Advice on care of new kittens needed.

Hi there. I hope some of you with experience will be able to help me. A feral stray who spent the winter under the neighbors shed gave birth to a litter of six several weeks ago. She chose my straw strewn shelter (I take care of several outside cats) to have her kittens. I contacted a sanctuary and was told they would take the kittens and spay the mother,. I am unsure of the age of the exact age of the kittens, but they started eating mom's food a week ago so I think they must be 5 weeks. I couldn't see any at first and then, one by one came out over a week and a half until six emerged. She's a great mother though she is definitely wild and is only now, after 6 weeks of my feeding her, getting a bit used to me. I don't want to deprive the mom of her babies too soon or deprive the babies of fun with their siblings so I'm not sure how to go about placing them.

I love that you already have a contact all lined up for the kittens and the mother to get her spayed. That is a huge help for you in this situation. I would wait about another week or so and then you can go ahead and trap momma cat, get her spayed, and return her to her kittens. She will soon go into heat if not already. It will be alright for her to be away recovering for one night apart from her kittens outside. Begin to feed the kittens as you are, offering canned kitten food. Spend as much time as you can out there trying to socialize with them, getting them to trust you. SO important right now before they get any older. In fact, what some of us do, is to bring the whole family indoors in a safe room so that you can begin to handle the kittens right away. Not sure this is possible for you to do. Thank you for caring for this family and taking on the responsibility of doing the right thing for them. Warms my heart. :heart3:

This may help with your original question with care advice http://www.kitten-rescue.com/ AND THIS ONE: http://www.kittenrescue.org/index.php/cat-care/kitten-care-handbook/

Im not entirely agree with above.   If your plan is to foster them yourself, in the field, yes, it will look as above.

But if you do have good foster homes lined up (that place you contacted)  NOW would be a good time to take them in.  Its one of the few exceptions from the usual rule of not taking them too early...

NOW, because at this age, 5-6 weeks, they are old enough to eat themselves, young enough to be fairly easily catched, and young enough to be very easy fostered into fully socialized hime cats.

Fostering later on is still fully possible, but will be more difficult - more difficult as time goes by - and the socialization although OK may not be complete.

Ie, you will get nice family pets, no problem, but they may be shy to visitiors.   (for me myself a shy cat if no problem, they do have their own charm, my oldest resident is such a shy, but if you want them to be easily adoptable, its better for them not to be shy)

While if taken NOW for fostering, they will be fully   sociale, easy going home cats.

So, it depends on what this sactuary exactly does and what resources they do have - and your plans.

Speak with them again.  Listen between the lines too...   Sometimes they want to calm the "donator"...   So tell them the exact situation - if they cant, you will do it as well you can.

Its great they at the very least will help you with spaying of mom.   @Dorymb@Feralvr

Good luck!

Thanks for your help. I will have a few big decisions to make here!

Yes - big decisions that need to be addressed quickly. Stefan has great advice and I concur that it is best to get those kittens inside or in a foster situation asap before they get much older. Socialization becomes more difficult with each day/week. Now would be best to call the Sanctuary and see if they can take the family now and socialize the kittens in foster. OR maybe they will help you with any costs if you can take them in (as foster) to socialize them before adoption? Keep us posted !!!!!

I spoke to the sanctuary today. Originally, I thought they were born on the 31 May, but when they started eating canned food so soon I thought I might be wrong. The woman I spoke to said sounds like 4 weeks is right. She wants to wait until the kittens are 7 weeks old which brings me to the week of the 16 July. I have been holding them and talking to them as much as I can. She asked what they look like. I hope they are adoptable. The tortoise markings make them look pretty goofy, but to me they are goofy cute. The two blondies that are your typical "pretty."

If you are able to hold them, your are slowly socializing them.  This is great!  Mom is not a true feral cat if she's letting you do that.  She's probably a stray who's learned to live on her own.

In any case, keep handling them as much as you can.  Is there a way you can bring them inside - to a room of their own?  Mom may accompany them.  This will give you more access to them, keep them safe and make it easier to get them rounded up when the sanctuary is ready for them.

Good luck and thank you so much for helping them!

I agree with Ondine.  You are apparently on good way to socialize them.  Talking much, making a lot of friendly sweet noises, is a good tool, both for kittens and for ma.    And ma allows you all that.  As soon she recognizes you arent any real threat,  she allows.  She recognizes you as the main food source, as a friend sort of...

Yes, if you can take them inside, it would be good.  

Agree with above, IF at all possible, I would bring them all inside. Since you already have a place to take them too and it would only be a few more weeks, then that is the best scenario. If you have no room for them then keep working with them outside as you already are. Best of luck and keep us posted.

I would if I could. I have four of my own inside and really can't take them in. Mom still growls at me, and watches me as I hold them. I am half afraid of being attacked, but so far so good. She seems very smart. I call out and she comes (for food of course.) She seems comfortable walking around the yard now. A few of the kittens seem content to have me hold them but the others want to get down right away. They are venturing farther from the nest each day and I am concerned about being able to get them all to the sanctuary if I wait much longer.  Mom is voracious and so are the kittens. The six plus mom gobble up two cans (5oz) in 2 minutes. How much should I be feeding them? So far, I feed 2-3 times a day. Thanks everyone for the input and advice.

Dorymb said:

I would if I could. I have four of my own inside and really can't take them in. Mom still growls at me, and watches me as I hold them. I am half afraid of being attacked, but so far so good. She seems very smart. I call out and she comes (for food of course.) She seems comfortable walking around the yard now. A few of the kittens seem content to have me hold them but the others want to get down right away. They are venturing farther from the nest each day and I am concerned about being able to get them all to the sanctuary if I wait much longer.  Mom is voracious and so are the kittens. The six plus mom gobble up two cans (5oz) in 2 minutes. How much should I be feeding them? So far, I feed 2-3 times a day. Thanks everyone for the input and advice.

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Your doing great, hun. OK - since you can't bring them inside, keep up with working with them as much as you possibly can. Feeding 2 - 3 times per day on the exact same schedule would be best. You want to be able to trap momma cat and a schedule is needed for this. Keep calling that sanctuary and keeping close contact. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. :cross:

Here is my concern and as I stated in my first post. The momma cat is probably going to be in heat soon or already is and will be getting pregnant again. :shame: IF the kittens are eating the food you are putting out, then trap momma cat now and get her spayed immediately. She can still nurse her kittens. There is a thread from an expert speaker we had on the boards from Alley Cat Allies on this subject. I will pull it up. It was about spaying feral mom cats while she has kittens and her suggestions.

The kittens will be alright for one day while mom gets spayed especially since you are feeding them now and holding them. These are just my suggestions, of course, and you have to do the best you can within your schedule, etc. Even IF she gets pregnant by the time she is going to be spayed, then they will just perform a spay abort - which is what happens with many feral female kitties. A hard reality of feral cats and TNR. There are just too many cats already out there in need and spay aborts have to happen.

Here is that thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/275475/pregnant-ferals-and-nursing-ferals-two-part-question-please

I know this is a bit of a burden for you trying to get this all done but you are for sure doing a very, very good deed and a very kind thing for this momma cat her kittens.

Update: Kittens are gobbling food like there is no tomorrow. They are adorable. Love each other and are like a comedy tumbling routine. I'm feeding them a variety of canned food, usually two 5 oz can twice a day shared with mom, but they would probably eat more if given the chance. Should I be giving them more? I'm reading that kittens 5 weeks old are just starting solid food. The way these little guys eat makes me think they are older. Mom is getting pretty thin.  Sometimes I put out some extra dry for her. I can't tell if she is still nursing them.

Another wrinkle: My neighbor is our vet and he told me there is rabies in the area and all the adult cats need shots. All of my ferals are up to date (not momma), and  trapped the suspected dad. I told the vet that I was not responsible for the dad cat that sleeps in his barn. Dad cat caused a lot of trouble vying for turf and trying to mate (one of my three ferals had to have her bite wound treated...$125) The other guys were terrified of him because he would chase them up trees and torment them.Anyway, the vet said he tested positive for feLV and they put him down. I feel pretty guilty about that. Now, I am worried about the other cats.

The sanctuary isn't that close to me so I would like to make it two trips instead of three if I can. Although it's a good suggestion to have mom spayed first, I think I will try to do it all at once.

Dorymb said:

Another wrinkle: My neighbor is our vet and he told me there is rabies in the area and all the adult cats need shots. All of my ferals are up to date (not momma), and  trapped the suspected dad. I told the vet that I was not responsible for the dad cat that sleeps in his barn. Dad cat caused a lot of trouble vying for turf and trying to mate (one of my three ferals had to have her bite wound treated...$125) The other guys were terrified of him because he would chase them up trees and torment them.Anyway, the vet said he tested positive for feLV and they put him down. I feel pretty guilty about that. Now, I am worried about the other cats.

The sanctuary isn't that close to me so I would like to make it two trips instead of three if I can. Although it's a good suggestion to have mom spayed first, I think I will try to do it all at once.

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OMG..... NO..... not FeLV???? Feline Leukemia? Are you sure your neighbor said the male tomcat was Feline Leukemia positive? Because, if so, hun..... that is incredibly contagious, very much so. That means there is a good chance the other cats have been exposed and possibly have the disease. Is there any way you can get the mom cat tested when you trap her FIRST before her spay. IF she tests positive, then the kittens will test positive too. I also am worried now, that if you don't find this out and give the cats to the sanctuary, then you may expose their cats to the disease too. The best thing to do, and this is what I would do, is to get the mom cat trapped and tested first and foremost for FeLK.

Make sure you are not confusing FeLK with FIV. Because, FIV is not a death sentence like FeLK is. FIV can only be transmitted by a serious, deep tissue bite. Double check with your vet neighbor. I am shocked that he did not tell you all about the dangers of FeLK IF his male cat was positive. Sorry to drop this bomb on you, but if this is true - the FeLK - then that is a serious cat killing disease.

Please check with your neighbor and report back. We care and want to help you through this.

Yes, I'm an idiot. The mail was FIV positive. I'm sorry that I stupidly posted that. I'm to call the sanctuary July 12.

You are not an idiot; you are their angel. It isn't hard to confuse these illnesses but I am relieved to hear it was FIV. Sad but relieved...

Ondine said:

You are not an idiot; you are their angel. It isn't hard to confuse these illnesses but I am relieved to hear it was FIV. Sad but relieved...

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TOTALLY not an idiot!!! The two are so identical in the way they are abbreviated but yet SO different diseases. I am very relieved to hear that it was not FeLK. :nod:

The only thing I would add to all of the good advice already given is to leave some dry kitten chow out during the day for the kittens because kittens need to eat every few hours. This will be especially important if you trap mom cat, because they'll need the extra food they're not getting from mom. Even if you leave dry food out now, you can still trap the mom cat by putting tuna fish in the trap--most cats can't resist bait like tuna or chicken. When trapping mom, you'll have to be careful not to let the kittens get caught in the trap, too, behind mom, because the metal plate could seriously injure them if they got caught behind it when the mom sets it off. You could rig the trap so it only goes off if you set it off with a long stick while you sit nearby, that way you could control when it goes off.  

Is the sanctuary staff sure the kittens are only 4 weeks old? Did you email them their picture? I've adopted kittens as young as 5-6 weeks from a shelter years ago and they adjusted and matured just fine. I'd be concerned about waiting too long to get the kittens to the sanctuary because sometimes feral moms move their kittens.    

I bought kitten chow and put a plate out for them. Also cat milk.

One of the kittens did not eat this morning or this evening. The mother brought in a squirrel for their breakfast and I saw this kitten and one of the others throw up. Earlier she drank some of the cat milk and I saw her also drink from the water bowl, but no food. I tried to give her some cat milk with a syringe, but she didn't want it. She has been eating the wet food with the other cats, but not today. She is smaller than the others and shyer though she lets me pick her up and hold her. I'm worried about her because she's not hanging with the others and playing.

I really don't see Mom taking the kittens away, because she has it too good here.

Tomorrow I'll call the sanctuary though Saturday is the scheduled call date. 

Little one ate enthusiastically this AM. (relieved) Only 3 came to eat (also Mom.) I did locate the others playing in the garage. My guess is that Mom brought them something. There is also more diarrhea/throw-up and Im guessing its whatever she's bringing home. I can't wait until they are placed. Too much stress and work. Their area (where we store the lawn tractor, garbage cans and our wood is a piggy sty! I can deal with 4 inside and 3 outside but 14???

Wow, I didn't realize you were caring for 14 cats! What a wonderful thing you're doing. 

It's great that the kitten is eating again. It's worrisome when a young kitten stops eating.

I hope you can hang in there until the kittens are placed!