Advice needed about semi ferals

Hi. I'm trying to rescue 2 (that I know about) semi ferals and I desperately need advice/help.

Basically, I have a pony at a livery yard, and have been there for some years. The yard has a resident cat who isn't quite tame but is very close to it (can do pretty much everything except pick her up, but it has to be on her terms). This summer, several new cats appeared on the yard. No one knows where they came from, but the most likely explanation is that they were dumped on the roadside (the yard is next to a motorway slip road, and the motorway runs next to the paddocks). There was no problem for some time, but the farmer recently announced that he wanted the one (as we thought) remaining cat out of the newcomers to be removed. He was actually talking about shooting it if it was left (though I don't think he'd have gone through with it! ). I agreed to remove it and find it a home, as I wasn't prepared to see the poor thing hurt in any way. I don't have access to a trap - not to mention that there are several small terriers at the yard who would probably have ended up in the trap instead! I have been working with the cat over the last couple of weeks to get her into a big cat carrier of her own free will - using food a bait to get her in. I actually managed to catch her on the 3rd day, but the carrier had a faulty hinge and she managed to escape. Thankfully, this hasn't impacted on her trust of me, and we're slowly getting her to trust the carrier again. I'm sure she's a semi feral or stray because she regularly shows herself in the daytime - even at busy times of day - and she talks to me from the moment she sees me. She's even plucked up the courage to sniff my hand and to eat 6 inches away from me, although she's still very jumpy. I've had cats all my life, and while we had a few semi ferals turn up on the doorstep and move in when I was a child, I've never worked with one in this kind of situation before. Just to complicate matters, today an oldish kitten (6 months ish from the size) appeared. It's much bolder than the adult and ate 6 inches away from me even though I'd never seen it before.

I have 2 main problems. The first is how do I know whether the cat and kitten are related? My instinct says mum and child, but I'm not sure. The kitten was meowing a lot (out of sight) while the adult was eating. At one point she looked up from her food, meowed once back, then continued eating. Later, she saw the kitten eating with me 3 times. The 1st two times she sent it back down to the cellars and started on its food (no agression that I could see, just a meow and a look. However, her pupils were dilated when she saw the kitten and she was creeping rather than moving confidently. That may have been my proximity though). The 3rd time, she chased the kitten right down the steps and there was some hissing and growling and a single mournful sounding meow. The adult again came straight back to eat the food the kitten had been eating. Am I right in thinking they're mum and child, or are they just two individuals? A couple of months ago there was another kitten identical to this one, though younger. That one hopped into someone's car and hitched a lift to a different yard and stayed there!

Okay, so that was my first problem. The second is this - how do I find out if there are any more kittens, and how do I go about removing the two cats I know of? I'm worried that, if they are mother and child, will catching one break trust with the other or make the second one harder to get? Do I need to get them both on the same day or can it be done as I get the opportunity?

I'm so sorry this is so long and complicated. I just want to give each animal the best chance I can. On catching, my plan is to get them to the vet for a health check, and to have them neutered/spayed as soon as I can. I have a home lined up for (originally) the adult, but I'm seriously debating taking her on myself as I'm falling for her more every day! I just have concerns as to whether my home is suitable. I have 2 big dogs, one very noisy and the other with the chronic form of congestive heart failure, and a 13 year old British Shorthair neutered male indoor only cat. We sadly lost his brother to congestive heart failure a year ago, and he's never lived with or met any other cats since leaving his breeder. Whatever I decide I intend to make sure that both cats have a good home to go to, as the rescue places in my area are all oversubscribed already.

Any and all advice will be gratefully received!

Hi Columbine,

If that of any help - you have your pet-dogs there.

If they are not friendly to cats - i would advise you to call your local help-rescue organizations to deal with it professionally.

If your dogs at your home are sweet and friendly to smaller animals, and if you want to adopt a feral cat - this would be a lot of work and very costly (I myself have a family of 7 cats of feral origin and one dog-mother to all of them).

Your story suggests that the kitten and an adult could be related, depending on what age the kitten is.  Sometimes feral adults will chase their young if they are old enough to go on their own to survive.

On the other hand - feral cats need to eat enough to sustain their families.

And again - if they would be not related - I think that the kittens would be killed by adults due to territorial issues.

So, most probably you are right - they must be related.

If you seriously feel like giving home to feral cats - my kudos to you.  And if you want any advice on it - PM me with your questions.

You can trap them separately, using the bribing method inside the carrier.  Trapping them one at a time may make the other a little wary but it shouldn't take long for her to get accustomed to you again.  Food is a wonderful bribe!  If you have two carriers, you can try trapping them at the same time, although that will be trickier.

Feed them on a strict schedule and make sure you are always there.  This will get them used to you being around when they eat and will help you keep other critters from getting their food. (the little terriers!)

Whether they are related or not, it sounds like they are having territorial issues.  Getting them both fixed will help with that and help when you find them new homes.  Bless you for taking on this challenge.  Curses on the creeps who dumped them!

As to other kittens, once you trap these two, you can determine if either may have had kittens.  If either is lactating, talk to your vet about the next step.  That is always tricky, especially if you don't know how old the kittens are.  You could do a search for a nest now, although you'll be lucky to find it.

Thanks Ondine. It sounds like I'm doing the right things. I look after the pony on a schedule, so inevitably the cat's are on one too. I always hang around while they eat - as much to keep dogs away as to tame the cats! It's good to know that separate trapping won't be too big an issue, although I do have three cat carriers (all airline types) so two on one day is possible. I guess I'll just see what happens.

It's a great idea to check for lactation. That hadn't occurred to me. There's no way I'll find the nest though...there's a ton of building work going on the the yard so any nest will be *very* well hidden.

Thanks for your support, and thanks as well to Ambermay for your help and PMs.