Semi-Feral Mother and Newborn Kittens

P3 and The King said:

That is awesome!!  She knows you want to help her.  She knows that's why you've put the traps out for her.  She is just scared and unsure what to do... I would do just that... Take the crate with you next time, all nice and comfy and just calmly scoop each baby and put it in.  I would do it asap and not wait.  That way the others won't suffer the same fate as the poor runt.... She will follow, you won't need to scoop her in mostl likely.  But you might have to.  But this is a wonderful development!  Good luck!!  She knows you want to help her, remember that... She seems open and very much willing to let you help her.  This is awesome!!

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I think I'll continue trying to catch mama first... I just feel more comfortable that way. If it comes down to it, I may try babies first 

sylviacastle said:

I would say that the mother is pretty aware of what you're doing, and probably is ill-disposed towards you, she doesn't know you only want to help.  If I were you, I would leave her and her kittens to get a sense of safety, and perhaps come by each day at the same time, don't make any noise, maybe croon softly so they get used to your voice bit by bit.  Leave a little something for mom to eat.  Hopefully in awhile when you return, you will see that she's eaten it.  You should be able to gain her trust, and that of the kittens, within the weaning time.  Then you may be able to pat the mom and she may let you hold the kittens.  Putting any of them into a cage doesn't sound like a good idea, it'll take a long while for her to trust you that far.

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I think she's starting to warm up and trust me more.. Here's for hoping she's continues to progress! I'm trying to take it slower now so she'll learn to trust me 

P3 and The King said:

Hmmm?  She said she is making progress and momma cat is welcoming her help.  What is this about?  And the cage is only to move them to the place she has set up for them.  I have used a dog crate as a nest before for momma kitty and her babies.  It works just fine.  If you cover it and make it cave like, it's even better.  It should be more than fine.
 

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Yep! 

Here's the pretty girl and her adorable babies 

Hey, if she is letting you get close to her and even pet her with her babies there just go ahead and do the crate solution.  She is wise to the trap and she most likely will not be trapped while her babies are still out there.  So just get brave and take the crate asap to her, get the babies in it and she'll follow.  No trapping.  No problems.  All is done and all is well.  Trapping is stressful, not just for you but for her too.  If she trusts you and obviously she does if she lets you get close enough to take pictures, just go get her and the babies without traps!!  Good luck!!!

P3 and The King said:

Hey, if she is letting you get close to her and even pet her with her babies there just go ahead and do the crate solution.  She is wise to the trap and she most likely will not be trapped while her babies are still out there.  So just get brave and take the crate asap to her, get the babies in it and she'll follow.  No trapping.  No problems.  All is done and all is well.  Trapping is stressful, not just for you but for her too.  If she trusts you and obviously she does if she lets you get close enough to take pictures, just go get her and the babies without traps!!  Good luck!!!

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I would totally agree. I have never personally trapped a Mom with kittens before, but it is a very stressful experience for the other adults I have trapped. With this feral I have now I have had to take her to the vet a few times because she stopped eating. I didn't even try to wrangle her just picked up the kittens and placed them in the carrier that already had a soft blanket in it and she followed them right in. Much less stressful on all parties involved. Also, take a towel with you and cover up the whole carrier while you transport her home- she will feel less exposed. If she was looking at you while with her kittens and the nest is still there tomorrow, she trusts you on some instinctive level. 

Keep us posted on what you decide to do! 

I'll have to try that idea! If all else fails can I put the kittens back in the nest, knowing mama will probably move them? I see her around enough that it shouldn't be too hard to find where she moves them.

AWWW OMG what adorable babies. She is not a feral cat by any stretch. She would never allow you to come up to her that closely to shoot pictures. I would start immediately feeding her inside of a crate for one day or so until she is willingly going in to eat. ONly feed her inside the crate. Set up the crate near the nest where you were sitting and taking pictures. I would use Fancy Feast canned food - a real treat. Just let her eat in the crate with door propped open for a day so she is comfortable with it. Then shut her in and latch quickly. She will be upset. Have another small carrier to place all of the babies in and bring them all inside to the large crate that you will already have all set up for this beautiful family. These are just my suggestions and that is what I would do. I would do this quickly so you can get the kittens inside and the momma inside so they will be safe and sound. The momma cat will probably make a wonderful, loving pet for someone who has the time and patience to bring her around again. She must be an abandoned, lost kitty. AWWWW THey are ALL so precious. THank you for rescuing them. Good luck. :cross:

If you cover the crate and make it cave like, she will probably NOT move them.  If she does move them, it will be because of some smell or some noise she doesn't like but it's not like.  However, she trusts you and she is not stupid, she will know her babies are safe, so you shouldn't have any problems other than falling in love with her and her babies!

I just want to ask, are you hesitating because you are not really sure you can do this?  It's not hard work.  Just keep her happy and the babies, get them socialized by holding them and playing with them.  She'll do everything else. 

Well, I went today with intentions to get them all. I walked over to peak in on the nest after seeing mama wandering around a bit. With a feeling of dread, I looked into an empty den! Not even the dead kitten was there.. 

It doesn't end there, no worries!! I just happened to catch sight of mama moments before she took a huge jump into my neighbor's open window of his trailer. Of course, I slowly, cautiously, quietly followed her in and found her with her kittens in the far back corner behind the last divider. She just so happened to be laying right by the escape door, so I got out and walked around. I opened it slowly, talking to her the whole time so I didn't catch her off guard. Of course she was a bit panicked, but reluctant to leave her kittens.

With the escape door cracked open a bit, I sat in the dirt and talked to her for a while. Taking my time, I eventually got close enough to touch her paws and her babies. She calmed down and was purring and kneeding! Eventually I was able to rub behind her ears and totally pet her kittens and even pick them up to situate them around. This is for sure the first physical contact she's had with people.. I know her whole past (all in the OP). I gave her a can of fancy feast wet food (how perfect- I already had it for them!), and she ate it faster than I've ever seen a cat eat! I didn't realize how skinny she is until feeling her while I was petting her.. poor girl is being brought down by all her growing kittens! She burned through two cans of wet food and a good amount of dry food. She really liked me by then, after hand feeding her dry food and giving her tons of wet food while she nursed her babies.

After sitting with her for a good while and just talking to her, I finally got up the courage to, one by one, move her babies into the crate I had set up right by the escape door. Of course, she got very concered when her babies started crying for her in the crate. She jumped down out of the trailer and reached her neck in the crate. I expected her do go right in, so I didn't take that chance to push her in there. She then walked around the crate, under the trailer, and disappeared! I waited for a bit, expecting her to come right back to her now quietly meowing babies. Nope! Nuthin'..

I got up and looked around after waiting for a bit, and saw her laying in the shade of a tractor. She looked totally content, just laying there and relaxing! I didn't want to just leave her babies in the crate with all of the other cats roaming around, but was afraid to put them back in the trailer in case mama didn't go back for them for whatever reason. So, I picked up one of the kittens and walked toward mama. The kittens was crying loudly by then, and the mama came running over before I reached the tractor. I let her sniff her baby, then turned and slowly walked back to the crate. She was meowing to her kitten who was still meowing very loud. I stuck the kitten back in the crate, and mama jumped into the trailer escape door, looking around. She was confused and craning her neck, looking around with wide eyes. She jumped down and very hesitantly reached into the crate. She still had one leg out, but her mouth was around the crying kitten's neck, about to turn and leave with the kitten. I quickly closed the door, and, with shaking hands, got the crate closed! FINALLY!!!! After all failed attempts, I GOT HER!!!!!         

She was, of course, freaked out. She was doing everything she could to get out.. Sticking her paws through the door and and sides and "digging." So I ran over to the porch where the cat food is and grabbed a towel and put it over the crate. She was calmed down and purring by the time we loaded her into the car to take her home.

Once we got her home and in the barn house, it was a bit of a challenge getting her and the kittens in the bigger crate that was set up for her. I left her alone for awhile.. she was laying in her litter box while the kittens slept. Every time I went in there, she was still laying in the litter box.. but the kittens were still asleep so I figured they must not be hungry yet. Well, it was about 6:30 when I got her situated in the barn house, so by 9:00 I wanted to get her out of the litter box and over to her babies. There was a "hump" in the big comforter I put in there between the mama in the litter box and the kittens at the other end. Was it possible that she didn't think her kittens were in the crate with her? They had been crying loudly when I first put them in the crate, so I thought she must have know they were just at the other end of the crate. Regardless, I lured her out of the litter box with a can of fancy feast (after attempting to push her out didn't work). As soon as she got up on the "hump" in the comforter, she went straight to her babies, ignoring the food. I flattened out the comforter, so now the whole crate floor is the thick comforter, with her food, water, and litter box by the door.

She's now happily nursing her babies, much to my relief. She's being a good protective mama, growling when she feels I'm invading her space. I've left her alone to care for her babies, and I'll go check on them once again before bed. 

Hope you all enjoyed reading that novel! It's hard to summarize when so much happened in such a short span of time! I've only had my cell phone for pictures, which doesn't take good pictures at all.. I promise better pics later!

From what I could tell, there are 4 girls and 1 boy! There's 3 darker ones, one being very dark (the current runt I believe), with cute light faces around their stripes, and two, bigger lighter ones with hints of orange on their cheeks. They all have very pretty bengal-like spots on their tummies, too!

















in the transport crate



Sleeping in the litter box! Before I changed the comforter



Hard to see, but the kittens sleeping behind the comforter hump



You can see how maybe she didn't know the kittens were there?

This is just the most awesome news ever!!!    Just give her time to get over the confused feeling... She'll forgive you soon enough.  But she obviously realizes this is for the best and she and her kittens are safe, otherwise she wouldn't be so "relaxed."  Oh and she probably moved them because they are making more noise and other "predators" out there, not you.  If she moved them because of you, she wouldn't have allowed you to take them in the first place!!  Now the fun starts.  Just make sure to hold the kittens everyday some.  As much interaction as she'll allow you, of course while she is eating herself is the best time.  Good for you!!  So happy!!! 

Wow is all I can say!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, so much for updates!!!

I was so sad about the one baby.....oh my heart ached looking at the pictures. RIP sweet little muffin. (I just choked myself up) jeez.

After all of this, momma is NOT so feral after all! Poor thing, she sounds to be semi-feral, so some of my advice is not appropriate/necessary for her.

BTW one of my feral mommas I have right now, the very feral one "who could not have ever had contact with a human in her young life"  feral, purrs like mad and rubs her head when she's nursing her babies too. It must be comforting for them since they are such loving moms. She acts like she's in heaven.

Oh the coyote comment scared me, it could very well have been just a matter of time before they found those cuteness overload chunkies. I'm so relieved, my gosh! I know you are!

Great job! The best part is you didn't have to go through her getting crazy stressed and flipping out if she was trapped, that is always a set-back in the trust department Temporary of course.

Oh do keep us posted, I am hooked!

I'm so happy you have her, and she and the babies are safe!!! Mamma is gorgeous and she doesn't seem to feral, I am sure it is only a matter of time before she comes around and trust you. I have very minimal experience with socializing ferals, but I do know don't be discouraged if it takes longer than you expect for her to come around. My Lily took a year before I could even approach her. You seem to already have this part already down, and it gets easier from there, the basic trust is already established. The kittens will be a breeze though, as long as you handle them everyday, they will never develop that fear of people. I love that you are helping these kitties and not giving up!

This is exactly the news I was hoping for!

Good job!!!

Yay I'm so happy to hear this! Please keep the updates coming- I'm on a exams mandated TV hiatus and this is totally substituting for that! 

The kittens are all doing great and mama kitty is settling down nicely  She loves the be petted and is taking care of her babies beautifully! She seemed to be pretty overheated this afternoon (she was panting quite heavily), so I started by taking out the comforter and putting down a towel and then a sheet on top of it. It worked out nicely because now the cat litter doesn't make such a mess everywhere. She was still panting so I gradually turned the air down to 79 degrees and put a rotating floor fan on her. She seems to be a lot more content now and I've been careful not to make it too cold for the babies (although it gets a lot colder outside at night so I figure they should be fine?)

I'm really questioning my first idea that there's 4 girls and 1 boy.. I'll have to look at some diagrams and then go check the kittens, but I think at least one of the "girls" is in fact a boy. Good news to me, as they are cheaper get fixed 

I pulled up the sheet in the front of the crate so she can see out. She's calm enough that I didn't think it would stress her out, and she really seemed to enjoy being able to see what's going on. Before, when she couldn't see us until we were right at her crate and lifted up the sheet, she would hiss in fright, even though we would calmly talk to her as we walked up. Now, she sees us coming and doesn't react at all. It's also helping air flow get to her and keep her cool.

Just recently, as I'm sitting on the couch in the barn house and watching her, she's been getting up frequently to get a drink of water and sniff around. Twice now she's climbed up the side of the crate (calmly), and sniffed the sheet that's covering it. She has also totally been checking out the barn house from inside the crate.. I'm sure she's pretty bored of sitting in there all day with her babies when she's used to adventuring around with all the space she wants!

Here's better pictures, as promised 













This little one reminds me of a lion 





Never seen such a little kitten sit like this! 





The darkest one and the runt! He/she (the one I'm really questioning) looks solid black until it rolls onto its back and then you can see the spotted tummy and tabby stripes on its flanks/face.



The only one with its eyes completely open! (one or two other just have he corners opened so far) 

She could be panting because of stress... I don't know how hot it was but 79 is pretty warm.  But, my guess is it's a combination.  It's only because she is not used to being in a cage, though.  She doesn't realize it's just until she gets used to being indoors and won't take off, though.  She'll calm down soon.  Good news, though!!   Beautiful babies!!!!

P3 and The King said:

She could be panting because of stress... I don't know how hot it was but 79 is pretty warm.  But, my guess is it's a combination.  It's only because she is not used to being in a cage, though.  She doesn't realize it's just until she gets used to being indoors and won't take off, though.  She'll calm down soon.  Good news, though!!   Beautiful babies!!!!

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With it being in the 90s outside, it would break the bank to keep it any lower   She has stopped panting for now, so hopefully she's cool and calm. You're probably right, it must be a combo of stress and heat! I just can't get over how darn adorable the little guys are! 

SilverTortie said:

With it being in the 90s outside, it would break the bank to keep it any lower 

 She has stopped panting for now, so hopefully she's cool and calm. You're probably right, it must be a combo of stress and heat! I just can't get over how darn adorable the little guys are! 

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I know the feeling... It's been too hot here already the past 2 months as well!!!  UGH!!  I am broke because of my electricity bill, too!!  My kitties spend the majority of their day lately in front of the A/C!!  They are cute!!!  In about 2 weeks, they'll be crawling around and trying to escape... The fun starts then!!!

I'm really questioning my first idea that there's 4 girls and 1 boy.. I'll have to look at some diagrams and then go check the kittens, but I think at least one of the "girls" is in fact a boy. Good news to me, as they are cheaper get fixed 

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It's hard to sex them this young- wait another week or two and you will really be able to tell- especially by comparing them to each other. The female's genitals will be much closer together and will resemble a ; - the males will be much further apart (because there needs to be room for the testicles to grow) and will look like a : . 

She looks much more comfortable with the sheet down instead of the comforter. IMO you are doing everything right by going at her pace. Lifting up the sheet so she can see out is great- that means she's already getting more comfortable. Hopefully soon she can roam around the room and have some time away from her babies.

Have you gotten a scale yet? It's a good idea to get their weights and then keep checking them everyday to make sure they are gaining (especially the runt). Plus, they need to be at least two pounds before their surgeries so it will help give you an idea of when they reach that mark. I also watch to make sure each one is nursing and not getting kicked off by the others.

You are doing such an awesome job with them keep it up! Enjoy the quiet because soon you will be into the crazy fun part with kittens everywhere. And by crazy fun I mean going into the room to go to sleep only to find someone has peed on your bed.... 

Mama and kits are beautiful! You are doing an amazing job with these precious little creatures - bless you.

What plans do you have for them once the kittens are older?

LOVE the pictures!!!

OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS :lol3: I have missed a day or so here and look what I come back to find !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GREAT, GREAT JOB!!!!!!! I have to laugh too, about the "shaking hands" after you quickly closed that crate door!!!! The adrenaline just takes over our hands and whole bodies... just the relief that you DID IT!!!!!!! :lol3: AWWWWWW they are ALL so beautiful. And look how friendly the momma cat is and how beautiful she is. This is just the BEST news and a big thank you for making this effort to save them. I am so impressed with your efforts to succeed... and succeed you did !!!!!!

Keep posting updates, we care!!!!!!!!! :rub:

I have missed this thread but sat today and read it!  What am amazing job you have done!  She is a beauty and the kittens are adorable.  Thank goodness they are safe.  I will be looking forward to more updates!