Kitten Trouble...

[SashaBreeze]

I really don't know much about cats, we always had dogs growing up.

We have a wonderful cat, Ms. Ellie Cat. We got her as a tiny kitten and kept her in the house the first 6 months of her life. Dh kept getting sick and then we found out he has an allergy to cats. Poor Ms. Ellie Cat had to go outside, but the kids still and continue to play with her tons outside and she seems very happy with her cat house outside. That being said she had kittens. They have gotten big enough to get on the porch and they are pooping all over it! How do I get them to stop? Ms. Ellie never did this so I am at a loss.

[kittymoose]

I'm not sure how to keep the kittens from pooing on the porch, but.

Please make it a plan to get your cat fixed. Especially if she's an outside cat. Pet overpopulation is a huge problem in the US. What are you going to do with all the kittens? She'll just keep having litter after litter.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get up on m soapbox there.

Anyways, you could try litterbox training the kittens?

[Rach]

I would set a litter box outside where they can easily get to it and try litter training them.
Are you going to rehome them?

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by kittymoose

Please make it a plan to get your cat fixed. Especially if she's an outside cat. Pet overpopulation is a huge problem in the US. What are you going to do with all the kittens? She'll just keep having litter after litter.

Definitely spay her, asap. She'll go into season again and produce another litter. They have low cost spay programs too...it's like $35 where I'm at. Also, get the kittens spayed/neutered and find them homes if you can. It's tough right now, with the economy so bad a lot of shelters are automatically euthanizing cats/kittens as they're full.

[SashaBreeze]

Thank you all for the help....ummmm what I am about to ask truly comes from a place of ignorance so please don't just think me neglectful.

How soon after her kittens are born can we get Ms. Ellie fixed? I thought you had to wait a while? We already had plans to do this, I just thought you had to wait???? Also how old do her kittens need to be before we take them to the vet for the same thing?
We had planned on keeping the kittens. A friend said that for some reason you are not supposed to keep all of the kittens??? I would love to keep them all if there is no good reason not to.
You can litter train cats outside? I thought they just used the yard, that is what our mommy cat does. When Ms. Ellie was a kitten we didn't so much train her as just set out a litter box and she just used it. Is that not the norm?
Thank you all again, as you can tell I have ZERO experience with pets so your help is much appreciated.

[Rach]

I would think you could do spay her fairly soon after they're born. I googled it and it says as soon as the kittens are weaned. Call the vet to be sure. You can spay/neuter the kittens at 2 pounds/2 months.

As for litter training, we just gave them a litter box and most caught on fairly quickly. There were two that would use both the box and their bed. Eventually they caught on though, it just took a little longer than for the others.

How old are they?

[Ann-Marita]

Put a litter box where they are pooping. Once they are using it, start gradually moving it to where you would prefer they poop. Depending on how young they are, a standard cat box might not work at first. If they can't get in it, they won't use the cat box.

You can get a mama cat neutered as soon as her kittens are on solid food. Mama won't want to nurse during the healing process, so wait until the babies can eat cat food, but don't wait any longer. Mama cats can go back into heat very soon after having kittens. Please act quickly to prevent this from happening again.

I've never heard of any reason NOT to keep all the kittens in a litter. I've done so more than once. Just be sure to get them ALL neutered.

[Breathless Wonder]

Another person popping in to beg you to get mama cat fixed.

Just to put a number to the problem, in my area 14% of the cats that came through the various shelters and animal rescues in my area were saved. That means 86% were euthanized. And at our last adopt-a-thon, not a single kitten or cat was adopted.

If you have any questions about when mama cat (AND her kittens) can be fixed, consult with a local vet.