Hand raising kittens and putting them outdoors...

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Ok, so DH and I are disagreeing about something with these kittens.  Once they are able to be on their own he wants to take them back to his work and let them roam around with the other feral cats.  I told him NO.  He thinks they will do just fine.  I think, having been hand raised indoors, without a mama cat, that they will be too domesticated.  They don't have their mama to teach them to hunt or self defense.  

Even if WE don't keep them, I feel it is important to the health and safety of these kittens that we find them good, INDOOR homes.  Hopefully I will be able to find a free or cheap spay/neuter clinic and have that done BEFORE we do that.  I most certainly do NOT want to put them back out at his work to continue breeding.  So many of those cats have litters that don't survive because the mothers aren't more than kittens themselves.  

Based on the kittens weights yesterday and the fact that they are a week old today.  I'm pretty sure they were premature.  It's my understanding that kittens should be approximately 4 oz at birth.  At 6 days old there were two that were only 4 oz and one was 3 oz.  This is after 4 days of good nutrition and visually obvious weight gain.  

What do you think?  Which would be the better scenario for these kitties if we don't keep them?

[LosingMyMindInGA]

nancyjac,

I agree with you.  Our shelter is a humane society shelter.  The last time I called about abandoned kittens I was told they would simply have to put them down because they had no one to care for them.  So, this time I didn't bother.  I know they do the best they can.  I just wish that in this small town I live in we had more shelter options/animal rescues. Even the vets here only ever recommend the humane society.

[nancyjac]

Just a word on shelters in general.  Since I work at one, I guess I'm often in a position of defending them.  Most of them truly do the best they can with very limited resources.  We have over 300 kittens right now and have not euthanized a single one of them except for medical reasons.  Publicly funded shelters can't be no kill because we cannot refuse to take animals when we are full like the Humane Society, SPCA, and other private rescue groups and animal welfare organizations.  But we do everything we can to get these kittens adopted.  I think shelters get a bad rap.  A lot of people don't want to deal with them because they can't be no kill, but the so called "no kill" groups that earn that title only because they refuse to take most of the animals brought to them are just or more responsible for kittens dying every year as shelters are.  But in the big picture, it rests squarely on the shoulders of irresponsible cat owners who do not sterilize there cats and then just turn them out with their kittens and many of them eventually result in thousands of unsterilized feral cats roaming the streets.

Ok, I'm off my soap box now.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Good suggestions!  Thank you.  I'm really hoping to convince DH to keep ATLEAST one of them.  After all of DD14's hard work she will be really upset to have to get rid of them all.

Linda:  I agree somethign should be done, but this is an employer who routinely does not comply with osha regulations and other things.  If DH could have found another job making the money he does now, elsewhere, he would have been gone a long time ago.  Our SPCA is small and doesn't have many resources that bigger ones do. I know I have heard of organizations that will trap and spay/neuter feral cats and then release them again.  I just don't know of any right off hand.  Worth checking into tho.

[LindaTX]

I think finding homes for them now so when they are old enough you will know they will have a safe place to go.  Maybe someone will actually want two!  That would be great!  Vet's offices bulletin boards are a good place to post.  Are you thinking of keeping one?

One other thing, I was wondering if maybe you or your husband could bring up this issue with his company.  They should be more responsible at keeping the place from being over run by feral cats.  Maybe the SPCA or some other organization could talk to them. You could send an anonymous call to one of the many animal organizations.  There is probably a state agency that takes care of situations like this.  It's not healthy for the employees or the cats.  What if one of them contracted rabies.  Probably very few of them, if any, have ever been vaccinated.  Maybe the Health Dept. could offer some suggestions.  I wish you all the best in placing these little ones in good homes.  You did a good thing taking them in.

[FurballsMom]

Definitely get them spayed and neutered.  I would definitely consider putting up ads everywhere I could think of, including on community bulletin boards in the local grocery stores.  I would not return them to the feral community.  Hang in there, because I am certain someone will eventually adopt these lovely little felines.  Lots of people want kittens, but every cat I've ever adopted myself have already been past the kitten stage.  And, I was not sorry that they were already adults either.  Not everyone looking for a cat thinks they have to start with kittens.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Nancyjac:  that's my entire point!  I think I was just looking for some reassurance from others who are more experienced with cats than I am.  There is already a huge feral cat problem at his work and sending them back out there isn't going to help.  Hopefully he'll change his mind about us keeping them (or atleast one). But if not, I just hope I can find them good homes.  I'm sure I can find some organization to do free or cheap spay/neuter when they are old enough.  

I'd prefer NOT to take them to a shelter, unfortunately our shelter is NOT a no-kill shelter and in small town it's likely they would sit there for awhile before having a hope of being adopted.  

We'll see how it plays out.  They are just now 8 days old so we have a little while to work out the kinks!

[nancyjac]

If you do put them back without first steriliing them will be 6 times as many of them this time next year, if they even survive. Young kittens (feral or not) don't have the skills to hunt for themselves and without a feral mama (or surrugate) it is unlikely they will learn before they starve, become prey, or dehydrate.  You have made a huge commitment and sacrifice to hand raise these babies.  Returning them from whence they came once they are weaned negates all of your hard work.  If you don't keep them or find other homes for them, taking them to a shelter for adoption would be far better than just putting them out.

[margypops]

I think you are right going back to the work place doesn't sound good for them to me, I found homes for 2 kitties now by looking in the farm and garden section for barn homes ..well many folks do want outside cats that can hunt to keep vermin down.I always went to check the people and places out to see what they were like The people keep in touch with me and let me know how they are doing ...Take a look in your local area classifieds online maybe put an ad in ..or look in the farm section,they were fixed and had shots before they were taken to the new homes ,the shelter here offers low cost shots etc .