Look at how comfortable Samantha is!
It’s actually been more than two years since I tricked Samantha into coming inside our house, then got her upstairs to the bedroom so that she could give birth safely there.
That historic day: https://animalcare.my/2023/01/27/ladies-and-gentlemen-we-present-samantha-gerald-helped/
For new readers: Samantha was a 100% street cat and she was spotted on our road. I didn’t know she was pregnant and when it was visible, I tried to lure her into the house, but failed miserably. I only managed to feed her daily. So Samantha gave birth somewhere and came back-and-forth for food for two weeks. I presume she was feeding her kittens somewhere, but after two weeks, she just stopped going back-and-forth.
Then came Gerald and Creamy, hounding her. The day I saw her being hounded upon by Gerald and Creamy, I caught both the boys and sent them for castration immediately. But Samantha was beyond reach.
I also actually saw Gerald mating with her. At that time, I thought mating means instant conception so I had to wait until she delivered before I could get her neutered, that is, IF I could catch her. But later I found out that conception may not happen immediately. Mating induces ovulation and conception may happen later.
See this:
No, conception in a cat does not happen immediately after mating; because cats are “induced ovulators,” the female cat releases her eggs only when she is stimulated by mating, meaning conception occurs shortly after the mating act, but not instantly.
It is the same for dogs too:
No, conception in a dog does not happen immediately after mating; while the act of mating can be quick, fertilization of the egg by sperm can occur several days later because sperm can survive in the female reproductive tract for up to a week, meaning conception can happen within a week after mating, but not necessarily right away.
If I’d known conception doesn’t happen immediately, I would have tried to catch Samantha immediately that day, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it.
So anyway, I did catch Samantha before she was due to deliver and confined her upstairs in the bedroom so that she could deliver safely and that’s how we have the Blondies now.
Now, while she was nursing the Blondies (or not, since I had to take over handfeeding Indra, the youngest whom she rejected), but during this period, Samantha suddenly had “spots” popping all over her face. I got a fright and thought it was sporotrichosis or cryptococcosis. So I took her to the vet (and during this time, I could carry her) and the vet said to play it safe, she should start on the antifungal for the possibility of sporo or crypto and I would have to handfeed the kittens. Luckily I was already handfeeding the kittens anyway.
Now, Samantha was not a “responsible” mother-cat. I know, that’s rare but it happens. She wasn’t really keen on nursing her babies, and she rejected Indra. But now, she is very affectionate towards all of them. So yes, a late bloomer?
During that suspected sporo/crypto period, I had to apply an anti-fungal cream on the spots and also feed her the medicine, but guess what, I could do it all.
But now? Oh boy….I cannot even touch her!
As it turned out later, it wasn’t sporo/crypto, it was just a normal not-so-serious fungal infection and Triderm cream was all that was needed.
The same goes for Minnie. Minnie was a pregnant cat who came on her own with thin little Smurfy, probably seeking refuge. I took her to the vet immediately, with Smurfy. Minnie was in early pregnancy and jaundiced. Smurfy was scrawny. So I had to feed medicine to Minnie for her jaundice. She totally allowed me to.
But now? It’s the same – touch-me-not! I guess that’s the trademark of certain “stray-stray females”.
Both Samantha and Minnie were neutered right after they stopped breastfeeding.
My dear friend took EIGHT YEARS to finally catch a female cat she was feeding and send her to be neutered. That’s eight years, folks.
Daffodil, if you remember her? Her feeder could not catch her for 10 years until I moved into this neighbourhood. I caught her along with her feeder and sent her for neutering. Daffodil was Ginger’s mother. She lived until the ripe old age of 17 and passed away peacefully under my sofa one morning.
So when people tell me they fail to catch some of their “stray-stray cats” for neutering, I do not blame them. I certainly will not judge them or start making assumptions as to why they failed to catch their cats. If you don’t have the facts, please do not assume or speculate, right? Always give others the benefit of the doubt. Everyone is fighting a hard battle.
But I’ve documented all the challenging rescues I’ve done in the past, along with some of my friends’, please do take a look if you are interested; https://animalcare.my/rescue/
For me, it’s always a carrier, a raffia string, some tasty food and lots of luck!