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Apr. 24th, 2012 04:39 amYou remember that movie The Hunt for Red October? Well, spoiler alert, the good guys win, and in the end the Russian ambassador has to explain to the good ol' boy Secretary of State that not only have they lost the Red October, but also the sub that they sent searching for it has mysteriously vanished. That actor's delivery of the line "You lost anotha sub?" is one of my favorite of all time.
So, uh, I seem to have acquired another cat by virtue of having it follow me home and then walk in through the front door under its own volition. Cue line: "You've got anotha cat?"
Complication: It's got teats swollen with milk, which means it's probably given birth recently enough to still be nursing. Which means kittens. But it shows no interest in going outside. I put it out in front of my door twice so that it could return to its kittens, and both time it ran back in. Also, it followed me down the street for a good block and a half, so clearly not a lot of concern for going far away from its kittens.
So. By keeping it inside, I might be condemning a litter of kittens to starvation (or, more likely, predation. Plenty of things out there eat kittens. I know. I can hear them doing it from my living room more often than a kind god would allow).
Complication: It was obviously domesticated and malnourished. It showed no interest in scavenging the chinese food that I dropped on the ground accidentally outside, but knew the sound of a can opening. If I put it out -- and it does not want to go out -- it doesn`t seem equipped to handle the outside world very well.
Complication: It`s been spayed. Judging by the gnarly scar, it was spayed... I'm no expert, but I want to say two or three weeks ago. Oona's scar looks less healed and she was done two Wednesdays ago. Modern stitches normally take at least two weeks to dissolve, and I see no stitches there. They could have been pulled out early, by accident or on purpose -- which would explain the gnarliness of the scar.
Most vets will recommend not spaying until after the kittens have been weaned. It's possible to spay a cat within a day or two of giving birth, though I'm told that the surgery is uncommon, being more difficult and expensive. But if the kittens are weaned, then why are her dugs still full of delicious (to kittens! -- I'm a cat lover, but not that kind of cat lover) milk?
Another possibility: A gravid spay. But if her spay incision really is three weeks old at the minimum, would she still be lactating?
What I'm looking for is a salve for my conscience, but I don't know if that's going to be found here. The most obvious reason for milk-full teats with chafed nipples is not a gravid spay or weaned kittens. It's that she's still nursing, and by letting her inside my place and not forcing her back out again I'm consigning her kittens to a terrible, unpleasant death.
On the other hand, she doesn't want out and I can't track her kittens for her, so if she's abandoned them, I don't know what more I can do.
So, uh, I seem to have acquired another cat by virtue of having it follow me home and then walk in through the front door under its own volition. Cue line: "You've got anotha cat?"
Complication: It's got teats swollen with milk, which means it's probably given birth recently enough to still be nursing. Which means kittens. But it shows no interest in going outside. I put it out in front of my door twice so that it could return to its kittens, and both time it ran back in. Also, it followed me down the street for a good block and a half, so clearly not a lot of concern for going far away from its kittens.
So. By keeping it inside, I might be condemning a litter of kittens to starvation (or, more likely, predation. Plenty of things out there eat kittens. I know. I can hear them doing it from my living room more often than a kind god would allow).
Complication: It was obviously domesticated and malnourished. It showed no interest in scavenging the chinese food that I dropped on the ground accidentally outside, but knew the sound of a can opening. If I put it out -- and it does not want to go out -- it doesn`t seem equipped to handle the outside world very well.
Complication: It`s been spayed. Judging by the gnarly scar, it was spayed... I'm no expert, but I want to say two or three weeks ago. Oona's scar looks less healed and she was done two Wednesdays ago. Modern stitches normally take at least two weeks to dissolve, and I see no stitches there. They could have been pulled out early, by accident or on purpose -- which would explain the gnarliness of the scar.
Most vets will recommend not spaying until after the kittens have been weaned. It's possible to spay a cat within a day or two of giving birth, though I'm told that the surgery is uncommon, being more difficult and expensive. But if the kittens are weaned, then why are her dugs still full of delicious (to kittens! -- I'm a cat lover, but not that kind of cat lover) milk?
Another possibility: A gravid spay. But if her spay incision really is three weeks old at the minimum, would she still be lactating?
What I'm looking for is a salve for my conscience, but I don't know if that's going to be found here. The most obvious reason for milk-full teats with chafed nipples is not a gravid spay or weaned kittens. It's that she's still nursing, and by letting her inside my place and not forcing her back out again I'm consigning her kittens to a terrible, unpleasant death.
On the other hand, she doesn't want out and I can't track her kittens for her, so if she's abandoned them, I don't know what more I can do.
