Stray cat and kittens - what should i do?

There has been a stray cat and two kittens in the garden next door to me - I watch them from my upstairs window. The kittens are of the age where they are running about but they are still very tiny. The person who lives in the house is not there all the time and the garden is left wild. I don't think they know the kittens are there.

From a couple of weeks of sunny weather, it has now turned to very rainy weather. There was a very rainy night and when I looked in the kittens weren't there. I checked throughout the day and eventually saw the mother cat. She climbed in the top of a wheelie bin which has a slight fault in the lid. I noticed her going in and out throughout the day and wondered if the kittens had climbed in and gotten stuck. All day I still didn't see the kittens. This happened today. I couldn't decide whether to leave them alone and hope for the best or... since its hard to catch the person who lives there (though he usually is there once a day), write a note explaining that I thought the kittens might be stuck in the bin.

Its hard to be sure whether people will be sympathetic to a cats plight or whether I might do more harm than good by letting them know the cats are there. I decided they wouldnt survive long if they are indeed stuck in the bin (though the mother is visiting) so I put a note in the letterbox. Did I do the right thing

Welcome to TheCatSite

It wonderful that you cared enough to leave that note.
Those kittens need help.

Hello & welcome to tcs. Hopefully the person in the house will get in touch with you & if he doesn't want the kittens, to at least give you the option of taking them in. Good luck.

Today I saw the mother on the top of the bin and one kitten came out the top - but the other one hasn't been seen. I think the mother and the escapee went back into the bin with the trapped one. Maybe they will find their way out themselves. I haven't seen or heard from the person who lives in the house. I couldn't really hear the kittens crying when they were in the bin, though if I listened carefully I thought I could hear a faint meow. The problem is I'm going on holiday for two weeks tomorrow so it will be out of my hands. I can only hope the person that lives there will at least help them out of the bin.

Maybe you should contact a local rescue group for even the humane society.
You might want to post a thread about this in our Caring for Strays and Ferals forum.
Maybe members will have more feedback for you there.

Those poor kittens.
Thank you for caring.

PS....a Mod had moved your important thread to Strays and Ferals in the hope that members will have some useful ideas about how you can help this kitty family.

I saw the car there this morning and rang the bell and waited..... rang again and waited.... three times. I have a feeling he knew it was me and ignored it. I've seen the kittens out of the bin since but now I think there may be a third one because I could still hear meowing from the bin, though I could see two kittens playing. Its so frustrating when it seems you're the only one that cares - people say "who cares, they're only cats?" Its nice to find this site and at least know there are a lot of other cat lovers out there. Now I'm afraid he might "get rid of them". I can only hope they get out of there and have happy feral lives. I can't do anything else because I'm going away on holiday. I think they are too young to take from the mother - I wouldn't like her to come back and find them gone if they are taken by a rescue society.

I might consider adopting one if possible - I would have to convince my husband. I'm not too sure because my baby is 10 months old at the moment and going around the floor - maybe the worst time to take a kitten. I actually don't have a cat at the moment though I grew up with cats and love them. It might be more sensible to take a cat that is used to children or a kitten that was raised inside and used to handling. I have three children 8, 6 and 10 months. My husband is not a cat person - thats probably why I haven't gotten one yet.

Oh how wonderful of you to want to do something for these kitties!

I assume you mean Dublin, Ireland, not Dublin, OH, USA?

I'm sure I'm too late because you left for vacation today, but here are some links to rescue orgs in Ireland:

http://www.catchat.org/adoption/ireland.html

http://www.activelink.ie/irish/organisation.php?id=767

http://www.irishanimals.com/cats/index.html

If they're still there when you get back, maybe try giving a few organizations to call to see if they can help.

Have a safe and wonderful vacation!

Laurie