and stuff when I drive by....sigh, oh well; can't have the world!


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## Pippin

That's sad about Misha running away. At least you probably get to see her kittens.


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