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Supreme Being
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I have been following this thread but never knew what to say until now. I'm glad their was a happy ending for three other kittens but I do agree that the kittens should be spayed, all the kitten will live happier, healthier lives if you get them fixed.
  
"The really great thing about cats is their endless variety. One can pick a cat to fit any kind of decor, color scheme, income, personality, mood. But under the fur, whatever color it may be, there still lies, essentially unchanged, one of the world's free souls." Eric Gurnery
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Forum Guru
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I know how guilty you feel about Blackie, but please don't let your guilt override your responsibility as a parent to teach your daughter about the necessity of spaying and neutering her kittens before they reach sexual maturity. Intact females are at substantially higher risk of developing mammary cancer later in life than are spayed females (who rarely develop mammary cancer at all), and every heat cycle they experience before spaying increases the odds of developing mammary cancer later. Intact males carry similar risk of testicular cancer.
Also, if your littermates breed together, chances are high that the inbred kittens will be born with devastating birth defects. Imagine the effect that will have on your daughter.
Two intact, mature toms in the house will almost certainly fight and injure each other, potentially very seriously, and they will also almost certainly start spraying around your home to establish territory. If they are neutered BEFORE reaching sexual maturity (before 6 mos), these aggressive and marking behaviors probably won't develop. If they are allowed to sexually mature, not only will these difficult behaviors develop, but they will likely persist even if you decide to neuter the boys later. Believe me, I know. I live with a houseful of late-neutered, "testosterone memory" boys who I need to watch like a hawk to control the fighting and spraying. This is NOT something you'll want to be dealing with for the next 20 yrs.
Laurie
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http://lfrazer.com
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Junior Member
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dont worry guys, I just had to told that to the shelter guy so my daughter would be relieved, as time goes by well get them spayed and neutered. By the way kitty (by my daughters judgement) was "Handsomer" enough to get his pic taken.
So guys meet kitty :
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Senior Member
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Oh, what a beautiful boy!! I'm glad things worked out okay, and I think it's wonderful that you have given three kitties a good home. I can't wait to see pictures of the other two!
p.s. add me to the pro-spay/neuter list. I'm glad you'll be having them spayed and neutered, it's important!!
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Supreme Being
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What a cutie!  I would agree that he is handsomer enough to get his picture taken, do you have picture of the other two kittens?
"The really great thing about cats is their endless variety. One can pick a cat to fit any kind of decor, color scheme, income, personality, mood. But under the fur, whatever color it may be, there still lies, essentially unchanged, one of the world's free souls." Eric Gurnery
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Supreme Being
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Supreme Being
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Aw! He's so cute! You guys are very lucky! Can't wait to see the other two!
Got Facebook? Join my group, FeLV Advocate, and support pro-life beliefs for feline leukemia cats!
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Member
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John
I am so sorry for your loss and understand the pain that you are going thru and also happy that you adopted 2 more kitties. I do agree with everyone else, please fix the kitties, there are too many kittens that need homes already. Try to keep them indoors or fenced in, so that they dont encounter hazards outdoors. See my website for a cat proof fence.
I can feel your guilt because we had a similar experience a year ago that still haunts us. We had a hide away bed and a pile of blankets on it. My husband slept downstairs because he did not want to get my cold. Morning was hectic, we shooed away our cat Freia as we tried to fold the couch. We all went to work and school and by 4 PM my husband wondered where Oskar was. He and my 7 yo daughter started looking everywhere indoors and even outdoors, even though he was an indoor cat. Then with no places left to look, they opened up the couch and there was Oskar, folded in the blankets and dead. They called me at work in absolute horror and grief. I was at first more angry than grief stricken, as in how could we all be so careless. We buried Oskar in the winter, chopping out frozen ground with an axe. I will not go into the details, but suffice it to say that night, we drank an entire bottle of whiskey and did not sleep. To this day, not a day goes by that we dont remember what happened to Oskar. A week later, we adopted two rescued semi feral kitties, Buddy and Vinny and 9 months later, Cubby. Freia took Oskar's loss very hard. She was depressed for months and still has not warmed up to the new cats. We really dont know what happened to Oskar. We hope that he passed away before we folded the couch, because it seems unlikely that he would stay in the blankets, not wiggle or make a noise as the couch was folded. We noticed he was hiding more and losing weight and were going to make the appt to see the vet right after the holidays. This happened 12/17/2008, so you can imagine how our Christmas holidays went.
We talked to our daughter about Oskar, what happened and had her do a grief workbook. Check out rainbowbridge.com and petloss.com for materials. We also put Oskar on these 2 websites as a virtual memorial and on Mondays, they have a virtual candelight ceremony. You may want to consider doing that as a family to put closure to this. If you did bury the kitten in the yard, have your daughter pick out special flowers for the grave and by summer they will be blooming and a gentle reminder of the little kitten
All the best
Freia
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Freia born 2001, gray and white
Buddy, born 2004, orange tabby
Cubby, born 2008, brown tabby/tortie
Vinny, born 2008, buff tabby Oskar, brown tabby, 1995-2008, Pumpkin, calico, 1987-2009, Oddleif, gray and white, 1994-2002, Twix, solid gray longhair, 1992-2003
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Supreme Being
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If your daughter had been a year or two older I would've said "tell her the truth, in the broad strokes" Basically tell her that there had been an accident involving her kitty and that he died.
You may want to level with her about getting the kittens altered. Spaying a female cat before maturation is a 90% effective preventative measure against mammarian cancer, and 100% effective against cancer of the ovaries, uterus, et al (can't get cancer if its not there).
Ginger kitties for the win! He's adorable! My ginger kitty is sitting on my feet as I type this. Tell your daughter you take pictures of her growing up it makes sense to take pictures to document the kittens growing up too.
My cats own my house they just permit me to live there. Only cat lovers know the luxury of fur-coated, musical hot water bottles that never go cold."
- Susanne Millen 
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I'm confused...it sounds like John was using an outdoor grille because he said it had a lid and he had to fire it up. How did a kitten that was inside the home sneak into an outdoor grille with a lid on it?
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress
can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
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