Need some serious help!

Hi there, it all started about two months ago, when we moved into a bigger house away from the city, where I found a feral cat and her 3 kittens, 2 of which were terribly killed when our neighbor ran over them with his car by accident, I felt so bad for the mother and her kitten so I started feeding them, I always make sure they stay in our backyard so that they stay away from the street, I feed them Tuna, Beef, Chicken, Cheese, Milk, then I started to approach them, the mother was easy, it took me less than two weeks to let me touch her, let me rub her back and her neck, however the kitten is crazy, at first she would never let me touch her/him, after a month and half she finally let me however she/he shows different reaction every time, sometimes stays calm, sometimes she/he starts meowing with fear, sometimes scratches me (like what happened yesterday), I thought she/he hates me, but what's weird is that every time I step out into the garden she would ran towards me, rubs herself/himself against my leg, and meow at me, so I give him/her food, sometimes he/she would eat in front of me, other times he/she would take it and ran away, so what should be my next step? I thought about bringing them indoor but I recently came across an article that says trapping can be stressful for ferals, and why the heck the kitten is showing that behavior? the kitten is about 1-2 years

I too think taking them indoors may be a good idea.  It is the best chance to socialize them completely, and not just "possible to touch when they are eating".    When they are socialized,  you can adopt them yourself, or find them adoptions homes.

Althogh the kitten is really an adult, so it is not this hurry with bringing them inside for socializing.

Why the kitten is so different at times?  Its different signals coming and going...  Perhaps also mood of the day...  Very bewildering for him.

Trapping may be stressful, but there are tricks to lessen the stress. Using a human trap is one of them!

If you catch them as catch can and hold by violence, it will of course be stressfull....

As they do come near, you can probably wrap them up in a big towel, if you cant manage with getting a trap.  But trap is really the least stressing.

So, you use a human trap  (or rig up a carrier).  Preferably go to vet for check up, etc, a vet who knows they are coming.  You do while they are still in the trap.  (if the vet doesnt have time for them at once, they can wait there several hours).

At home, you prepare their room in advance.  Bedding, cat igloo/similiar, food, water, litter, scratching post, some toys.   A Feliway diffuser if you wish and want to be on the safe side.

You open the carrier/trap, talking gently and go away.

They can can leave the trap as they wish, and cool down in the room several hours.  They notice nothing is really threating them, nobody is mean to them.  So they will copy.

After it, no real problems.

We will lead you step by step when the day come.

Good luck!

Welcome to our site TCS and our Forums!

Welcome to The Cat Site and thank you for taking care of these cats.

I'm a little confused:  how old is the youngest kitten, you said 1 to 2 years, did  you mean months?

It sounds like the little one kind of wants to trust you, kind of doesn't.  Here is an article about socializing feral cats/kittens.  It also sounds like either cat could be in heat.  The mother cat can get pregnant very shortly after giving birth.

And the mother cat and perhaps the kitten should be spayed/neutered as soon as possible, otherwise, you'll be seeing/feeding more kittens.  While trapping a cat isn't fun for the cat, ultimately, it can save their life--the male cat no longer roams or crosses busy highways looking to mate and the female cat doesn't die in childbirth or prematurely because of the health risks associated with pregnancy.

I think being outside in an ever changing environment would be way more stressful in the long run than trapping them and bringing them in. If you have the time and patients I'd bring them into your home, they could be the best cats ever!

I'd get some cat food though instead of the other stuff. I was putting out dry food during the day and wet when I knew they were there to eat it so it wouldn't spoil. Best of luck with them!

Kitten is wild. Only tolerates you to get food. I would use leather gloves to catch her and toss her into a pillow case, and bring her in for socializing.The mother should be easy to bring in. Then it's neutering time and defleaing time
 

As Stephan said, a humane trap is your best choice.  It would be far less traumatizing that your trying to catch them.  With gloves on, your chances of retaining a hold on the kitten are very low.

Borrow or buy a trap and start feeding them in it without setting it.  After a few days, make your spay appointments and spring the trap.  They will be far easier to transport and handle at the vet's, too.  If you use a pillowcase, where are you going to put them after the surgery?  You can't put them back in the pillowcase.

If you don't want to buy a trap, you can use a large carrier, tie a sting to the door, loop the string through the top of the carrier and pull the door shut when the cat goes in to eat.  The carrier will also give them a safe place to hide once you bring them inside.

Good luck and thank you for helping them!

Wow, you guys are the best, thanks for your replies!

Perhaps also mood of the day

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Yup!, at the early morning, minutes after sunrise, goes crazy and jumps around to hunt bugs and flies, whenever I approach her, she/he runs away and even hide!

As they do come near, you can probably wrap them up in a big towel

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Actually when I tried holding her once (the kitten), she gave me a hell of scratch right in my finger! lol, and (however it's ok if I rubbed her back, she even sometimes greets me back by rubbing her sweet little body beside my legs!, anyway when I left the door open once she actually came in, I think I have no problem with bringing her in, it's a problem with her staying inside! the kitten seems really wild, and energetic.

The mother cat can get pregnant very shortly after giving birth.

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Well, I think the mother is already pregnant, this explains slow movements and submitting behavior?

I was thinking of a cage, big cage, at least for a while, then release them after making sure they are socialized and familiar with me, cages like these ones:
Anyways, the fellows:



(btw, are they underweight? I am afraid the food I am giving them might not be enough)

The cages looks just fine.         Better than the average dog crate.

Underweight?  Depends on their natural background.  If they say has some siamese or oriental parentage, they will be rather slim.  But yes, for an average moggie it is not so much meat on them.

It may be so the mom cat is pregnant anew, and is anxious to find extra protection from you.  It means also, it will be extra easy for you to take her in, and help to foster ther kittens.  (unless you choose to make a spaying now - but few does so).

Go forward as you had practically made up your mind. Before something bad happens and you are left with feeling deeply sorry and sad...

Good luck!

Hi, we had a similar situation at our office - which is actually a house with a garden. A feral mommy gave birth in the garden and we only discovered her and her kitten when the kitten must have been about 6 weeks and she was carrying the kitten in her mouth one afternoon. We started feeding both of them outside as they wouldn't allow us to come near. After about two weeks, we were able to move the feeding bowl inside the office, but close to the access door to the garden, which we kept open at all times so they wouldn't feel trapped. But still we couldn't approach.

Then I took a pack of cheese and started feeding them little blocks of cheese every day, at first throwing them about a metre away from me and as with time, I threw it closer and closer to me so they would get accustomed to being near us. The mom never allowed us to touch her and would hiss and growl even while eating the cheese. After a month I finally managed to get the kitten to climb on my lap to eat the cheese, but still could not touch him. Then the mom disappeared, the kitten stayed and would sleep inside the office at night when we closed up. A window always stayed open for him to come and go as he pleased. One night I was working late and kitty was sleeping on a chair. I slowly approached and patted him, he woke while I was patting, watched my hand and did not move. I got braver and picked him up, he made no attempt to run away, and I put him on my lap, he started purring so loud it sounded like he would take off any minute! And that was it! From that day on he was totally domesticated, although he remained very wary of other staff members or any client visiting the office. He had his favourite spots to sleep and was an amazing hunter! I say was, because sadly after almost a year of domestication he disappeared, we searched but never found him. To this day I don't know if he was hit by a car or what happened...

All this to say, have faith and patience, your kitten will come right.

I believe in the pack of cheese, we also adopted a stray dog this way (which looked like it had been beaten by his previous owner). Good luck!

They do look a little thin - like they have been on their own for awhile.  I think they will really appreciate it when you give them some good cat food.

The cats may come inside but they will be wary in the new environment.  Best to trap them and bring them inside.

If you get one of those crates, you can feed them inside it and trap them that way.  It would be a little awkward getting the whole crate inside but it's do-able.  The crates are fantastic, BTW.  I'm tempted to go buy one myself!

Alright, SOME UPDATES!

Yup, the kitty is just fine,  the mom got so big, I could confirm she's pregnant, BUT, last Tuesday,  she didn't show up, I kept waiting for her till midnight she didn't show up,  Next two days she didn't show up either, then I saw her on Friday, (You have now idea how happy I was)  she DID lose some weight, and she seemed like she doesn't remember me, but when I gave her some food everything is alright again, then she disappear for Saturday (the whole day) and Today, surprisingly,  she was around since sunset for the whole time, meowing for food (she did eat a hell lot of food), SO, what the heck happened to her? was she really pregnant or just fat? did she gave birth? if she did, where the hell they could possibly be? (I checked my garage and every inch in my house, NOTHING), or did she forgot the place and just dumped the whole issue? or something happened to her kittens (predators, ...etc) I am so confused , for your information, she DOESN'T sleep in  my garden (or my garage), she just checks in for food, (however the kitty do sleep in the garden), I am still looking for a cage, in my country that could be something nearly impossible to find! (I am planning to build a one if I didn't find any)

Alright, SOME SERIOUS UPDATES! first of all, the pregnant mother gave birth to two (that's what I can confirm so far) kittens, both have three colors (black, brown/orange, white), the problem is: SHE (THE MOM) leaves one kitten behind hidden in the house next to me, I never saw the mom there and I don't know if she decided to abandon her, yesterday when I was passing by I heard the young baby kitten meowing loud, I thought she was hungry so I gave her some tuna (and YUP, I Know, I swear if I can find any other options I won't hesitate, but I LIVE IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!), she ate it, (she was born between 10-13th of september), I don't know honestly if she's weaned or not, her mother (and I know her, she always hangs around in my garden looking for food and I feed her, once she eats and she runs away to wherever she's hiding the other kitten), I tried yesterday carrying the mom to her place,  and once the mother saw her, she hissed at her! she even would beat her! so my question is: how to know if her mother abandoned her or not so I can take an action? and I learned from the internet that when they grow up mom leaves them for longer times, how much long? third question is: how can they survive IF the mother leaves them, weaned them, hiding them and no food around available? Finally when I carried her yesterday and few minutes ago, she was quivering and meowing out loud, is she afraid or does she feel cold? knowing that she lives currently beneath some boxes once I feed her she runs into her hiding place and stays there even if I remained calling her (the dumb sound: psst psst psst!) and thanks in advance, again I am sorry for asking so much questions, but I am really new into the whole thing!

Wait, how big are the kittens? They arent tiny any longer right?

What help are you willing to give?  Is adopting them an option for you?  Or at least, taking in, foster, and find a adoption home...   If so, the simplest is you just do it.

Its much easier to foster them when young then when half adult...   While taking the when they are tiny babies is difficult to get them survive too, takes much time and effort.

If you have any possibility to let the mom be spayed, it would be good.  But if it is impossible, so it is impossible...

Tuna is not any bad food.  We dont recommend it as the only food, but now and then it is much OK.  My own resident cats do eats  some  tuna.almost daily  - I know, this is not optimal, but its how it is...

Can you get goat milk?  This is very nourishing for all cats, kittens and adults alike (and humans too of course).

Youghurt is another alternative.

Many cats dont manage well common milk so we dont recommend it.  But some cats do manage, so if you KNOW she managed cow milk, it is OK too...

I suspect raw milk from cow is easier than the processed sold in USA and Europe.

I see you had tried to read on.  Definite answers may be difficult to give, you must see it yoursel where you are - which you do...  And play it by intuition and sound judgement.

Good luck!

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY! How big? I said previously on this topic that I was keeping my eye on the pregnant mom, she disappeared on Tuesday 8th of September, then appeared again on the next Friday (11th) and she was smaller, so I guess she gave birth to them during those days, so they must be around 6 weeks by now, the problem is: SHE (the mother) separated them, one she keeps always around, I was passing by my neighbor's garden (he was away for a couple of days) and I saw her with the baby, after I started passing by her she moved the kitten into my other neighbor's house where I found another kitten with her! now she's back to the first place, but she always leaves one the second kitten behind her, so today when I was feeding the abandoned kitten the mother came and started meowing for me to give her food (like she always do, she's used to me, I can even carry her and she wouldn't mind, I feed her daily), SO I carried the baby kitten and placed her in front of her mommy, she smelled the kitten, and then hit it and started hissing at her! I don't know if she decided to abandon her or she just wanted her to return to her hiding place, and worst, I don't know if she feeds her (breastfeed) or she dumped her, the poor little fellow was meowing out loud when I called her today smelling the ground searching for food!

Anyways, thanks for your tips, yup, I can put my hands on goat milk and youghurt, anyways, what could possibly be the reasons for abandoning her? She seems fine for me, she guivers a little bit when I carry her but her body is strong (she scratches my hand after a while so I have to put her down), her voice is fine, her eyes look fine! I will post some photos of her tomorrow!

One last thing, the old kitten (8 months- 1 year) of the same mother didn't show up today, there were two male tomcats hanging by my garden yesterday, so could she have reached her age of maturity? and if she did, will she come back? I have been feeding DAILY her for the last 4 months!

If the older kitten is female, she's probably pregnant too.  *sigh*  You are going to have your hands full.

First order of business, trap the older kitten, then the mom, then the younger kittens.  Spay or neuter everyone!

Once that's done, you have a choice.  You can bring mom inside (with the new kittens if you can get them).  You can find homes for the kittens or keep them with mom.

The older kitten was raised outside, so she may not be socializable at this point.  Get her spayed ASAP and just keep feeding her outside.  She will need a quiet place to recuperate, so plan to keep her in a separate room or bathroom for a few days post surgery.  They she can resume life outside.  You can also build or buy her some shelter.

If you are ambitious, trap the two males and neuter them too.  It will keep the population down and keep them from fighting.

Thank you!