"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
> On 5/20/2013 8:52 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>> We are still raising a foster kitten. She's about 5 weeks old now and
>> doing fabulously well. She'll go to the shelter for shots and a forever
>> home next Wednesday.
>>
>> This morning our Toy Poodle found three tiny kittens under our
>> motorhome. Their eyes were closed. Two were huddled together and the
>> third was off to the side.
>>
>> We waited several hours to see if the mom would come back, but she did
>> not. One of them managed to move out from under the motorhome and was
>> exposed. I had to put it in a box and take it into the garage as we
>> have a lot of large raptor birds around here. Could not bring it in the
>> house and possibly expose the kitten and my dog to any diseases they
>> might have had.
>>
>> Waited again, but still no mom, so DH moved the motorhome and scooped up
>> the other two and took the three of them to the shelter before the fire
>> ants found them.
>>
>> There was no way I could handle 3 babies of less than a week old. The
>> shelter confirmed that they were about 4 days old and put them down. (Of
>> course I feel horrible, but I can't handle 3 newborns who would need
>> more care than I am capable of giving)
>>
>> My question is why do mother cats abandon their babies? I tried looking
>> on the Internet but could not find a reasonable answer. There are a
>> number of cat experts here, so I thought I'd ask.
>
>
> My guess is that the mother most often gets killed by a car - around here
> anyway. My daughter just brought home another baby kitten. That thing was
> just skin and bones. That makes three so far.
>
> My wife has recommended that she gets rid of the cats because she's
> pregnant. I don't know the details but my understanding is that cats are
> dangerous during a pregnancy. I thought that she understood this and was
> surprised that she brought the cat home with her last night.

Ancient medical BS. Toxoplasmosis has a 1 in 2 million chance of infecting
a human. She should avoid cleaning the litter boxes and was her hands
thoroughly when she does.