Feral Mom Cat and 4 Kittens - having a hard time with deciding if TNR program is right for kittens

Hello,

A quick background...this mom cat has had 2 litters of kittens that she has brought to my backyard to be fed.  The first time was 2 years ago and the Alley Cat organization added me to the waiting list for the TNR program but when they finally called me - 6 months later, the cats were already gone, with one dying in my backyard.  It was so sad.  Well flash forward two years and she has 4 new kittens that she has been bringing to my backyard for about the last 4 weeks.  They have to be at least 8 weeks old, they look very healthy and are still nursing as well as eating the kitten kibble I put out.  The mom cat is extremely weary of humans and will do anything to protect her kittens.  They are also very fearful of humans and will scatter and hide under the deck as soon as I open the door.  I have contacted the Alley Cat organization and they have now paired up with the Humane Society and offer free neutering, vaccine and ear tipping for feral cats of residents in my county on a weekly basis.  I am definitely going to have the mom cat go through the TNR process and will most likely do this next weekend.   My dilemna comes down to the kittens.  They are young enough where I feel like they can be socialized and become indoor pets.  The problem is if I do the TNR program, I have to promise to release the kittens back into the wild where there are so many predators and dangers.  I know their survival rate is not that good and I haven't seen any of the other kittens from the last litter, though I hadn't seen the mom cat either until she appeared with her kittens.  I would not be able to make a permanent home for all of the kittens as indoor pets.  I have a cat, Freckles,  who is 6 years old and is on a special diet and medication.  I might be able to take one kitten in, but even then I am afraid of the stress it will put on Freckles.  Freckles does seem lonely at times ( I am gone most of the day) but then again she seems very terretorial.  I have thought about bringing in a new cat to the family in the past to give her companionship when I am away from the house.

Questions:

1) What are your opinions on having the kittens go through the TNR progam vs. trying to socialize them and adopt them out?

2) Do you have any tips on trapping a monther cat and 4 kittens for the TNR program?  I have never trapped an animal before.  I am afraid I might get a raccoon or possum instead of the cats if I do this at night.  (There was a raccoon on my deck 3 nights ago eating the dry cat food.)

3) What do you think about keeping one of the kittens in a home with my current, ongoing medical needs, cat, Freckles?

4) Any other suggestions, comments?

Thanks in advance, everyone.  My heart bleeds for these kittens and I just want to do the right thing for them.

Angela

Angela, welcome to The Cat Site.  And thank you for caring and wanting to reduce the population of kittens.

I am very familiar with Alley Cat Allies' TNR program, and you're right, part of the deal with ACA is the cat must be returned to the colony.  There are other low-cost s/n programs that do not have such a requirement.  I live in the Washington/Annapolis area and know of two.

I'm sure  you know that there are too many kittens, not enough foster parents, furever homes.  The kittens you see are at the right age to be successfully socialized and adopted out; unfortunately, there may not be anyone who has the time to do that.  Did you talk to the humane society people--do they have any one who could foster the kittens (and then later get them s/n).

Cats who have NOT been spayed/neutered probably have a lower rate of survival than cats who have been s/n.  Tom cats will go to any length to mate, including crossing streets blindly.  And intact females suffer a higher rate of certain types of cancer and female problems.  So I would get a cat spayed/neutered for just this reason.

By the way, ear tipping a cat does not preclude the cat from becoming adoptable; many people don't even notice it.  I removed several stray cats (formerly owned) from my feral/stray cat colony that had been TNRd.  A friend and I resocialized them and all but one were successfully rehomed.  These cats did not go through the ACA program; however, if I thought a cat had a chance of going into a furever home, I personally would try to socialize and adopt the cat out (or adopt him/her myself).  That's me; do what you conscious is comfortable with.

You are probably right about the kits being at least 8 weeks old, they are likely even a bit over that, as mom would bring the kits out to eat by about 5-6 weeks of age. Hard to go by their size too since feral kittens are almost always smaller in size than dhcats.

Time is def. of the essence now, for any chance of taming them. 8 weeks is the turning point, whether taming will be doable 100% or if you will only be able to tame them into skittish, shy kitties. They may be a full time job.

My suggestions are these-

Get them all asap, they MUST be all seperate, as they need to feel they have no choice but to rely on only you to live. Even in pairs the taming is much harder, as they feed off of each others fears and actions, and will feel each other is comfort. You don't want this.

If you already know how to tame, then I won't go any further with that part, but if not I am happy to help/advise. Start with NO food, only water left, and feed ONLY from your hand.

You will know very soon who will tame and who will resist. Usually, Calicos and Torties resist much more than say, an orange boy will.

Anyway, if they can be tamed, it is certainly worth the effort rather than assuming they can only be tnr'd and have to live the tough outdoor life with it's predators and dangers.

If you end up only able to tame one, then at least you know you tried, and won't have the guilt you may feel each time you see them outside, especially if/when one comes up missing, or ???...

I would trap the mom first if possible, this way you can easily trap the kits after as they will not have mom to nurse. Unless of course you have access to a drop trap, which would get the whole fam in one shot.

Oh and if you do have a drop trap available, set it up and leave it, not trapping until the fam or at least the mom has eaten under it one time safely. She will then be confident enough to let her kids come and eat under it too. When all kittens and mom are under it eating their hearts out, drop it. Immediately cover entire trap with a blanket so they calm and don't beat the heck out of each other trying to escape.

Same goes for a regular trap, always run to it and cover it asap.

Other critters you don't want to trap, will take strategy and creativity I will either use a squirt gun that will shoot a good distance, or while watching but out of sight, if the wrong guy goes for the trap, get up and move towards him, scaring him away. Raccoons are pretty brave and will move away but keep trying over and over.

I will also use pieces of dry food and throw it at him to distract. Sometimes it will also feed him and he wont be so insistent on getting the food from the trap.

Mom really needs spaying asap. She is likely prego again, this time of year they go into heat every 2-3 weeks for a full week, and the males are right on it of course!

Mentioning alley cat, do you mean alley cat allies? They are awesome, I know an elderly woman who was a co-founder for them, investing money regularly to their growth and success, she now gets monthly checks as you can imagine, as they are huge now. Just thought I'd throw that out there Kinda cool

Ritz and catwoman707 - thank you so much for your replies!  The ACA program in my area, Louisville, KY is Alley Cats Advocates.

Ritz - I just left a message for the Humane Society to find out what programs may be available for these kittens if I choose not to TNR.  Thanks for the suggestion of reaching out to them.  Ear-tipping is a small concern of mine, so I am glad to hear that it doesn't prevent the cat from being adopted.  Once I hear back from the Humane Society hopefully I will have better information to make a decision about the TNR of the kittens.

catwoman707 - I will be relying on traps that ACA is going to lend to me.  I am waiting to hear back from the lady regarding the final details - how many traps they will lend me is definitley a question I have.  Thanks for letting me know about socializing them separately.  I would not have thought of this!  I really would like to see them go to furever homes.  I think attempting to socialize them is something I want to do, but do not know if I have the time to do this.  I am gone for about 9-10 hours a day for work during the weekdays and do not work close enough to home where I would be able to check on them periodically throughout the day. 

In your experience is it better to trap at night or during the day?  I think the kittens are living part time under my neighbors shed and part time in my backyard.  When I go outside they sometimes run under the fence to the neighbor's yard. I have noticed that I tend to see them most often on the weekends between late morning and early afternoon.  On the weekdays I rarely see the kittens since I leave in the morning and come home at night, but the mom is always waiting for me every morning to be fed.  If I can trap them during the day, it will be less likely I trap another critter by mistake.  Also, how long does the trapping process generally take?  Is this an overnight thing or a several hours during the day thing?  The mom is definitely going to be spayed, that is top priority.  Who knows how many other litters of kittens she has had...  I have already seen 2 litters of hers.  She does scare me though and she is going to be very angry with me.

Thanks again to the both of you!

Angela

You're welcome!

I trap at night, because it's not from cats near my home but in colonies, and the cats tend to stay out of sight during daytime hours since they fear people.

Just know if you don't use a drop trap, theres a good chance that the first cat trapped will be seen by others in the family and really scare them off.

If this fam comes daily to you for food, keep it at the same time each night or day, whichever you see them most often.

I hold out one day before I trap, making them more apt to get brave enough for the trap entry through their hunger.

Yes, she will be very upset with you, of course.

If she is unhandleable, and it sounds as she will be, you will have to understand she will be in that trap through recovery.

It sounds so bad, but they are more patient then you realize.

I place a peepee pad down under the trap, keep it covered completely, up on a table or heightened somehow, leave the openable end uncovered, and locked except when opening slightly to get food/water dishes in.

She will need AT LEAST a full 3 days to recover, it should be longer but when recovering in a trap, I can't bare it to be any longer for them. If she is fully producing milk still, it may need to be over the 3 days.

After an adult female is spayed, if released too soon the males smell her, thinking she is poss in heat, and might try mating with her, which can cause bad results to her.

If you have a garage she can recover in freely, without chance of escape, then this is best, and keep her at least 5 days.

But of course it has to be where you are able to simply open the garage door for her to leave when ready to let her go. Use it also to remind her the food is there with you, it helps later after release.

Sometimes once they are back out, they disappear for a few, don't stress on it, she will show up again, she is only forgetting her traumatic experience, and she will be back for food and gain your trust again.

To set the trap up before trapping, put a couple of layers of newspaper down on the bottom, it helps absorb her pee for recovering, as well as doesn't feel so wierd when they have to step on the wire at the time of trapping.

Use low dishes for food, so the door won't need opening more than a few inches, also the water dish must be sturdy or it will likely be dumped at some point, and be sure to keep your hand on the door when opening in case she flips out and tries escaping. I learned the hard way and had a male bolt out of it and hide in my cat room for over a week, missing his neuter appt of course...you will not be opening the trap door end, but the other flat end, which should have a slide up door with a lock. Remember to always lock, she is not stupid by no means, she watches you put the dishes in and out, and knows it is a possible way out.

After surgery, she will need canned food first.

Twist ties are your friends, you can you them to secure the door to the trap.

Trap when you think it will be the most quie, and when you think the cats are likley to eat.  Feed them at the same time every day, then withhold food for a day or two, then trap.

I use to trap at night time when the sun went down (cats generally hunt at sundown and sunset), but it was too noisy then and up until midnight.  And my traps got stolen.  So I started trapping very early in the morning, like 4 or 5 a.m. when even thiefs are in bed.    Over 2.5 years, I TNRd 35 cats.  (I have since moved to a nicer, quieter, retirement community.)