Help!! - We need to move newborn kittens

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L_Gille

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My 21 year old daughter took in a young stray cat a few months ago who had 5 kittens on her bed next to her at 5am on Saturday (April 24). (she is getting the mama spayed soon)
The problem is they are spraying for bedbugs in my daughter's apartment complex on May 2. The spray is very toxic, she needs to get those kitties out of there. And, I assume they need to stay out for a couple days. They are welcome at my house...but will moving them to a new house do huge damage??? The kittens will only be 8 days old at that point!! We need help on how to do this!!! We don't want the mama cat upset, and we don't want her to abandon her babies.
Help!!
Lauren
 
As long as mama feels comfortable and safe, and has been a good mom to the kittens thus far- moving them should pose no serious problems. If you have a dog crate, take it and some of the current bedding she is using and set her up in there with the babies when they first arrive; some mommas will want to "hide" kittens once the nest is disturbed, so keeping her confined with them will prevent that from happening.
 
Shall we put the crate near her for the next few days so she and her babies are used to it by the time we move them?
 
I would just go ahead and move her and the kittens into the crate now- that way it will become "home" and stay that way during (and after) the move.
 
Use a large dog crate and move them as a group. Place some familiar bedding in the crate for the move and confine them once they have arrived in the new location.

As a foster mom, we sometimes have to move kitten groups and the real trick is to confine them within their new location. I often close the kitten room door and leave them alone together for several days. I don't go in the room other than to feed, water, and clean the litter box. This gives Momma a chance to realize she is not going to be disturbed and is safe.
 
DO NOT take bedding from the BB infested house to the new place! Wash in HOT water first and dry on HOTTEST setting or you risk carrying BB's to your home. BB's can live in just about anything so be sure to inspect anything coming from the infested house before it even goes to the car. Otherwise you could infest the car as well as the other home. Inspect in bright light, look up pics of the eggs and newborns so you'll know what you are looking for.

I had BB's for 18 months.... it was a LOT of work to get rid of them and a year later I'm still not convinced they are really gone. It takes a lot more than just having someone come in to spray, and even the spraying must be repeated in 7-10 days to get any hatchlings because the spray ONLY works on hatched bugs, not eggs. Heat (over 125 degrees) is the ONLY guaranteed way to kill them in all life stages.

I'm so sorry your daughter is going through this. It sucks. Hard.
 
I'd add that, if you're using a wire crate, be sure to install some sort of a "bumper pad" around the inside base of the crate. Although the kittens are young, if they squirm around they can get themselves through the cage wires and outside the crate with no way for Momma to get to them. That's a problem you definitely want to avoid.

You might also want to make a "bed" out of a short storage tote or box and put that in the crate for Momma and kittens to use as a "nest" . . . the Mother cat can come and go but it helps keep the little ones contained until they're big enough to scale the sides.
 
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