Found Declawed Kitten in Woods Update

The last three days have been very busy as I have been networking our community for the Aegean cat owners.  Along with the neighborhood search I have also posted on the Humane Society website and added flyers to veternarian bulletin boards in our community.  Hopefully that will enable us to reunite kitten with its owners.

Today we are taking the kitty for a microchip scan which will identify the owners. Should the cat have no microchip then it will be evaluated by a veterinarian as it endured a flesh wound from a possible fight with another cat.  The kitten also shows signs of cold, sneezing, coughing eye drainage, and has diarrhea. 

Well defined face with white fur 

My cat says HI to found kitten

Note:

1. The Aegean kitten is approximately five months old and appears to be well cared for.has a shiny coat is groomed with no mats.  There are two new bite wounds and evidence of old bite wounds. I suspect this kitten has been outdoors a long time.
2. Finding a cat owner is never easy as most owners do not report their cats as missing. 
3. A declawed cat should never be allowed to go outdoors as it has no way to protect itself from a predator, cannot forage, unable to climb a tree to escape a dog. A declawed housecat has no idea of how to seek shelter from weather or harm.

Declawed Gray and White Tabby

For the last seven days I have watched a white and black tabby cat go into my greenhouse to eat from the feral cat food bowl.  I assumed the cat was visiting my feeding station to get a snack and then going back to his home because the cat wore a leather collar (not a breakaway) with no tag.

My neighbor informed me that the cat was crying and that it was coming from the woods.  She said that something was wrong with the cat and it looked like its paws were hurt.

We  watched for the cat, hoping it would come to the feeding station so we could learn more about its ailment. No sign of the cat throughout the day, but in the evening we did see the cat and it was being chased by another cat.  

The lost cat tried to climb a tree but fell and with that the other cat was on top of him.  Se then realized that the lost cat had no claws so my husband went out to break up the cat fight.  When there was an opening the lost cat ran in my direction and leaped into my arms. 

The cat suffered a bite wound to the tail and on his leg.  The cat was shaking like leaf and meowing loudly  We checked his paws and realized the cat was declawed. 

Ear tip torn - side face and collar

I examined the cat and found it was declawed all four paws.  No way to defend itself, no way to hunt and no way to be safe in a forest full of coyote and other wild animals. 

 I took the cat to our cat shelter.  Gave it a bed, litter box, food and water and turned on the light.  The cat is obviously lost and does not know how to go home.

Side view of lost cat

My veterinarian told me that 93% of the house cats that go outdoors get lost and do not know how to find their home.  I think this is true especially if they are not accustomed to going outdoors.  I am glad that I was at the right place at the right time and able to rescue this cat from harm.

Feral and Stray Cat Health Comparison

I have trapped many cats since 1999 and in that time all of the feral cats were healthy, none of them tested positive for any feline disease.  In addition to being healthy they were all well groomed.

 

Rescued Stray Cat

When first started trapping feral cats for sterilization I expect them to be sickly, to have a poor coat with infestation of parasites.  The veterinarian reports that the cat has ear mites, needs to be wormed and needs a dosage of revolution to get rid of the ear mites.  Not a flea or tick is found on them and none of the feral cats tested positive for feline disease.  

In comparison the stray cat did not do so well. Out of the 128 cats that I trapped this year 10% of the stray (abandoned house cats) tested positive for cat disease including diabetes.   All of the stray cats had poor coats and many were matted.  Long haired cats needed to be shaved.

Cats that once lived with people are stray cats. These stray cats have a difficult time adapting to living outdoors. They do not know how to forage or where to go for shelter and they do not live in colonies with other cats because the feral cats do not welcome them.  Stray cats are on their own and it must be very frightening.

I pick up strays all the time that are starving, have hair missing, they may have bite wounds from fights or their hair is matted.   

So when it comes to living outdoors the feral cat will live a longer and healthier life than the stray cat.  

Photograph of Calico Cat:  This is Gracie she was a stray that my husband found on a bitter cold night.  She was skin and bones, had missing fur, was missing one tooth and her tongue was cut off at the tip.  It is doubtful she would have survived the night as she did not know where to go for shelter.

Tips for Finding Lost Cats Home

We got up early this morning to network the neighborhood when many people outdoors.  It is necessary to take as many steps as needed to locate the Maine Coon cat that I found.

By putting the word out in the neighborhood that cat was found we are hoping that somebody will come forward with information about the cat.

Along with talking to people in the community we also posted “found cat flyers”.  I also placed a free classified advertisement in the lost and found section of the newspaper.  The classified for found MaineCoon cat will run over the weekend and hopefully somebody somewhere will have information about this lost cat.

Cat Found Flyer by Susang6

Many people are not concerned with the whereabouts of their outdoor cat.  One neighbor said he does not worry about outdoor cat unless he his missing for a week. 

I know this to be tree as one summer a few years back a neighborhood cat left his home and walked three blocks before settling in my yard for the entire summer.  The cat hung out in my yard day and night.  I assumed the cat was going home at night but found out that he had chosen my yard as his summer retreat. 

Outdoor cats are funny, if left to wonder the neighborhood then will leave their home.

Hopefully I will be able to find this little Maine Coon cat’s people.

Found Lost Maine Coon Cat at My Door

This evening at dusk a stray cat found his way to my side door and mowed loudly. The cat is an adult male Maine Coon cat that is either lost or abandoned.  

The cat greeted me by rubbing on my legs so I knew he was not feral,  I immediately checked his front paws and found that he was declawed.  This was an indication that he had no business being outdoors after dark with the feral tom cats and the coyote.  

I called my neighbor and asked about the cat and learned that the cat had been going door to door seeking food and shelter for about a week.  They suspected he was abandoned but could be lost.  There was no word on a lost cat in our neighborhood. 

Main Coon Cat

The cat followed me into to shelter and there I gave him  Friskies special diet canned food and a bowl of water.  After the cat finished licking the food bowl clean he came to where I sat and jumped up on a pillow that was sitting on a chair close to me.  He then lay down and wrapped his bushy tail around him and looked like he wanted to go to sleep. 

The cat will sleep well tonight in the shelter.  Poor thing outdoors with no claws.  Unable to climb a tree, or defend himself.  

Tomorrow I will post found cat flyers in my neighborhood and will run a classified for found cat in the newspaper.  If this cat is lost I will hopefully reunite him with his people.

Keeping Newborn Orphaned Kittens Warm

If you rescue newborn kittens then you must keep the kittens warm.  A kitten that is separated from their mother is known as an orphaned kitten.  If you catch or trap an orphaned kitten that is under a month old they will need special care.

As soon as you catch the kitten it is important that the kitten stays warm.  Set up a kitten bed;  a cardboard box that is lined with a fleece blanket also add a heating pad that is set on low or a hot water bottle that is wrapped in a towel. 

Keep the kitten box in a warm room that has no draft.  One way that I keep kittnes warm is with a snuggle safe pet bed microwave heatign pag.  You heat the pad in your microwe and then set it underneath your kittens bedding , the heat area should be pushed to one side in the kitten box, so kittens can get close to the heat or move away. 

The heat pad  will keep kittens warm and comfortable for up to ten hours.  I use to keep the kittens fleece blanket warm with a hot water bottle but find the snuggle safe pet bed is better.  Check the heating pad monitor the temperature to make sure that the kitten is warm but not hot.

Tips:

Orphaned newborn kittens in the wild is rare but there have been cases; mother cat has no milk and cannot nurse the kittens, or mother cat trapped by civic minded people, mother cat injured.   I always make a point to walk in the woods and listen for newborn kittens because one never knows if the mother cat is caring for them or has abandoned them.  

View this video to learn more about taking care of orphaned kittens

Cosequin Joint Health Supplement for Cats

When a cat gets older they develop the same type of age related arthritis health conditions as humans.    It is very common for an older cat to get arthritis and there is prescription medication as well as cosequin joint health supplement that will nourish your cats joints and help mobility.

A few weeks ago I trapped a stray cat that was people friendly and I suspect was once a housecat.  I brought the cat into my shelter to examine and when I petted her she purred and rubbed her head on my hand.  I noted some stiffness in her joints and made an appointment for a wellness exam at my veterinarian. 

Upon wellness exam the veterinarian found moderate arthritis.  The veterinarian recommended nutramx cosequin joint supplement for cats.  Cosequin for cats helps to keep my cats mobile.  Within five day the stray cat was jumping up to the window seat and playing with cat toys.  

What I like about the supplement that nourishes her joint s is that the powder that I mixed into her canned food has natural chicken and tuna flavor.  It is easy to administer to cats because they like the taste.

The cosequin treatment will enable me to adopt the cat into a home where adults reside.  I find a cat that needs to be cared for is a good match with a person who lives alone and is a shut-in.  Caring for the cat is therapy for an adult senior citizen. 

Learn more about cat arthritis by viewing this YouTube video:

Abandoned Newborn Kittens Rescued

Summer is kitten season and my husband and I search daily in the woods for abandoned kittens in feral cat dens. 

A few days ago we found a den of six kittens that appeared to be newborns.  We watched the den but mother cat was nowhere.  Normally the mother cat will not leave newborn kittens and we suspected that she either abandoned her kittens or that she may have been trapped and taken in for spay and vaccines. We were not sure of the mother cat’s whereabouts but knew that we needed to care for the newborn kittens.

We rushed home to get a box and lined the box with a fleece blanket and grabbed a twin cotton sheet to cover the box and a flashlight.  We went back to the den and I needed to crawl into the den to catch all of the kittens.

All of the kittens were caught and taken to the veterinarian’s office. They received an exam, a combing for fleas and then were fed KMR®Powder Milk Replacer.  The kittens are in safe care and veterinarian in seeking a foster mother cat.

 I recommend that every animal rescuer should have on hand PetAg® Emergency Feeding Kits for newborn kitten. If you happen to rescue a newborn kitten to six weeks this kit will provide you with everything that you need; Kit contains 3/4 oz. pouch of KMR Powder, 2 oz. nursing bottle.  

If you are new to nursing a newborn kitten then this helpful kit includes a pamphlet to teach you how to feed a new born kitten with replacement milk.

View this video to learn how to bottle feed a kitten: