New kitten in the yard

rustypocket · Feb 17, 2015

Hey all.

My family has been feeding an outdoor semi-feral queen for about 4 years now I am slowly transiting her into being an exclusively indoor cat. I already had topic on her here about a month ago.

Basically, Minka stays indoors for 3-4 days in a row and then my mum or granny let her out. It is never more then 24 hours before she gets inside again. We do no longer feed outside.

Even that there is no more food around, we have been seeing this dark and white cat (pretty young I would say) around for last 2 weeks, mostly stealing food from our dog. The cat is terrified of any human and will run away the moment it gets the idea of being watched.

I would like to catch it and check on it, so what are my options. I don't have experience in instant befriending, it took us about 2 years with Minka and she is still not 100% tame. So, if I try to offer food to the newcommer, will it encourage Minka to stay outside more? Should I try trapping the kitten or what?

Thanks for your help in advance.
-Marko

shadowsrescue · Feb 17, 2015

Is Minka spayed? I would either ask around to your neighbors and see if this cat belongs to anyone and once you are sure it is a stray, you will need to trap it and take it immediately for spay/neuter, vaccines and other tests if you are inclined. It appears this little one is very hungry. Its behavior also suggests that it may be very feral like. It could be a true feral or a stray turned feral. Either way the cat is hungry and most likely needs your help.

Have you ever trapped a cat before? If not lots of here can help you.

Thanks for caring.

rustypocket · Feb 17, 2015

No, Minka isn't spayed because I needed to save up some money and along the way I notices she was getting plumpy and calmer. It wasn't hard to realise what happened. Cats will breed anytime now...

Anyway, neither of 2 vets in my town nor the veterinary school that's about 1 hour away don't do "pregnancy stopping" and I am not sure wether I am pro or against it either, so I will let her have this last batch of kittens. We somehoe always end up finding homes.

As of the new kitten, I hardly think it is someone's pet since it's really affraid and anxious around pleople plus we are quite a dog neighbourhood. I guess asking around wouldn't hurt. I know some neighbours have feral colonies living in their barns.

I did trap some of Minka's babies back in the day and Minka herself, but they were already used to people hanging around so it wasn't that hard.

shadowsrescue · Feb 17, 2015

It needs to be a priority for Minka to be spayed. How many litters has she had? There are often low cost clinics available as well as Humane Societies and rescue organizations to help defer the cost. I must say that it is irresponsible for her to be let outside knowing she is not spayed and allowing her to get pregnant. Now she will have more kittens who may not be spayed or neutered either. There are way too many homeless cats running around this world and all it takes is to spay and neuter. I am sorry this is harsh, but you mentioned that you even trapped her before. She should have been spayed right then. It is very hard on a cat to repeatedly have litter after litter. Please ask around your community or do a search online and see if you can find a group to help you. Most likely they will help with the new comer too.

Taking care of a cat by feeding it and giving it a home is only part of being a responsible pet owner. As Bob Barker always said " Please help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered".

StefanZ · Feb 17, 2015

ShadowsRescue said:
It needs to be a priority for Minka to be spayed. How many litters has she had? There are often low cost clinics available as well as Humane Societies and rescue organizations to help defer the cost. I must say that it is irresponsible for her to be let outside knowing she is not spayed and allowing her to get pregnant. Now she will have more kittens who may not be spayed or neutered either. There are way too many homeless cats running around this world and all it takes is to spay and neuter. I am sorry this is harsh, but you mentioned that you even trapped her before. She should have been spayed right then. It is very hard on a cat to repeatedly have litter after litter. Please ask around your community or do a search online and see if you can find a group to help you. Most likely they will help with the new comer too.

Taking care of a cat by feeding it and giving it a home is only part of being a responsible pet owner. As Bob Barker always said " Please help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered".

You have totally right. But Rusty is living in Kroatia, where they apparently dont have the same amount of low cost spaying clinics and rescue organizations like is common in USA.

We must be happy Rusty has two vets nearby, and even an veterinary school, where they apparently admit private owners to come and get medical help.

shadowsrescue · Feb 17, 2015

StefanZ said:
ShadowsRescue said:

It needs to be a priority for Minka to be spayed. How many litters has she had? There are often low cost clinics available as well as Humane Societies and rescue organizations to help defer the cost. I must say that it is irresponsible for her to be let outside knowing she is not spayed and allowing her to get pregnant. Now she will have more kittens who may not be spayed or neutered either. There are way too many homeless cats running around this world and all it takes is to spay and neuter. I am sorry this is harsh, but you mentioned that you even trapped her before. She should have been spayed right then. It is very hard on a cat to repeatedly have litter after litter. Please ask around your community or do a search online and see if you can find a group to help you. Most likely they will help with the new comer too.

Taking care of a cat by feeding it and giving it a home is only part of being a responsible pet owner. As Bob Barker always said " Please help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered".

Click to expand...

You have totally right. But Rusty is living in Kroatia, where they apparently dont have the same amount of low cost spaying clinics and rescue organizations like is common in USA.

We must be happy Rusty has two vets nearby, and even an veterinary school, where they apparently admit private owners to come and get medical help.

I had no idea he was in Croatia. I am sorry that it is difficult to get help. Do you have any rescue groups that could help like we do here in the US? I am sorry if I offended you in any way.

rustypocket · Feb 18, 2015

ShadowsRescue said:
I had no idea he was in Croatia. I am sorry that it is difficult to get help. Do you have any rescue groups that could help like we do here in the US? I am sorry if I offended you in any way.

Not at all. I am aware of the situation in my country and many countries are in much worse position. Spaying Minka is high on my priority list. As of rescues and stuff, we don't have any that are national organisations or societies, and as far as I'm aware, there is only one group of volounteers in our capital city and they only work with street cats there.

New kitten in the yard

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