53
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
53 points (90.8% liked)
Asklemmy
43755 readers
1253 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy ๐
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- !lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
kitten lady has several good videos on this, but I'd strongly advise you to get in contact with a local rescue. They can care for and find a home for the kittens (once they're old enough) and spay and release mom (once the kittens are weaned). They should keep mom and kittens together until they're ready to wean. Main concern with bathing the kittens is that they can't self regulate temperature at that age and you put them at risk of hypothermia by getting them wet.
Source: kitten foster parent
Thanks so much for sharing the video! I never thought it was so extremely simple to use a flea comb. And I'm not entirely sure if there are local rescues where I live, and even so, some of my relatives have already fallen in love with the kittens and want them, but believe me, if this had been an option before she gave birth I would have considered.
Shelters are very location dependent, unfortunately. If you're in a wealthier country / area there are likely some good ones around. Please get the kittens checked by a vet as soon as you can though, fleas can cause anaemia in kittens and kill them quickly. Even if you're rural, a vet who specialises in livestock likely knows of some local charities who can assist financially in providing care, if that's a concern. Kitten Lady's website is great for practical young kitten tips and product choices if you need to do some hands-on care yourself. Someone else already linked her YouTube videos which are also great, but I find the organisation a bit hard to navigate by comparison.
If the kittens look like they have pale gums/tongue or they are lethargic, or stop eating it's emergency vet time. Those are signs the fleas have caused anaemia. And it's important to keep them warm. 24 hour veterinaries exist in many cities. They frequently offer payment plans too.
They do need to see a vet soon though, even if they look healthy, so they can be checked and dewormed. Once they have been given the all clear, for good beginner-friendly long term care advice Dr. Uri Burstyn "Helpful Vancouver Vet is great. Also Jackson Galaxy for understanding cat behaviour is a fun watch for your family members who have fallen in love.
Please also consider getting them all desexed. There are programs globally working with vets to help get stray populations sterilised, which is recognised as the most humane approach to limiting cat populations. Cats also typically have longer lives when they're desexed, and are less prone to territorial behavioural issues like pissing all over your things.
As much as your relatives might like the kittens, they do need vet care. Fleas can kill kittens quite easily and you might lose all of them, bathing them can also kill them.
Either you take them yourself or try to find a rescue who can. They can safely treat the family and check that they're OK outside of this issue.
Awesome, glad they'll have loving homes! Enjoy having kittens around the house!
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/BcDqHFAf0aU
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.