Trying to find a feral cat's kittens

kitty2014

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One of my friends has been feeding a feral mama cat and her 2 kittens from last year. When she showed up the kittens were a few months old. Mama cat is not friendly at all. She runs when she sees people. The 2 older kittens are becoming more friendly. My friend is moving and she doesn't want to leave them all there but only 1 is able to be picked up. She's taking him.

Mama kitty had kittens about 2 weeks ago but we don't know where they are. We want to find the kittens before she moves so they'll at least have a chance. I have a nursing cat with 3 babies and tons of milk. If she doesn't accept them I can bottle feed a couple and my friend and her mom can each take a couple too. The problem is finding them.

Where are some good places to look? And will mama kitty mourn them? Do you have any tips to get my nursing cat to accept more kittens? They're going to be about a week older.
 
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di and bob

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What about mama? Are you going to trap and get her spayed? Is she getting fed? She'll just keep having more until something is done. Of course she'll mourn the loss of her kittens, they do. It's nice you'll take in the babies, but I worry about her and the next batch. Maybe you could follow her to the nest, it's the only way, but I'd like to think she could be helped too.  Maybe you could get hold of a Humane society to help with TNR. Good luck and keep us posted!
 

shadowsrescue

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I am concerned about the feral mom.  You said your friend has been feeding her so what will become of her when your friend moves?  I hope that she is able to TNR the mom so you can stop having kittens.  It would be nice to take the mom along too or at least get someone to continue feeding her once she is spayed.  She is not tame, but that does not mean she can't grow to love  humans on her own terms.  It would be nice to see her spayed and someone lined up to care for her.
 
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kitty2014

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They've tried to trap her but only caught the okder kittens (both boys) or raccoons or possums. She doesn't come much now that it's warming up. I guess she's hunting. I've only seen her a few times.

I wish we could take all of them. She already has a 16 year old cat and she's taking one of the older kittens. I can take a couple of kittens but I can't take an animal that would be here permanantly. We already have a cat and dog as well as chickens and 2 kids. I really can't afford to take on another animal. She lives in an area where they get a lot of drop offs. Sometimes people take them in and sometimes they don't.
 

shadowsrescue

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There are drop traps that might work in trapping her.  She could contact the Humane Society or other rescue organizations in your area and see if they might help.  The rescue group might be able to help with the kittens too.  Please rethink leaving the Mom.  How sad. She is used to being fed and now will be left alone to fend for herself as well as left to get pregnant again.  I hope your friend will at least try and reach out for some help.
 
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kitty2014

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She doesn't come up to eat anymore. The 2 other cats do. They're both boys and starting to be friendly. They stick around the house and even come in sometimes. They're taking one of them and hopefully have someone to take the other. The mama cat has only come around a few times. She doesn't like people.

We don't live in city limits and while she can rent traps from the shelter, they won't help with the cats. If she catches it they'll fix her for $25.

I don't know what's going to happen to the mama cat but at least the 2 boys and hopefully the kittens can be helped. They're moving this week and Saturday is the last day they'll be there so if we want to do anything it has to be soon.
 
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kitty2014

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So if we are able to find the kittens, does anyone have any advice on getting my cat to accept them? Her kittens are 5 days old.
 

StefanZ

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first, before you let the newbes join your pack, be sure they seems reasonably healthy.  You dont want to risk to draw contagion on your litter.   although, if you are sure your mom has a first rate immune system you dont need to be too anxious  (she perhaps herself ex rescued, or used to roam outside, you are more safe than otherwise)

(that is why not so few rescuers prefer to hand feed their small fosterers, even if they do have access to a friendly queen, they want to help, but they dont want to risk anything).

Most often, such adoption you talk about, comes without big fuss. The mom either accepts them or not. Surprising often she does adopt them.

You can of course increase the chances, by cleansing off the newcomers with a damped cloth, to diminish their old smells.   And most important of all, make sure they get on smells from you and your litter.  Say, you wrap them up on a blanket your litter was layiing on the day before.

You can surely imagine twists on this theme, being there and seeing what resources you have.

Good luck!
 

catwoman707

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Several things here.

First thing is, as the others are saying, we all feel for the poor momma cat. This is my softest spot. Just because she was unfortunate in her life to be born unwanted with no real place in the world, and never was so lucky to have a person to take her and love her, so she would be social, doesn't make her less important. She is made up inside, of the very same things that tame housecats are. They feel pain, lonely, lost, hungry, scared, abandoned, stressed and on constant high alert for survival.

No cozy beds, clean regular food, and continuing to have babies only steals what little reserve she has for her own body.

Having litter after litter, year after year is a horrible life.

She was once a sweet, tiny kitten baby, as cute and playful as any other kitten. She had to learn the ropes of life as a feral cat, and she did, she has been strong, a survivor.

9 out of 10 kittens born outdoors do not live past 6 months of age. So she is a survivor. Not easy, and she deserves recognition, and someone to give a damn whether she lives a bit of a better life as a spayed outdoor cat who is at least regularly fed. It will help tremendously. Just spaying her and providing a bit of food will change her life.

Please understand this and don't dismiss her, tossing her aside, with effort and vigilance she can be caught. It will make a world of difference for her life.

Next you asked if she will mourn them.

She absolutely will. This is one of the saddest things I have ever seen, just how strong a bond momma cats have with their kids.

I feed many colonies in town, cats who I have TNR'd and continue to care for throughout their lives, it is my responsibility to them.

In a newer group I had not finished TNR'ing, I had this one girl I named Debbie. We had this connection, I can't explain it.

One night I showed up to feed, and she didn't come running out as usual, but I could see her in the distance.

After a bit and calling her, she slowly came closer, but kept looking back. She stopped and cried a bit and started heading back where she was, so I followed her. She got ahead of me and stopped, sitting on the side of the street ahead. She sat there, raised her head and cried out a long, heartwrenching cry, over and over (uh it still to this day hurts my very soul to remember this)

Soon enough I saw why. Her tiny kitten, maybe 4 weeks old was flat as a pancake in the road, all but that babie's head..........she wailed on and on, it shocked me, this was something I would never have known before. My God she was dying inside! It was just awful. I won't ever forget that night. And Debbie.

Here's something I must do regularly and it also pains me to do. There's no choice though.

When I pull momma cats and their litters from the shelter, they live here in my cat room until the kids are weaned, then they are pulled out and she is able to dry up and be spayed.

It's so obvious how upset it makes them, I feel like such a heel for taking her babies away, some pace, some whine, some just suffer silently with their heads down all day long, some won't eat. This is MOST of the moms and what they feel, and this is after she should be done with them, as moms do get to a point when they are worn out and ready for those kids to stop hanging on her! haha true story. 

So a momma cat with new young kids? Ah yes, she will most definitely mourn the loss.

Finding the babies? If you have an area where you think is a possible spot to search, under dense bushes is a biggie. Thick, very dense bushes where she can safely leave them when she needs to go potty or find food, etc. 

What you do is, mimic momma. Never, never say a word while searching. Nothing, seriously! Words are human sounds, and babies will be silent. If you search in silence, the sound of your footsteps on leaves and brush makes the babies think you might be mom approaching, and they will cry out.]

If you say one thing, for instance if someone is helping you search, they will NOT cry, it's their natural born instinct of survival I guess. 

If you are silent, but happen to get close to where they are, they WILL cry for mom. 

As for using your current mom as a surrogate, I do this all the time and currently have 2 plugged into one of my nursing moms now.

The huge majority of mom cats will infact easily accept the babies as hers, and each day she will grow more and more like the nurturing mom she is with her own.

The only possible problem is, they are a bit older.

I dealt with this too, this current time, mom had 2 babies who were 2 weeks old at the time, and I rescued 2 siblings found out during this big rainstorm we had, approx 3 weeks old. I simply talked to her and stuck the baby in with her, one at a time. Babies were whining like mad, they were overdue to nurse, so she let them both. 

The next day and a couple more after that, she stayed most of her time in the litterbox, the 2 new kids were more than she had going on with her 2 quiet calm babes, and now these 2 monsters who somehow she had dropped on her suddenly, they had teeth that hurt, they were climbing all over her, and she was NOT a happy cat.

I gave it 3 days, and she was showing some adapting, now about 10 days later she hugs them and loves them as her own. It was a bit iffy there for a minute, and I honestly believe it was due to their developed age she wasn't used to. It sort of disrupted her entire content little world. She's super sensitive and protective. Always with her arms around them hugging them.

It's true, using a surrogate mom who has babies too is a bit risky for transferring viruses and disease, I know all of this and it's certainly a consideration, but I do it when they appear very healthy without signs of a uri or anything else.

The only times I will NOT is if they were pulled from a shelter rather than found outside. The shelters carry hardcore, very hearty viruses like panleukopenia, which will kill all of the kittens, as well as some of the toughest strains of uri's imaginable.

Minor things like the common eye bacteria is not the end of the world, and easily treated. Most babies born outdoors have this.

You can always choose to bottle feed as well, just know what you are doing, they MUST be monitored for daily weight gain of approx 10 grams, they MUST never have a body temp below 98 degrees, and never ever feed them on their backs. ALWAYS on their tummies with head raised a bit.

It takes until about the fourth try to get them used to using a nipple that's not moms, so meanwhile you must gently syringe formula in their cheeks, very very slowly. It takes alot of patience but is critical in whether they survive or not.
 
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