How to tell if a feral is about to give birth?

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but I don't usually come into this subforum. I feed a colony of feral cats. One of them is definitely pregnant, and if I had to guess, she's about to give birth any day now.

We've been TNRing this whole colony but this Mama Cat is giving us some problems. I know that she's the mother of most of the cats out there. She usually shows up pregnant, is too smart to walk into a trap, and then she disappears and has her babies and doesn't show up againuntil 2 months later. I've never been able to find her babies OR her until she shows back up at my house with kittens in tow that look like they're about 8 weeks old.

She obviously goes somewhere safe to have her babies and then hides them until they are weaned. At that point she must decide that its time to show them where the food is and she brings them to my house.

However, by that point the kittens are already feral or almost feral. I have one of her kittens that we managed to catch and bring inside but that is the only one that has ever let us near it.

So my goal here is to find her kittens and socialize them before they turn feral in the hopes of being able to find them homes. I also really need to get Mama Cat trapped and spayed, but that's a whole different problem with her.

Right now she looks like she's about  to burst. I can see lumps in her belly which I assume are kittens. She's waddling along like she finds it difficult to move (not in a bad way, but the way a human who is about to give birth might walk/waddle). She shows up every day at my house for food.

I've dealt with a pregnant cat before, but it was years ago and she only had one kitten and she gave birth a few days after we found her. We didn't even know that she was pregnant until we took her to the vet just 3 days before she gave birth. She tried to abandon that kitten and getting her to nurse it was a challenge. I've also hand raised a litter of orphaned two week old kittens. So i have the experience with newborns and bottle feeding if I need to do that (I'm hoping I can just find the kittens and socialize them while she still takes care of them but I'm able to hand raise them if I need to).

The only way I'm going to find her hiding spot is if I basically stalk her after she eats at my house. She always hangs around for a little while after eating but then she goes....somewhere. I know she has a few hiding spots at the neighbor's houses but her kittens have never been found in those spots in the past.

Are there any clues that would tell me when she's about to give birth? Or how many days that she has left. I have a few pictures of her but they aren't great ones. I had to take them through a window because I can't get close enough to her outside to get a picture.

I just really want to break this cycle that she's in and find her and the kittens before the kittens become feral and she gets pregnant again. So after all of that rambling, is there anything that I can look for with a feral cat to know when she's about ready to give birth? Is it just a wait around and see thing? I'm assuming that being able to see lumps in her belly and the waddling and general ridiculous fatness is a good indication that she's close. I just really want to figure out HOW close she is.

Thanks for any insight that anyone can offer.

Thats very generous of you for feeding those kitties so they dont go hungry. You are right next step is getting mom..I think if you are ecer going to get her now is the best time..she is slower and you can get babies and make sure she doesnt get pregnant again..ferals will usually mate pretty quickly after birth. So the answer to resolve all your problems would be trapping her. Maybe if you put a crate with lots of food she will go in..she will be very hungry and if this is her place to feed she will fall at some point.

As far as telling you when will be dificult. By what you describe it could be now or 2 weeks from now..its hard to tell. But im sure the other girls in here can tell you more.

But my advice to you is try trapping her. My cat is pregnant and she is slow..she tried escaping and I ran faster than her and caught her...hell im 47 and not in the best of shape...lol.
Try it maybe you will get lucky.

Good luck and keep us informed.

I think I agree with HeavensKitty.  Usual traps dont work with her you tell.  Had you tried a drop trap? its sometimes easier to get savvy (cautious) cats this way.   Otherwise, do as Heavens Kitty suggests.  catch as catch can.  Use a thick towel and drop on her, so you dont need to wrestle down and held her by sheer force.    It is somewhat risky but them kittens going  feral is also risky.   Have thick clothes and gloves on you.

If you manage to wrap her in, the worst is over, you can easily take her into the prepared room for her, with all her things.  Once caught, and after cooling down several hours, she will probably cooperate.

To your quesition, to see and know WHEN.   This here forum is full of forumites, whose "favorite" pastime is to guess WHEN.  Them having their cats as loving inside cats..  With all the practicall possibilities to  examine.  Doesnt help much. It is just to wait.

.  Its practically impossible even for them / us to KNOW.

You must guess.

Good luck!

I don't thi k you'd be able to figure out when she was going to give birth as the are lots of us on here at the moment trying to second guess when our indoor cats are going to give birth :dk:
I also thi k that really you'd need to have her and the kittens inside to stand a chance of socialising them as even if you could follow her to them after she's given birth I don't think she'd let you get near enough to them to be able to make much of a head start on the socialising. Good luck on whatever you decide to do with her and good on you for caring