# VERY Important question



## SyrisIsABully (Oct 20, 2006)

Hey you guys I'm hoping someone can help me with this one? 
Everyone's been so helpful so far, I have been trying to catch a mom cat and her 3 7 week old approx. kittens. We caught the first kitten about 4 days ago. We caught the mom yesterday. I just caught another one tonight!! It was the gray kitten, and no one had seen him for a few days. He is safe now. The only one left is the black kitten. I have had him in my grasp 3 times and he keeps escaping! I'm sure we will get him tomorrow; now he has nobody at all and he will be hungry. he ate a bit of tuna tonight, but he didn't get close enough to grab him.

My question is, the mom is here and the 2 kittens are being fostered by my friend. She(mom cat) is a real nutcase and I'm sure she is so worried about her babies, and herself. The first kitten is tamed already, litter box trained, he's a perfect little cuddler. Should I bring either the black or gray kittens(the wild ones) here for the mom? Would that make her feel better? Or would it just cause her to hide the kittens? I don't see it being any good for their socialization. If not bring them here, I have a shirt with the kittens scent on it, should I leave that in the room? Or would that stress her out even more, maybe she would think I did something to the kitten? 

Please help!!! I want to ease her mind about the kittens. Do you think I'm giving her too much credit?


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## Lisa 216 (Oct 25, 2004)

No, you're not. I'm sure she is worried for her kittens. Do you have her in a safe place where she can't escape?

The kittens are still quite young to be separated from their mom. 12 weeks is ideal, though obviously the current situation makes that more challenging. It would be great for all of them if you could safely bring them together. Hopefully, the mom will calm down once she has her kittens around her.

Please let us know what happens!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I think you're going to get a couple of different answers for this problem. If you put Mom outside with the kittens, she will almost definitely hide them. On the other hand, if the kittens are young I think they should nurse until they're weaned--inside. 

However, there is a good possiblility that she can't tolerate being indoors. That may very well be her problem. It would probably be very difficult to socialize her. If so, she should be spayed and released. If you leave her at a shelter that is no-kill, she will probably never be adopted, and could spend her life in a cage. If you release her after spaying and shots, you can continue to feed her. She will be subject to much more danger, but will not have to live in a cage. (A regular shelter will put her down, because they can't afford to keep the cats they have. People want kittens.  ) 

When I was a child, there was a kitten at my friend's house who had never been indoors. He was fairly big, perhaps 8 months. He got petted by us children, and fed, but not really have the life of a pet. I got permission to take him home, but was warned that he might not like being confined to a house. Well, that was an understatement. He climbed the walls, literally, running from one side of the room, to the other, ripping at the drapes in an attempt to get outside. He was not safe to be around. He went absolutely wild. We had to let him out, and he went back to my friend's porch. 

I think you'll have to judge mother cat's behavior. Many ferals can be socialized, but some are very difficult. My suggestion is to have her spayed, kept in the house in a small, quiet area, perhaps a dog cage for recovery, and see how she reacts. Wear heavy gloves when you feed her! I recently read a great post about a member who worked in a shelter in which there was a very wild feral. He had been there for a long time, and never showed signs of being socialized. She left for college, I believe, and when she returned he was gone. Magically, he had begun trusting people, and when socailized found a home!  Nothing is completely predictable with feral cats. 

I feel very bad about that little black kitten. I just love black kittens and cats, and have taken in many stray black kittens in my adult life. I do hope you soon trap that little one. He needs love, warmth, and food. Bless his little heart. Don't forget the camouflage. Please keep us informed. Thanks.


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## SyrisIsABully (Oct 20, 2006)

well thanks for the replys! The mother is in my room, and there is no way she can get out. The kittens are safe at my friends. I think if I give her a kitten its not a good idea bacause these kittens need to be socialized . The first one is litter-trained and hes already a big suck! The second one we only goot last night, but hes coming along well. The little black one we HAVE to get today, but hes really scared and thats what the problem is. 
The rescue I foster for has agreed to vet and adopt out all cats, we just have to foster them.
I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the mom, I need to get the kittens all together and spay her and take it from there. I have been leaving her alone, and this morning I saw she has used the litter box! She's been eating as well, she's quiet most of the time, so I'm just taking it one day at a time with her.
I will update later...the last kitten seems to come out at dusk. I'm not going to leave him out there all alone! We will get him today.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm praying that you get that little one tonight! It's so good of you to care as you do!


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

I understand your concern for the mother. My husband and I faced a similar situation when we trapped our feral family, because the mom cat was defending the kittens rather visciously. We kept the kittens together and placed the mom cat with my mother-in-law, who worked with her for about six months. 

We felt so bad for the mom. She never did socialize, and was eventually TNR'd. Today she lives in my mother-in-law's backyard and garage, gets fed twice a day, and seems so much happier than she ever did indoors. She's a working kitty who earns her keep by scaring the citrus rats away, and prefers to go about her business without being bothered by us pesky humans. 
rcat 
By now she probably doesn't even remember her kittens, or vice versa, but sometimes I still wish I could reunite the family.


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## Sweetvegan74 (Jun 18, 2005)

Sadly the best thing for the mom would to keep them seperated. Seven weeks is a little young, but that is also a great age as the kittens have not begun to become truly feral. I had the same problem with the last kitten out of a litter we could not catch her so we used a havahart trap and hunger set in and we got her. If you use a trap remember to set it light as one kitten might not be heavy enough to set it.


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## SyrisIsABully (Oct 20, 2006)

:blackcat I caught her!!

It was crazy! I had to leave some sardines right by the opening of under the deck while I waited quietly and patiently over top. I didn't move, and after only waiting for about 10 minutes, I saw her under the deck coming to eat. I waited for a minute than leaned forward and grabbed her quick! This is the kitten who escaped me 3 times and didn't go near the haveaheart traps. At the last minute when I was leaning forward she heard me coming and I almost blew my chance, but I was quick enough this time! :smiles Now they're all inside safe. There are 2 more kittens from a different litter I want to get,too, but I'm taking tomorrow off! 
Plus then I can take some pics of these kittens and post them for everyone to see. I am so happy! I can't believe I got them all! 
Since they are wild crazy kittens, they got lots of fire and spice, we have deceided to call them the Spice Kittens; Pepper, Mace and Cayenne.
Cayenne is the little black kitten. She's the spiciest one


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I'm so happy for you! :jump


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

That's wonderful news! I love the names too!


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

Congratulations! :thumb Those are great names. :wink:


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## wkdwhite (Oct 25, 2006)

Aww thats great news  

I love feral cats, all the feral cats that were at the farm ended up as house pets! They take time but with patience they can become very loving friendly cats.

Keep up the good work


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