Turns out my new place has tenants...

rolenta

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The new place I'm moving to in two weeks has a cat living under the house! She also has two kittens. This is out in the country and the house hasn't been lived in for two years, so I'm guessing that the mother was abandoned by the previous owner (the owner also left three sheep and a llama, so I guess abandoning animals is no big deal to her
) and I'm guessing there are only two kittens because all the other kittens she's ever had get eaten by the residence family of great horned owls before they get big enough.

Anyway, the mom seems sort of friendly. She won't let you pet her, but she'll sit a few feet away and curl up and squint her eyes at you. It seems like she's accepting, but cautious of people. She also keeps going to the sliding door on the deck as if she expects to be fed or let inside, which is very sad, because it has obviously been a long time since anyone did either!

As for the kittens, they have obviously never ever had human contact. I'm no expert, but my best guess is that they are about a month old. They are obviously still very dependant on mom and never go farther than a foot or so from their little den.

So... what should I do? I will have two indoor cats of my own, so how should I work this? I plan to have mom spayed and then maybe try to rehome the kittens, but I think they need human socialization very soon or they will be feral.
 

kitytize

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I would probably try to catch the kittens and socialize them.
 

tnr1

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So... what should I do? I will have two indoor cats of my own, so how should I work this? I plan to have mom spayed and then maybe try to rehome the kittens, but I think they need human socialization very soon or they will be feral.
First..even if mom is friendly....use a humane trap to trap her. It will protect you if she gets scaered and it will protect her. I would plan to have her spayed now. She will still be able to nurse her kittens and it will prevent her from becoming pregnant again.

Feral kittens (kittens that have had no human contact) can be challanging to socialize so you have to be willing to put a lot of time into it and allow the kittens time before they are placed. Some kittens socialize within days...others take much longer. I would advise not placing them into homes until they are not only comfortable around you but also around strangers.

Katie
 
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rolenta

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Thanks for the advice. I officially took possession yesterday, so that was the first time I was able to be there for any period. I fed the mom but the kittens seem to have disappeared... I wonder if they died. Mom was so skinny, maybe she couldn't nurse them anymore... we'll have to see.
 
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rolenta

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Ack! I went out there today and it turns out there are four kittens. I've been feeding them and mom, too. She'll eat out of a dish that's between my feet and even if my hand is on the dish, but she won't let me touch her.

The kittens are much much worse than I thought and older than I thought as well. They are really really wild. I left the sliding door open to let the breeze in and the screen is broken, so two kittens actually got in the house and it took me at least half an hour to get them back out again because they were absolutely terrified and herding cats is not fun! One scratched me. I couldn't even get close to them. I think now that they've had that experience, they're even more afraid of me...

Ugh... what to do?
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by Rolenta

Ack! I went out there today and it turns out there are four kittens. I've been feeding them and mom, too. She'll eat out of a dish that's between my feet and even if my hand is on the dish, but she won't let me touch her.

The kittens are much much worse than I thought and older than I thought as well. They are really really wild. I left the sliding door open to let the breeze in and the screen is broken, so two kittens actually got in the house and it took me at least half an hour to get them back out again because they were absolutely terrified and herding cats is not fun! One scratched me. I couldn't even get close to them. I think now that they've had that experience, they're even more afraid of me...

Ugh... what to do?
Borrow a few humane traps and set them up to trap mom and kittens. The kittens (if over 2 pounds) can be spayed/neutered and mom can be spayed. At this point, continuing to feed only means that you will most end up with mom becoming pregnant again (if she isn't already) so it's the most humane thing for you to do to get her in so that she won't have to worry about carrying anymore litters of kittens.

Katie
 
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