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It seems like no matter where we live, we have the same problem: feral cats we enjoy and love. A couple years ago, I built a cathouse from a dresser we were going to throw out. We kept it, even moving it. We only found cats in it once -- a cat with kittens. We kept hoping it would come to some use for all the feral cats.
Last night, I got up in the night and saw one of the pregnant feral cats in our back yard, sleeping. Next time I got up, she was in the cathouse. She spent several hours in the cathouse last night and today -- until I caught a large dog tromping through our yard, and the cat ran up a tree to get away.
She didn't look pregnant -- just enlarged -- but I wasn't sure.
I scared the dog away and close the gate. I didn't see the cat return for several hours, but she eventually came back and stayed, again, for hours. Eventually, i saw her sitting on the roof of the cathouse, so, from inside the house and quite far away, I looked inside the house, and there was at least one very dark something that isn't normally there.
I am quite sure she has given birth in the cathouse!
She is inside it now.
This is the first litter of which I know where it is! All the other litters have been hidden from our sight! I am So Excited! Now, I have questions.
Last edited by VelcroQueen; 06-23-2012 at 11:45 PM..
What am I to do? I want these kittens treated properly. I work so I cannot give a kitten a good home – I am not home enough.
I know to leave them alone for now. The mother is extremely skittish and will run at the faintest movement or noise. For how long should I wait until I can get the kittens and take them somewhere to get them a good home?
The little mother most likely knows how to take care of her babies, just keep her fed. When they get a little bigger spend as much time as you can handling the kittens and when they are old enough to leave their mama, take them to a rescue or shelter to be adopted out.
When you feed ferals, you take on the responsibility of having them spayed and neutered too, to stop the breeding.
Get a havahart trap and have the mother spayed after the kittens are weaned, and use the trap to trap and spay/neuter the other feral cats you are feeding, too. It's called TNR, trap, neuter, return. This stops the colony from growing.
The little mother most likely knows how to take care of her babies, just keep her fed. When they get a little bigger spend as much time as you can handling the kittens and when they are old enough to leave their mama, take them to a rescue or shelter to be adopted out.
When you feed ferals, you take on the responsibility of having them spayed and neutered too, to stop the breeding.
Get a havahart trap and have the mother spayed after the kittens are weaned, and use the trap to trap and spay/neuter the other feral cats you are feeding, too. It's called TNR, trap, neuter, return. This stops the colony from growing.
your advise is very good. I have a friend in NM who started feeding a mommy who had given birth under the rV. Long story short, eventually there were about 20 feral cats in her yard constantly. Mommy did get hit by a car but babies grow up to be mommy and daddys. She didn't want to take them to a shelter cause she didn't want them put to sleep. Somewhere along the way, she did and now she has adopted 2 little kittens, the have been nuetered and she is totally content.
What am I to do? I want these kittens treated properly. I work so I cannot give a kitten a good home – I am not home enough.
I know to leave them alone for now. The mother is extremely skittish and will run at the faintest movement or noise. For how long should I wait until I can get the kittens and take them somewhere to get them a good home?
I feed the neighborhood cats twice daily.
Keep us posted on their progress. I would try and handle them asap and feed them when they are about 3 weeks old or start anyway. The more you handle them the more likely they will be to make good pets for someone. You say you can't give them a good home, but if you keep 2 of them, they will be good companions and you can give them a good home, whether you work outside the your home or not. It is better than seeing them put down. This is a horrible time of the year; kittens are being born at an unbelieable rate, people are taking vacations so are not into the adopt a pet scene and many of these little guys have no hope for adoption and/or survival.
Since mom cat is nursing, I believe she should be fed kitten food, for the extra nutrients the kittens will be taking from her. Also, you should supplement with taurine. Cats only get that from the food they eat, and commercial cat food most likely doesn't provide enough of it. I just did some research on taurine for cats yesterday, and various sources recommended 250-500 mg per day. I'm doing 250 per day for a cat I recently TNR'd that I released here at my home.
My cat-story is a long one, but perhaps I should tell it, so that I will not get trounced.
Where we lived, there were many feral cats. Now, there are many and the same situation. I feed them because I enjoy them and they serve us. They are mousers. We need them. That does not mean that we want them to keep producing.
In the past, I have taken in every cat I could catch to be fixed and have brought them back. I have done this behind the Humane Society's back because they (1) charge too much, (2) demand that we claim ownership, get licenses, and bring them inside. So we found a vet who would help us out, but he retired.
We don't have as much money now. We cannot afford to pay the full price. I am not going to let these cats starve by not feeding them. I recognize that this is a vicioous circle, but my point was this: Now, I know where the litter is. I just want to do right.
I will get the kitten food and check out the taurine.
For later, is there any such thing as cat food that has birth control in it?
Wow, that's really great that you are already doing what you can to reduce the feral population. I had no way of knowing that of course, and the advice is sound (which you know since you've already been doing it to the extent you can manage )
Keep us posted on the little family. As has been said, socializing them as they grow will make it easier for them to find homes.
This is the first litter of which I know where it is! All the other litters have been hidden from our sight! I am So Excited! Now, I have questions.
Please keep that gate closed. Many dogs love nothing better than to kill something small and helpless. If she's bothered or threatened by dogs she may take her kitten/s and move off.
Please keep that gate closed. Many dogs love nothing better than to kill something small and helpless. If she's bothered or threatened by dogs she may take her kitten/s and move off.
Well, I admit it: my heart is broken. The kitten is gone.
I may as well assume there was only one, because that was all I may have seen. I kept the gate closed, so I can hope that the kitten is alive somewhere, but I don't know. If it is alive, I don't know where.
Thank you, all of you, for your help. I so appreciate it.
I had planned on a cat moving into the cathouse, so I made an escape. The problem is that, not expecting a cat to give birth ther -- not even considering that! -- I made the escape at floor level. That would have been bad for kittens, who would have easily escaped their home.
I am thinking about tearing the house apart. making the escape higher, and making some other changes that will make the cathouse a safer place for them to be.
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