stray cat had kittens!

a stray cat my neighbors and I feed just had kittens on our neighbors back porch! So cute..
They were three days old and we picked them up (I hear the earlier you handle them the more they trust humans. Is that true?) The mother seemed a little nervous and hissed once, but I think she understood that we weren't going to hurt them.

One little kitten appears to have a hairlip! I wonder if this could be from inbreeding because we think this colony of strays has been inbreeding for several generations.
Would the hairlip affect her health or ability to eat?

I plan to take the kittens into the shelter once they're weaned. I hope it won't affect her chances of adoption. Poor baby.

Yes, it's a good thing I believe to get the kittens quickly accustomed to human handling. If their first memories involve being around humans, then they will not know any different and therefore not be afraid.

Do you have any pictures?

wow, where is she keeping her kittens?

my Dad has some pics on his camera that I'll try to post.

The neighbors set up a little box with bedding in it for the winter and she gave birth in that. Smart kitty.

Sadly I only get to see them on weekends because it's at my parents' country house. Lucky I was up there for Easter!

But the neighbors live there full-time and they're taking care of the cats and I told them to handle the kittens often.

I hope they plan to have mama spayed as soon as possible because she will end up pregnant again before these are even weaned otherwise

Inbreeding can cause deformities and the hare-lip can affect nursing/eating.

Hopefully the mom cat will not move the kittens since you handled them. Many times, outside cats will move kittens (our barn cats did). We would find them and bring them inside for taming/eating, etc. at about 5 weeks of age. If not brought in that time and they were older, it was harder to catch them and tame them.

If the mom is confined where she cannot move the kittens then you can handle them every day (which is better).

Originally Posted by abnihon

my Dad has some pics on his camera that I'll try to post.

The neighbors set up a little box with bedding in it for the winter and she gave birth in that. Smart kitty.

Sadly I only get to see them on weekends because it's at my parents' country house. Lucky I was up there for Easter!

But the neighbors live there full-time and they're taking care of the cats and I told them to handle the kittens often.

Click to expand...

oh thats good then, glad they are beingtaken care of

pictures of kittens!





I'm on the left:





A fun fact about these kittens is that they're the nieces and nephews of my cat, Tiger! Tiger is the sister of the calico mommy. (we moved her to our apt in the city because she was the friendliest of the strays). Now Tiger is an auntie!

The kittens are gorgeous, as is thier mom....keep us updated!

I love the mommy, she is so pretty. I have kitten fever really bad. My husband had to go up to the farm supply store, and I told him if some farmer had a box of kittens to bring me home a calico. Suprisingly, he said ok. Your kittens are so cute.
Someone dumped a pregnant stray here once that had kittens and I was able to raise them and find all 6 a home. (I put her in my potting shed with a litter box and food and water, that way she couldn't have them in the woods and have them grow up wild) They were all steel gray like the mommy, but their little faces all had differences, you could definitely tell them apart. It was a lot of fun to watch them learn to hiss, jump, arch their little backs and pounce. It seemed every day they learned something new. I really enjoyed the time I spent playing with those kittens.

the mommy must not have liked us touching her kittens because she moved them into hiding and we have no idea where!

I hope they come out of hiding soon because if they go too long without human contact they'll be too skittish and we can't take them to the shelter to be adopted....

Such cute kittens! I hope you are able to find them soon so you can keep an eye on them and socialize them. keep us updated!

sorry if this sounds off . was there no way someone could bring her in or confine her? by the sounds it things are getting out of hand , is there not a rescue center that will spay/neuter all these cats outside? it will just get worse and worse.
good luck in finding them again , and i hope there all right.