stray mom cat and newborn kittens

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

I've been feeding a stray cat for about a year, she has never come inside my home but lives and hangs close by. last night she gave birth to a litter of kittens, I think 3 or 4 and this morning shes still in the same place in the bushes nest to my porch. I believe the kittens are nursing and think she is doing a great job at mothering her babies but the temperature is dropping to the 50's and possibly to the high 30's tonight and its raining now. I don't know what to do, if I should try to get them all inside but I don't want to stress mommy cat out or see anything happen to the kittens. I brought her food late last night knowing she was probably very hungry after giving birth and she ate well, also fed her this morning and she was hungry, now I can feel it getting colder outside and I need to know what I can do to help....

Please, some advise?????

thanks,

Pattie

StefanZ · Feb 16, 2015

paj24 said:
I've been feeding a stray cat for about a year, she has never come inside my home but lives and hangs close by. last night she gave birth to a litter of kittens, I think 3 or 4 and this morning shes still in the same place in the bushes nest to my porch. I believe the kittens are nursing and think she is doing a great job at mothering her babies but the temperature is dropping to the 50's and possibly to the high 30's tonight and its raining now. I don't know what to do, if I should try to get them all inside but I don't want to stress mommy cat out or see anything happen to the kittens. I brought her food late last night knowing she was probably very hungry after giving birth and she ate well, also fed her this morning and she was hungry, now I can feel it getting colder outside and I need to know what I can do to help....

Please, some advise?????

thanks,

Pattie

writing a quickie, hold on

Is she somewhat friendly with your?   Do she has a real nest, with sheltering her and the babies, or just under some bushes?

A conservative approach is you do as you are doing, give her food and water, and hope for the best.

Another more radical approach is, to try and get them inside. Works if you know where the nest is. Surprising often it succeeds, especielly if the mom is somewhat trusting you.

You prepare a nice and cozy room for them, litter, bedding place, food place with food and water, the works.

If you dont have suitable rooms, you can have it in a big dog cage.

After that, you take on you thick clothes and gloves, and a carrier or big basket with warm filt in, and go and basically collect the kittens. If mom is near, you talk friendly to her and make lotsa of friendly noises.

And you carry them slowly home, hoping she follows with you into the house and their room.

It works often nicely, because cat moms are like human moms, and the most important is the welfare of their children, not freedom as such.   If she realizes you are trying to help them, and there are no real threats inside, she will copy.

The risk? If she dont dares come inside, you will perhaps be forced to raise them yourself...   Not easy but it CAN be done.

If you dont know where the nest is, it will be more difficult.

There is some risk she may attack you to defend her kittens, but it is seldom. That is why I mention you should have thick clothes on you, and protective glasses... Better safe than sorry.

I think that was the most important for the moment.

Please report and come with further questions!     Im back in 5 hours.

Good luck!

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

thank you so much, just gave mommy cat some more food, I'm so concerned about the drop in temp and the rain. From what I've read online it says the kittens biggest threat is being cold. the nest is in the bushes 3 feet away from my front door, she lets me get close enough to put food at her feet and fresh water but I'm not sure how she"d react if I tried to bring her in the house. do you think they will all have the best chance for survival if I bring them in?? would it change the way she cares for her kittens if they are moved from the nest?? they are so small and helpless and i just wanna help any way I can. how often should I keep feeding mommy cat??

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

forgot to mention that the nest is in the bushes, not much shelter from the climate or rain and especially the cold. I hear one or two kittens crying and its breaking my heart....

di and bob · Feb 16, 2015

Do you have a plastic tote or box that a blanket can be put in to shelter her from the cold? Set it next to where she is and if necessary move the babies in to it, keeping their body temperature up is critical. I would feed her several times a day if you can, kitten food works well, it's full of the extra nutrition she needs now. She'll also need fresh water. She may be a young mother and doesn't know how to take care of her babies. I hope everything goes well for her and those precious babies, good luck!

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

I put a box with a blanket right next to her but she isnt moving close to it, i'm going to try to bring them inside now....

catwoman707 · Feb 16, 2015

Hold on before you do this!

catwoman707 · Feb 16, 2015

I said this to hopefully get your attention before you went back out to get them.

I do not believe she will willingly go in to your house, regardless if you have her babies catnapped or not.

Anytime you pull a mom with kittens inside, you MUST get mom FIRST! Then you can easily/quickly snatch the babies and reunite them.

Just so you know, if she is feral she will not care for them for at least a couple days, she will be too overwhelmed with her own fear of indoors to care for them.

Trust me on this one.

The only way around this is if you cage mom with her babies, stick them in a dark, VERY secluded place and hope for the best, which usually (but not always) will work.

Can you tell how feral she is?

We can figure out the best solution for this situation depending on this.

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

no luck in trying to get them inside, the temp dropped to below 60 and when i put the kittens in the box lined with a warm blanket she grabbed one and ran to the neighbors bushes.... i brought her other kittens to her and there are 6 all together.... they are reunited with mom now. i was told o al animal rescue and have them trap mom and bring her inside, then to bring kittens inside the house. hope this works!!!!

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

shes a stray, not feral at all... shes in protection mode, nursing and keeping them warm underneath her but Im afraid she wont be able to keep them warm enough.

catwoman707 · Feb 16, 2015

I was afraid of this, trying to take her kids will cause her to move them.

The only option to get them all inside would be to trap her, then bring her kids in to her but leaving them in a quiet, secluded place only.

Glad she's not feral, that does make it much easier.

Is there at least shelter from the rain? It would make it harder for her to keep them warm if she is getting wet too, and the ground is wet where they all are.

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

when she moved them she is now further beneath the awning and away from the rain, i hope she'll be able to stay warm and dry there.I'm sure that just stressed her out and I hope she'll continue to care for them as she has been doing. I've called the shelter and animal control to see if they can trap her so we can bring the new family inside where they'll be safe and warm, waiting for a call back.... I just feel so bad for them all, feeding mom cat again. will keep you posted on anything new, any other advise??

2cats4me · Feb 16, 2015

paj24 said:
when she moved them she is now further beneath the awning and away from the rain, i hope she'll be able to stay warm and dry there.I'm sure that just stressed her out and I hope she'll continue to care for them as she has been doing. I've called the shelter and animal control to see if they can trap her so we can bring the new family inside where they'll be safe and warm, waiting for a call back.... I just feel so bad for them all, feeding mom cat again. will keep you posted on anything new, any other advise??

Good luck , I hope you can get them all inside to be safe and warm .. Will check back for updates .

catwoman707 · Feb 16, 2015

Not really, maybe once you take food to her again you can try the box and put the food inside of it so she gets in it to eat. She might put her kids in the box, but be careful what you use for a blanket, babies will wiggle their way all up under the blanket and starve to death.

A box with straw is actually ideal but not too easy to do unless you have horses for the straw/hay.

You can also borrow a trap from AC and trap her yourself too.

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

Thank you all for your support and advise, animal control said if they come trap her they take her away so they said I can buy a trap but I don't want to freak her out again. I'll try the box again with the food in it in an hour or so. Cant get hay but hoping when my son comes home from work he'll be able to help me, he has thick gloves and maybe he can get her in the cage... I just hope they all make it, they are the sweetest six little ones I've ever seen. fingers crossed!!!!

anne with cats · Feb 16, 2015

I think the good thing with this little mama is that you have connected with the food thing for the past year. Cats love us first by feeding them, number 1 priority for cats! This story reminds me of my own mother. She had befriended a stray or feral cat. She would feed her, speak softly etc. That cat indeed had kittens, and somehow I believe was coaxed into the house. I guess it would depend on your entry ways. We had a laundry room with a door. All I know is my mother somehow was able to either coax cat into the house. The kittens were socialized to my recall (40 years ago) because she found homes for them. So you do have a rapport with the cat. I hope your son can help today. We are all waiting to hear the outcome! You really don't want to be bottle feeding 6 kittens! Have you seen the thread "day old kittens"? That poor girl is over in Malaysia, no KMR, odd vets etc. Check that out while waiting for your son.

StefanZ · Feb 16, 2015

Yeah, writing in full hurry, I didnt say everything there was to tell. As Catwoman tells, The safest is to catch the mom first, if you know where the nest is. And this you know. Easy as a pie, because, as said, once well inside, having time to cool down and land, and noticing nobody is mean, and this is really the best practical chance for her children, they do cooperate and even allow you do foster her kittens.

Thus, helping a semiferale mom with kittens is sometimes easier then help her when she is alone.

What I wrote, "just collect them" may work, and I know several of our forumites did succeed with it, even without big trouble. They collected the kittens /took in the whole nest, and mom followed.

But as I hinted, and Catwoman tells, and you saw, there are some risks...

So it can be done if desperate, but if you DO have practical possibilities to catch the mom first - yes, its the safest and best way.

Sorry I was unclear / wrote too little... Sorry.

StefanZ · Feb 16, 2015

paj24 said:
Thank you all for your support and advise, animal control said if they come trap her they take her away so they said I can buy a trap but I don't want to freak her out again. I'll try the box again with the food in it in an hour or so. Cant get hay but hoping when my son comes home from work he'll be able to help me, he has thick gloves and maybe he can get her in the cage... I just hope they all make it, they are the sweetest six little ones I've ever seen. fingers crossed!!!!

If she can be coaxed into the cage / whatever, its good, but I wouldnt recommend any "catch as catch can". This is quite stressing!!! Taking in a humane trap is much less stressing.

IF you want to do the catch as catch can thing, try to throw a towel over her instead. Try to train some beforhand on something, perhaps a toy animal. Or your friendly resident.

Being wrapped up, head and all, they usually cease resistence.

This method much milder then trying to hold by sheer force.

reba · Feb 16, 2015

Not that it applies here, but that's exactly the way I ended up with orphaned kittens. I brought them in first and then the mother was having none of it and disappeared.

But what I didn't know was that she had two other kittens stashed elsewhere. I assumed there was only three because when I found her (well I didn't really find her, she walked by with one of them in her mouth when I was on my deck and I followed her) and she was still there with three the next day.

Long story short, I didn't see her for two months after I took the kittens in and then she appeared at my back door with two other kittens. They surely would've died if I'd trapped her and kept her inside. Or do you think she had them later? The three I have had dried umbilical cords attached when I brought them inside.

paj24 · Feb 16, 2015

well the temp dropped to 50 and Im going to buy thick gloves and litter box, Im determined to save this lil family.... will try to catch her with a towel and gloves. I cant stand to hear them crying, my son wont be home for several more hours and Im afraid to wait till after dark.

stray mom cat and newborn kittens

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