A little about me - I like cats a lot and have had cats before but currently don't have one - although that may be changing.
The mother is a stray calico that I have fed all winter. She became pregnant in Feb. (when she was still too wild to catch and neuter). She had the kittens outside and moved them around several times (including into a neighbors attic via climbing a tree!). She remained affectionate to me though and still came here to eat. I started leaving the door open hoping to encourage her to come inside and look around which she eventually started doing. I prepared a closet and left food and water there and every time she came to eat she came inside and made the rounds. Sure enough, at just about exactly 6 weeks she brought 4 kittens to the house one by one and led them right to the closet. So mother and kittens have a small room and closet to themselves. The mom goes outside several times a day so I have a 26 inch high barrier blocking the door to the cat room so she can jump over but the kittens can't - yet.
I want to get the kittens used to people and to find homes for them. I've been picking them up and cuddling them once or twice every day with some success - they only hiss at me sometimes now and they don't run into the closet anymore when I come in to the room.
The immediate problem is this. The mother sometimes sits outside the barrier and calls them in an attempt to get them to jump over. I figure she is giving them a 'training lesson' so I haven't been interfering but they will be over the barrier any time now. When they do, should I just go ahead and let them into the rest of the house or should I put them back in the 'cat' room with a higher barrier blocking the door? They are 7 1/2 weeks old now and are good at using the litter box - but if they are exploring in the far end of the house I wonder if they will go all the way back to use it? Judging by the amount of litter that I take out of the box every day they are peeing very regularly!
Thanks so much and I hope this wasn't too long,
Bill Moon
I'll put some pictures here but I can't figure out how to do it yet. If the picture is in my computer how do I get a url for it?
The mother is a stray calico that I have fed all winter. She became pregnant in Feb. (when she was still too wild to catch and neuter). She had the kittens outside and moved them around several times (including into a neighbors attic via climbing a tree!). She remained affectionate to me though and still came here to eat. I started leaving the door open hoping to encourage her to come inside and look around which she eventually started doing. I prepared a closet and left food and water there and every time she came to eat she came inside and made the rounds. Sure enough, at just about exactly 6 weeks she brought 4 kittens to the house one by one and led them right to the closet. So mother and kittens have a small room and closet to themselves. The mom goes outside several times a day so I have a 26 inch high barrier blocking the door to the cat room so she can jump over but the kittens can't - yet.
I want to get the kittens used to people and to find homes for them. I've been picking them up and cuddling them once or twice every day with some success - they only hiss at me sometimes now and they don't run into the closet anymore when I come in to the room.
The immediate problem is this. The mother sometimes sits outside the barrier and calls them in an attempt to get them to jump over. I figure she is giving them a 'training lesson' so I haven't been interfering but they will be over the barrier any time now. When they do, should I just go ahead and let them into the rest of the house or should I put them back in the 'cat' room with a higher barrier blocking the door? They are 7 1/2 weeks old now and are good at using the litter box - but if they are exploring in the far end of the house I wonder if they will go all the way back to use it? Judging by the amount of litter that I take out of the box every day they are peeing very regularly!
Thanks so much and I hope this wasn't too long,
Bill Moon
I'll put some pictures here but I can't figure out how to do it yet. If the picture is in my computer how do I get a url for it?
