Poop Scooping – The Latest News On Scrappy And Her Kittens

In an earlier blog I talked about Scrappy and her kittens and how I had to take them in to look after them. Here is the latest news on Scrappy and her babies.

Poop Scooping – The Latest News on Scrappy And Her Kittens

A Quick Background

For those who haven’t read the earlier blog, Scrappy is Stevie Mouse‘s Aunty.

Early May, Scrappy had a litter of five kittens in one of the cat houses under our outside stairs. All was well until the kittens were about four weeks old. Scrappy had trouble with her eye. Cutting a very long story short it was a grass seed that had to be removed by the vet. Thankfully (seriously!) we nearly had an accident on the way to the vet which made Scrappy pee in her carry box in fright. The blood told us there was another problem and it turned out to be crystals in her urine that required surgery. I thank the driver of the other car, without that near miss we might not have known she had a problem until it was too late!

That was the 8th of June. It was agreed that we needed to get the kittens to an age where they could manage without their Mum while she had the surgery so they came into a room in the house. Which is where poop scooping comes in of course. Four litter boxes, one cat and five kittens – what could go wrong?

Getting Scrappy Ready For Surgery

My job was to help wean Scrappy’s kittens so that they could cope without her milk. The aim was to get them to six weeks old but a lot depended on Scrappy. If she became completely blocked with the crystals it would be an emergency and the surgery would take place immediately.

As it happened Scrappy was brilliant. She seemed to understand she had to stay in the room with the kittens though she talked to me a lot about it. She needed a lot of reassurance.

I was able to manage her urine production though I have to say it was difficult as she would just sit and pee where she was as she had no control. Sometimes there were drops of fresh blood, sometimes the urine was dark. The cover on the sofa was washed daily. She has a radiator hammock that she started to use (I think it was the action of jumping into it that caused the urge to pee). I put an incontinence pad in there and we managed fine. So I had her under control, what about poop scooping?

Poop Scooping

Four litter boxes and one was tiny, a kitten litter box. Yep, you guessed it, that is the one that Scrappy chose to use and boy she missed the edge every time. That was soon swapped for a big one. The kittens took about three days to toilet train. To start with the morning cleaning, in particular, took ages. Little piles of poop everywhere. On the sofa, all over the floor, not to mention little puddles.

I noted where the favourite spots seemed to be and put the litter boxes there, leaving a little bit of poop in each to give a hint.  Having got Treacle to use a litter box properly (as you can see), over the next few days Rolly, Sandy, Ella and Rabi also figured it out. The kittens turned out to be three boys and two girls.

While it is a lot easier to clean the litter boxes than the floor, the effort involved in poop scooping four times per day should not be underestimated. My arthritic knees have really enjoyed all the bending down (not). At the end of each day we have one huge bag of used litter to dispose of. We use a litter that breaks down easily and have a place on our land where we put it. I don’t know what we would do with it all if we had to find another way to dispose of it!

I have become something of a poop scooping expert. Mind you, Treacle also helps me each time and it takes twice as long as just as I have the stuff on the scoop ready to put in the bag he throws himself at the scoop and the stuff goes back in the box. This is a great lesson in patience!

Scrappy’s Operation

Scrappy went in for her operation on Tuesday, 19 June. We managed to get the kittens to six weeks and fully weaned (and clean!).

As well as having the crystals removed we had her spayed and she stayed at the vets for three days to recover. She could have come home sooner but we all felt that with those kittens she needed to feel pretty good before they started jumping all over her!

Here I am briefing the kittens on the day she went into surgery. I sound a bit husky as I have bronchitis!

We had one little accident where a kitten peed on the sofa cover (see this video). And then someone obviously trod in their poop and walked it all over the sofa cover (not quite footprints in the sand if you understand me). But otherwise the kittens adapted well and ate well.

Brave Kittens

There was a thunderstorm yesterday and I went in to sit with the kittens in case they were scared. As you can see from the video, they didn’t mind that at all, they were too busy running around!

Scrappy Comes Home

Today has been wonderful as Scrappy came home at lunchtime. They were pleased to see me at the vet clinic as apparently she has not behaved very well, trying to bite and scratch. As soon as she saw me she was all sweetness and light, they said it was a different cat.

Now we wait ten days until she can have her clips removed from the surgery. She also has to have another blood test as she is still showing signs of infection which they have treated with another kitten-safe, long-acting antibiotic. While visiting the vet the kittens will start their vaccinations as they will be just over eight weeks old.

There is a bit of bad news and that is that her blood tests show she has Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). This is not a death sentence, it involves managing any illness as it arises. As she lives outside it is not a threat to Stevie Mouse or Emmy. Malteser and Lucy spend a lot of time with the outside cats. We had them tested recently just in case (as FIV is quite prevalent in our area) and they were negative.

In fact is not as easy to catch as people might think. It is mainly transmitted through deep bite wounds. It can be passed on mother to kitten but that is quite rare so hopefully our little troop will be fine. We had another outside cat that had FIV and lived to 13 years old. As Scrappy is only three she has a way to go yet. We just have to keep everything crossed!

Here is the video of the kittens saying hello to their Mum when she came home.

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Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

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Thank you for reading!