I got quite a surprise while feeding the outside cats this morning!
I’d done the food and was just about to go do the rest of my rounds when I heard a strange noise.
I tiny little squeak.
Being half way out the door, I at first thought I was hearing it from outside. It took some looking around, but I finally found the source.
It was coming from the cat cage under the platform.
Where Brussel was scrunched into a corner.
Giving birth.
After watching for a bit to make sure she was okay, I quickly finished my rounds, then checked on her again. I didn’t think she was done, but it was hard to tell. I could see one little calico squirming around, but Brussel is so fluffy, there could easily have been more hidden in there.
What I ended up doing was pulling the entire cage away from the window wall, where it would be colder. I grabbed a cat cave from inside and, after straightening out the blanket bed in the cut next to Brussel, I squeezed it in, using the handle of a broom stick to shove it into place. I’m hoping Brussel will move her kittens into there.
I also got a two sided bowl and set it up for her with food and water. I also changed the angle of the second heat lamp with the warmer bulb to face more into the cage.
She growled at me, the whole time.
I’ve let the Cat Lady know already. We have never been able to get close to Brussel, though her sister, Sprout, is even more feral than she is. But she chose to have her kittens in the sun room, which is a total shock. Given how insanely early in the year it is for having kittens, it was probably the warmest place she could find. Since she is in the cat cage, if we could get a litter pan in there somehow, we could close it up, too. That would keep the other cats – and racoons and skunks – out.
I have the critter cam set facing the cat cage and the live feed up right now. With the cage pulled further from the wall, I can see into it more, but the heat lamp’s shield blocks my view of the corner she is in. I did, however, catch another cat going in to check things out, and was able to use the camera to tell it to leave, which it did.
Hopefully, this will mean we can finally socialize Brussel, and be able to socialize her kittens, too, and get her fixed.
Meanwhile, I need to head out soon to run errands. The family can keep an eye on her while I am gone. My biggest concern is that she will move them out of the sun room completely, which would probably kill the kittens. I know, I know. We don’t need more kittens, but after last year, finding so many dead and dying kittens, day after day, I really don’t want that to happen again this year.
Whatever happens, happens. We’ll deal with things as they come – but I can still try to set things up to hopefully have a happy result!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 