Need help with stray new borns

A very young, very friendly, very pregnant stray showed up at my home a few days ago. Shee seems to have given birth last night. I looked behind a shelf I have in the backyard patio and found the pile of little kittens all piled up inside a small ~8 inch square hole in the concrete floor.

I'm not sure what I should do. I planning on getting a cardboard box, putting a towel/newspapers in it and try and transfer the kittens and mother to the cardboard box. But honestly, I'm not sure what I am doing and really need some guidance here. I havent even tried to touch the kittens yet.

Can anyone advise me? I'm kind of concerend about the way the kittens are all piled up, looks like there is no way they could feed in that hole.

I think a rescue is going to take the cat and kittens but they wont be able to pick them up for several days.

Please, any advice on what to do would be really appreciated.

Try setting up the box and putting just the mom cat in it. She may realize it's a better place and bring them to it on her own. A concrete hole isn't a good place to leave them--it can't even be that warm.

If you need to pick the kittens up, it's pretty safe to pick them up by the back of the neck (like the mom cat does) and then gently scoop up from under them with your other hand while you carry them. They are really not that fragile as long as you don't do anything obviously wrong to them.

Just be very careful on picking them up, try to read this, it might help you. http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-24.htm

I put the momma in the box but she didn't stay in and she still hasnt brought the kittins in. I'm getting a little worried cause I still havent seen her move the kittens at all, and there is no way she can feed the kittens the way they piled into that 4" deep hole. I heard the kittens making some noises but the mother cat was in the front lawn at the time. The momma looks VERY young. I hope she has the right instincts.

If it were me, I would try to get the kittens out of the hole they're in. Place them in the box and leave it very close to where she had them. Make sure to stay near where you can watch. You can go even as far as to warm up rice in a sock and put it in with them after they've been moved. Not like Florida is very cold I can't imagine, but the warmth of a rice sock will be comforting to them. Then, when mom comes back and sees and hears her babies, she'll know to go in the box. Once mom and babies are together, I would bring them in the house and lock them in the bathroom or a spare room if you have one.

Kittens are pretty stable even though they look so fragile. Just make sure when you do handle them, you remember that they're babies...unbreakable, but you would always use care when handling any infant.

Mom is going to need food in order for her to produce milk properly and raise healthy babies. I would make sure though, that she comes indoors with them.

I saw you mentioned the shelter coming for them but not right away. In order to save their little lives, get them indoors.

Good luck!

OK... I got her and the kittens in the box and thery're nursing, but I dont have a place for them inside (for a variety of reasons). I'm going to have to leave them outside.

I'll try and setup a barrier that the mother can cross and which the kittens cant. Comments are still welcome as I am not sure of what to do for the next few days.

Thankyou all for your replies.

They are so vulnerable outside, especially with a young, inexperienced mother. Chances are good that they will be moved by the time you wake up in the morning. Can't you even put them into your bathroom till the rescue group arrives?

Seriously, you should bring this family inside as quickly as possible. Take the box of kittens and the mom should follow.

Originally Posted by hissy

They are so vulnerable outside, especially with a young, inexperienced mother. Chances are good that they will be moved by the time you wake up in the morning. Can't you even put them into your bathroom till the rescue group arrives?

Seriously, you should bring this family inside as quickly as possible. Take the box of kittens and the mom should follow.

Click to expand...

I really wish I could put them inside but I cant. If this was my house I would not only bring them inside but I would adopt them all.

The box is currently under a work table which I've covered up with some plywood sheet and re-arranged some cabinets to create a small psuedo den. Its where she gave birth also. It's all under an aluminum patio roof.

I think I'm just going to go to local vet in the morning and see what they will charge to keep them until the rescue can get them.

Are you feeding the mother? If not, do run out and get a bag of kitten food and put some out for her every day. And a bowl of water.

it's wonderful of you to care about this little family. It's also and Honor that your home was Chosen as her maternity ward.

Let us know how you make out, if the vet will take them.

Welcome to TCS!

Yes, I set out a bowl of food at another part of the "psuedo den". I stayed up all night (literally) checking on them roughly every hour. Mainly a result of Hissy's post and Skewch's last sentence.


I have a new question:

I noticed some small stains on the towel which I think might be poop from the kittens. Do I need to do anything about that?

I would think its best to handle the kittens as little as possible.


thanks again for everyones comments.

They're adorable!!
The stains probably are poop, but Mom'll probably clean up most of it. All you really need to do is change the towels every once and a while. As long as Mom's comfertable with you handling them go ahead

Your such a kind person for caring for them and creating a comfortable enviroment for the mom. I hope you get to have at least of these little kitty's.

Wow, cute! Everyone looks like Garfield except for one!

How are they doing? They're so cute!! You've done an excellent job of providing protection for the mom and the babies in your situation. Just keep leaving out food for her and fresh water. Change the towels at least daily, if not more often.

Have you heard from the rescue group?

I think they are doing ok, though I'm pretty sure the mother cat has fleas. She is scratching quite a bit. Dont know what effect that is going to have on the kittens. Im reluctant to use flea spray in the area becuase of the kittens.
Also I notice the mom cat spending less time with the kittens and hanging out more around the yard. Dont know if that is normal or not.

The rescue said they would get back to me tomorrow thur. I dont know what I'm going to do if they cant take her and the kittens.

Momma cat taking a stroll this morning:

She's beautiful! Hopefully she's not pregnant again...
I wouldn't use any flea spray unless a vet okays it, because, like you said, it could harm the kittens.

Flea spray is probably not safe yet, but you could flea comb anyone that'll allow it--very gently in the case of the kittens, of course.

They're adorable and I'd give them all a home except for the fact that I have nowhere to put them.

This situation is really starting to stress me a bit.

I started a thread in the SOS topic which is related to this situation. Since that topic seems to be much less active than this one, I hope some of you will consider hoping over there for a moment and commenting:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...51#post2859651

I want to thank you all again for all your comments.

Ok, so the drama continues.

The kittens are about 5 1/2 weeks old and started climbing out of the makeshift den I created for them. I aquired a 36x24x24 wire dog crate and moved them and the crate into a home metal/fabrics shop. One of the kittens could not stand to be inside the crate and climbed all the way to the top getting her rear leg caught in between the wires. I swear I though she was going to dislocate her leg.

I then thought if I put momma inside with them, the kittens might relax more. Momma went crazy in the crate trying to get out. Spilled all the water, food,etc.. made quite a mess. So I just opened the door and momma and the kittens have free access to very dirty shop with plastic and metals filings/chips, fabric threads all over the place, and an awful lot of clumping litter residue (from my other cat) all over the place. I tried to clean as well as I could, but there are just too many knooks.

Now momma has nasty congestion and I am fearing she has URI. So some questions:


How can I get momma and kittens to feel comfortable in the crate?

Can I make the dog crate safer for momma and kittens?

Should I forget about the crate and just let them roam free in the yard ( BTW there are a lot of stray cats that come into my yard )?

Advice on the momma cats congestion? How to tell if it is URI? What precautions should I take with my house cat so she doesnt catch it too if it is URI? The kittens are still nursing; how at risk are they?

Some of the kittens use the litter box, but others are just peeing on the floor. Any tip to get them all to use the litter box?

Only one of the kittens seems interested in solid food how can I get the others starting to try the solid (wet) food?

How soon can I separate the kittens from their mother?

I really appreciate any advice you can offer cause I am just about ready to give up trying to save these cats and just take them to animal services.