Help!!

Okay....got adopted by a beautiful little stray......who was pregnant before we could get her fixed....gave birth in our garage last week to five beautiful babies.

So....for a couple of days....all goes well.....then one day....cat and kittens were gone. She found a way into the attic crawl space through the garage.

Two days later, there's a heat wave....and I catch her in the garage panting. Get her cooled down, but really worried about the babies up there.

Next door neighhbor crawls through attics for a living, so he goes up and can only find three kittens.....so momma and kittens come in the house....they get a nice comfy box....food, get cleaned up....I figured the other two had died.

In the middle of the night, theres baby cries......so I put momma up there toi find them....one on one side of house.....the other on the other side. There is not enough space where they are to have a person go up. I figured she would get the other two and bring them to the three.

I saw her pick up one and nurse it.......tried to leave her alone.....not sure if she found the other one and nursed it or not, but she came down into garage again.


How do I get the other two babies down??? The area that they are in is too small and too far from the access to get in there.....and it's expected to be really hot again tomorrow.


She seems happy with the three down here.....but got nervous when she heard the other two cry....

HELP...I cant stand to think of those babies up there dying.....do you think putting smoke up there like you do with bees would get her to bring them down?? I need ideas!!! Thanks!

No, smoking them out won't work. You'll just have to try to get them out. If you can see them you could try carefully getting them in a net - but it's risky. Another alternative is cutting whatever you can that's in the way to reach them.

Do not put smoke up there, she may flee and you will just fill the babies lungs with smoke

YOu may have to call a animal "removal' company to find the kittens and cut holes in your house to get at them. Where do you live? Some places the HS or ASPCA have people who can help with this.

Okay......no smoke. Can't cut my way to them....because I can't see them...and what prevents me from seeing them is a structural beam.

I don't know if this would work, but could you make another bed box like you have inside, put that in a safe corner in the garage, let momma cat see that, then let momma in garage - and perhaps she will move the kittens to the bed box? I don't know if that's a good idea or would work. that the little 2 kitties are able to be safely moved inside.

That or putting the momma and a box into the attic where you can reach the box and hoping she takes them to it up there and you can pull the box down

I tried putting momma up there and she goes to nurse one of them....but I haven't seen her go to the other. I don't understand why she wants to leave them up there....when she knows the other three are safe.....This whole thing is breaking my heart....

I live in California....and I will call the ASPCA as soon as theyopen this morning.....don't know if they can help or not, but it's worth a shot.

Have you tried with a box/bed though? She may think they're in a good safe spot but that could encourage her to move them. I would keep letting her nurse them now so they can continue to get nourished.

There really isn't a whole lot of room to put a box up there....I am trying to find something that might fit.

Okay......so on a trip to feed the babies.....she took one baby to the other.....still in an inaccessible area.....but right next to the beam. My son (bless his heart) was able to crawl down on the other side of the beam, reach his hand under and grab them.

ALL FIVE KITTIES AND MOMMA ARE DOING GREAT....and are locked in my daughter bedroom, where it is cool!!! Now....to litter box train momma.....sigh.


And of course...in a couple of weeks....a trip to the vet is in order.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR IDEAS!!! I was desperate when I found this place....and my first post was typed through tears. I was quite sure that we would not have a good ending and I am VERY HAPPY to be wrong.

Wonderful news to read Bless you all for being such a kind, caring family for that little family of kitties

Great news! Since it sounds like you're going to be taking care of them for a while, please do stick around. You can find a lot of good information in the pregnant cat and kitten section.

That is awesome!!!!!

You can find tips on here about the litter box usage with momma cat. Try putting some soil on top of the litter.

So glad to hear the 5 babies are all with momma now safe inside with you guys.

Whooo!!!

That's a huge relief!!!

NO KIDDING!!! It's SUCH a relief!! The momma is so sweet....and she used the litter box in the middle of the night....SWEET!!

The littlest one is so funny....she was the one from the attic....and when I pick her up she does a baby hiss......guess she's still pretty scared.....

Momma seems to trust me a lot. She came to me when she was in labor and I watched the babies be born....another reason that I was so heartsick about them being upstairs.

So....I guess I will have some babies to give away in a few weeks.....ANYONE INTERESTED???


LOL!!

Seriously....thank you so much for all your advice. I have loved cats since I was tiny.....but have never had to deal with a pregnant and nursing momma before. I have always had them spayed before they get the chance. It's kind of interesting at this stage of my life to have a new experience with cats.....

You will want to make sure the babies go to good homes where they will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated and well cared for - when i am at home I will pull the threads for tips on homing kittens

There is an adoption agreement you can use here: http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF/...nAgreement.pdf

Tips here
http://www.theanimalspirit.com/adopt.html
http://www.theanimalspirit.com/free.html

Thanks, icklemiss!!!