Feral Kittens Moved to Our Yard by Mom Cat

cc22

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We were feeding our cats on the porch this AM when we heard frantic kittens crying from all over our backyard. We grabbed a box and found them in plants, behind the garbage can, under cement blocks and we listened for another half hour to see if there were any we missed. Four total, good health, eyes open maybe 4-5 weeks, no mom in sight. We thought that either someone dropped them off here or the Mom had moved them and left. We brought them inside,

I calmed them down and later fed them chopped up wet canned food and a little cream. They ate like little pigs and fell sound asleep. I watched all day for the Mom, walked the perimeter of the yard until finally around 7:30 this evening saw her fly across the front yard, over the fence into the backyard. She looked frantic, too. Just awhile ago I heard a cat on the other side of the fence near the street howling in pain I thought, so we grabbed a flashlight and ran around the fence towards the street, it was the Mom again. She was howling for them I am so upset now. My heart tells me to bring them outside and leave them so she can find them but my brain says no, they are getting to be too much for her to control. Advice? What would you do? There is a no kill refuge I can take them to, or perhaps have them fixed and then release back here? I feel so bad but she was not around all day they would have wandered away. Should we just leave them outside so she can find them or consider that we have four that we can help..So hard to figure this one out. I do take care of several older ferals and older kittens but these are so young..The Mom took wonderful care of them, too..Let me know your thoughts?
 

Norachan

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I'd keep them inside if I were you.

They sound like they are at the perfect age to socialise with humans. If I were you I would use them as "bait" to help you trap the mother. Put one kitten in a carrier right up against the trap so that the mother can hear and see it. Cover the trap and carrier so that she will enter the trap at the end. Once you've trapped her you should take her to be spayed right away. She'll still be able to give her kittens milk after this, it won't affect her ability to take care of them.

If possible keep the Mother and the kittens in one room with a litter box, bed, food and water. It might be hard to get the Mother used to you if she is really feral, but at least you can make sure she is well fed and has a safe place to say while her kittens are growing up. 

You might be able to find homes for the kittens, but if not you could get them all spayed and neutered and let them go back to the colony outside when they are old enough. I wouldn't put them back outside now. As you said, they seem to be too much for the mother to take care of and even if they do survive, you'll then have to go to all the trouble of trapping and neutering them in a few months.

It sounds like you already have a small colony to take care of. Getting as many of them as possible spayed while you can makes it much easier to keep the colony to a manageable size.

Good luck with them all.
 

shadowsrescue

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Definitely try to trap the mother and get her spayed.  If not, she will just find herself pregnant again and more kittens will appear.  It will be a vicious cycle. 

I would keep the kittens inside.  You can work on socializing and find homes for them.  The mom would be harder if she is truly feral, but definitely not impossible.  She may be a stray so socializing wouldn't be as hard.

Thank you for caring for these kittens.
 
 

StefanZ

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I agree.  Keep the kittens, as this is their God send possibility to be completely socialized and in time, adopted out to good homes.

And if you cant and wish, try to help the mom by catching her and spaying her.

If she seems to be easy to socialize, you do it, otherwise, just release her  along the lines of TNR.

Tx a lot for helping these small brethren of ours!

Good luck!
 
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cc22

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Thank you for all the help.

I think we made the right decision in bringing them inside as it was already in the 90's that morning and we have hawks, large birds in the yard. I agree, they are all contained at once all brothers and sisters to comfort each other. None of this offsets the absolute physical pain their Mom was in at losing her babies. I have never heard anything like the sounds she was making. She did nothing wrong, everything was done by the book. She probably worked all night moving them to safety, she would have had to scale the fence with each one in order to get them inside the yard. I put the babies out on the porch last night around the same time I saw their mom and turned up the volume. The little guys hollered so loud I'm sure every feral mom within a block did a quick head count of their own. Their mom did not appear. We are showering them with love, they are fat and happy but I don't find much joy in this situation because of the loss to such a good mom cat. Will continue to try to find her and will try to place them at the refuge within the month.
 
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cc22

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I just find it so sad that she suffers first as a feral and then suffers at the loss of her babies. I wish I could do so much more than this, just makes me sad.
 

ondine

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Thank you for helping these little ones.  They were so lucky to have found you.

You can do a little more, though.  If you see mommy again, put food some out for her in a humane trap.  Keep feeding her without setting the trap (four or five days should do it).  Once she's used to feeding in the trap, trap her and get her spayed.  She will never have to go through that heartbreak again!
 
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