# Hi from Feral Kittens



## kitty13 (Jul 20, 2010)

Hi! I'm anxious to get thru this 3-step process so I can post my question. My semi-feral cat has kittens "somewhere" and I'm curious to learn if other members' cats eventually brought the kittens home. Thanks!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Welcome! I'm sure your mother cat will bring the kittens when they're big enough to eat regular cat food. 

I hope you will be getting her spayed soon. They can get pregnant while still nursing the little ones, unfortunately. There are some organizations listed in this forum that will give you a good price to spay her and spay/neuter the little ones. 

If you pet the kittens and get them socialized (food is a great way to make friends!) some shelters will find homes for them. Good luck!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome to CatForum.

IME, mamma cats will bring their kittens to the best "food station" during the stage of their development when she takes them on 'field trips' to learn their territory, how to navigate it and learn survival skills before she chases them off and OUT of her territory so she can prepare to raise her next litter and preserve those food and shelter resources for herself.

Malibu (completely feral at the time) brought me her litter when they were about 8wks old and I had another cat just *bring* me her two kittens in a rain-storm and I brought all three inside to socialize and adopt out.
heidi =^..^=


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Rule of thumb is to take kittens between 4-8 weeks to socialize them. 12 weeks is usually our cut off since by then the mother cat has taught them well how to survive as a feral. Its not to say you cant bring them around 12 weeks and older but you just have a bit more to over come in the socializing.

sometimes if you follow the mom at a distance you can see where she is keeping the kittens. I would be arranging right now getting a trap and finding a place to have this mom spayed or you will be back in the same boat with more kittens right away! Its so hard on the moms to keep having litter after litter wrecking its health and any quality of life it could have as a cared for feral!

Keep us posted. Plus we love photos if you have them. Fingers crossed


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## kitty13 (Jul 20, 2010)

Thanks for all the great advice! We have 21 kitties and this mama cat is the only one we couldn't trap and spay. While pregnant and now with the babies "somewhere" she has become much tamer. We'll trap her for sure! I know a kitty who got pregnant again while nursing.... our vet told us to bring her in (with kittens in tow) as soon as we located all of them and they'd spay her. 

We had a feral cat with a litter of kittens nearby last year. We fed her near the shed where the kittens were born and at 6 weeks-to-the-day she brought all four of them into our house. What a wonderful surprise! I'll never forget how touched I was that she trusted me that much..... and of course the kittens are spayed, neutered and have good homes.


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## kitty13 (Jul 20, 2010)

By the way Heidi, I do sometimes feel like I am a "food station". lol With 21 cats and 3 dogs I spend an inordinate amount of time feeding, washing bowls and doing housework. Wouldn't trade one second of it for any amount of money!!!!


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