Bringing groceries in the house, turned around and there she was......

Yup...the word is out among the cats. You're a softie.......

 

Same thing happens on the human level as well. If you don't believe me, just look around and do some "people watching"............

 

Brian: Just a thought if you catch mom.
Our local shelter has spay coupons that you can get. When Onyx came to me there was mom and 3 kittens,. I did manage to grab one of the kittens and take her to the shelter. Onyx is still with me and I paid for her spaying. As I was talking to the shelter, they told me that they have 10 free de-sexing coupons a month to give out. A lot of times they are not all used. I took one in case I could catch mom or another kitten. I was never able to do it and returned the coupon.
Just a thought. Check with you local no-kill shelter.

 

Yes, there is a program here that my wife found that will apparently help catch, then spay, then return to where they were caught regarding feral cats. It is either no- charge or little charge.

I just have to decide what I want to do.

Went out to the garage and found the kittens gone; after some searching, I found both the kittens and Mama cat, nursing them, in a buried corner of my garage. Mama cat let me look at her (them) and talk to her from about 3 feet away without the slightest hesitation so she is not a hard- core feral cat and <may> even be somewhat comfortable around humans. I put out another bowl of food since the first one is gone..... of course.

I think I will look into trapping Mama when the kittens are a little older. That way I can get her spayed, and hopefully get the kittens some medical care, sterilized as well, and maybe adopted out. At least that is my version of 'great'; we will see what really happens.

And Mama cat is definitely related to Phoebe. Maybe a touch younger but the same basic color and shape other than that very light streaking of calico in her coat. We have a pretty big, solid gray Tom around here who is clearly making more and more cats; he needs a snip 'n clip in the worst way.

Brian

 

Yeah but there are limits; I am NOT taking on four kittens. It just ain't gonna' happen. On the other side of the coin, this is not my planet, I just live here, as does everyone and everything else. I have zero interest in hurting or damaging any living thing (well, other than those things that need killin' such as snakes, scorpions, etc.) and sometimes the cute ones might even get a helping hand. These kittens are living in my garage, which costs me nothing, and I am perfectly happy to help them along but it has to be 'progress' rather than just existence. In practical terms, I will not ever openly feed animals outside; I have given this cat food such that it might help her raise a healthy litter and I am find with that. I will even do my best to find the kittens homes or drop them at an agency that will adopt them out (kittens and puppies usually go pretty fast), and if I can catch Mama cat, I will have her spayed and released back in my yard. But I will not foolishly feed 'her' by leaving food outside because that will just generate more and more cats until they are starving, getting run over, diseased, etc., etc. So that I what I mean by 'help'.

All of that said, Mama cat is really quite pretty and the kittens are adorable- they do not even have fur yet, just that baby 'down' that dogs and cats start off with. The good news is that it is now late enough in the year that they can survive outside, especially if in a dry building (my garage is unheated).

Brian

 

Went out tonight (Tues., 22 May 2018) and checked on 'the brood'. Finally found the kittens alone, Mama cat was off somewhere, I assume taking care of business. Anyway, on the way back into the house to get food and a camera, I ran into Mama cat on her way back to the garage; she angled around me and hid under my car. I grabbed food and a camera and went back but Mama was already back in with the kittens. They are about 1 1/2 weeks old now and I finally have a decent (not great but hey, tough holding a light, the camera and angling the shot through the debris field in my garage she parked the kittens behind) photo of Mama cat and 2 or 3 of the kittens. Mama is medium- dark gray with a very light smattering of calico all over her, though it is very faint, and the kittens are also mostly medium- dark gray; one has a calico ear and another one has a very light gray stripe down the center of its nose with a bar across the top. Kinda' looks like a 'T' right in the middle of its face. All are quite cute.

You all will be happy to know my wife has picked out 3 female names..... just in case. Of course Phoebe is taken so she thinks Rachel and Monica would be next, with Ursula as a back-up (anyone see a pattern here?).





Oh yeah, and they have finally all moved to the towel I put down on the floor for them- they were lying on bare and dirty concrete. But I could never get a towel under them, Mama cat told me what she thought of that idea, so I just put it down in front of them. It has taken quite a while but finally they are on the towel.

Brian

 

How are you going to go about handling them? If you socialize them, they will make much better pets.
"The main socialization window for kittens is from 2 to 7 weeks of age, but it can extend up to 14 weeks. During this time, your cat is most receptive to new experiences."
Your Guide on How to Socialize a Kitten

 

Working on that very thing right now. My wife contacted some animal 'help' group for strays, ferals and so forth but they responded that they are too busy to actually visit here though they will help with education.

My plan is to trap Mama, have her spayed (hopefully NOT at the normal $400 price!) and let her go back outside. She is not totally feral but enough so that I cannot get w/in 3 feet of her, and she is at least 6 mos. old so probably too old to socialize as a pet now. So that is the next best thing for the Mom I think.

I plan on grabbing all four kittens, and I would like to do it early both for socialization but also so they are not too mobile and touch to catch. On the other side of the coin, too early and I will be feeding them with an eye- dropper because once I have them, I cannot think of any way I can allow Mom cat to nurse them without having her try to remove them (from, say, my house though honestly I doubt I could coax her in here under any circumstances), and Mom cat will probably abandon them anyway once a nasty, filthy human has had possession. So I am thinking 4 to 5 weeks but still, that is just a bit early for weaning and a bit too late for best socialization. I do squat and talk to them (all of them) everyday so at least the kittens have been hearing a human's voice and that must be worth at least a little bit regarding making them able to be pets.

But honestly, I am looking forward to the advice of my vet both on what to do as well as who (what agency) to use. Who knows, maybe he can offer a discount price for a 'weekend job', after hours.

Brian

 

Good luck! I hope you can get a deal on mama cat. Could you cage her with the kittens, after the spaying? Or is there any way to prevent her leaving the garage, so she could continue nursing the kits? She probably wouldn't want you handling them, though. Oven mitts? Maybe there's advice out there, on feral cat rescue websites.

 

Had to take care of several things today and stopped at my vet. on the way: great news- there is a local place that does spay / neuter at discount prices (maybe less), will trap animals, will loan traps to catch strays and while they are there, they are tested for leukemia, wormed, given vaccinations and they clip the top of one ear to permanently mark the cat as 'fixed'. The vet. also advised me I can freely handle the kittens to socialize them and take them by 6 weeks safely. And for dessert, they can provide people who want to adopt kittens for all of these and more. So overall, great news.

Then when I came home, I went into the garage and Mama cat was gone; I took the opportunity to pick up all the kittens, spread the towel out under them and brought one in the house to "sex" it (Easy Boys! it ain't fun and did not work anyway- I <think> it is a female but without a microscope, cannot be certain ).

Very gently introduced Phoebe to the kitten and Phoebe started to sing and was very interested but not aggressive with it so that was a pleasant surprise. Not sure how they will really get along but at least Phoebe was not nasty right off... ?



Brian

 

That's super news! What a cute little kitten, how could Phoebe not like her.

 

That indeed is great news.
You gotta like all that clinic offers.

 

Awww. So cute!

 

Almost makes you want one for yourself!

...............almost!

 

I'd give one or two of those kittys a home if it were currently feasible for me.

 

Actually, no, Phoebe was not vaccinated for that, and it was on purpose. The vaccination site is a key spot where felines develop cancer (not leukemia but other forms) later in life. So my vet. recommended that if we can be sure Phoebe would be an inside cat, not to vaccinate her. That said, the disease is not communicable through such casual contact as they had anyway; I had the kitten nestled in my cast / chest, and Phoebe merely smelled the kitten. I do not think they even touched. Usually, feline leukemia is passed through feces (sharing a cat box) or food (sharing a feeding station or point) so there really is no risk . But I will have any kittens that <may> come into the house tested first. And the usual thing is to euthanize the cat because they will not live a year anyway and will be ill for much of that time.

But certainly a good and useful point you made there- it IS a huge consideration in mixing cats in one household.

Yeah, I know how one is supposed go sex a kitten but honestly, I just could not pick 'A' or 'B' with this one. I <think> female but just am not sure. And for something that cannot walk yet, it certainly put up a big fuss while I was trying to look and had amazingly strong tail muscles, which were hell- bent on covering ALL the 'openings' with that tail.

Brian

 

Well.. if a giant with a club hand picked you up and started checking your nether regions, I'm relatively sure you'd put up a fuss also.