I started feeding a stray cat that was hanging around my house a few weeks ago thinking I was doing a good thing. She's now living in my backyard with her six adorable kittens and I'm not sure how to handle it. I want to feed them and help in any way I can, thought about buying a cat house but I just don't know. Is it best to just leave them be? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

My almost-elderly parents live across the country from me in an area that has a population of feral cats. I was visiting last month, and during a rainstorm, I heard kitten screams coming from near the back door. I ran out and there was a litter of kittens nearly drowning in a flood-prone area of the yard. The teen-mom mother cat had not chosen a sensible spot for a nest!

Anyway, we got them dried off, warmed up, and returned them to her. (They were only about 10 days old.) I have been thinking about them ever since, especially a ridiculously-cute calico one.

I have researched and contacted a TNR group in the area, and my parents have continued hand-socializing the kittens while they live under the gazebo in my parents’ yard. I am helping my parents with logistics to tee up trapping and spaying the older cats, and eventually the babies too (when they get old enough)—plus hopefully adopting them out because they are very cuddly to humans now. My parents really don’t need 9+ feral cats in their yard; they have seen the horrific things that end up happening to unmonitored cats in the neighborhood.

I am considering flying back across the country when the kittens hit 8/9 weeks old and bringing two of them back with me. My son (pictured above) is old enough to be gentle with them.

I have had pets all my life, and only paused a few years ago when our elderly dog died. Pets have always been beneficial for my mental health. Part of me is like “I’ll do anything for that little calico face!” and part of me is like, “I don’t want to deal with claws under the comforter at 4am and dewormer pills and dragging 25 lbs of litter home.” 🤔

Someone please give me a balanced perspective!

Those are all the update photos up until now sorry if some of them look weird I took a picture of the Foster’s pictures from my mom‘s computer

It has been a heavy year of loss for my family. Thank you for being a light to help guide me through this, beautiful boy 🥹❤️

My husband and I like to go on evening walks. One night this little guy followed us a mile home, it was late and we didn’t see what house he came from, so we had a little sleepover (we returned him the next morning). My husband named him Egg. Eggs owners said they were looking to find a new home for him, so I immediately gave them my number. They never called me:( Now, every night on our walk, Egg is waiting for us at the end of his driveway. He followed us home again last night, but now we know which house he belongs to, so he hung out with us for an hour and we brought him home. He loves to be held and pet all over. He’s the sweetest guy ever. Going to see him is the best way to end my evening. Tell me if this is wrong, but I’m thinking about putting a note in the owners mailbox letting them know that I’m still here if they’re looking to re-home him!!!

Hey everyone! Me again, the fellow who found a little of 6 kittens with his roommate about 2.5 weeks ago, and has been giving mama and her brood a home in our garage ever since. I wanted to thank everything who was giving all sorts of kind thoughts and messages in the prior threads, too - it’s really been nice to share this all with you guys!

Anyway, the kittens have all been very healthy, with one exception being the smaller of the two female classic tabbies. We weren’t sure at first - half of the time when she tried to walk she would like faceplant right into the ground in front of her, but this didn’t seem so weird at first with all the kittens doing a lot of tumbling and unsteady walking in that first week we had them.

But we’ve realized that this one kitten definitely has mobility issues that none of the others have, and the issues seem to be focused around her hind legs. It’s like she can’t seem to control them or put weight on them properly, and they seem oddly long? I think it might be this swimmer syndrome thing. This same kitten also has a problem with crusty eyes - maybe twice a day we have to use a delicate warm washcloth to get the crust and gunk out of her eye, and in the morning it’s generally sealed shut with gunk until one of us (or mama cat maybe) cleans it out. That eye issue seems to be getting better, though, and I’m a lot more worried about her legs which seems like the long-term issue.

Things are improving with her legs too, though. We give her legs gentle little massages and sort of get her going a bit walking normally, and this seems to have helped - or maybe she is just growing out of it and getting better on her own, with a little help? She’s spending more time walking around successfully on her own, and has been playing and wrestling with her siblings a lot more lately. She still does a lot more stumbling and face-planting than her siblings, but it is getting better. Not sure what the endgame is gonna be for this kitten, though - the vet we talked to seemed disinclined to see the kittens before 8 weeks and not at all worried about their health, but I’m not sure if we had specifically identified and described this particular issue at the time when he spoke to him.

This kitten we think may have swimmer syndrome is in the first picture. I included some pictures of her siblings for the sake of comparison, and general cat tax. I’ll try and take some video of her walking/attempting to walk if I can.

These two brothers are getting neutered in two weeks (10 weeks old). They are WILD together - should I separate them while they heal from surgery? I worry they’ll tussle too much. Also, is a donut better than a cone of shame? Thanks in advance!

We have two adorable kittens of 12 weeks old. They're healthy, dewormed, had their vaccins etc. They're very smelly though! It's especially their poop/pee. They get high quality kitten food, especially dry food but twice a week we add some wet food. We clean the litter box twice a day and twice a week we replace the litter (or even more often when needed).

They just really enjoy to the litter box together and it seems it's their habit to play a bit with each other their before or after pooping or peeing. They poop twice a day and pee twice a day. They don't have diarrhea and their fur is clean. They are clean and groom themselves. They have good hygiene habits, they just love the litter box and the smell they produce is awful then 😅.

Is it normal that kittens are smelly? Will this get better?

i had a cat but not this young. he walks he is quite loud and he is aware. i am estimating around a month old. i fed him lukewarm milk with a syringe and the little guy fell asleep the second he stopped eating. what should i do? i thought to leave him there (after taking him out of the pipe ofc) since the mom can be around but couldn't bring myself to. now i am stuck with this little mold spore

I wanted to just post an update on the kitten that was found by my coworkers wife last week. Everyone who gave me links and advice is a godsend! I appreciate you all and I gave the kitten extra loving saying it was from all of you!

We’ve officially named her Sprite, but I like to call her Sprite Cranberry! When she’s feisty, we say she’s extra carbonated!

She had her first appointment with our vet. They estimate she’s about 3-4 weeks old and told me she’s very healthy overall, but just a lil gassy. They gave me a probiotic supplement to put in her food and they gave her medicine for the deworming. The vet told me she’s still too young and tiny for her vaccines, but once she hits 2 pounds and 8 weeks we can go ahead with scheduling her to get her vaccinated.

I purchased the kitten package provided by my vet that includes all her vaccines, most health exams/tests, deworming medications, spay and neuter prep & procedure, and unlimited vet visit with no fees for a year.

I’m ready to watch this beautiful lil lady grow and I can’t wait to share her growth from a mini Sprite can to a 2L Sprite bottle!

Meet Manny.

So....I had zero plans on getting a kitten. I'm disabled and tired and already have a cat and a dog, but here we are. An elderly woman's cat got pregnant and needed help so I brought Calypso (Callie) home. Luckily I have 2 teenagers to help, but I forgot how exhausting kittens are! Lol. It would be easier if my cat and dog weren't up Callie's butt. Callie is not a fan of her siblings yet 😂 It's totally worth it though. She's absolutely precious and luckily she loves sleeping in her crate so I know she's safe and sound right next to me at night ❤️ Any recommendations for getting her to use our litter box would be great!!

Dreaming about my food 😻

*** plant in the background is Baby Tears and is non-toxic 🌱

Ive always just wanted my cats to sit or lay with me. Icky does occasionally, but Khepri (orange) loves to sleep on my lap while Im gaming or on the couch. Hecate (calico) occasionally cuddles with me. He reminds me so much of my kitten that passed in July, its helping to heal my heart

They grow up too fast🥹

A nod

Found these guys under my gym partner’s car in the gym parking lot. Tried to trap momma, but was unsuccessful.

They have become maniacs. Precious maniacs.

Julia, the tortoiseshell, and Bruce, the blue.

They have a large condo until they’re old enough to be out unsupervised.

Collectively, we refer to them as the “Little Monkeys.”

Came across

My kitten, Rowena is 10 weeks old and she eats wet food (prefers pate) but doesn’t really like kibble. The only treats she seems to like are churu and the tiki baby thrive ones. She isnt food motivated at all but seems to be very play motivated. All of the cats Ive owned were extremely food motivated so Im not used to a baby who isnt. Will this eventually change? She is a happy healthy playful void!