Need advice - feral mom and kittens

Hooray....Mama tortie finally got a break.

More vibes are coming that those little kittens will be caught right away.
I would love to see a picture of Mama's tortie baby.

Good news on Little Ma. I'm glad it ended up being a non-issue, and that she's now spayed.

Good luck over the weekend in trapping the little ones!

Well, guys, turns out there's three kittens instead of two! We already knew about Little Ma's tortie baby, and the gray/white one, but this morning when we were setting the trap in the abandoned house, we caught sight of a little orange guy headed for the basement. We know he's Little Ma's too because he matches the description of one of the tiny kittens she brought up on the neighbor's porth a while back. That brings to eight the number cats (females that I know of and kittens) that need to be fixed at the site.

The neighbors and I really need some vibes and prayers to pull this off. The TNR group I was volunteering with has completely pulled out of the neighborhood citing financial reasons and other committments and I'm determined not to leave these cats or the people trying to help them in the lurch. I'm going to do everything I can to get the females and kittens fixed that the TNR group committed to but am working with very limited resources.

The neighbors watching the traps this morning and I'll head back over early this afternoon. Will keep you posted. Thanks!

Three kittens, alone in the world except for you and the caring neighbors.
You have my prayers that these innocent babies are caught before they can produce more unwanted kittens.

Please don't give up Eileen.
they need you.

Eileen, how much is it to fix the kitties where you take them??

Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

Eileen, how much is it to fix the kitties where you take them??

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Depends on where I take them. With vouchers from a local shelter I can get them fixed for as little as $10/cat, but that doesn't include pain meds after the surgery or any vaccinations, so it's actually a little more.

So, anybody want some exciting kitten news? We trapped two this morning - the little orange one (has some white on his tummy and paws) and the gray/white. No sign of the baby tortie but, if she's anything like her mama, that could take a little longer!

I brought the little ones home and downloaded them into a kitty playpen in my spare bedroom. They're very scared, hissy, growly little creatures, but that's to be expected. I'm guessing they're approximately 10-12 weeks old and absolutely adorable. By all appearances they seem to be in good health. I'll get them to the to vet to be checked out first thing next week. For now, I just want to give them a little time and space to calm down and realize they're safe.

I've pretty much decided that since they're still so young, I'm going to work
on socializing them and finding them homes (after they're fixed, vaccinated and tested, of course!) So, if any TCS folks would be interested....

Will post pics next week. For now, it's back to the neighborhood to reset the traps and try for the little tortie. Keep those vibes coming, guys! Thanks!

Eileen, I'm gonna drop a check in the mail to help towards the spaying of these little angels.........I wish I could afford to do them all, but your doing all the physical part, and I want to help..............as soon as I can get Bailey to get off my purse, *he likes to sleep on it*, I will get out my check book!!

Just caught this thread. Great job in trapping Little Ma and at least 2 of her kittens and so glad that Little Ma doesn't have to be a mom anymore!!

I've caught feral kittens at 10-12 weeks old and have socialized them with a little more patience than those caught younger. You have the odds in your favor that you can turn these into great adoptable cats!

And btw....love the name Little Ma. I had a Little Mom that we caught feral and named her such because she looked like her mom, which we simple called "Mom". She turned into a little love over time and we didn't get her trapped until she was about a year old. There is always hope for these babies!

Hooray...two down and baby tortie to go.
I can hardly wait to see pictures.

Susie...you are so sweet to help Eileen.

Come on baby tortie...
the good life is waiting.

Big to Susie and thanks to all of you for your vibes and prayers today.
It was a definitely a good day. The two little ones have eaten and seem a little more relaxed. They're so darn cute!

I owe the people at the site round of applause for all their efforts today. They're wonderful folks who truly care about the cats and are doing their best to care for them. It was great to see how excited they were about trapping the kittens. Still no luck on the tortie. There's some question now as to whether she's from this litter or one of Little Ma's previous litters because one the people that spotted her said she's noticably bigger than the kittens trapped today. Either way we'll keep trying.

I pulled the traps for the night because the neighbors were concerned they'd be stolen. It's not the greatest neighborhood. But, we'll try again first thing tomorrow. Please keep the vibes coming!

Wish you all the best, the mother of my two was a tortie feral known as 'Alley Cat', unfortunately after my boyz were born, she was so poorly she had to be put down. Roly and Macavity were 3 weeks when I took them home, perhaps because they were so young the feral instinct wasn't so strong, they are now 2 gorgeous lovable characters. I think what you are doing is amazing , here in the UK we seem to be a bit luckier with voluntary organisations, but we still have the same problem. The PDSA and Cats Protection League recently ran a scheme during the summer to neuter cats for nothing I would love to know what the response was, anyone any ideas?

Originally Posted by eilcon

Big

to Susie and thanks to all of you for your vibes and prayers today.

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Like I told you Eileen, I am not there to help you save these kitties lives, but I want to help in what little way I can......If I can help spay even one kitty, then I feel wonderful!

Thanks to all of you for the vibes, prayers and encouragement this weekend, also for sharing your experiences with trapping. You inspire me!

Unfortunately, we didn't trap the little tortie today. I'm beginning to think of this kitten as the mystery kitty because one of the neighbors said she saw her, another is positive that Little Ma only had two kittens (the one's we already trapped and a third thinks this is an older kitten from a previous litter. Had two traps set today and manage to snare several of the neighborhood cats that had already been fixed, but no tortie. In spite of some reservations, I put a trap back in the abandoned house, but the food wasn't touched. So, the feeders are going to start putting food out again tonight to see if the mystery kitty makes another appearance. We'll keep trying!

Meanwhile, Little Ma seems back to her fiesty feral tortie self, so I'm planning to release later tomorrow. Her family is very anxious to have her back. The kittens are hissy and scared, but eating well and using the litterbox with no problems. The gray/white is definitely the bolder and more curious of the two and looks at me with these huge eyes when I speak softly. The little orange guy just growls and backs into the corner of his box. He has the cutest little white-tipped feet!

I'll keep you posted on the trapping efforts. Please keep our mystery kitty in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!

They are the worst and the fiercest to catch. When I first trained as an animal nurse I used to dread torties. They have such attitude and tempers to match. Perhaps that's why they make such good protective mums. From two adoptive ferals Maccavity and Roly we send you all the best.

Eileen....I love your updates.
I feel like I am right there with you on your TNR experiences.
My heart will be with you as you release Little Ma.

Maybe there still is a chance that the tortie kitten will be caught.
The babies sound adorable.

Originally Posted by Jean44

I know the people you are working with are experienced cat trappers but I have one thought. When I was trapping strays around my house a few years ago this was the one thing that worked to catch the really stubborn kitties. I spread newspaper in the bottom of the trap so the wires weren't visible. Then I drizzled juice from the cat food from the front to the back of the trap and put the can of food at the back of the trap as usual. This worked to trap a pregant kitty I'd been desparate to catch before she gave birth. She gave birth to four kittens at the no kill shelter two days after I trapped her.

I hope you can trap that last tortie baby. Here's more {{{go in the trap baby}}} vibes.

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Thanks, Jean. That's exactly what we did to trap the first two kittens. The tortie, aka "mystery kitty" didn't fall for it.

That could be because there isn't another kitten. I'm not completely convinced, but the neighbors now believe the tortie they saw is definitely one of Little Ma's from a previous litter. They saw her yesterday running from the abandoned house to another home down the street, where's she fed. I can see how they'd mistake her for a kitten. She is on the tiny side. I know this because she's one of four females from the neighborhood that I took to be fixed this morning.

Like I said, I'm not completely sure there isn't another kitten, so I'll have the neighbors keep feeding and watching for another and will set the traps again this weekend. There's still one ferale female we know of, a tuxedo, who's yet another Little Ma's offspring that I want to get ahold of before winter.

Meanwhile, I posted some pics of Little Ma's orange and gray/white little boys here if you're interested:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...59#post1394959

They've now been treated for fleas and earmites and I'll make an appointment to get them fixed, vaccinated and tested sometime in the next few weeks. I just want to have a little time to work with them first. The gray/white one, whom I've named Micky, has already let me pet him and bit and hold him. He's a curious, talkative little guy. The orange, named Monty, is going to be a challenge. He's quite the hissy, growly boy. Even tried to bite me this morning through the gloves. He seems curious too, just scared to death.

That's it for now. Please keep the vibes coming that if there's a tortie baby out there, she makes an appearance and that I can make some progress with the little guys. Thanks!

you can totally tame the two kittens. my kitten came to me at a little older than 12 weeks actually. he's a bit different, he actually followed my boyfriend home - running after him meowing one night and came up to us to be petted and when i lured him inside without too much trouble (he was very curious about coming in the apartment so it was easy), he slept curled up with us the very first night all night long (after he hissed once at my greyhound so granted he was tamer from the start than the kittens you have (i checked around, he wasn't anyone's pet, we figure he just survived by being sweet to people and getting them to feed him) but i think at 10 weeks, it's totally doable. my boy does have what we call his feral mode where he'll just go playful nuts about once or twice a night - i wonder if all kittens are like this or if it is because he was a stray at one point. i've never had cats before so i have no idea (i am a dog/greyhound person, i didn't even like cats at all until this little guy. i don't even know how he got me to bring him in the apartment that first night but now i adore him.) i love kittens around 12 weeks of age - SO adorable.

anyway long post - basically i just wanted to say my kitten was successfully turned into an indoor only cat at 12 weeks so you can do it! yay for all you're doing for these little babies and what you did for their mom! but do watch out for them running out the door at first any chance they have. my boy still does this sometimes - he's also really good at faking me out so i go one way to stop him from running out and he goes another and then i have to run all the way downstairs to get him (luckily my apartment has two doors downstairs so he can't get outside even if he leaves my apartment).