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need some help!

post #1 of 4
5/22/11 at 4:33am
Thread Starter 
Hi all I need some advice on how to handle this, I had a feral cat momma have her kittens in my yard. She would not let me near them. After about 2 weeks she moved them in to a wood pile in the yard next door I still had no way of getting to them. About a week ago she called them out to start eating at my house. I did start to feed momma kitty. The kitties are now 8 weeks old and they still sleep in the wood pile. Momma kitty is now in heat she started yesterday. There is now a tom lurking around my yard. I am now afraid that the tom will hurt the kittens. What can I do? do you think that the tom will hurt the kittens? I had plans to get momma fixed but that won't be until the end of June.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
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post #2 of 4
5/22/11 at 6:01am
Welcome to the Forums!


Yes, the tom may be a danger to the kittens. Although the mom will try to protect them, and probably she will succeed. She will try to force them to hide when he is nearby, or to chase him away.
YOU shoulndt probably dont chase him away. The risk will be instead, as the mom IS in heat, she will follow him a long piece of way out - this giving new dangers for both her and the kittens.
What you possibly can do. IF there are several toms - chase away them who does look meanest, and let some young, friendly, courting tom be left... The risks of course lesser with friendly toms.

Is it possible for you to let the mom be spayed as soon as practically possible? At the end of juny she will be 5-6 weeks into pregnancy, the spaying possible, but no longer a piece of cake.

Tx for caring!

Keep us updated, and good luck for you and your protegées!
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post #3 of 4
5/22/11 at 6:13am
Thread Starter 
thanks for the advice. The reason I have to wait until the end of June is because around here they only offer free spay/neuter once a month and they are not having one this month because of Memorial Day weekend. They always have it the last Sunday of the month. I now have to wait until the end of June. I feel terrible that she might be pregnant, I do know that they will abort the kittens when they fix her. I am not really a abortion person. But if I wait until she has that litter then she might end up getting pregnant again before I can have her spayed. It's a no win situation.

Thanks again
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post #4 of 4
5/22/11 at 3:41pm
Welcome to TCS. Thank you for caring for these cats. Yes, the tom will be a danger to those kittens, and yes, the mom will get pregnant right away. Now would be the time to trap these kittens and get them into a foster/rescue network. They could easily be socialized and found new homes but have to be caught first. I agree that mom cat might be pregnant for that spay in June. This is so typical, especially this time of year, when we trap feral females. I try to think of it as saving so many more kittens from being born into a life of danger, uncertainty, disease, illness, and just fighting desperately to survive the outdoors. And, if she has more kittens, that will be more kittens you will need to trap and find a place to take them.... So you are doing the right thing. Just wish there was another TNR (Trap/Neuter/Release) program near you so you wouldn't have to wait till the end of June. Much luck with this and again, thank you for caring
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