Help!!! The X-Pack is orphaned!!!

Mommy escaped the house! She wouldn't come near us when she was in the room, how do we get her back??

The room we have them in is really hot, so when my husband was in there, the window was open with the screen on it. She NEVER moves an INCH when we're in the room, so it SHOULD have been fine. But for whatever reason, this time when he moved she panicked, bolted, jumped on the screen and it fell out!!!!

She was JUST getting better at eating and feeding them! I don't want them to be bottle babies, mommy is SO much better for them, but what do I do?? How do I catch a feral that I couldn't catch in an enclosed room???

Please, any help or vibes to get mommy back would be really appreciated!!

Thank you!

No, I don't have traps. And it's nearly midnight here, so I can't call any groups for help. I have a court case tomorrow during which I have some people caring for them, and then I will start making phone calls to groups to see if they can bring a trap or something.

Maybe even a surrogate mommy if we can't find their real mommy? Too bad Natty already has surrogate babies!

Thanks for the vibes and prayers! I sure hope mommy hears them and listens...

I hope she does too. How awful. A trap ASAP can be rented from some hardware or feed stores. Maybe the person caring for them could pop out and get one.

Hi,

It sounds from your posts that you got the momma cat and kittens from a shelter. Maybe you could call them and see if they can help.

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by CC12

I hope she does too. How awful. A trap ASAP can be rented from some hardware or feed stores. Maybe the person caring for them could pop out and get one.

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I am going to try see if I can get a TNR group out here, they should have traps they like to use. I don't know all the tricks. I keep thinking if I put the KITTENS as bait, that should work, but no way I can leave them outside alone!!! If a TNR group can't come out ASAP, I will definitely try to rent or borrow one. Thank you for the tip!!!

Originally Posted by moonb

Hi,

It sounds from your posts that you got the momma cat and kittens from a shelter. Maybe you could call them and see if they can help.

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Yeah, I got them from a rescue group. As most rescue groups are, this one is ran by volunteers, so they can be hard to get a hold of. I've left them a message, but they haven't called me back, so not sure they got it yet. I will call them again when I get home and see if they have any tips or things they want me to do.

I just hope she's ok!! I feel SO GUILTY!!!

I'm so sorry to hear about your momma cat leaving. It's not your fault so stop feeling guilty! Obviously you need to try to catch her, but if she is feral this will be very hard to do. In the meantime, the kittens need proper care. If you are able to had raise them that is great, if not you will need to find a surrogate mom. Maybe the rescue you got the cat from has another recently born litter, and you can add these kittens to it? Or a local shelter or some other local rescues may know how to deal with it? I really hope you find a way to deal with this, good luck!

While you are waiting to get a trap, if can you see the momma hanging around the house, you might put some food out to let her know where to come for food. If at all possible, make sure she sees you put it out and then retreat back inside to watch. Hopefully she will come to eat when she sees you leave the area. This way she will make the connection between food and both you and your house. Once she makes this connection, there is a good chance she will return often to eat.

I'm sorry to hear about this! But like others have said, don't beat yourself up about it, it's not your fault. If Natty wasn't taken I would offer! Bottling them should be okay as long as they've gotten the first couple days of mom's milk for the antibodies. My Natty doesn't have enough milk yet so I'm having to half bottle feed my fosters.

Until you get you hands on a trap get some smelly cat food, or perferably tuna (in water, not oil) warm it up a bit and set it in the middle of you yard and wait a while... she may show up. You may want to do this at night, cats seem to roam at night. You could also try catnip, sprinkle it all around your yard and keep an eye out! If there is any way for her to get under your house that is probably where she is, lokk under there with a flashlight-their eyes glow.

Thanks guys for all your good thoughts! I REALLY need them right now...

As promised, I called the rescue group again when I got home, and this time she answered. She obviously never got my message about what happened.

To make a long, sad story short, she was extremeley verbally abusive and made it quite clear that it IS my fault. She went as far as saying "I knew I should never have given them to you, I had a bad feeling about you." And "If anything happens to those babies, so help me..."

I mean, I knew I'd be in trouble, but everything she said was SO painful. And I expected her to offer solutions and try to help. Instead she just yelled at me and told me I'd better find her. I told her I'm really sorry and she said "YOU?? What about me??"

What really gets me is that, as I said in my first thread about these guys (http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=168436), she told us "mommy was an "outdoor cat", but in the sense that she is a stray and an older gentleman was feeding her". Here's an excerpt from my original emails with this group: Experience: None. Would prefer healthy for the reason stated above, and not feral or semi-feral due to lack of experience.

Now, keeping that in mind- that they told me she was just an outdoor cat and NOT feral, and that I specifcally said NO FERALS- listen to this: When I told her how it happend, her reaction was "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?? SHE'S FERAL!!!".

What's really sad is that I really was enjoying fostering. This is my first time and it was a great experience. Now I've spent the last 4 hours bawling my eyes out and desperately trying all my resources (not many) to catch a feral cat I couldn't catch in the house... I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep again.

The only good news is that since mommy was a bad mommy to begin with, we were already supplementing, so they are semi-used to bottles and this isn't as big of a shock as it might be to them. So despite her threat to me, they are being well taken care of. Mommy would be better for them, of course, but they're not that bad off.

So PLEASE keep sending vibes that mommy returns to her kitties!!

PS- sorry for any typos, I'm really upset now...

Originally Posted by laureen227

for you

about the idiot volunteer! if that's her attitude towards volunteer fosters, her organization's doomed for failure!

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I agree, and I'm sorry to hear about everything that's going on. Hopefully you'll find some way to catch her soon.

Some people only deal with animals because they have zero people skills. Others because only animals would ever want to be around them. Others, still so they can be in control because they can't control people. This woman is an abusive jerk. I can understand her being upset but she should have been upset for you and with you.
They dropped the ball leaving you with a feral. People who have experience with ferals should have been fostering a feral Queen.
The abusive jerk should have taken some responsibility for her organization instead of scapegoating you.

A trap and some yummy food should bring her back. If not then bottle them and try to find a surrogate if you can.
It is okay Evie. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT.

Ok don't even give this woman a second thought BelongsToEvie, she's obviously got a lot of issues and took it out on you, which was TOTALLY unfounded. I almost feel sorry for losers like her.

Anyways, I was just thinking, after reading a few people's posts of how their pregnant cats really responded to kitten noises from YouTube videos etc, and maybe this could be a way to attract momma cat if she's still around? Like maybe play kitten noises through an open window and have the trap nearby. I don't know, just a thought, probably a dumb one!

Good luck, sending your way!

I can't say on here what I'd have said to that terrible woman! It was not your fault at all! The babies will be just fine on the bottle, I just pity that you'll have to give them back to that horrible organization when they are older.

Mommy is back!!! SHE'S BACK SHE'S BACK SHE'S BACK!!!!!

THANK YOU TO YOU **ALL**!!!! We all know the power of TCS vibes, and this is my first personal experience, but they WORKED!!! There is NO other way that I could have caught one specific feral cat with my ZERO experience with out the knowledge I learned from this site and YOUR AMAZING VIBES!!

I'd hug each one of you now if we were in person!!

We just caught her about 15 mins ago, and I used every trick I could find here on TCS, including your good input (including your idea, catmomma, which obviously isn't dumb!!!!!). So THANK YOU!!! She is now back with her babies. And we'll NEVER open a window an inch in there again!!

So now my husband is calling the rescue lady back to tell her the good news. I will be no where near him when he does this, becuase he is going to ask for her to apologize. I don't really want him to- I am loving fostering these guys, and if she gets mad, she'll ask for them back. But, she is rather unbelievable, so I'm not sure I want to continue to work with her anyway.

So, we may have to give them back a few weeks early, but mommy and babies are reunited, so I am happy!!

I'll miss them if they leave early, but we'll see...

THANK YOU again!!!

(Sorry for all the caps, I'm just SO ELATED!!! )

Congrats! That's wonderful!

That is wonderful news! But on a practical note, you may need to ask yourself if she could now be pregnant? Cats can come into season very soon after giving birth and it is one of the main reasons for them leaving young kittens. You may have to think about spaying her quickly - it odes not necessarily affect them feeding the kittens, though you should tell the vet and ask him to be extra careful about the incision and stitches. I have just had my foster mom, Charlotte, fixed and two days later you would not know she had had it done and the kittens are suckling, though they are older and also eating kitten food. But well done, and good luck.

Thank you all! I don't think I could have got her back without this site and your vibes.

Originally Posted by jennyranson

That is wonderful news! But on a practical note, you may need to ask yourself if she could now be pregnant?

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Oh yes, I am pretty sure she is. She was gone for 47 hours. As I mentioned before, my husband called the rescue group, but gee, she didn't answer again. That is one of the things that we (me, hubby, and the jerky rescue lady) were well aware of when she first escaped. So, if lady ever calls me back, I'll let them arrange her spay. I already spent nearly $300 on these guys, they can take care of the spay!

If she is pregnant and the group doesn't arrange for her spay early, then either the group will have to deal with aborting much older fetuses, or they will have to deal with finding another foster home for her and her new babies. They obviously won't use us again...