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  • 1.  How many litters of kittens have you taken in so far?

    Posted 03-22-2024 05:22 AM
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    Hi, I'm a volunteer foster and grant writer (and crafter, driver, etc.) for a small group in Michigan. It was my idea to start this group, actually, but life intervened and this is my first post since the welcome post I made back on day one.

    Anyway, I'm just wondering, of those of you who take in kittens and pregnant mamas, are you feeling the onslaught yet? How many litters have you taken in since, say, Valentine's Day?

    We've had three that I'm aware of, which isn't too much, but we're just at the beginning!

    (The image is my foster kitty Dumplin', aged 10 month)



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    Carol B.
    Foster Volunteer/Grants Coordinator
    Michigan
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  • 2.  RE: How many litters of kittens have you taken in so far?

    Posted 03-22-2024 10:29 AM

    I might be jinxing it but so far we really haven't had too many here in Nebraska. I think since valentines day we've had maybe two mommas with kittens and very few individual kittens and pregnant mommas. they usually go off to a foster within a day or two and we've had weeks at time where we have no cats in the nursery at all. I don't anticipate that happening for much longer though, our days are consistently nice weather now. We usually anticipate the onslaught of kittens to be late April early May.



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    Laurel Nelson
    Cat Welfare Supervisor
    Nebraska Humane Society
    NE
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: How many litters of kittens have you taken in so far?

    Posted 03-23-2024 06:56 AM

    We are in CT and have had pregnant cats throughout the winter for the first time ever. We are a very small rescue and since December we have taken in 6 either pregnant  or nursing moms and young babies. This is unheard of for us. We typically don't see pregnant cats until April. Our state had a huge reduction in their TNR voucher program this year so I worry about what this summer will be like. There are many rescues around us that have been full and unable to take in any new cats throughout the winter.

    We are also beginning to see many more birth defects which probably is due to the increased inbreeding in the colonies and hoarding situations.



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    Karen Hunter
    Foster parent and board member
    Wells Valley Cat Rescue
    CT
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: How many litters of kittens have you taken in so far?

    Posted 03-24-2024 10:40 AM

    Both last year and this year we've had a big push starting in January  to TNR as many cats as we can to help stave off the population explosion that we typically see in April.  Last year almost every female we trapped in January and February was in the early stages of a pregnancy.  Out of 6 cats that were S/N during one of our recent trappings this year, 1 was male and the other 5 female - all pregnant.  Around here, most of the litters that are born outside between November and now have a very poor chance of surviving.  I tried to catch one very pregnant female a few weeks ago and would have brought her inside to have the kittens, but she had them before I could trap her.  The assumption by the caregiver is the litter was either still-born or died fairly quickly because the mom was back the next day with the rest of the colony rather than taking care of her kittens.  The caregiver wasn't able to find where she had them.  



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    Gwen Harding-Peets
    Board Member, trapper, S/N certificate coordinator, adoption/foster coordinator
    PANT
    Dutchess County, NY
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: How many litters of kittens have you taken in so far?

    Posted 03-25-2024 07:56 AM

    Here in my area of  Portugal, the kittens are just starting to be born. A chilly point in January has slowed the arrival somewhat (thank you, weather gods!) We try to do as many spays for pregnant street cat as we can over Feb/March which is helping in some of our supported colonies for sure.  We are expecting a kitten flood from Easter.



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    Bettina Vine
    Animal Health Director
    The Kitten Connection
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    Original Message


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