heartbroken in nnj

i have been feeding a colony of stray cats,not feral
(i have rescued 8 and all have been very tame,i could pet and get them to purr w/o hissing or freaking out)

my question is one of the females had a very large litter that i have been feeding since they were very young back in july

i went away for 3 weeks in sept.when i first got back they went nuts when i drove in the driveway and were very happy to see me.

2 of the kittens were no longer there.

i have not seen them at all and have been back almost a month
about 10 days after i got back another one paired off w/a kitten from another litter and i have not seen either one back there since.

just last week there were only 3 left,and you guessed it 2 of the 3 are no longer there and i have not seen them in almost a week.

it seems like when they go they don't come back

these are kitties i saw at least every single day for months

i do not think any harm has come to them based on the behavior i have observed
it seems like the day or 2 b4 they dissapear they kind of seperate themselves from the rest and do not even come for the food.

this is an area that is heavily populated w/lots of apts and dumpsters and therfore prolly several cat colonies

does the mother "kick"them out of the nest at 4-5 months?

this is the only thing i can think of

i have a mother and son that i rescued when the baby was 3 weeks old

at exactly 4 months mom would have nothing to do w/her baby

wouldn't let him nurse wouldn't let him near her hissed and groweled at him if he got too close

he was completely bewildered

these kittens are between 4-5 months old.

i am trying not to be too worried but going over to feed them w/these guys being missing just over the period of 4 weeks is very sad indeed.

any constructive input would be appreciated.

btw i rescued the last one b/c i noticed there was something wrong w/his mouth.

he is doing well and is a very nicely behaved mellow fellow,but i cannot keep him.

i'd say Mom was a saint for letting them hang around that long. some cats start pushing kittens away at 12-14 wks, depends on the cat i guess. so it's possible your kittens are just spreading out some, of course, feral cats have to live by the same rules as all wild animals. we took a semi-feral mom and her kitten inside and she went from doting to HATING them within a couple weeks. something just kicks in and they want to cut those apron strings, if only to get a moment's peace

so what's wrong with the cat's mouth? are you getting these cats fixed?

lets just say all my cats are spayed and neutered

kitty is doing real well and will be going to the vets soon

his mouth is healing up infection is gone

am giving him antibiotics

on closer inspection it looks like he has teeth comming in the wrong way

he had skin hanging off his bottom lip

but all is healed and he eats like a pig,although whatever is going on has not

hurt his appetite


funny but i never saw the mother cat act aggressively towards them.

i think it varies a lot, some moms may never really push the kittens away, but i couldn't believe the change in our cat, she did a total 180 on those poor lil kittens! they were so confused at first but quickly learned to avoid mom. they're all adopted out now, mom lives by herself and is reportedly much happier

can someone adopt these or help in some way?

i am in the double digits and can't even keep this little guy as much as it breaks my heart

there are 2 other kittens that are brother and sister that desperately need a home

the female is the cutest tiny little thing i have ever seen and is totally pathetic

don't know what happened to the mom have never seen them w/her

the female has a glazed look in her eyes and really does not seem to know what to do


she likes to run under my car and even when i start it up to leave does not move

yesterday b4 i left i looked under my car and did not see her,so i pulled out slowly and when i looked she had been under my car the entire time

it scared the s&%**t out of me

most cats bolt when u turn the engine on

there is an all white double pawed male that might be her brother,sometimes he is w/her sometimes not

the only other cats that i see are the adult female mommies and some of them can be very aggressive towards this little one

they will knock her over when she tries to eat,however she does get to eat

she has no one to hang out with

2 of the females had litters 2 weeks ago mabe,more that i am not aware of

i am completely overwhelmed

i feed them everyday and really can't afford that

i feel like i can't do enough for them

i have (obviously )contacted all the no kills in my area and of course they can't help

my vet was good enuf to take in 5 over the summer,but cannot take anymore as ppl are not adopting.

i rescued the litters of these 2 that were born last spring but am very concerned about the new ones (which i have not seen yet)b/c it has gotten so cold so soon

these cats need to be off the street

trap neuter release is not much of a solution when you are on a busy street

and that still costs money,it is not free.

i cannot take anymore in,nor can i foster.i am overloaded and besides i get too attatched and would end up keeping them.

taking more cats in is not an option.