So I figured I would start a new thread that was more to the point: A couple of weeks ago, a pregnant feral cat gave birth to four kittens in my garage..... and put them in a flower pot. I found them because when I into the garage Mama cat (who is not full grown and only about 7 or 8 mos. old herself) shot across the garage to get away. So I walked over where she had been and found the kittens. My wife had seen Mama cat pregnant not more than two days before, so they were newborn. The next day the kittens were gone and I poked around and found them and Mama cat hiding in the corner of the garage behind a snowblower. Mama cat would tolerate me kneeling and talking to them but I could not put my hand in towards her. But I was w/in 3 feet. So we have been checking on them everyday and only found the kittens alone one time, when I took the opportunity to put down a towel under the kittens (they were on the bare and dirty concrete). This was last week: Two days ago, I found the kittens alone again and brought one into the house, trying to socialize it a bit. This afternoon, my wife came home to find Mama cat leaving the garage, so we took the opportunity to gather up all four kittens, bring them into the house and expose them to a little more 'humanity'. They are two weeks old at this point: Andrea (my wife) has picked her favorite, an all- gray kitten that looks just like Phoebe: We tried to sex them but it was not a sure thing 'cause Andrea was not sure what she was looking for.... I mean she knows but you really cannot see it yet on these kittens. I took a look and it <seems> like three females with one unknown. So we took a pair of them, including the suspected male, and showed them how to use the washing machine explaining that they would have to earn their keep and being male was no excuse for not helping around the house...... : But they were not having any of it, especially that no- good, chauvinist, <suspected> male! They turned and ran: They were pretty cranky at first, and one of them actually hissed and (I think) bit me. But then they settled and quieted down and we kept them about 1/2 hour and then returned them to their spot. I had two kittens back in their nest and two still in the sack when Mama cat came back and was not pleased: she spit (hissed), growled, the fur came up on her back and I honestly thought she was going to jump on me. But she jumped behind some stuff against the garage wall and snaked her way to the nest, at which point she got between us and the two kittens. Great- now what. I put out my hand a little, slowly and she reared right up. So what I ended up doing was getting my woodstove ash shovel, washing it, and putting the next kitten on the shovel and sliding it in with Mama cat. Then, against my advice, Andrea picked up the last kitten and just put it in with Mama cat and to my amazement, that went really slick- no complaints from Mama cat at all. Mama was still in the Sphinx, 'guard' position so we stayed a minute and left. The plan is to keep doing this to socialize the kittens but returning them to the nest until they are at least 5 weeks old, then we will take all of them to a discount 'feral cat' facility where they will be checked for disease, vaccinated and finally my vet said that they have a gazillion requests for kittens and they can supply homes for dozens of kittens. I also plan on trapping Mama cat, taking her to the same facility and having her examined and vaccinated as well as spayed, and then releasing her back into my yard. I believe she is too old and too feral to ever be a human's pet but at least I can stop her from having another one- thousand kittens and vaccinate her against feline leukemia (assuming she does not already have it). Brian
So glad that Mama cat has you looking out for her and the kittens. Any number of others would put them in a bag with a rock and toss it off the bridge. Those kitten are really cute. You are right to socialize them. If you don't handle them right from the beginning, it can be very hard to tame them. I have six cats. five are one family. They are all fixed now. All are himalayan with tons of fur that is constants management issues.
I had a feral cat that showed up a full grown, heavily muscled tom, so he was at least over a year old. Sure, it took years for him to let us within touching distance, but once he allowed us to touch him, all reservations left him. Got him fixed and he became a mostly house cat who loved anyone who walked in the door. Unusual? Maybe. Just don't write mama cat off as "being too old" to become a loving pet. Of course WW had issues when she tried the same, but it just goes to show that you never know and it all depends on the individuals involved. Glad you are envisioning how to help the kittens and mama!
Good work. I had a feral cat as a barn cat for some years. She was great--she'd much down mice and rats too. Eventually I got to where I could pick her up but it took a lot of patience. Thanks for saving the little family.
Our outdoor female had kittens in the garage about a month ago...I was in there yesterday and mama was too...she came to rub on my leg and purr, eventually one of the kittens came over and I scooped him up expecting "kitten wrath"...but that is the most chillaxed feral kitten I have ever picked up! No teeth, no claws, not even a struggle, I was so shocked! We don't need another cat, but its almost tempting with one like that. The dad is the same way as an adult....ANY attention is good attention....and for as long as you want to dish it out...you can't pet him long enough to run him off, even if you do it rough, he seems to like rough sometimes. I did hand raise him though...his mama abandoned him at 3 weeks old or so.
Well, I certainly would take Mama cat in if there is any possibility of doing so. It is far more up to her than us- we have no intention of running her off, and I would actually continue to feed her as long as she ate at specific times because I will not leave food outside for the horde of loose cats to use in making more loose cats. And my first real contact with Mama cat is going to come when I <hopefully> catch her in a cage, take her to the vet. and return her so we will probably not be on the best of terms for those days. But if she is interested, she could come into the house and either visit or even stay if she is of the mind to do that. As I said, she is not even a year old herself so there is certainly the possibility of her making a nice pet. One thing in the way is my neighbor feeding all the outside cats; this way Mama cat will never get hungry or needy enough to 'make nice' with any human IMO. It will fuel her being able to be able to avoid humans forever. The 'feral' cats around here are not terrified of people and will walk by humans w/in 15 or 20 feet without concern so they are not 100% wild animals. But as they have a constant food source without having to interact with anything or anyone, there is nothing driving them to get any closer to humans either and that is why I suspect Mama cat will never become friendly with us. Brian
I am afraid I would pass on those 'cats', and if people wanted to call me Mary Jane Tinklepants because of it, I would agree with them. Mama cat scares me enough. Just came in from putting the kittens back into the nest; we watched Mama cat leave the garage and so took the opportunity to grab the kittens again and again bring them into the house. They were quieter this time and if it can be believed, seemed both bigger and stronger than two days ago! I also watched Mama cat cross my yard and go to my neighbors..... yep, the one who leaves food and water out for 'the cat'. Mama cat is not eating the food or drinking the water I put out either so her feeding in the neighbor's driveway is going to make it harder to trap her. We really do not have a stray / feral cat problem, we have a dumb neighbor problem and I have no idea how to cure that one, although a really big cage and the right bait...... nah, that is probably illegal. Brian
Another thing - my vet suggested strongly that I keep the feral tom that we had neutered in the house for 2-3 weeks or they become coyote bait. She said that something in the hormone imbalance seems to make them more attractive to coyotes. Of course if she stays in the garage, that will surely help out for that issue. And to be fair, Fuzzy had become hand tame by then (not pick-up tame - yet), whereas your mama cat isn't to that point.
Sounds like good advice but unfortunately, I cannot yet close my garage and barn (two building that share a common wall) to adult cats because the eves are open. They will get closed when the house is sided but that will not happen for at least a few weeks and perhaps longer. The kittens cannot get out anytime soon but Mama can. As of today, I closed the garage door fully; we had been leaving it open 6" or so so Mama cat could come and go easily. But after upsetting Mama a couple of times now by handling her kittens, we decided to close the garage so that the kittens cannot be moved outside. There is food and water in the garage right next to and kinda' 'in' their nest, and Mama can climb / jump to get both in and out but I do not believe she can carry the kittens that high and jump down with them in her mouth. The kittens will not be able to run until around 5 weeks, so the current plan is to collect all of them at around 4 weeks and wean them early in the house. I know this is not the best but it is the only way I can think of to not have the kittens get away from us; even a 5 or 6 week old kitten can out- run and out- hide a human, so even in the garage they could avoid getting caught basically forever. Besides, I think taking them a bit early will be better overall than subjecting them to the trauma of chasing and / or catching them against their will. I will call the 'spay and neuter' facility tomorrow to find out about trapping Mama cat as well as to see if they will test / check out / inoculate the kittens. I cannot allow them to have contact with Phoebe until they are tested for leukemia. If the pet center will not do this for the kittens, I will approach my own vet. for the 'sob story' and 'group' discount and see how that goes. Again, I will spend some money but $150 each is a bit too much for pets / strays that are not 'mine'. Brian
The best cat we ever had while growing up was a feral that I had caught and kept as a pet. Called him "Freddie". Then, "Freddie" had a litter of kittens...... An older couple took him/her after that.
Well, the kittens are now four weeks old. Mama cat has moved them twice, I assume to get them away from 'us'. We planned on grabbing the kittens tomorrow and bringing them into the house but when I went to check on them tonight, I found they had been moved again, Mama cat was now in the barn with three kittens loose on the floor; I guess she was in the middle of re- locating when I interupted her. But the little guys can run now and I made the decision to grab them at that time. I grabbed two of them while the third ran behind some plywood and hid. And the second one that I caught was a handful: I am 6'2", ~240 lbs., and it was 'touch and go' with the wrestling match to get that rascal under control. Several times it jumped out of my hands, only to be caught mid- air, spitting, scratching and biting me all the while. I closed up the outer buildings, took the two I caught into the house and now they are in the laundry room. I have no idea where the fourth one might be or what shape it is in?? ?? I will go out several times tomorrow and try to catch the third kitten and of course the fourth if it shows up. I gave them kitten kibble soaked in water but they are not interested. I guess I will have to get a bottle and replacement formula and do it the other way.... Never did this before but as a relative used to say, I am not going to learn any younger so this must be the right time. Brian (Mr. Mom tonight I guess.....)
Sardines? That is what worked on our wild cats. Also, we had the kittens a few days before the rescue took them, the two we could not catch heard their siblings in here and actually came to our back screen door.
We are going to give the 'bottle w/ formula' a try and then, if that fails, Phoebe's most favorite thing in the whole world- tuna. I tried giving both of them half 'n half by wiping it on their noses but they are not interested in the least. Went out to the barn and found Mama cat but no kittens. ?? There were originally four, and yesterday as Mama was moving them into the barn there were three, and I grabbed two but the third one ran away and hid. Maybe it hid so well it cannot back out of wherever it is? Mama is sitting on the floor in the new nesting place being quiet, I assume listening for her kittens to cry. I am not pleased with this result and if I had any idea they (the kittens) could get away from me at 4 weeks, I would have taken them in the middle of last week. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20, right? My wife is coming in this afternoon from visiting our son and is not going to be too happy to hear about this either- the third kitten, now missing, was her favorite. The two I have are squealing pretty well and one climbed right up my arm (I guess it got over trying to kill me) so I know they are hungry. Leaving in a few minutes to go to the airport and PetCo (or PetSmart, which ever one is still in business). BTW: the kittens are two rooms away from Phoebe, with latching doors on each room so there is no interaction or contact between them. I will not allow them to meet until they are cleared for leukemia. The kittens are cute and I will do what I can for them but Phoebe is my pet and she comes first so I will not endanger her by exposing her to the kittens until they have been tested. Brian
Hope you are able to find the other kittens. Formula for sure - mama probably hasn't introduced them to soft food yet (regurgitated) so they don't know how to chew. YOu could also try canned food, but that may not be of interest to them yet either as it doesn't smell like what they are used to at this point.
