# Feral cat, brand new kittens & lots of questions



## dehart (Mar 21, 2006)

A little background...

We have a couple feral cats that have been hanging out in our backyard for a year or so. They were both adults when they started coming around and neither one of them is friendly. The female will let me scratch her head while she's eating, but still hisses nearly every time I go outside to feed her.

She's been looking awfully large lately and as I suspected, she was pregnant. She was around yesterday, still very pregnant and today there are kittens so they were born last night or this morning. I have to say she picked a pretty good spot for them, behind a dense bush up against the side of the house.

It's supposed to rain hard here tonight though and I'm concerned about the kittens. Would it be best to leave them alone since they're so young and trust that their mother knows how to take care of them and keep them warm or would it be better to try to move them into a nice, warm cat house inside our guest house? I could leave the door to the guest house slightly open so the mother could go in and out.

Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jayme


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## The Cat Whisperer (Jul 23, 2005)

Welcome to the Cat Forum!! 

It would have been good if you could have trapped them and had them sterilized before kitten season which is just beginning, but that is neither here nor there now. This is how we all learn. 

I think that if you touch or move the kittens, the mother will no longer have anything to do with them, but I could be wrong on that. I would at least wait til you hear back from someone as to if it is ok before you move them. Unless they have been abandoned or are in immediate danger of harm, I would leave them be for now.

Then at soem point, (I don;t know the age, but someone here I know will be able to answer that) you will want to catch the mama and all the kittens and get them sterilized. The kittens will be able to be adopted - the mama is at least semi-feral but sounds like she could be rehomed as well - or you can have her or all of them sterilized and returned to the environment - what is called a TNR (Trap Neuter & Return) program. Altho they will not live as long and you will be responsible for feeding the group if you decide to do that.

There are benefits/drawbacks to both programs. Good luck!!


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Yes, move them in the guest house. But if you leave the door open, the mother will try to take the kittens back out. Could you leave the door closed and have a litter box in there + fresh food and water at all times?
An almost dark place that it is not too big (so it won'y be overwhelming) with a basket or box and towls inside for her to claim as a nest for her babies.
The fact that she allows you to scratch her head is GREAT. She won't be hard to tame at all. 
I am suggesting to have her indoors because of numerous reasons:
- she can get pregnant in the following weeks and won't care for these babies when they'll still need her;
-while in your "home"you can attempt to tame the kittens and the mom too! You could contact the no-kill shelters in your area for any kind of help : they might take them all in or just some of them to find homes for later;or they might be able to help with spaying the female after she is done nursing; anything counts!
-with more feral cats out there - it is highly likely that the males will compete for her this female's favors and while doing so kill the kittens so she'll be in heat again (they usually eat the heads.. )
I'll think of anything else that I need to add to help you.
You are doing a marvelous job to attempt to rescue these angels
Keep us posted and ask away if in need of more help!


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

The first step would be to have everything set for the little ones + momma in the guest house; then move the babies and wait close until the momma goes inside too(she will hear them crying for her). As soon as she is in close the door gently.
Have a cardboard ready when you prepare to enter the guest house to block her way from attempting to get out. When going in - sit at a distance, talk genlty to her, feed her and generally read her body language - sometimes she'll welcome you, and sometimes she'll just want her private space.
I am afraid they won't survive in the bushes in the heavy rain.
If this is too much hassle you could quietly put a tarp on the bushes so they stay protected. But at the smallest interference the mother is very likely to move them and you may not see them again. This is a big chance to decrease the feral population by getting this one female to start with and have her spayes as soon as possible.
I would strongly encourage you to move them in however.
Have as little physical contact with the babies as possible so you won't interfere with their scent. As CW has mentioned the mom might not take them back. Take the basket with the towel inside place them in and cary them to the guest house and then wait to see what happens.
I have moved 1 day old kittens before and then left the momma do her job. It works out.


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## dehart (Mar 21, 2006)

The guest house is ready, the house my husband built for the cats is in there, lined with soft fabric at the bottom, her food and water dishes are in there too. She went in earlier and it looked like she was even inside the cat house. Right now she's with the babies and I know she's not going to let me take them when she's there. I'm pretty sure I can put some food out for her in the guest house and close the door behind her once she goes in, but probably not until morning as she's already eaten today. In the meantime, it's started to sprinkle a bit and it's supposed to pick up later in the night.

Of course I'm happy to move them indoors if it means the difference between them surviving the night or not. I know it's preferable for their mother to care for them, but if it's a choice between that or them not making it, I'm willing to care for the kittens if she rejects them. Any suggestions on getting their mother away from them long enough to get them indoors?

Here's a picture of mama kitty, the huge, green beauganvilla behind her is where she and the kitties are. They're about in the middle of it, up against the wall of the house. I have to hand it to her, she picked a great spot to have the kittens. I'd say it's pretty well sheltered against light to moderate rain there.


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## Lisa 216 (Oct 25, 2004)

How wonderful that you have a place to get them inside. Ioana is rightly concerned about toms getting to them.  

Good luck with the move! Please keep us posted. :wink:


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Oh great!
As long as you have very litle physical contact with the kittens, the momma will stil care for them - which is ideal because she will not only teach them valuable life lessons, she also feeds them in the first days with milk that is extremely nurturing for the kittens, boosting their immune systems. Of course, they can be hand reared but it is very expensive and it is just like having a few newborns in the house. When there is love there is a way, I know - but let's pull for her to do it since it would be the easiest for you.

Whenever I had to move young kittens from their feral moms, the momma cats would run away and watch me from a distance. It was heart breaking at times because they were looking me in the eyes and were literally crying - I talked to them and promised that I would care for them like I would my own babies and find them good forever homes, which I did...

Have somebody else with you when you prepare to remove them and do it quickly. The other person's role would be to watch the cat's body language. 

Be confident but careful at the same time. She really should back away a little when you'll approach. 
Or - does she come to you when you call her? You could do that while somebody else prepares to remove the kittens quickly. Remember to have the basket there with you so they can be moved all at one time.
If the above suggetions shouldn't work - I would move the bushes gently to see if she back up that way.
Let us know how it goes!


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

By the way - your kitty looks like she is in great shape - her fur coat is shiny, all in all healthy and pretty too! Black kitties are my favorites


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I agree! Black cats look and feel like satin. I do hope you can find mother and kittens a good home. I know they'll be well taken care of while you're caring for them. You're a very caring person.


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## dehart (Mar 21, 2006)

Jeanie said:


> I agree! Black cats look and feel like satin. I do hope you can find mother and kittens a good home. I know they'll be well taken care of while you're caring for them. You're a very caring person.


We'd like to keep at least one of the kittens and I have no problem with the mother cat, dubbed "black kitty friend" by my 3.5 year old daughter, continuing to live in our yard (I can't imagine her ever being a housecat, but maybe some day) after we have her spayed.

A little non-update. The kittens are still outside with their mama. I've got a small dish of food in the guest house with the door open, if I see her go in I'll close the door behind her and get the kittens in there with her asap. I've gotten pretty close to the nest and black kitty friend's not going anywhere. They're happily nestled against her, nursing and wiggling around. My husband is still at work, but once he gets home we'll try the suggestions above. Thankfully the heavy rain hasn't come.


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Oh, good - it looks like they are going to be all right for a bit outside.
I am very relieved that you will take them in.
It is going to pay off from many points of view - first of all they will be safe under your caring wing and with their mother, and second of all you will have a great opportunity to get them used to human beings!
At 4 - 5 - 6 weeks when they'll make attempts to lap, when mother will start weening them, you can start giving them canned food. By then they will already be used to your voice and presence. Have little toys attached to strings ready and play with them (just don't leave them with the babies while you are not there - only little harmless mousies). Momma Cat will probably be happy to let you baby sit  . She will trust you more and more as time goes by.
Jeanie is absolutely right - you are an angel for doing this!


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## The Cat Whisperer (Jul 23, 2005)

Well I am glad others came along to say it was ok to move the kittens!! Sorry my advice was wrong!  
Good luck!!


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## dehart (Mar 21, 2006)

We got them into the guest house! Lured mama in with some food and closed the door behind her. I stayed with her and spoke reassuringly to her while my husband got the kittens safely out of their original nest (there are five adorable kittens). We placed them in the cat house and waited outside to see if mama would go to them; she was in there within 5-10 minutes.

My next question would be, how do I get mama to use the litterbox? She didn't use it last night and well, it'd be really nice if she'd start.

My last question for now is how long should we wait to have her spayed? Since she's indoors now, can it wait until 8 weeks so the kittens have their mother until they're naturally weaned?


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## The Cat Whisperer (Jul 23, 2005)

Congrats!! Good job!! :thumb



dehart said:


> My next question would be, how do I get mama to use the litterbox? She didn't use it last night and well, it'd be really nice if she'd start.


Did she go somewhere else or did she just not go at all? If she won;t use the box, there is a litter called Cat Attract (PetSmart sells it) that does not smell but that attracts them right away.


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## flash77x (Jul 10, 2005)

The mom is cool looking.  You got any snapshots of the kittens? 

(Quick question: What if other cats are around will the mother take the kittens to a different location?)


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## dehart (Mar 21, 2006)

She used a pile of rags as her "litterbox", in hindsight I should have removed those as I can see why she'd think that was a good place to go, but at 2:00 a.m. when we finally got her in there I wasn't thinking about it. I removed anything that seems even remotely like it might be a nice place to go so hopefully she'll notice the litter (which is near her food/water dishes) and use that. I'll check out the catattract as well, thanks for the tip.

No pics of the kittens yet, I want to let the mama have some more time to adjust and feel safe in her new surroundings. The mama cat and the kittens are inside our closed guest house so she can't take them anywhere and no toms can get at them either.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

You can get her spayed when the kittens are able to eat out of a dish, although they should stay with her--preferably until 12 weeks. They have a lot to learn about being a cat. However, shelters want the kittens younger, because it's easier to find homes for them when they're smaller and "cuter." 

I was forced to get a stray spayed when the kittens were one day old, because one kitten had to be removed by C section. We found a nursing mother for them until the next day. We jad taken that cat in, not knowing it was pregnant. Evidently it was lost and we couldn't find its home.


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