home, farm, & garden by Sarah Southard, DVM
A Feline Tale During the last few days of April, my neighbor Patty contacted me with questions about a friendly stray queen and her litter of five kittens that had been found at the local high school. Some students and the school custodians had been feeding the cat after discovering she had delivered kittens on campus. She had tucked her litter safely into a temporary construction project storage container on campus. The problem came when the project was complete, and the storage container was due to be removed within days. Clearly the feline family would need to find a new home. No one was sure how old the kittens were. My neighbor was willing to take and care for the group, but she was concerned that the queen might abandon her kittens if they were moved to a new environment by an unfamiliar person. We talked through some information about the cat and kittens as well as some possibilities for managing them in their new location. We came up with a plan to minimize the chance of abandonment, and the family of six moved in next door the following day. Patty asked me to take a look at the litter when they arrived. Four of the five kittens had nasal discharge and congestion as well as ocular discharge indicating they had an upper respiratory infection caused by a common virus. If left untreated, some kittens go blind or in extreme cases must have their eye(s) removed due to unrelenting pain. With severe nasal discharge, kittens’ sense of smell can be impaired leading to decreased appetite and subsequent malnutrition. On initial evaluation, one kitten was much smaller than the others, only about half the size of her largest brother. Clearly she was born the runt, but she also had not been able to compete for her share of mom’s milk, further complicating the situation. For as scrappy and rough as she was when I met her, she was strong and determined. With cursory exams complete, I made a plan and enlisted the help of my three-year-old, Malachi. We provided kitten food
for everyone. The kittens would need it when they began trying to eat and the queen would benefit from the extra nutrition while she was nursing her litter. For the first few days we supplemented the smallest girl with formula. We began cleaning eyes and noses as well as treating their infections multiple times a day. Within a few days we began offering soft food mixed with formula for all the kittens and soon after added dry food to the mix. The runt was growing, and everyone’s upper respiratory infections were clearing. They were becoming playful young cats as opposed to kittens and their personalities were beginning to shine. Thankfully “Ms. Patty’s Mama Cat” (as Malachi calls her) and her kittens met with compassionate students and employees at the high school. And thankfully someone realized they needed to be moved to keep them safe and someone else was willing to take them in until permanent homes could be found. For all the challenges this feline family met with, they really were lucky in their circumstances. Many stray and feral cats are not as lucky. Many meet with all sorts of tragic ends. Be a responsible cat owner. Spay and neuter. If you choose not to have your cats altered, be prepared for the litters of kittens that are guaranteed to come. Do not abandon a pregnant queen. And be prepared to give every kitten born a permanent home with you. It is not guaranteed that you will be able to find homes for the kittens nor is it someone else’s responsibility to care for your animals if or when you decide to abandon them. Ms. Patty’s Mama Cat and her kids have turned out to be a bright spot in a challenging year for us. But if I’m truly honest about it, we did not need to add more responsibilities to our already over-filled days and weeks. Do the right thing by your animals. Spay. Neuter. Vaccinate. Deworm. The world is a better place for it. SURRY LIVING August 2022 Issue • 15