kiwiincambodia wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:30 pm

timmydownawell wrote:I don't think ARC or PPAWS have the resources to be taking abandoned kittens. They would just get overrun with them.

It’s worth trying, at a minimum they will be able to get the word out to their network about the kittens needing a home.

Well it would be best to keep them, take cutesy pics and ask PPAWS/ARC to share them on Facebook. Bearing in mind that most expats aren't going to be able to give them a forever home.

I took in a kitten, had her spayed, shots, successfully adopted her out via FB, only to find out a few weeks later that the kitten had freaked out and wouldn't come out from under the sofa, and then I was told "I think the cleaner must have let her out" - never to be seen again. Last year I rescued a cat from Wat Koh that was starving and emaciated, fed her up, spayed her and had her treated for abscesses. I was going to take her back to the pagoda but she was deaf - at least I thought. The vet cured her ear mite infestation and unblocked her ears but it was weeks before she could hear again. Satisfied she would be OK I tentatively took her back and kept an eye out for her. She's an old cat who probably lived there for more than 10 years, but I go and feed her every few days just to help her out. I can't stay in Cambodia anyway thanks to the EOS changes so at the very least I've given her more time.

The locals (mostly) see cats as pests no different to rats. As sad as it is the mortality rate of kittens is probably the only thing keeping numbers in check because even when I have printed the Khmer notice from PPAWS offering free desexing and given it to my neighbours - who actually feed the cats - they didn't do anything. I don't think there is any point in saving a cat's life here unless you desex it otherwise you are only contributing to the problem.

Street cats live only a couple years everywhere in the world. Unfortunately they live long enough to reproduce, which means the cycle continues forever, and the only way to stop is if people start neutering them, so the best thing you can do is have the kittens neutered and then figure out what to do with them. Try to see if anyone on the Cambodia Parents network Yahoo groups would take a couple. Also check at what age they can be separated from the mother.

They eat solid food. Separating from the mother has happened already as I picked them up in the alley. On Tuesday I will try and see if de-sexing is an option but I think they are way too little 5-6 weeks max. For now I can just teach them to use the litter box and get number 4 more socialized to humans. Plus a daily bath which is somewhat of a shown-down.

Thanks for all the pointers. I did some contacting on fb but not much will happen till next week after the holidays.

Initially, I tried to ignore the kitten given my own upcoming trips and rental situation. All very valid excuses but then it became apparent that it would be me or dead kittens in the alley. Some local buddists behaved in a way that secured their reincarnation as a cockroach. So please dont step on any. Let those guys serve their assigned time in full.

Hahaha I like your humor.
But why are you bathing cats, especially every day ? Cats don't need to be bathed ever, they lick themselves clean, the only exception would be if something spills on them or similar.
in fact they don't like water and if you put soap on them you could disrupt their natural cleaning as they may start to hate their own fur. The soap will also leave a smell that they can sense and you could end up disrupting their innate ability to clean themselves.
Also are you sure the food you give them is appropriate for kittens?

I need to bath them as they came in street color. Plus they have fleas and those I dont want them to share with me. Warm water is actually not bad. No soap etc. They get used to warm water and like the rub afterwards. Cold water would cause serious pain to them.
Food is a problem here. I got some fresh water fish, the small ones without head. Over the two days they decimated my chicken reserves leaving me with pasta and pesto. This means they still need to discover that spaghetti is good. I m trying, without success, milk with rice. That's a filipino specialty for cats. Markets still closed so no eggs. Once I get eggs I smuggle some rice into the fried egg. This morning i was up at 6.30 to get some food as all chicken was gone. Neighbors had a good laugh.

Another successful recipe was leaving the oil in the pan when I fried some halibut or marlin (no such thing in the markets here) and then make a pancake. My cat got crazy over the pancakes. I dont leave behind the fat from pho bo at vietnamese noodle shop - also goes down well with them. An Indian friend has to share his masalas with his cat. And that guy eats spicy....

Any suggestions for PP cat cuisine are highly welcome. Fish was 12k per kilo while chicken is only 10K, but market was closed. Pork will be too expensive as locals might eat the fat that otherwise would be left untouched. At least in the phils pork fat caught higher prices than meat.

In the Phils I raised more than 50 kittens with my first find presiding over operations as the master mother. All got good homes as far as I can tell. One is now a super cat with its own Louis Vuitton custom tailored wardrobe, no joking. Some jewelry as well, no cheap stuff, did I mention the life insurance? Problem in PP is the lack of easily available sand for the box and of course single unit house owners. In the Phils I had support from a Hafiz (Muslim scholar) who confirmed for me in the market in front of the Muslim ladies that cats are clean and, most importantly, had saved the prophet from a snake. That raised their prestige saved easily 2 dozen kittens. No Muslims here. On the other hand, I m trying to explain to the Chinese guys here (all local citizens) that they need a cat to keep rodents away in order to prevent elephantiasis (kits get those huge legs) from mice urine.

Another successful recipe was leaving the oil in the pan when I fried some halibut or marlin (no such thing in the markets here) and then make a pancake. My cat got crazy over the pancakes. I dont leave behind the fat from pho bo - also goes down well with them.

The three tigers had to learn that fish is good, took them 20 seconds, while no.4 was well familiar. so he is from another litter. Next stop is to teach them that my tows, washed or unwashed, are no food or toy.

All in all healthy little buggers. The girl is a dream, behaving perfectly well. Seems I managed three full weeks PP without taking in kittens. Not bad at all.

Canned cat food ($1.50 can, ouch) mashed into 2 to 3 parts rice to spin it out, mush it up with a little water.

Where do you buy it? I m new to town (as a resident). Pencil was so far the best supermarket. I m now re-considering a trip to the wholesale market for cheaper chicken etc. After locating some honest sellers at O'Russei I had postponed the trip as it made little sense for a single person. not enough purchases to justify the effort. Now that might have changed.

Pizzalover wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2018 2:03 pm Where do you buy it? I m new to town (as a resident). Pencil was so far the best supermarket. I m now re-considering a trip to the wholesale market for cheaper chicken etc. After locating some honest sellers at O'Russei I had postponed the trip as it made little sense for a single person. not enough purchases to justify the effort. Now that might have changed.

Pencil might have it (I've never been there), but Lucky, Thai Huot, Bayon all do. Price varies though, who'd have thought food for animals could cost so much more than actual food.

Pizzalover wrote: ↑Sat Feb 17, 2018 1:41 pm I need to bath them as they came in street color. Plus they have fleas and those I dont want them to share with me. Warm water is actually not bad. No soap etc. They get used to warm water and like the rub afterwards.
Any suggestions for PP cat cuisine are highly welcome. Fish was 12k per kilo while chicken is only 10K, but market was closed. Pork will be too expensive as locals might eat the fat that otherwise would be left untouched. At least in the phils pork fat caught higher prices than meat.

I love cats too and I really respect you for taking in the stray kittens, but I think you're relying on traditional methods for feeding them which are not necessarily good for them.
For instance cow's milk is really bad for kittens, and pasta? That's just not cat food. Cats need a whole different set of nutrients than humans.
They don't need the nutrients that pasta has, that's like eating hay for a human. So no wonder they don't like the milk with pasta.
You can really read up on this stuff on the internet in a few minutes.
For supermarket Lucky and Thai Hout and Aeon mall are the only good ones.
There are two dead supermarkets on st. 214 those are Pencil and Paragon mall.
These latter two are pretty worthless, but I check them out once in a while because they do discount stuff sometimes.
For stuff like fish, chicken or entrails - which could be good kitten food. The local markets are the way to go.
As for bathing them in water, just using water will probably not remove the fleas. You can also google this stuff in a second.