Wwyd? | Imamother

Rappel ↓

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 6:56 am

We took in a male cat who was really friendly, and got along with our elderly female, at the beginning of winter. Our cats are indoor/outdoor.

A few weeks ago, his collar fell off - or so I thought. I haven't had time to replace it

Today, I discovered that "Oscar" is female. I'm in shock. I don't know what happened to our male cat now. Oscarette is now outside, since she's never been treated for parasites. She's also been getting very fat, so I can only guess that she's pregnant.

What do I do????? Money is tight right now, and we've been carefully budgeting for food and litter. We can't afford to treat her, or spay her, and if she's carrying a litter then Banging head

This is not what we signed up for. We wanted one, nice cat to live with us for the rest of its life. 2 was already a stretch. We don't want more!

What would you do?

watergirl ↓

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 7:42 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

I am confused. You sent your cat out one day, and when he came back you thought the collar fell off not realizing that it was a different cat that came back?

You didn’t recognize your own cat or realize that your male cat was now female?

And the new cat just came into your home acting like she’d lived there for a year?

You put my confusion into words perfectly.

A different cat came home? Or its the same cat and you just thought it was a boy and now realize its a girl?

↑ watergirl ↓

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 8:01 am

OP, I just realized that you are in Israel (I think). I was going to come back here to tell you to take the cat to the SPCA to see if its actually pregnant, and if not, to have them spay it for you. In the States, there are clinics everywhere that neuter/spay dogs and cats for very cheap because the stray animal population is out of control. But thats moot if you are not in the States. I would ask people where you live where you can take the cat for cheap care, like the SPCA here.

I mean this kindly, but I wanted to say something about being a responsible pet owner. You need to be on top of these things if you are planning on keeping the cats. That means replacing the collar as soon as you realize its gone. It also means taking it to the vet to see if its pregnant, and if so, letting her have the litter and then finding homes for the kittens. You dont have to keep them. I know many people have outdoor cats, and I'll keep my thoughts on that to myself. But you are opening up yourself to kittens, parasites, rabies... You MUST get it checked out to see what shots it needs. My kids know to never touch a cat thats outside because who knows what it has?

I know the struggle with money, by the way. I have more than one dog and pocket pets as well. Welcoming in a pet to your house means taking care of its needs. BH a million times, my dogs have been healthy and the expense has never exceeded a bag of food a month and shots every few years. But I know it can. Especially with rabies and distemper... these are very important.

As for what to do, which was your question, find a vet with reasonable prices and get her checked out and get her shots. If she's pregnant, find new homes for the kittens once they are 3 months old. And then spay the cat or rehome her as well.

SixOfWands

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 10:51 am

sequoia wrote:

So Oscarette is a completely different cat?

I figure that Oscar knocked up his Boo, and, realizing that he had no means to keep her and the Littles in catnip, made the ultimate sacrifice of giving up his space at OP's house. Either that, or Oscar underwent gender reassignment surgery.

In all seriousness, take Oscarette to the vet and find out what'd going on. If she's with kitten, try to find them homes, then make sure that Oscarette is no longer the woman she used to be.

↑ Rappel ↓

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 11:24 am

sequoia wrote:

So Oscarette is a completely different cat?

Sorry that this was so confusing. I'm still in shock.

Yes, it seems Oscar disappeared one day, and Oscarette strolled in and made herself at home. It's super weird. I've checked my old pictures, and they're visually almost exactly alike. They must be siblings. Oscar must have been around 6 months old when we took him in, back in early November. It's very possible that he still has living siblings, if they're all just about a year old.

I can only imagine that Oscar himself is gone, or I would have noticed 3 cats running around.

So, the reality is that I've been feeding and homing an untreated, pregnant cat, whom I thought was a neutered male cat.

(I know I sound like a complete novice, but I'm just in shock. We've had cats all my life, and this is definitely new territory for me.)

Responsible pet ownership demands that I:
Deliver the kittens
Raise them, find them homes
Spay Oscarette
Vaccinate her
Deworm her
Tick collar her

But we don't have the budget for that for these next few months. We treated Oscar when we took him in, obviously, but that was a different era for us as a family. I've been saving up for two new tick collars before Pesach - but not for anything on this scale!

If she were just a street cat, then I wouldn't even consider it. But I've fed her, and cared for her, and she's an excellent cat. Follows me like a dog, cuddles like a baby, and is extremely friendly and well-mannered, even to young children. Oscar was the same, and I thought he was unique...

So I wish I could do all that (aside from finding homes for the kittens - not a chance in Israel, since they look very ordinary, and Israelis only go for the fluffy, fancy look), but I can't do it responsibly, and it's killing me.

There. I've figured out what's bothering me. I'm worried about what happened to Oscar, and I want to care for Oscarette, but I don't have the means to do so responsibly. Thanks for helping me clear that up.

amother

Green

Thu, Mar 07 2019, 12:27 pm

When I was a kid, our female cat got lost. After months of tears and reward signs, we found her and brought her home. She was half-starved by then and ate like there was no tomorrow, gaining tons of weight.
One night, she wakes my mom and my mother says that she looked like she was in distress and she couldn’t figure out why. Surprise, surprise, my mother figured out why after a couple minutes and helped her deliver 6 kittens.
Those were my best months. We had 7 cats at home and I got to name all of them Wink

my cat (the mother I mean) was so moody though and would scratch anyone who came near her and her kittens. My mother made her a little makeshift private space in a closet where she could mother in peace.
Once they started eating solids though...
Don’t ask.
Anon because I have told this story often IRL