New to this and have so many questions

Hello, I'm new to this website and to rescuing a stray/feral.  At this point, I'm not sure if my mom cat is feral, semi feral or a stray.  Around the Labor day weekend I got a call from one of my tenant's who rents out the garage that there was a cat that got in through a broken window and had kittens in there.  I went to go see for myself and found mom cat with 3 little tabbies and 1 black kitten.  At the time, mom cat looked rather thin and I started feeding her daily, she was afraid of me and hence why she became Luna (as I rarely saw her and most of the times it was in the evening/night hours).  She would let me get about 3 then 2 feet of her and would eat if I was a good distance away.  I decided to contact Paws Chicago about getting a trap to trap her for several reasons:

1.  I want her to get fixed and either find a home for her or TNR

2.  I also wanted to get the kittens socialized

3.  tenant wanted them out of the garage as she really didn't care if she ran one over as she exited/entered the garage

4.  we had a cold spell hit us and I wanted them to be someplace warm where I could feed them and watch over them (she had 3 dead things that she was eating off of when I first saw her  - a little bunny, a bird and something else)

Fast forward to last Tues., I ended up trapping the mom and was able to get all the kittens to my house.  I have plenty of space and husband is fine with me providing them with shelter and food.  The mom cat hides and will growl (low growl) as I approach but if I say nice and get by her she stops.  She did hiss 2-3 times at me but will sniff a fork with food and then will approach her food and let me watch her eat (at first she would wait until I left to eat).  She still keeps her distance when I am getting her food ready but will now get a little closer and at times seems to relax.  I can pet her back when she isn't looking and will sometimes shift a bit so I don't push it.  My brother has been braver than me and put his fingers in front of her nose and she will smell them and then look away.  Any loud startling noises will make her terrified, so we keep noise level down.  However, she seems okay now with the washer/dryer going in the room and the tv on.

She does let me grab her kittens without her attacking me, she just goes a little back to her safe haven.  She knows how to use the litter box (so do kittens) and is still feeding her kits.  She will follow my activity around the room but will not play if I dangle a toy in front of her.

I'm not sure if I should do the TNR for her or if she will just take some time (perhaps months) to feel comfortable getting touched/petted and to trust me. 

As for her kittens they are a fun group, I do take them out and play with them but they are still uncertain (perhaps from seeing mom's behavior).  They eat, play, sleep and use the potty.  There are 3 girls and 1 male.  My kids are in love with the little brood and really don't want them to get adopted.  I really don't know if I want to keep the whole family, rehome the mom  or what.  I do know that I want them all fixed and will keep on working on getting kittens socialized yet unsure about mom.  I don't know what mom went through or if she was abandoned at a young age.  How can I tell if she's semi feral or feral.  What are the best options for her at this point?

I really want support from those of you that rescue cats as this is my first time that I am rescuing.  I know shelters are full of cats and I really want what's best for this little cat family.  ANY advice is greatly, greatly appreciated!!!

Hi there!

I have tons of things to say

First of all, I LOVE that you are such a caring person, taking this family in to help. You are making a profound difference in all of their lives.

One thing first though, are they caged or free in a room?

This will help me know what's what.

Also, some clear info on the kittens so I can tell their age.

Describe them, and in detail how they play with one another.

Are you saying mom has a chance of living with you?

I can tell that at least, she is NOT feral, strays when left on their own long enough will become antisocial simply from lack of human interaction, which resembles feral behavior.

If you were able to touch her, she is NOT feral.

I'm happy to help.

She doesn't sound truly feral - she would have gone bonkers being inside and would have reacted very badly to you handling her kittens.

I think she was probably a stray or abandoned or dumped and found the garage on her own.  She sounds like she was actually a good hunter but it is so much better for her and the kits now that they are with you.  Make sure you give her kitten food.  It has more calories and she can use all the nutrition she can get right now.

I would let her raise the kittens while you socialize them and assess how social she is capable of becoming.  If you can keep her, that would be a godsend for her.  Kittens are easier to adopt out; mom may not have such a good chance at finding a good home.

Of course, it sounds like if your kids have anything to say about it, you're going to end up with more than one cat! 

Thank you for helping them all.   Honestly, it has made a life or death difference for them.

Thank you both for your kind words.  I really dislike animals fending for themselves, hence the reason I brought them in.  The kittens appear to be about 4 weeks old.  They are walking, running, climbing.  Their eyes were blue last week but are starting to fade off so still a bluish tint.  They may occasionally hiss but are coming round to getting picked up by me.  They are eating soft food and kitten food, are also nursing and use the potty.  After they eat, they love to pounce on each other and rough and tumble, including climbing and swatting at mom.  I have given them toys and they will attack them and bite it and  throw little kicks.  Usually playtime occurs after they are done eating and after that they go to mom for milk and go to sleep.  They are thoroughly curious little kittens and watch everything! 

As for where they are, we have them in the basement which houses the laundry, a tv with couch and kid toys/playroom.  My initial thought was to place them in a room in the attic as we have a spare bedroom up there however we rarely go up there (plus it was a bit cooler).  We ended up putting them in the basement in a huge (think german shepard) dog cage.  I have a smaller cage in there that the mom either goes into or sits on top of when she's just hanging out.  She is clearly watching me as I walk around the basement and will growl if I get too close, once I say nice she stops growling and she will just lay there.  I clean her litter and feed her with large cage open and she will watch me but will not come out of her enclosure.  I also noticed that she likes the large cage covered in the back.  I did that to the little cage but the kittens keep on knocking down the blanket (they also knock down the large one from time to time).

I notice mom cat (I call her Luna) prefers no touch and will eat in my presence but she is still wary of me.  I can touch her on the back side but is afraid if you try to touch her head.  Any sudden noise and she will retract from the food.  I have made her sniff the fork when I'm prepping her food and occasionally she gets a little closer to where I place the food.  My brother is a bit braver than me and puts out his fingers to her nose and she will sniff him and then look away.

I would love to find them all a home and would love for Luna to either stay with me or get adopted out as well.  I do have a yorkie terrier who loves the family cats, so she is all in love with the kittens but Luna really dislikes here.  My little yorkie will come down from time to time but she is such a good listener as I tell her to stay back from Luna so she keeps her distance and wags at Luna and kittens.  Kittens are bit more curious of my yorkie and my yorkie is smitten and willing to protect them!  I don't let me dog go down there as much since I don't want Luna to stress out.  I do see Luna watching when I pet my dog and she's rolling around like a good pooch.

I do have a soft spot for animals, so I will do my best with this little brood.  My kids however have said they do not want any of them to get adopted as they want all of them including mom to stay with us (not sure how that will go with hubby). 

Any tips on how to get her to warm up to me, she doesn't like to play with things but will follow them around.  She won't take treats but will sniff them out.  Lastly, I take the kittens out 1 at a time and have them in my lap or around me but they are still scared since they sometimes walk low to the ground.

Here are pics of the 4 kittens as I have yet to take a good pic of the mom.  The sole kitten is Dash and is the only boy of the group.  These pics were taken last week when we were transporting them to my house.

I've gotta run now and will post later on, but just so you know, they're about 5 1/2 to 6 weeks old in the pics, which makes them about 6 1/2 weeks-7 weeks now.

So you really want to work on them and handle them as much as you possibly can before they have a permanent shy streak in them, which sets about 8 weeks.

Give each of your kids a kitten anytime theyre around, just as much handling as possible now.

Oh WOW!!!  I didn't realize they were that old.  Thanks so much for the information as that is really helpful.  I will continue to handle them and have each of my kids play with one of them.  Should we do this in a different room altogether or near mom?

Either is fine as long as it doesn't upset mom or interfere with them interacting.

Also if you are able to weight them I can tell you their age too.