4 Feral Kittens... I'm Lost!

I tend to consider myself very knowledgeable with cats. But I am so lost now. We have three ferals we've been taking care of. Momma Cat is an all black long haired cat. She had a gray tabby awhile back, we named him Little Tom. Then she had a black kitten we call Little Scoop. We've been talking about getting her (and the other 2) fixed, and now she's always up under our feet so its a good time to just pick her up and put her in the carrier. Except that she had 4 other kittens. And we finally found them today, behind the shutters leaning on our front porch (right under our noses for 2 months!).

I know kittens have a much higher chance of adoption than adults, so I called the local SPCA to see if they could take them in. But first I had questions, because I dont have the heart to give them up with risk of euthanasia. They told me they'd put them on a 5-day quarantine, fix them when they weigh enough (one is 1.7lbs), then put them on the adoption floor. But that they had no guarantees and euthanizing was possible either before or after they hit the adoption floor. I mentioned having them returned to me if they were up for euthanasia but she kept darting away from that with the "no guarantees" answer. So I couldn't leave them there. Rob and I would rather they be able to live. I emailed the manager of that SPCA, telling them I am willing to fix them on my dime (shelter I volunteer for does free TNR fixes, but I would donate plenty of items to them for doing so), and to ask them if I could be notified if I brought them in and they were not adopted.

I am not really able to foster, and the SPCA asked me about doing so, because of my three indoor babies. But I've brought the 4 kittens into the weight room, put a litter box, food, water, and the kitty cube I bought for mine (which they havent used in forever and I now store toys in) with a blanket. I was sitting in there for a bit, but now am leaving them to get adjusted. Rob would like to try and socialize them ourselves. My friend, who fosters for the SPCA I volunteer for (but am not in the proper county for them to accept the kittens), told me to list them on craigslist after they are fixed, and charge a small rehoming fee. Of course, browsing there just now broke my heart.

I'm feeling guilty about it, for not getting Momma Cat fixed sooner. I want these kittens to find homes instead of keeping them as outdoor ferals, but am willing to do so if I must to save their lives. I guess I just need advice on what to do or some options, as I'm totally lost right now. I'm taking Momma Cat, Little Tom, and Little Scoop to be fixed this week, and these 4 as soon as they are of weight/age.

AWWWW to you and Rob for taking them in. So I am guessing they are about eight weeks old? Eating on their own? I wish you lived close to me, I have a great no kill shelter near me that will take the kittens and they WOULD get homes right away. The kittens go so darn fast, shy or not. They just get adopted quickly. I would think that the SPCA would have no problem adopting them out. Are they hissing/spitting at you? I imagine they are, but in a short time they will come to rely on you. As soon as they are two pounds in weight they can be fixed. Don't be hard on yourself for not getting Mom cat spayed sooner. You will do it now and that is what counts . I would keep working with the SPCA to get assistance with medical care, if you did offer to foster them for a couple of weeks till they are more socialized, then all of your medical bills will be covered, so you could consider this if only temporarily. When the kittens are two pounds or more and more socialized, there is no reason they wouldn't get adopted out. Don't worry, you are doing as much as you can and the best you can for these kittens. I know it is hard, but we can't keep all of the cats we rescue, you might have to let them go to the SPCA. They will have a good chance there. Alot of these shelters/rescues don't want to stay in touch with people who relinquish animals to them. They just want to take over and not deal with the emotions from people, you know what I mean. I had this same experience once, and got very upset with a shelter. But did find out from another resource that the kittens I brought in DID get homes.

Now, you could go the TNR route and try to find them homes on your own too. But, do ask for a donation that could go to some cat rescue in your area. You are doing a great thing for these kittens and give you alot of credit for caring .

They guesstimated 7 weeks old, and all are eating on their own. They grabbed one and s/he weighed 1.7lbs so they estimated they all are close to that. My FIL is apparently a cat whisperer, and I walked in to find him holding the one I'm sure is female. The other 3 are hiding in the corner. They have been munching on the cat chow I feed the outdoor ones - probably what they've been eating since Momma had them. I looked on the SPCA's foster info page, and may go that route (where I keep them until they are adopted to be sure they aren't put down).

I just want to do things right for them. So far I think I am by trying to socialize them and get them fixed so they cant become a larger part of the overpopulation, and not risk being put down - since the SPCA said they may not even make it to the adoption floor depending if they got sick being with other strays. There are 3 black ones and a tortie (one my FIL was holding). Of course I'm a softie for black cats, as I have 3 of my own

Two of them have hissed/batted at me so far, they're kind of cute when they do it. They also run away from me, the Tortie just freezes in place and lets you hold and pet her. I imagine it will take some getting used to for them, just like it did for my other 3 ferals that I can now pet regularly. Thanks for the kind words, I feel so new to trying to actually foster an animal and prepare it for a new home, as I've only ever adopted cats from shelters (and as a kid, our cat had kittens and we kept a few of them from birth).

They sound like very adorable kittens . You are wonderful to be caring for them. That would be the way I would go, foster them through the SPCA and they will pay for everything. It is sad that they told you that if the kittens got sick they might pts . Most kittens going into the shelters do get an URI. The shelter I foster for want us to keep the kittens in foster care until they are twelve weeks and have had three distemper vaccines. Thus minimizing them getting sicker.

That's great your FIL was holding one . The other's will see that and realize that humans will not hurt them. Keep holding the friendly one in front of the scared kittens for a day or so. Then just start trying to pet the other little ones. The sooner the better . It sounds like they are enjoying their food and eating well on their own. So that is great news. I think you will really enjoy this wonderful experience. It is so rewarding to see the little feral kittens coming out of their shells and to start trusting. Enjoy the process and good luck working something out with the SPCS for the little ones.

So I stopped by the SPCA I volunteer at, and it turns out they have county restrictions on fixing ferals as well. So I'm paying $85 a cat for Momma Cat and Little Scoop (the females) to be fixed on Friday. They almost didn't want to list them as ferals, because I can touch them now - even though it took many many months to get to this point, but I cant imagine it would cost any different than it does. I will wait until they run a special to get Little Tom fixed, and now I guess I really do need to look into the fostering program for the 4 kittens because that's going to be expensive as well to fix 4 of them! While I'm not really hurting for money and can afford to feed all these cats, this is an unexpected expense compared to what I thought it'd be! Unfortunately, my county is the only one in the tri-county area that doesn't do a TNR thing. They bring their fixes to the one I volunteer at and it'd cost the same. Hopefully Momma & Scoop wont be hard to contain overnight in the large kennel carrier on Thursday.

The kittens are getting slightly better. I can pick up the Tortie most of the time (because she's always at the bottom of the pile, and freezes in place!), and my husband was holding her last night too. This morning he went in and held two of them. When I went in to feed and water them and scoop the box, they were in their "kitty totem pole" in the corner. Last night I could tell they were getting a bit more comfortable in the room - when I went to check on them before bed, two were laying on a weight bench and two were laying on top of the kitty cube (of course not in it! ) Two of them keep hissing but are quiet once held. They do struggle a bit. One of them is easily distracted with wet food I learned.

Hopefully this will all have a positive outcome, as I'm learning along the way!!

kittens are pretty easy to adopt, you might consider doing it yourself. these guys sound right around the right age to socialize normally to people too, so they will make good pets.

if you can't foster, have you looked around for a no-kill shelter nearby? is there any way the SPCA would take them then alert you if any don't get adopted before killing them? then again i wouldn't trust a kill shelter to hold any cat for any amount of time ...

you might also look on petfinder for nearby rescue groups. if they can't foster they might give your kittens listings on their petfinder site, that's a n excellent way to find good adopters.

Aw, thanks for fixing the adults and fostering these kitties!

I'd work on getting them adopted out, even though you'll "officially" be fostering for the SPCA. It reduces you worry level, and just helps them do their job.

I am bummed to hear that your county doesn't offer a TNR program. I am hoping that TNR becomes more prevalent in this country. I volunteer for a great organization in my area called Feral Fixers. They started in the Fall of 2007 and to date have TNRd 2,734 cats in our county. Just amazing results and very impressive. They are becoming very well known in Illinois and have made a HUGE dent in the feral cat population. Wish you had something like that available to you.

The kittens sound like they are coming around to you quickly. Each day will get better than the next with them becoming more friendly and relying on you for their food and comfort. I bet you will be able to find homes for them quickly when they are a ready.

Regarding the little ones, my friend found a family of 3 feral kittens in her back yard last year. When we found out that the rescue groups wouldn't take ferals I decided that they would be tame no matter what. Even though they hissed and threatened, I picked up each one of them several times a day and held them until they stopped acting that way. I also brought toys in (they lived in the spare bathroom) and played with them. Within 4 days they were as tame as any non feral kitten. My friend kept the mom, who is still quite feral, and one of the babies. The other 2 went to a foster's home with a local kitten rescue.

I have my own set of 3 ferals at home who are 2 years old now. One is tame, 1 is semi-tame and 1 is untouchable. I wish I had used the same method on my 3 when they were babies rather than waiting for them to come around. I recently started to "force" myself on the adult semi-tame cat with great results. Instead of making her more frightened, she has started soliciting attention from me and letting me hold her.

So I guess what I'm saying is, handle them as much as you can now, regardless of any hostile behavior on their part, so that they have a better chance of adoption now, while they are so unresistably cute.

Originally Posted by jimmylegs

if you can't foster, have you looked around for a no-kill shelter nearby? is there any way the SPCA would take them then alert you if any don't get adopted before killing them? then again i wouldn't trust a kill shelter to hold any cat for any amount of time ...

you might also look on petfinder for nearby rescue groups. if they can't foster they might give your kittens listings on their petfinder site, that's a n excellent way to find good adopters.

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The only "no-kill shelters" are two organizations that foster animals out (they dont have a true "shelter" location to take them in at). One of them focuses mainly on mature and special needs animals, and the other is not in my county either. I asked the SPCA about alerting me if they do not get adopted, and they danced around the question with "no guarantees" when I'd ask those questions. I may call the in-town foster no-kill group and offer to keep these ones as fosters if they will list the kittens on Petfinder.

Originally Posted by Feralvr

I am bummed to hear that your county doesn't offer a TNR program. I am hoping that TNR becomes more prevalent in this country. I volunteer for a great organization in my area called Feral Fixers. They started in the Fall of 2007 and to date have TNRd 2,734 cats in our county. Just amazing results and very impressive. They are becoming very well known in Illinois and have made a HUGE dent in the feral cat population. Wish you had something like that available to you.

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I am quite bummed as well. When I was volunteering at the large shelter (that I'm getting the adults fixed at), they came in to ask for advice on recruiting volunteers now to return TNR'd cats to their locations once animal control brings them in to be fixed (animal control cannot return them to the location themselves). I wish my county would follow suit, but the only shelter is so small they don't have sterilization facilities on site. I think that the larger shelter SHOULD offer the discounted feral rate through them though since they use the same place. They were telling me about the grants they get and that they dont really apply to out-of-county, yadda ya. I have a coworker willing to take in the kittens for sterilization when they are old enough and use her address (in the correct county). I just worry if they are tame enough by then the SPCA will refuse to consider them feral (because of the repeated mentioning of "well you can handle your adults, but we'll still list them as feral as a favor."....even though it didn't cost any different!)

Oh that is so frustrating just to hear! Even if the ferals are friendly (and believe it or not, some come around fast to humans, almost as if they want that connection) our organization will still give you the TNR rate. It is $35.oo per cat. They are labeled "friendly feral" on the crate. The SPCA near you should be more cooperative with the community in helping good and caring citizens such as yourself to S/N all ferals, friendly or not. Hope your co-worker has some luck in helping you with the kittens.

I also want to totally agree with what Ellsworth said. The way to socialization of a feral is to always push the envelope a bit with these cats as far as learning to be touched. Most always, if you do not, then you might never be able to touch them. Some will never willingly come to you. You might be waiting forever When I socialize a feral kitten or older cat, they are kept in a large cat enclosure until I am able to reach and pet them and they are accepting of it. Then and only then are they moved to their safe room.
Progress is much faster if done this way. Continued success with your little ones

Well the evening has arrived to try and get Momma Cat & Little Scoop contained for their spay in the AM. I got Momma Cat and put her in with her kittens. At first they foofed up at her, then suddenly attacked her with kisses and purrs and they all started suckling her and were much calmer with me in the room again. Little Scoop is on to me and I have to find a way to get her in the large kennel (and find the door!) and cover it up tonight. She's currently off gallavanting somewhere.

Two of the kittens hiss at us still, and the little tortie gets a little hiss in here and there. They're eating good - been bringing in some wet food along with the chow. I feel like I've gotten nowhere still, though I try and remember how long it took me to get the other 3 ferals to allow me to pet them!

My fingers are crossed all will work out positively. I'm feeling stressed about the spay appointment, worrying I cant catch Little Scoop, and can almost feel the relief of it being over - except then I have 4 more kittens to worry about after that!

Tara!!! I feel your pain . The stressful part to me is the trapping/capture because you have the appt. usually the next morning and the pressure is on to GET that cat . That is sooooooooooo sweet that the kittens are reunited with mom for tonight. How cute! You should get some pictures if possible . Much luck still tonight on getting Little Scoop!!! Just SCOOP her up wish it were that easy, HUH... Don't fret about the spays tomorrow (think of all of the lives you are saving by doing this ) This is the best thing for them and a big thank you and a big for doing this. Keep the updates coming

Momma Cat and her kittens were incredibly adorable this morning - she was laying on a seat from a car we have in the room, and her kittens were all piled on top of her. She wasn't too hard to get in the carrier, though she was very unhappy about it and told me so the entire drive to the SPCA. Even her kittens were shocked and had little angry faces. But the good news for them is that she'll be back tomorrow and they can all pile together again. I took some pictures yesterday and will upload them after work

Little Scoop was not a success story this morning. I put some food down to distract her (I can pet her while she eats but not really approach her if she's not). I scruffed her and my hubby opened the carrier - wooo we put up a fight! I received a nice slice in my palm and some on my feet but held on until she twisted out of my grip and ran back out down the steps. Well that was my one shot. I tried setting Momma outside but every time Little Scoop saw me she ran to the other side of the porch. Then took off across the yard into the woods. So, she's a work in progress. We are going to clean off the huge dog carrier and find the door, then put the food in there next week and see if she'll walk in it. That, or she'll have to start trusting me again and I'll end up breaking the trust for a 2nd time!

I was extremely bummed and frustrated this morning when she got out of my grasp. But I'm trying to think positively - at least I got one in for her appointment, and thats one less female that'll have kittens. It's not the end of the world that I didn't catch Little Scoop (and yes, we named her that because my hubby and I call little kittens "scoops" because you can just scoop them up with one hand! ... when they're not ferals At the time she was the small kitten bouncing through the yard.) I'll have other attempts to get her, some how, some way!

Posted some pics in the pics & vids forum:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...92#post3068192

Little Scoop hasnt returned yet after this mornings traumatic experience. I'm sure she'll be back though - i have the food! The kittens were slightly less skittish before, but are still very hard to approach without them scattering and then reconvening in the corner behind the weight rack.

Oh thanks for posting the link!! They are just gorgeous, black sleek kittens. Very darling faces . You are doing a great job, and mom sure loves her kittens. Great Cute "scoops"

So sorry about you having no luck with Little Scoop. . Also, feel bad you were scratched up a bit Don't worry at all, she will be back. Do you have a hav-a-heart trap? I can't remember if you said you did. That could be another option for you instead of the crate method. I am sure you will see her very soon, and you are right, she knows where the food is

I saw Little Scoop at my in-laws house (behind ours), but she's been back on our porch. She keeps her distance now. I do not have a real trap device, but it looks like I may need to call either the foster that had Hoshi before we adopted him (she told me if I ever got to TNR'ing, they have traps they loan out) or the lady at work - she's always TNR'ing and re-homing.

One of the kittens seems to have a food aggression - he was growling at batting at the little tortie girl. Two of them are still less frightened of us than the other 2 - one is a little mean thing (unless you scruff him when catching him), and the other is unsure of everything still. I feel like I'm not making a lot of progress with them adoptable-wise, but its only been just over a week I guess!

It is amazing how different the kittens personalities can be in the same litter. I rescued three kittens last summer (the remaining kittens that were born in a horse barn that I could not find homes for....) and their personalities couldn't be more different. Presley was also food aggressive in the beginning. Don't worry, the kittens will work it out, just make sure the other's are getting their share. If not, you might have to feed the aggressor on the other side of the room and if that doesn't work, you could always try to feed that one in a crate separately. This way the other kittens will be able to eat. This is just normal kitten behavior .

It sounds like you have two great options for getting a trap! Much luck with Little Scoop Sending more vibes for you finding homes for the kittens....

An update:

My feral kittens are doing wonderfully. Three of them are all over me constantly, and escaping their room in the house quite often when I go to feed them My cats follow them around curiously. One of them made it all the way into the living room (3/4 the way across the house!) before I caught up to him, only because he was staring at the fan. I call that one my Little Buddy, because he was the 2nd one to become attached (the Tortie, Little Girl, was the first to be mostly okay with people). They're putting on some weight, I'm pretty positive they're of the proper weight to be fixed now, though age is still up in the air. I do not think they were 7 weeks when we found them, probably only 5, putting them around 8 weeks now, and at the prime of their cuteness!

Rob is ready for me to list them for adoption. Part of me is attached and wants to keep one, because I think it's wonderful how we took them in, socialized them, and "raised" them! But at the same time, I never thought toooo hard about 4 cats. He just sort of looked at me when I said that I told him I'm convinced he's distanced himself from being around them too much so he doesn't get attached himself! I'm trying to get my MIL to take Little Girl - she adores the coloring of her fur, and told me this weekend if she had to pick one to keep, it'd be her. It would be nice to have one of them living right next door! My FIL and that kitten took to each other pretty quickly - the first day I had them, he carried her around everywhere! Still working on her to say yes

I'm also thinking that if I can manage to adopt these ones out, I want to think about fostering for one of the shelters in the future. It'd be easier than this, for one. At least I don't have to do the hard work on finding homes, and fix them! We are thinking of building a large garage/studio area on our property, which would leave the room in my house that the kittens are in now as an extra space anyway with no particular plans for it. My friend fosters and says it gets easier the longer you do it, which I believe, and I receive the foster alert emails from the SPCA I volunteer for because a guy I work with is signed up for them and always forwards me the emails now.

I'm now trying to think of a way to have these 4 fixed without breaking the bank. My friend suggested adopting them out with a spay/neuter contract, stating that they have to get them fixed by a certain point. Not sure how I'd enforce that, but Rob likes the idea too. I also thought about putting an adoption fee of about half the sterilization cost to lessen the amount on both ends. I emailed one of the foster network shelters in my town, asking for any help or advice they could provide, but they have yet to respond.

First of all YAY !!! I am so happy to see your update and was thinking about the kittens just last night wondering. It is just impossible not to get attached, especially the way they came into your lives. I can honestly say that for me, four cats is sooooo easy. But I am a high energy person and have actually had six cats years ago at once. So I actually have room for two more . It would be special to keep one of the kittens . I sure hope your MIL will take one too.

My suggestion for the spay/neuter would be to call a local shelter/rescue/TNR organization. Whichever you can. Explain the situation that these were strays you took in as feral's. The TNR group should accept these kittens and help you get them fixed. That is how it has worked out for me. I trapped three kittens in December and socialized them as well. I was still able to get them done through the TNR organization and all are in loving homes now. The TNR org. is very accepting of people trying to find homes for the feral kittens and you don't have to "release" them back outside to be able to get the TNR fee. Most orgs. are pretty open-minded about this. The problem comes in, when people do just get a free kitten on their own and try to pass that kitten off as a feral and try to take advantage of the TNR programs extremely low fee, which is usually $35.00. You can ask them about not doing the ear-tip, but most org. will require it. But you can ask for the V-tip which leaves the length in the ear but takes out a "V" in the middle of the ear instead of the straight across cut. Just some suggestions!! Good luck and glad to hear the kittens are doing so well