Advice on Trapping Feral Kittens

Hi Everyone,

I have lots of feral cat trapping experience, but not trapping kittens, and need some advice.

The Little Mom Feral, who I call Smudge, is very friendly with me. I am able to pet her, she has even brought a few of her kittens in the house through the cat door, but if I try to get to the door to close it...the kittens run out, not Mom, she is really comfortable in here.  I think she "gets" that this is where her kids will get the care they need.

Once I get the kittens, I know getting Mom back with them won't be a problem, so my problem is just getting all of the kittens, and not leaving one behind.

There are four kittens. The problem is they aren't all in the same place at the same time. I think that is because she doesn't have complete control anymore. The kittens are active enough to want to stop and play with a leaf or a bug when she is trying to get them all to the feeding station at the same time. (Just like all mothers and kids!!!!)

I have a drop trap set up and Mom takes the kittens in it to eat, but only one or two at a time. It concerns me to that Mom goes in with the kittens, cause I don't want or need to trap her. It would only scare her needlessly.

It is at the night feeding that she has them all in my front yard (which is fairly large, lots of bushes and places to hide). 

She brings them in the yard around 8:00 p.m, just before it gets dark. I am worried if I can only get two that she will be frantic all night looking for them.

I was able to pick one of the kittens up tonight, but put it back with the other one, worrying it wouldn't be good to have just the one.

Yikkes! I am going nuts about this! Since the kittens are all black, once it gets dark, they are impossible to see.

The kittens, by my calculations are right at six weeks, so I want to get them before Mom leaves them. I am in a wild area with birds of prey flying overhead, and they have gotten kittens in the past. The area surrounding me, thank heaven, is covered in brush, so if the kittens stay in the brush they are pretty safe, but I think I am in a real time crunch here. 

How would you experts out there go about this???

I just helped a friend in this situation catch four kittens.

I use a large plastic carrier with a heavy cotton string running all the way through it from the back to the door, so that when I pull the string, the door shuts. I put food in the back of the carrier so the cats have to come all the way in to eat. If they're really skittish, you may have to leave the carrier out with food in it so they can explore it on their own and get used to eating in it.

Then, once all are inside, you pull the door shut and hold the string tight until you can lock the carrier door.

The string allows you to stay at a distance from the carrier so they don't perceive you as an immediate threat.

I suggest practicing with it before your first real try.

thanks..typing with one hand while holding one kitten

i have a drop trap and they all go in...my problem is they all go in at separate times

afraid if i pull trap and only get a couple .the others won't go back in

just really frantic

i got one this morning by hand

tried to get another, but it scooted under a piece of patio furniture..somehow in trying to get him, he got his leg pinched.. he yelled, i let go..so now i just have one

if i get the kittens  one by one is that going to work

also one of the older ferals turned up injured this morning...leg hurt...so i am in total overwhelm

I am in such a tizzy...I was able to get one kitten by hand.

How does this work, if I get kittens one by one....?

How do the kittens handle each other when separated?

How does Mom handle all of this?

The one I got seems fine..now sleeping, doing fine with me.

I could tell Mom knew one was missing..

Will attempt to get more at evening feeding.....

Really need advice and experience here about trapping kittens...done so much adult trapping...hundreds...but no kitten trapping ...I am a wreck trying to figure out how to do this.....

Just catching your threads and have to run BUT wanted to comment and will be back to check later. I am going to have your two threads merged if that is alright with you? It will be better to have all of the information in one thread. I saw your other thread and found this one which answered some of my questions.

First off - if Smudge is so friendly, then the kittens will see this and follow her lead. I feel that you do need to trap Smudge and get her spayed!! Since she is so friendly, this should be easy. If you don't get her spayed then she will have more and more kittens!! If you can catch her in the drop trap with another kitten then GO FOR IT!!! The other remaining two kittens WILL come and eat from the drop trap and you will catch them easily after mom is caught. This is what I would do and best of LUCK!!! Keep us posted.

Had Smudge in net just days before she delivered...and she slipped out.

Believe me...getting her fixed is not even a question...just beating myself up cause it didn't get done sooner.

You helped so much...that was what I needed to hear...that getting Mom might make it easier to catch babies???I think that is what I am hearing you say. I am just using Smudge now as a way to get the kids.

I'm going to catch whatever goes in the drop trap this evening...I am just frantic about one being left out and it getting dark and then little tiny one being left out there alone with so many predators....!!!  Any comfort, help you can give with that is what I need. The dynamics of who gets left out, Mom's fear for the babies, etc. etc. is what I need.

Thanks so much for getting to me...

The reason I have no experience with babies, is because I have never let one of my colony of 50 ever get pregnant. I am so on top of it..until all hell broke loose for me this year, just as I was trapping a couple of Tom Cats...

One other question...I am not sure if the kittens can find their way to the drop trap if Mom is caught.

That's why I have avoided getting her. And, getting her won't be an issue. Since having the kittens she has become way more friendly with me than ever before. Still don't think I could pick her up, but getting her into the house is no problem. It is just that if the kittens follow her, and I try to get to the door to shut everyone in....the kittens run out...Smudge doesn't...she just leaves when she sees the kittens have gone.

So, I am still thinking I should work for all the kittens....your thoughts?..

You can see how nuts I am right now....  I post and then remember something else..

No problem putting all comments into one thread.....you can do anything....just wish you could hold my hand or pat me on the head!!

My comment about Smudge and kittens is that Smudge escorts the kittens into the drop trap in the evening....as I have said though, just a couple at a time.....

Supermax1943 said:

You can see how nuts I am right now....  I post and then remember something else..

No problem putting all comments into one thread.....you can do anything....just wish you could hold my hand or pat me on the head!!

My comment about Smudge and kittens is that Smudge escorts the kittens into the drop trap in the evening....as I have said though, just a couple at a time.....

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I TOTALLY understand that NUTS feeling, believe me!!! AND here is a little head pat ..... Trapping a mom and kittens does that to a person - makes one NUTS. I have been through this many times. SOOOOOOO :happy3: to hear that Smudge will get spayed. Please don't be hard on yourself by not getting Smudge sooner! It sounds like you have TNRd many feral cats and BLESS YOU for doing so. There are going to be kittens as we can't get them all beforehand sometimes.

IF kittens see mom eating from under the drop trap - then they will eat from under the drop trap too, even if she is trapped with them or before them. THIS will be so easy especially if she leads them to the drop trap to eat. Smudge has done lots of the leg work for you and she doesn't even know it. If you feel better, then catch her tomorrow morning and not at night because then you have most of the day to get a straggling kitten. It will be easy too because the kittens are already quite socialized by you and are not at all fearful of you so you have this on your side. Smudge still needs to be with the kittens too - even at 6 weeks they are still nursing and not fully weaned yet. Another week or two should be fine and then Smudge can get spayed. Kittens can be altered once they are over two pounds and it is very safe to do. :nod:

IF you can get mom inside the house ......... well, go for that too! Kittens will follow her lead. In fact, you can even start feeding them inside the house by leaving the door open and offering food that way. Either way - I have confidence that you can do this !!!!!!!!! :bigthumb: And soon you will have mom and her four kittens all together safely inside.

This should be a fairly easy capture because Smudge and kittens are already used to you. And, it is always alright to trap mom cat along with kittens even if you don't have all the kittens. Most important is to know exactly HOW many kittens mom has, a head count, and what they all look like. Once mom cat is caught, the kittens will be looking for her very shortly after and will become hungry and this is the easiest way to snatch them up - while they are devouring up some kitten canned num-nums. :cross:

Bless you for taking the time.....

I have fostered lots of babies and Moms with babies...so all of that part is easy AND SO MUCH FUN for me.

It is this part that is all new to me. In the past when a Mom has turned up with kittens, I would usually just let Mom do her thing. I would wait a couple of weeks till after weaning....then take Mom in. Then at two to three pound weight take the kittens in for fixing.

But, this time I just wanted to get a handle on it early. Smudge is tiny and super thin after nursing these four youngsters. So I wanted to get them all inside....and get some weight back on Smudge before having her neutered. Pretty sure she is not already pregnant....so I will keep her closed in with her kittens. Then get Smudge fixed and then the kittens. That is my plan...which obviously will change should Smudge show any signs of being pregnant which means her process will get speeded up.

So, I will try tonight, and will let you know what happens.

You helped me so much today. Thanks for the kind words about Mom and kittens makes everyone crazy....I thought it was just me. So many variables....and so many little lives at stake.

Keep your fingers crossed!

hugs and so much thanks 

Sally

P.S.  Smudge doesn't bring the kittens around until about 8:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Don't know where you are located, but I will let you know what happens when I am done which I am guessing could be around 9:00-9:30 pm

Smudge decided to bring the kittens early.

So I got two in the trap...unfortunately she was right next to the trap when it dropped.

She was worried about her kittens.

There are only three kittens, not four. I was pretty sure there were only three, but there are two blacks and one day I thought I saw three, but I think that was just a mistake.

Anyway, Mom is hanging around the drop trap...seems like she is looking for her kids. 

They are in the house in a cage but house door is open, so if Smudge cries the kittens will hear her , and vice versa. If she looked Smudge could see them and also vice versa.

I finally took the kitten I got this morning out to see her. Held her about four feet away. But no reaction from Smudge.

Oh heaven, I hope she won't disappear. Maybe I just should have left everything the way it was.

To add to the day of stress, suddenly I look and the cat was injured shows up looking all healed! Wrong.....apparently a brother an absolute twin to the other, but with huge balls. Since the injured one is one I just had fixed, I thought oh no, they didn't really fix him!  Not the case. So now an injured one and a new Tom to take care of.

I will stay with the situation until dark........

Tried to correct above, but program wouldn't allow me to insert words.....sorry about the one paragraph that sounds confused....

Just went into the room where the the kittens are and found Smudge (Mom) quietly sleeping in a chair in the room!!!!

I Cannot begin to tell you how relieved I am.

I don't think I have ever spent a more stressful day.

I took the babies out of the cage and put them near Smudge, and neither she nor the kittens showed any excitement. Sort of like...oh, it's you..

I, meanwhile can barely get myself down off of the ceiling, I am so happy!

No one leaves the room for 24 hours!!!!

I was going to hate myself forever, if Smudge never came back. But, it was almost like she wasn't even worried. The first time she brought them in the house I thought she must know this is a safe place for them. I guess my first thought was the best and the right one.

So, all is well in my world.

I just cannot thank you enough, Feralvr, for giving me your support today. I just flipped out with concern and worry, and couldn't find a way to calm down. You would think with all of the trapping I have done and all the years of caring for feral cats that this would be a breeze for me, and I thought it would be. But was I wrong on that!! Anyway, in the end all is well. I will go get them all settled, and we can all have a good night's sleep!

Thanks again..I will update tomorrow afternoon.

Supermax1943 said:

Just went into the room where the the kittens are and found Smudge (Mom) quietly sleeping in a chair in the room!!!!
I Cannot begin to tell you how relieved I am.
I don't think I have ever spent a more stressful day.

I took the babies out of the cage and put them near Smudge, and neither she nor the kittens showed any excitement. Sort of like...oh, it's you..
I, meanwhile can barely get myself down off of the ceiling, I am so happy!
No one leaves the room for 24 hours!!!!


So, all is well in my world.
I just cannot thank you enough, Feralvr, for giving me your support today. I just flipped out with concern and worry, and couldn't find a way to calm down.

Thanks again..I will update tomorrow afternoon.
:kisskiss:

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I am also peeling myself off of the ceiling :lol3: from being overjoyed at reading your updates from overnight. I was on the edge of my seat reading them!!!!!!! I can promise you this, Smudge would have never just left your property to disappear completely since her kittens were trapped. You did the right thing and in the right order and in all honesty - there is really no right order when dealing with a feral cat and babies. You do the best you can to collect them all up and most times it is with great success. EVEN IF, let's just say, mom cat disappeared. The kittens can be hand raised and socialized so they can be adopted out to new loving families. All is not lost, ever, and the goal is always to trap those feral kittens no matter what so that they will not get away and become pregnant at four months of age too. SO GREAT GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :high5:

You are a very good and funny story teller too and I am enjoying reading your posts especially the description of when mom and kittens met indoors like "OH - it's you....." Anyway... Don't let them out of that room!!! Even after 24 hours. That last thing you want is for Smudge to go back outside and the kittens following her. It is only for another week or so anyway. Best to keep them all confined until they are all spayed/neutered and/or you get the kittens up for adoption at the humane society or other. I think you are SO awesome and SO appreciate your hard and emotional efforts to help feral cats and TRULY our emotions/heart are always on the line. :nod:

Supermax1943, great job!  I enjoyed reading your story so much and you seem like such a cool cat person!  Hilarious, after the fact, that you are the nervous wreck and Mom and kittens are chill.

When I trapped the litter currently have I thought as long as I got all of the kittens, Mom would follow me.  As it turned out she would not leave her nest even though I showed her that I had all of her kittens.  I finally had to go back and trap her.  Then she wouldn't nurse for about 18 hours so I had to stress over that.  Just goes to show that no matter how you plan for it to work out, it never goes how you think it will.  We need to always have a plan B.

Thanks for all the hard work you are doing to help these cats.

I am exhausted!!! And Smudge and babies are all just as relaxed as can be. Babies even using litter boxes.

Smudge looks totally content, like..why didn't you do this sooner??

Don't worry no one is leaving the room!!  maybe ever.  Smudge looks totally content in there. She can get up on the couch or chair and babies can't reach her. So she gets some alone time when she wants to, and the babies can see her so they are totally relaxed as well.

I thought Smudge might freak out being shut in, but she is not the tiniest bit stressed. (That's cause I did all of the stressing for her!!!)

I have always known what a fantastic web site this is, but felt it 100% myself yesterday. Having Feralvr answer my frantic emails was just the most incredible help. And, for you to not judge my hysteria, but instead make it okay for it to be happening meant so much. Please paste a gold star on your forehead, and tell the world how wonderful you are! 

Some of the feral cats who use the room  Smudge and babies are in now, have been displaced, (they would sleep in there at night) ....and they are not too pleased, but they will adjust. 

And, Dandila, thanks for your email and support. Thank heaven Smudge sauntered into the living room on her own (she didn't even seem bothered the kittens were in a cage....by the way, kittens are now out of cage, with the full run of the room at their disposal). If Smudge hadn't come in, I don't know what I would have done. 

And for further update, Big Guy, the injured cat showed up right on time for breakfast. He is putting a little weight on the back leg today. I am thinking and hoping (your thoughts welcome on this) that since he is putting some weight on it, and it seems a little less painful, that maybe it isn't broken) . It doesn't look anything like an abscess. But, I will set up trap for him today. 

His twin brother didn't show up this morning....that was so crazy yesterday when he showed up!! I thought I have now officially gone off the deep end. Where he came from, I have no idea. And, they are such twins I wonder how many times I have maybe seen him in the past and thought he was Big Guy, the injured one.

Well, that is all from my world. I am hoping for a nap this afternoon. But will update tomorrow.

Thanks so much again, for your kind words and support, it means so much to me.

Sitting in my office...heard mewing...went to see if kitten stuck or something..

No, the 4th baby that I decided yesterday was a figment of my imagination was on the porch crying. Kitten saw me and ran off.

I let Smudge out thinking she would grab the kitten and bring it back in. No! she did nothing...is wandering around outside not seeming worried at all.

Now what???

Smudge came inside at one point, and then left again. She is outside now.

Holy Moly the Universe is not through testing my mental stability!!!

Supermax1943 said:

No, the 4th baby that I decided yesterday was a figment of my imagination was on the porch crying. Kitten saw me and ran off.

Holy Moly the Universe is not through testing my mental stability!!!

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This happens ALL the time especially when kittens from the same litter look identical and most do! I once thought I had all six black feral kittens only to find out there were two more outside. And, this was two days later that the stragglers showed themselves. They were about six to seven weeks too so thankfully it was not such a worry because I had other feral TNRd cats out there and food was available. Anyway... Not to worry at all. Smudge will get her kitten and she will return IF she has not already. Smudge is so trusting of you and that is going to make capturing her and her last kitten very easy. Smudge came inside before and she will again. :nod: DROP TRAP here we come again. :lol3: OR kitten may just follow Smudge into the house. AND BOY do I know how our mental stability is tested to the fullest during these types of captures - mom and kittens. It is most daunting and stressful worrying about getting all of the kittens and not keeping mom away from them at the same time. GOOD LUCK TODAY!! :cross: :cross:

Super, super, thanks again. You have been so kind. 

Smudge coming in and out like she owns the place! I put up a gate to the room where she and kittens are, and Smudge, within minutes, learned how to jump over it.

So, she goes back and forth. I am praying that she is taking care of the one outside! But she did spend the night inside with babies (with door shut).

I'm going to set up have a heart and drop traps (I have many of each!) everywhere, and just pray I get the little one.

Feel so awful that I screwed up.

But, you just have no idea how much you have helped, and again today...just knowing this has happened to others and it may not be the end of everything!

Smudge has terrible diarrhea which may account for her being so thin. Babies seem fine, so they don't have what she has.

I will wait to work on that issue when the last one is in the room. Of course then, Smudge will not be allowed outside.

One piece of good news. The injured Feral putting weigh on foot today....just limping, so I'm not going to worry about trapping him, as long as it gets better each day.

Thank you so much. When this is all over I would like to do something to show my gratitude for what this website has done for me, is there anything I can do that would be useful/helpful????

Noluck today, and no sound or sight of the kitten.

Smudge in and out all day.

She nursed the 3 trapped ones for some time this evening.

Waited an hour by the drop trap and watched throughout the day.

I don't know why she hasn't brought the kitten on to the porch, or in the house. She hasn't shown any desire at all to take any of the trapped ones outside, thank heaven.

Wow, I wish you could read cat minds from Indiana! (By the way my son went to Howe Military Academy for a couple of years).

But since you haven't claimed the ability yet to mind read cats, any guess would be welcome.

Poor little one all by itself out there. My heart just breaks for it.