Stray Momma Kitty Moved Babies

Hi All - At the beginning of May, we had a stray kitty start coming to the house (a beautiful tortoise with green eyes). She was skinny so I started feeding her; she let me pet her, purred and rubbed on me - pretty darn tame. Well, 2 weeks later she moved her babies (5 of them - 4 black ones and a tabby) under the house - they weren't newborns so she was just making sure it was safe here. Then about a week later, my husband got a puppy - a terrier that minds about as well as a fish!  Since it's been about 2 months plus some, the kittens have been pretty much weaned - I feed them kitten food, wet cat food and some half & half (yes, I know that milk gives some cats diarrhea and intestinal problems, but it doesn't seem to be bother these cats and they love it). The puppy aggravates the kittens (momma kitty has swiped him - and contacted - when he's gotten too close to her) so I keep him inside a lot during the day. When my husband gets home, I've told him and told him to let me know before he puts the dog out so I can make sure the babies are safe but he "forgets." Tuesday evening the dog had a kitten in the yard, separated from momma, barking at it - not a mean bark, just playful but the cats sure don't know this since he's lots bigger than they are! I ran out and chased him away from the cat. Wednesday, Momma Kitty took the babies on a field trip in the afternoon and didn't come home until about 7:30 that night.  Thursday, they were gone most of the day and came home at about 8:00 that night.  Friday, same thing. Now it's Saturday and I've only seen them once today. I turned on the back porch light a while ago to see if they'd come home and they were eating, but scattered (I think because they thought that da**ed dog was being let out). I am heartbroken. I've gotten really attached to Momma Kitty and the babies (they are pretty wild, but I have been able to pet a couple of them). I'm sitting here crying because I didn't give Momma Kitty a safe enough place for her and her babies. I'm not sure where's she taking them - I'm worried that they aren't staying dry (been raining a lot), they aren't eating well enough (I used to feed them twice a day really good and now they're only eating once a day), they're scared during the storms (I know I sound like a worried mother myself), the list goes on. Is there anyway I can get Momma and the babies to come back? She's tame and every time she's here, she rubs on me, I pet her and she purrs a lot! I'll be honest - I miss them, I miss watching the babies play and Momma Kitty give them baths (believe it or not, I'm a grown woman). I'm thinking about building them a cat house to keep them dry and warm (or cool), plus a feeding station. The other thing is that while I'm heartbroken that Momma and the babies aren't here all the time, I'm extremely PO'd at hubby because I feel he didn't care that his goofy dog was aggravating the cats! For that part, I'm just fit to be tied. I go back and forth between crying over the cats to being mad about the dog! Anyway, thanks for listening and if anyone know how I can get Momma and the babies back, please let me know!

uncommonsensesc said:

 I'm thinking about building them a cat house to keep them dry and warm (or cool), plus a feeding station.

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 Im thinking you really do have another problem.  Ie what will become of moma and kittens?

You do have your own private paradise, this essentially friendly dog being the only nuisance.

But this will not last forever. Time is beginning to be running for you now!

The momma need spaying - SOON. Otherwise you will have another litter coming.

If you dont get the kittens adopted out, they will need spaying them too with time, a couple of months perhaps. Preferably sooner, so you dont risks they are chased away being fully fertile and shortly, with own semiferale homeless litters. Chased away perhaps even by mom.

The kittens too are growing up to semiferales... Now, they are being teached by their momma, both to hunt and possibly to find another helpful human giving them food too.  So they will manage.

BUT it would be better if they could be fostered into pets, and adopted to good homes.

The easiest period to foster them is gone, but they are still very young, it is still quite easy.

Try to find a rescue group nearby, or something, and talk this situation over with them.  If they do have a couple of fosterers....

The momma can probably also be adopted with just some fostering at first.

But otherwise,  your plan on proper cat house etc sounds good.  That is how it is usually done by people who "adopt" a semiferale.

Next idea, if you try to learn the friendly puppy dog to be friends with the cats.

Do exercise him through (play with him perhaps), make him lie down preferably with a leash on, and let the cats meet him... when he is patiently laying down.

Cats and dogs do often become good friends.  If they here become friends ThIS problem will get solved.

Please keep reporting, talking, asking, and updating!

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

Bless your heart, dont give up hope of them coming back some day, my little colony of ferals vanished one day and I was heartbroken, they came back 2 months later with 3 new kittens, so now I have 7 total. I had to teach my dog to leave the cats alone and now they all get along.  I wish you alot of luck if you can TRN momma cat. 

Christine

Mom to 1 domestic & 7 ferals 

On Momma Kitty - I do have an appointment for next Monday to get her spayed (there's a feral cat program at the humane society that will spay and give shots for $30 so that's a big help). I've also talked to them about when to get the kittens spayed/neutered - at 5 months is when I need to take them in.  They do have the cages/traps I can borrow to get them rounded up. I was going to keep Momma Kitty and the kittens. As you can tell, I really like cats - they're just fascinating to me and I love everything about them. I was going to keep the cats and give them a good home, make sure they're well fed and cared for with shelter from the elements as well as being protected against predators. I've got a rescue kitty inside that I've had for about a year (found her in a briar bush last summer at an abandoned house nearby). She's been spayed, all shots up to date, etc. I think she's actually a daughter of Momma Kitty because the 4 black kittens look just like her.

Welcome to TCS and a big thank you for helping this family of cats! Wonderful news on the assistance to get them all neutered. Good to do this soon as you well know. Please keep us posted and keep the update coming!

As a short update, my Momma Kitty and babies only come around about once a day. I see them playing on and under a 5 x 10 trailer that we have, and sometimes behind our little workshop that's at the edge of the grown-up field. I miss them so much. When they came up yesterday afternoon, I spent a lot of time petting Momma Kitty, rubbing her and listening to her purr. One of her babies came up to rub on her and I got in a couple of pets on the baby. It just breaks my heart that they aren't at the house all the time like they were! I still have the appointment for Momma Kitty to get spayed this coming Monday - I hope I can get her in a carrier now! If it wasn't for my inside kitty (Beebe) loving on me and entertaining me (distracts me from focusing on Momma and babies), I'd be a real mess (I am definitely one of those women that wants to rescue all kitties)! That da**ed dog and husband have made my "job" a lot harder to get them all rounded up for spaying and neutering!  It has crossed my mind to advertise for a good home for the puppy and husband - the husband is house trained and doesn't bark indoors!

uncommonsensesc said:

As a short update, my Momma Kitty and babies only come around about once a day. I see them playing on and under a 5 x 10 trailer that we have, and sometimes behind our little workshop that's at the edge of the grown-up field. I miss them so much. When they came up yesterday afternoon, I spent a lot of time petting Momma Kitty, rubbing her and listening to her purr. One of her babies came up to rub on her and I got in a couple of pets on the baby. It just breaks my heart that they aren't at the house all the time like they were! I still have the appointment for Momma Kitty to get spayed this coming Monday - I hope I can get her in a carrier now! If it wasn't for my inside kitty (Beebe) loving on me and entertaining me (distracts me from focusing on Momma and babies), I'd be a real mess (I am definitely one of those women that wants to rescue all kitties)! That da**ed dog and husband have made my "job" a lot harder to get them all rounded up for spaying and neutering!  It has crossed my mind to advertise for a good home for the puppy and husband - the husband is house trained and doesn't bark indoors!

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OMG you are so funny.... and HEY - believe me, I have thought of that from time to time. :rofl: AWWWWW Wonderful of you to be caring so deeply for them. Hard on our hearts, that is for sure though. I would start feeding momma in a medium sized carrier with the door propped open. That way on "spay" day you just close the door. Don't put much food in there on the morning of the vet appt. though. Just enough to get he in the crate for a treat, then close the door. OH GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!! Let the round up begin

Please get some traps and get them neutered. They will have a much better quality life. PLEASE

I have bought Momma (and kitties) their own carrier - I'll get it outside starting in the morning so Momma (and eventually babies) will get used to it. I should have done that already. They were all around more today - I bribed them with a can of mackerel! I usually put out dry kitten food with a 15 oz. can of wet cat food and they're fine with that. I had been rummaging through the cupboards today looking for a non-existent can of evaporated milk and found the mackerel. You'd have thought they hadn't eaten in months! I bet if I rubbed that god-awful smelling mackerel juice on me, I'd get to pet the babies then! Of course, every cat for 5 miles around would be looking for me too though! Eh, bad idea on second thought! Thanks to everybody that replies to me - I don't have anyone to use as a sounding board or to give me ideas on the kitties so it's really nice to hear from you!

Already working on this - Momma's appointment is Monday morning and the kittens will be spayed/neutered in September when they're 5 months old. I think I know where Momma Kitty came from and it just ticks me off that she was pretty much left at an empty house (the owners did leave food and water once a day) without being spayed. They had said they wanted her to keep the mice away but they didn't pet her or rub her, check on her or worry about worms, fleas or anything! They didn't get her spayed so she's had at least 3 litters (I think my inside rescue was from her litter last summer) and there's a "teenager" that I've seen that looks quite a bit like her. No wonder she left there and came looking for a good home (I actually feel proud that she felt safe enough to move her and her babies here). I will get them spayed/neutered (promise) - I want to give them a good home and healthy lives and that's part of being a responsible cat lover (aka one of their employees!)!

uncommonsensesc said:

Already working on this - Momma's appointment is Monday morning and the kittens will be spayed/neutered in September when they're 5 months old. I think I know where Momma Kitty came from and it just ticks me off that she was pretty much left at an empty house (the owners did leave food and water once a day) without being spayed. They had said they wanted her to keep the mice away but they didn't pet her or rub her, check on her or worry about worms, fleas or anything! They didn't get her spayed so she's had at least 3 litters (I think my inside rescue was from her litter last summer) and there's a "teenager" that I've seen that looks quite a bit like her. No wonder she left there and came looking for a good home (I actually feel proud that she felt safe enough to move her and her babies here). I will get them spayed/neutered (promise) - I want to give them a good home and healthy lives and that's part of being a responsible cat lover (aka one of their employees!)!

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The owners left her in an empty house to keep mice away???

OH that makes me sad to hear how heartless people can be with cats.... :shame: I am SO glad that momma cat and kittens have you now. Much luck on Monday for her surgery. OH btw - you don't have to wait till the kittens are 5 months. Once they are over two pounds in weight - they can be neutered !!! Keep the updates coming!!!

Hi - on the empty house to keep mice away question - yes, that was their reasoning. I know it sounded odd when I posted it. They have some old furniture and stuff stored in the house, but no one lives there. I just find it so hard to understand the screwed up reasoning from leaving a cat without any companionship, without being spayed, only going up once a day to feed and water her and not spending more than 30 minutes a day around her - it just breaks my heart. She's a loving kitty and just gobbles up the attention. Tomorrow is her spay day - with any luck me getting her in the carrier.

Update on Momma Kitty- yesterday was her appointment for getting spayed. I got dressed, got the carrier and made sure a nice warm blanket was all laid out in it, put in a cat treat and Momma went right in. The door came open and out she ran (didn't have it fastened good). But I gathered her up in a towel and she went back in without too much trouble. We made the 40 minute trip to the vet, I filled out her paperwork and everything was all set.  About 2:00 I got a call from their office stating that while doing surgery on Saturday, the vet had been cat bitten. She thought she was okay, but Monday her had started swelling and hurting so they couldn't do the spaying. The clinic doesn't do them on Tuesdays so Wednesday is now the day. I went and got her (she either talked to me or was cussing a lot on the way home), let her out of the carrier, she came out, rubbed on me, purred, I petted her for a long time, her babies came out of hiding and she was licking all over them. I fed her a can of mackerel (the usual treat) and put some hard kitten food out too. They ate and were sleeping after that. I went outside at around 10:00 and they were all out there, sleeping, playing, the usual. I went out around 12:45 and no Momma or babies.  I put some wet and dry cat foods out so they could eat when they came home, but I haven't seen them since.  It's now 4:30 PM. I even drove up to the empty house where I think Momma came from but they're not up there either. I've been calling and looking but nothing yet. I hope she's just got them off on a field (learning) trip and tonight they'll be back. I don't know if it was the worthless trip to the vet (I know the vet couldn't help it, but I'm so aggravated by all this) that has her off somewhere or it's just a learning trip. We'll see - I may have to call the vet in the morning and see if they can work her in when she shows up instead of an appointment. When I opened the carrier door, she was glad to get out but she didn't run away, hiss or anything. She just acted like her usual sweet self (the vet's office did say she was a little upset with them, but given that she doesn't know them, has probably never been in a carrier or car, I expected that). Hopefully she'll be back tonight and we can try again tomorrow!

I hope you have luck next time around, your doing such a great job

Hi all - Momma Kitty and babies did come back in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. At around 7:00 AM, I got her wrapped (sort of) in a sheet and got her into the carrier - needless to say, this was not as easy as the first time around! Got her to the vet and she is now spayed. I found out that she's older than I had thought - has lost some teeth. That really upset me because that means she's had a hard life a lot longer than I had guessed - it also makes me mad as he** that people would just leave her to have babies all her life, not get any medical attention, not to get any love or petting. She is so sweet and loves the petting and rubbing. Anyway, I got her picked up and back home. We have a mobile home that has been empty for quite a while (last tenant tore things up a lot) and I had cleaned up the living room, kitchen and bathroom, stocked it for Momma and me. It's got central air (thank goodness) so we're staying cool (since it's been in the triple digit heat and warnings have been out, this is good for her). Last night she cried and cried wanting out and wanting to get to her babies. She finally wore herself out about 2:00 AM. I come down to the house to cook, feed and water the everybody (husband, inside kitty, dog and Momma's babies), do laundry and then head back to the trailer to keep Momma Kitty company. So far, so good. And she got her shots also. They gave me a name to contact about help with getting the babies rounded up for spaying and neutering, so the babies are next in line. When I went in to pick her up, there was an older couple there picking up 5 cats and making appointments for 11 kittens! They were all strays that they had taken in - all cats and kittens were tame so they don't have to trap them so that's nice for them. Thanks for listening, it means a lot to me!

   I'm so happy for you and Momma, you are an 

Hi All - Sorry it's been a while but I've been taking care of cats, kittens and puppy!  I feel like I no sooner get the last one fed than it's time to start all over again. Momma Kitty did get spayed last Wednesday and I picked her up late Wednesday afternoon.  I had gotten our empty mobile home cleaned up and stocked for me and her to stay up there (kitchen, living room and bathroom). I've been going up around 9:00 PM and staying until 5:00 AM, then going up during the day also - 2 or 3 times. She's been getting a lot of attention with pettings and rubbings, I talk to her a lot and she's been getting mackerel to eat. She's gotten so soft and just "kneads" when I rub and pet her, along with a loud purr going. I had slept on the sofa for a couple of nights but she wanted to be on the sofa with me and there just wasn't room (I was scared I would move and hit her accidentally), so I moved a mattress into the living room and we've been sleeping on it. She took to the litter box really quick - one time of tinkling on a blanket and I moved the box where the blanket had been. We've been watching DVD's (Evening Shade, Bob Newhart and such - telling my age!). When I leave, I keep the DVD player running for noise. I brought her back down to the house tonight to have a reunion with her babies - she's been restless the past couple of nights, her incision is doing really well and I know she has to be bored up there after being used to being outside. When they found out she was back here (the mobile home is only about 300 feet or so away), they all came out of who-knows-where and there was much licking and frollicking and rubbing on each other! People that don't know and love animals can say they don't have feelings, but they are so wrong! With Momma Kitty and her babies, it was just happiness to see each other! I fed them all mackerel and cream as a celebration supper! I'm working on remodeling a dog house as a shelter for them. I've got the contact name of a Friends of Feral Animals that will help me trap the babies and get them to the vet's office for spaying/neutering - I'll get that done this month. It feels kind of odd not to be going up to the trailer to spend the night with Momma Kitty - her with her mackerel and half & half, and me with my chocolate milk and cookies. But she's doing very well and reunited with her babies and that's what counts! Now my inside furry baby gets to play with (aka attack) my feet while I'm trying to sleep!

Fantastic update and thank you for the good news!!!! AWWWWW I bet it was wonderful to see her reunited with her babies :rub: Much, much luck now on trapping the kittens. SO glad that you found Friends of Ferals to help you. :bigthumb: GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!! Ramping up the trapping vibes for those babies