six feral kittens/no mum

kitkat58

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Hi I am new here but needing some information .

Next door there was a mother cat and six kittens living under an old car in the neighbours yard. The neighbour had the mother trapped by the animal control and so she is not there now but they left another trap to get the kittens.

Thing is I always have seen the mother out with her kittens everyday. they are around five or six weeks and play when she is out.I was feeding them just yesterday.They wont come near me but will nibble on canned food. I throw over to them. I saw the mum eating this morning but not the kittens. I have not seen them all day. They have not gone into the trap that is there with food.

Just wondering if the mother might have taken them somewhere or could the male have killed them. I went over and tried to see them under the car but no tires so it is right on the ground and it is a piece of junk.could not see or hear anything.I would not mind takin them in to find a home for them .The neighbour said they dont care but want them out of there.

I am worried that they will die if they are too scared to come out or cant be caught.
 

ldg

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Thank you for wanting to help these kittens!


I think I understand from you post - it's not that the mom has been released after being trapped, it's that she was there this morning and has since been trapped?

In answer to your question, if someone was poking around their nest, she may very well have moved them before she was trapped. At 4-6 weeks old, they will be hard pressed to make it without her, though if 6 weeks, they should be eating on their own, giving them a better chance of it.

I doubt the male killed them at this point, though it's not beyond the relm of possibility. Most males kill kittens only to make the moms go back into heat.

If I were you, I'd put food out where they're used to eating. If you can take in 6 kittens while you find them homes, we can help you through what to do.


...you can also search for a shelter or someone other than animal control to help, if the neighbor doesn't care.

What's animal control like where you live? Some places they aren't jam packed right now, so they don't necessarily kill the cats/kittens right away. Where we live, animal control takes them to the county shelter, and they will keep friendly animals for one week. "Feral" (read "scared") animals get put down right away.


...but in some places, animal control officers are nice, and are perfectly willing to let someone local handle the situation in order to give the cats a chance - but as the neighbor called animal control, it would be dependent upon them to let the officer know they're OK giving you some time to get all the kitties.

In the meantime, if you want to see if you can find a shelter that will TAKE them and place them, not kill them, or if you want to see if there's a foster network out there that will take them, foster them, and then adopt them (these kitties really must be fostered before being adopted - they don't know people aren't scary yet, but at their age, it won't take long once they're inside), here are places you can search:

http://www.pets911.com This looks like a pet lost & found site now, but if you type in your zip code, you can then search for shelters, low-cost spay/neuter services, and groups to help feral animals (if they have any listed in your area).

You can also go to http://www.petfinder.com. Search on "cat" in your area. A long list will come up with lots of pages. Each cat has an organization listed with it. Each organization has contact info somewhere. You can conduct an e-mail campaign explaning the situation to see if they have foster space available or if they can direct you to someone or an organization that may. Do bear in mind that most organizations are under-staffed and under-funded, so many may never respond, or some may take a while. When we did it, we went as far out as a 3 hour radius from where we live. We contacted 22 organizations or so, and got 2 or 3 responses, one which was able to help.

...but most of the contact e-mails are personal addresses, so it REALLY helps if you write down somewhere the name of the organization and the e-mail address associated with it, so that when someone does respond, you know which organization they're with.

If you want to foster them yourself and get them adopted out, the best way to get them inside is to trap them. They'll socialize MUCH faster inside - they're also much safer inside.
Many shelters or local vets will lend a trap. You can also talk to the animal control officer and find out what's up - most likely they will not let you foster if they trap, even if it's a good animal control officer. Usually township/county policies prohibit that.

But we've got trapping tips.

Most importantly, if you're not going to trap them, it's important not to feed them. But if you want to help, and neighbor and animal control officer are OK with it, then I'd start putting food out at a very regular time and the place you want to trap them.
 

StefanZ

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I agree and second with all that said above. LDG is excellent at such advices!


One more thing, as it wasnt clear for me.

IF there is a trap awaiting for them, dont give them food elsewhere. As the risk increases they wont go into the trap and this food in there...


And yes, contact the animal controll and tell them you are willing to participate in giving them help, so the risk is lesser the cats will be pts immediately.



Welcome to the Forum!


Good luck!
 
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kitkat58

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Hi and thanks
Yes yesterday she was trapped in the later morning by animal control here in Canada.

I didnt know any of them were even over there till last week. I started a couple of days before the mum was trapped to feed them. There is still an animal trap out there with food from the animal control to catch the kittens. The neighbours want them taken away.

They have to call animal control to tell them i would take the kittens in but dont know if they have. It is on their property.

Also i have not seen the kittens since day before yesterday.Only saw mum out there eating food I had left but animal control came and left a baited trap and she was caught. The food I had left was picked up.

I was out there this morning and the kittens are still not around. .

How long can kittens hide ?. I am afraid they will die in that car or freeze to death as it is starting to get colder here.I am not sure if they are five or six weeks old. I saw them eating little tiny bits of food I had thrown out to them. But I have seen them nursing with mum a lot too in the sun.

They were toddling around playing etc day before yesterday. .
 

ldg

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They need food, and you're right, they won't last long. The only way to attract them is with food. They're probably scared out of their wits without their mum around and hiding, but hunger will drive them. Being nocturnal animals, they will most likely only come out in the dark at this point.

At dusk, try putting out stinky food - something like sardines. And perhaps, if you can, boil chicken in nothing but water, and put out some warm broth with shredded chicken in it. Set it near the trap. Talk to your neighbor if you must, to get permission.


Leave the food out for two hours, and check it every 1/2 hour to see if any's been eaten. Hopefully there aren't other animals around - this will attract them.
 
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kitkat58

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Thanks I will try that. There is food in the trap the animal control set but must be getting stale by now. I looked in the trap also and the food has not been touched at all.

I have not seen them for two days
I fear they must be dead. Do you think the mother could have killed them? Maybe she was in competition for the food I had put out before the animal control caught her..

I know nothing about cats obviously .
 

ldg

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I doubt she killed them - in fact, I've never heard of it. The feral moms here always let their kittens eat first.

the kitties are alive and will come for strong smelling food - which they likely desperately need if they made it this long. Cats are amazing animals, and with you wanting to be an angel for them, I hope they make it to you.
 

krz

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Doyou know what animal control was going to do with the mom cat? I hope they were not going to euthanize her, that would be terrible.
 

nekochan

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If the mother was trapped the kittens may have been scared away by that, or they may have wandered away since mom was not there anymore.
 
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kitkat58

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I have not seen the kittens since last Sunday afternoon. On the Monday early morning I saw the mother eating food I had put out.. Later that same morning the animal control left a trap and she was caught and taken.

I thought it was strange that they were not out with her that Monday morning early playing as they always were before. This is why I thought she might have killed them .

I have been out at night looking in the yards under wood piles etc and have not seen a trace of them. I put a dish of sardines right under the old car and the next day it had not been touched.

The trap is there but animal control has not come back. The food in there is gone bad by now and untouched.

They have simply disappeared.
 

killerapple

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Hmmmmm, do you think there's a chance animal control did see the kittens when they took momma cat and didn't tell you...? The kittens may have came to her when she was in the trap.

Was momma cat a friendly approachable cat?

I find it strange that they are not monitoring the trap closely. If they would want to catch her, they should be making sure the food is fresh and also not leaving it unattended, in case a kitten or another cat gets trapped.

I'm sorry, this must be so stressful for you.


Let's hope for the best. Maybe someone else knew about the kitties and rescued them??

You are wonderful for caring about those little babies. I will keep thinking happy thoughts.
 

StefanZ

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Luckily there is an update thread.

They got found and are alive and fairly well. The Human Society do have them now.




Otherwise I was also beginning to have black thoughts...
 
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