3 feral kittens, 1 got away

I have 3 feral kittens and a mom who just moved in under my deck. I plan to foster them, take them to the vet and adopt them out, and get the mom spayed (if I can get a trap and catch her).

the kittens are probably almost 12 weeks because they are eating dry food already. I was even able to pet them while they were eating and even hold the black and white one. I don't have a trap so I put out a big cage a few days ago and was putting the food inside. tonight they went inside the cage to eat, and i was able to shut the door behind them.

everything was going well, they were calmed down and eating. except i forgot to have a water dish in there, so when i opened it, all hell broke loose and the black and white one escaped. she ran off but then came back out with the mom right outside the cage. i could kick myself for letting this happen.

i don't know if i should let the others go and try again after they all calm down. Or should I try to get the escapee back in the cage while keeping the others in? I don't have another cage right now...

any advice would be great. thanks.

Originally Posted by kittysback

I have 3 feral kittens and a mom who just moved in under my deck. I plan to foster them, take them to the vet and adopt them out, and get the mom spayed (if I can get a trap and catch her).

the kittens are probably almost 12 weeks because they are eating dry food already. I was even able to pet them while they were eating and even hold the black and white one. I don't have a trap so I put out a big cage a few days ago and was putting the food inside. tonight they went inside the cate to eat, and i was able to shut the door behind them.

everything was going well, they were calmed down and eating. except i forgot to have a water dish in there, so when i opened it, all hell broke loose and the black and white one escaped. she ran off but then came back out with the mom right outside the cage. i could kick myself for letting this happen.

i don't know if i should let the others go and try again after they all calm down. Or should I try to get the escapee back in the cage while keeping the others in? I don't have another cage right now...

any advice would be great. thanks.

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They are surprisingly agile and strong, so it is easy to come surprised by them.

I would not let others away, it would be really difficult to get them after that, you really would need some other cage, it is really impossible (well at least very difficult) to keep them inside the cage while trying to get another cat in.

Probably best would be if you could get a trap, droptrap especially is handy to catch mother cat and a kitten at same time as mother cat is probably already suspicious while seeing little ones in cage.

However it is not always possible to work with optimal resources.

Thanks... I do wish I had another cage. Although, at this point, I'm ready to just go buy one at Petco and be done with it. I'm going to look into getting a droptrap. I have a little cubby in my garage where I can put the kittens and let them spread out with a litter box and food/water. Hopefully just letting them calm down tonight will be ok. once I get the 2 inside tomorrow, I'll be able to use the cage again for the other kitten. she's still under the deck with the mom, and their washing each other. hopefully she will go back in the cage on her own. if not, i'll try a droptrap.

Kittysback don't be discouraged they will go in the trap again! The same thing happened to me one of the kittens got out when I tried to transfer her to a carrier because I only had the one trap and then hoped to trap her sister. Then when I trapped them both...I was lucky and both walked in the trap together...the back door was loose and they escaped again! I was so frustrated but did not give up. It's all about the food! Get them good and hungry. I wouldn't feed them the day you're going to trap them and put either tuna fish or sardines in the trap around dusk and sprinkle a trail of food both outside and inside of trap to entice them in. I would invest in trap that sets itself and yes it would be best if you have 2. If there's a feral cat rescue in your area they usually will loan out traps. I borrowed 2 traps from friends and once I trapped one kitten it only took a short time before the other one went inside the trap. One rule I had to learn from others who successfully trapped was never try to transfer the cat/kitten from the trap or open the trap for any reason, only release it where you plan on keeping it. The two door trap would be ideal in trying to trap mama and kitten both, but if you get two traps and trap mom first place the trap you're using for kitten directly in front of mama while she's inside of trap, in other words place mom who's inside of trap behind the kittens trap. This will help get kitten inside of trap because she'll want to try to get to mom. I also trapped a mama and her 2 babies that were living under someones deck. It was very stressful and alot of work but in the end it's very rewarding. The mama came around within a week and is a sweetie and her 2 babies will be placed up for adoption. Your lucky because the mama and babies wouldn't let me touch them at all. It took alot of hard work and patience but they are all coming around. I wish you luck and thank you for saving them!

Thanks Judy! Gosh it really is stressful. I try to remind myself that what I'm doing is good but it can be so hard to see them so upset in the cage. And then to lose one after I had them all calm on the cage. The first litter I took in a year ago went so smoothly, I was lucky enough to have a friend who was looking to adopt 3 kittens and she fell in love with them. This is my second litter where I had to do the cage and the kittens were so scared. And these ones look so sad looking out at their littermate. But I know its just temporary and they'll be well soon. Tomorrow I will try for the kitten who escaped and reunite them and get them on the road to being adopted! Thanks again!

Well good news, I was able to borrow another cage. It's twice the size of the one I have with the two kittens in it, so I'm going to use it as their temporary home until their vet appointment on Monday. I'll use my original cage to trap Houdini (that's his new name, although, I'm not sure of its gender yet!)

This does require me to transfer the two kittens from one cage to the other, but I can do that inside where they won't get lost or escape. Hopefully I can have Houdini in with his littermates by tomorrow. I'm also working on getting a trap for the mom. I know she won't go into the cage, so she'll have to get trapped somehow.

My nerves are shot, but it'll be worth it I hope. I already have a really good friend who is very good with scared kitties who wants to take the orange one, so that makes me happy.

Originally Posted by kittysback

Well good news, I was able to borrow another cage. It's twice the size of the one I have with the two kittens in it, so I'm going to use it as their temporary home until their vet appointment on Monday. I'll use my original cage to trap Houdini (that's his new name, although, I'm not sure of its gender yet!)

This does require me to transfer the two kittens from one cage to the other, but I can do that inside where they won't get lost or escape. Hopefully I can have Houdini in with his littermates by tomorrow. I'm also working on getting a trap for the mom. I know she won't go into the cage, so she'll have to get trapped somehow.

My nerves are shot, but it'll be worth it I hope. I already have a really good friend who is very good with scared kitties who wants to take the orange one, so that makes me happy.

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It is helping if you can keep door facing up so that they can't simply run out, but they must jump which they don't do so quickly, they usually will estimate landing area first so it takes a bit longer for them to actually launch big jump, also as velocity upwards will be slower than when they bolt to running it is easier to react, of course they are not also too willing to jump if you are above of them.

I wish you lot of luck for capturing of Houdini

Things sounds to be progressing really great over there

Originally Posted by JTbo

It is helping if you can keep door facing up so that they can't simply run out, but they must jump which they don't do so quickly, they usually will estimate landing area first so it takes a bit longer for them to actually launch big jump, also as velocity upwards will be slower than when they bolt to running it is easier to react, of course they are not also too willing to jump if you are above of them.

I wish you lot of luck for capturing of Houdini

Things sounds to be progressing really great over there

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Thank you for the vibes!!! It worked! They are all together!!

I was able to get the two into the bigger cage... I just lined them up door to door and they ran in! Blocked the opening with cardboard while I shut the door. Still scared and a little wet from rolling in their water all day, but they're on a nice warm blanket now.

And I was super lucky that Houdini walked right into the original cage. This time I shut the door and kept it shut -- until I did another door to door transfer and all three are back together!

They have food and water and a litter box but they look really miserable. I'm just going to give them some time alone, to let them calm down.

Thanks again everyone for reading and for the suggestions. It has helped so much you have no idea.

Now the mom is outside my garage crying. I can't get a trap for her until Monday. The kittens are miserable. I go in and talk to them but if I try to slowly pet them, they cower away. The Orange one will hiss, the other two haven't but they still look so sad. I cant believe I had them licking food off my finger when they were living under my deck, and.now this.

I wish I had an extra room in my house but its so small and I have 4 strictly indoor cats inside. I hope they start to warm up to me.

12 weeks, IME can be old for a feral. I've had mixed results getting them at that age. It may take a bit longer for them to get comfortable with you and I certainly wouldn't bring them inside without their tests first.

Why can't you try to trap mama with the extra cage?

Originally Posted by RAFM

12 weeks, IME can be old for a feral. I've had mixed results getting them at that age. It may take a bit longer for them to get comfortable with you and I certainly wouldn't bring them inside without their tests first.

Why can't you try to trap mama with the extra cage?

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I can certainly try. If I don't feed her the rest of today, maybe I can get her to go in it. I've never seen her go in, and I'm afraid as soon as she hears or sees me, she will run right out before I get the cage door shut. Maybe I can rig the door so I can shut it after she goes in. I've never captured an adult before, will she freak out when she realizes she is trapped?

Stick to hold door open, some cord to stick so you can pull it while being hiding, also food only in cage, of course that would require that door will lock up when closing. From my experience they can lift door that slides down.

When I captured 2nd kitten of my Mauku, she did disappear that night, came back after few days though, raccoon trap works incredible well from my experience in capturing of mother cat, kittens I got captured inside of house one by one.

If you have a box that has lid, you can put it upside down to create a drop trap, just need to tie lid to box from one end, put stick on other end to keep one end of box in air, then long cord to stick, also enough weight on top of the box so she can't jump it open, transferring from cage is not the easiest thing of course, but if there is hole cut to box it would be easier, just bit difficult to make hole covered so that she does not escape trough it when trapped, they are very strong and don't feel any pain in panic or so it seems at least.

She will panic when you trap her but don't try to trap her without a plan for what you are going to do ie. Get her spayed and release.

Whatever you do, when she is in the cage, DO NOT put your hand or finger in the cage. Even if you think she has calmed down enough don't do it. Bites on the hand are extremely dangerous.

How old does she appear to be?

I think the mom is about 3 or 4. I vaguely remember her as a neighbourhood kitten when we moved in. Catching her in the next few days would be optimal because there is a mobile spay clinic at a nearby shelter on Wednesday.

I may try the string attached to the door idea. If I can pull the cage door hard enough it should latch.

Thanks for the tips!

From experience, do lot of test trappings without a cat, if she escapes while trying to trap her, it will take time to be able to try again and same location + trapping device is probably not going to get her so soon as other trapping device and location.

When I did capture my Mauku she panicked so badly that she shred thick cardboard and broke all claws on her paws while trying to go trough the trap, so they can be rather surprising in attempts of escape.

Great job kittysback reuniting all the kittens Don't worry with hard work and patience they will come around, especially if you were already at the point they were licking food off your finger. Don't feel bad because they're safe now eventhough it's hard to separate them from mom. I had feral mom and her two babies together in my basement and tried to socialize together but learned it was impossible since mom was so protective of them. I felt horrible when I took them away from her, but now she's purring, playing and gets the chance to act like a cat herself! When you get the trap on Monday for mom place a blanket over it so it's less suspicious to her. You don't want it to look like a trap. Also remember to withold food if you're continuing to feed her and place a trail of tuna or other fishy food outside and inside of the trap. I was lucky and trapped the mom first, the kittens we alot more difficult and after one wk and escaping twice I was beyond stressed out! I also was going to name the tabby who always found a way out Houdini or Blaine after David Blaine You're doing a great thing by getting mom spayed and finding homes for her babies. Keep up the good work and good luck!

Hi! And thanks a bunch for helping feral cats. BTW twelve weeks is NOT too old for socialization. Not by any stretch. I have socialized many young ferals much older than that. Personality plays a part as well. For the mom, tie a rope to the door and run it through the sides of the crate slats. The rope should be at least twenty feet. This is a more difficult and lengthy process to trap an adult. You have to be waiting for her to enter that crate then pull and pull hard to keep the door closed and reel in that crate and then latch the door. She will be freaking out. But she needs to get spayed or there be more and more kittens. You can also try to call a local shelter or animal control and ask to borrow a Havahart trap. Will be much easier on you for trapping her rather than the crate and rope method. Much luck to you Keep us posted.

Thanks you guys. They had their vet appointment yesterday. The vet gave them eye drops for their goopy eyes. But she wouldn't give an antibiotic because they haven't been sneezing and don't seem to have any nasal discharge. But she told me to watch and if they develop that, to call and she'd give an antibiotic.

The orange kitty couldn't be examined because he was very terrified. Attacked and bit the vet tech, hid under the table and tried climbng the walls. He's going to need A LOT of time to be socialized. I am able to pet him and feed him from a fork, but he freaks out as soon as I try to hold him. I was able to give him the eye drops though without holding him, so that was good.

The other two are very calm. I can hold them and pet them, even though they are still very scared. They haven't been eating much, but I'm pretty sure they have worms. The vet gave me meds but I can't give it until tomorrow because they just got their first vaccination. I hope they start to perk up a bit.

I have the cage set outside for the mom and she's been going in it to eat. I'm going to give it another day or two, and then try the rope method.

Thanks for the good vibes!!!

This all sounds wonderful!

I'm sure orange one will learn too, when others grow to like from petting, when he hears how others purr he might try to tolerate just a bit.

I have these two around 1 year old boys, that I have known from time when their eyes changed colour and they started eating solid food, however then they did run when seeing me, they have been inside the house around 6 months and I'm trying to teach them to be picked up, have been able to do so few times, but kitties show their displeasure when I'm doing that, almost immediately they jump off, it has been only few months that I have been able to be petting them, progress is slow when they get older, but at 12 weeks should be still rather easy, you are already as far as I'm with these after a year.

Good luck with mother cat too, it is as always with mothers (human or cat), they are quite clever, so be careful

Thanks JTbo!

Just an update on the kitties... been giving them their eye medicine and spending a few hours with them each morning and night, petting and talking to them. They are still sluggish and not eating much. I talked to the vet and she wanted a stool sample. We know they have roundworms, but she said they might have something else and will give a liquid/oral dewormer. I hope that they aren't sick. I may try to get some catnip and try to play with them a little.

I still haven't been able to hold the orange one, but I pet him as much as I can and try to get him to eat.

Good luck with your two babies too! 6 months inside?

When I adopted my inside cat Shadow at 12 weeks, he wouldn't come near me and hid everywhere. So I kept him separated in a small bedroom and I slept on the floor for two weeks. For the first several days he hid up inside the bed, but by the end of the two weeks, he was coming towards me. Now, over 3 years later, he can't sleep at night unless he's snuggled next to me in my bed. Good luck and way to go with them!