Need Feral Cat HELP

I was hoping to get some help and advice.  A feral cat had a litter of 4 kittens in my backyard in a bunch of rubble.  She had them around March 30th and she kept them hidden until May 1st.  Should I try to trap the kittens?  When I try to approach the kittens they run from me and sometimes the mother hisses at me.

Also, she had another litter back in September or October (I’m guessing). My husband and I saw three kittens for the first time around late November.  There is only one left.  I think he’s a boy and maybe 8 months old.  I don’t know what happened to the other two kittens.  

An incident occurred yesterday when the mother cat attacked my super sweet dog yesterday for no reason.  My dog was just trying to come inside and she went crazy attacking him (her kittens weren’t even around).  I need to take him to the vet tomorrow because there was blood all over his fur and I need to make sure she didn’t scratch his eye.  I’m pregnant and thank goodness I didn’t get scratched when I picked up my dog when she was trying to scratch him viciously.  I also have a three year old son who I’m afraid can get scratched now.  What should I do?  Is the 8 month old cat too old to ever be happy in a home?

kells321 said:

 
I was hoping to get some help and advice.  A feral cat had a litter of 4 kittens in my backyard in a bunch of rubble.  She had them around March 30th and she kept them hidden until May 1st.  Should I try to trap the kittens?  When I try to approach the kittens they run from me and sometimes the mother hisses at me.

Also, she had another litter back in September or October (I’m guessing). My husband and I saw three kittens for the first time around late November.  There is only one left.  I think he’s a boy and maybe 8 months old.  I don’t know what happened to the other two kittens.  

An incident occurred yesterday when the mother cat attacked my super sweet dog yesterday for no reason.  My dog was just trying to come inside and she went crazy attacking him (her kittens weren’t even around).  I need to take him to the vet tomorrow because there was blood all over his fur and I need to make sure she didn’t scratch his eye.  I’m pregnant and thank goodness I didn’t get scratched when I picked up my dog when she was trying to scratch him viciously.  I also have a three year old son who I’m afraid can get scratched now.  What should I do?  Is the 8 month old cat too old to ever be happy in a home?

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Everything depends on what you are willing to do.   They are in a good age to be fostered and socialized. But time is running now, later on it will be more difficult to socialize them easily and completely...

If you cant, there is perhaps some rescue group nearby, who can?

It would be good to spay the mom.  The same: if you cant, so perhaps some rescue group or TNR group?

The difference between te two names:   TNR groups specialize on spaying and neutering.  They often lacks resources on fostering and such, so they just do the most important... Resuce groupps may do TNR too, but they try to foster and adopt out, if possible...

Most common shelters dont do neither of it, they works with tame, friendly, easily handled cats.  Ie the dumped, the admissioned to them, and the very most friendly of the ferales.

The big 8 boy needs neutering him too, so its essentially the same answer.  But I understand you are thinking on perhaps adopting him?  He seems friendly to you?

If so, do it. Foster him and adopt him.  With a little luck he will be pure indoor, but if not, you can always have him as your indoor cat with the right to take outside walks...

He will probably remain to be shy to strangers, but Im sure you can foster him into a nice family cat.

Re the vicious attack.  It may be, she got scared on soemthing else. But being unable to attack this something else, she attacked what was nearest and she could attack.

Ie a sort of redirected aggression.

Such can happen if a home cat perhaps see through the window a trespassing cat outside, whom he is enemy to...  The adrenaline gets sky hight, but not being able to chase away the

intruder, he attacks instead the cat nearby - perhaps his own friend at home.  Even the human owner.

Such attacks may be the most vicious fo the attacks - cats otherwise practically never attack a human, unless in very special circumstances.

Please come back with more info and further questions.

I hope your poor dog will heal properly and without big troubles.

I called all of our local cat shelters and nobody will take the kittens or help me.  PeeWee's won't even take a cat more than 50% black!  2 of the kittens are all black.  The cattery will only take friendly kittens.

The 8 month old cat, Harry, is friendly to me.  I can pet him and he always rubs my legs.  I've been feeding him since December 1st and have grown to love him.  I just can't have an indoor cat because I have a 4 year old and 2 dogs inside the house and I'm pregnant.  The mother actually rubs my legs too, but I'm too afraid to pet her.  It took her around 3 months to start showing love to me.  When I would go out to feed them, they would rub my legs so much I can barley walk without them almost tripping me.  I have never pet the mother, but she rubs me.  A few hours after she attacked my dog, I had to take him out to use the restroom and I moved my arm telling her to stay back and she hissed at me.  A few days before the attack, I was feeding her and Harry some chicken scraps and she hissed at either me or Harry, but it scared me a little bit.  Then, right after she hissed she started to rub my back.  Odd behavior?

Since the attack, my husband wants them gone and I haven't fed them in two days.  I feel so bad.  I know the Mom is a survivor, but I'm worried about Harry since I've been feeding him since he was a kitten.  Will he be ok?  They are sitting by my door, I feel horrible and probably never should have started to feed them in the first place.  Do you think they will eventually go away if we continue not to feed them?

We actually caught one kitten, so I went to our local grocery store and spoke to a worker about which litter to buy.  I told her the whole story and she told me to let the kitten go back to the mother and just let them be. Survival of the fittest.  I took her advice and let the kitten go.  I hope I made the right decision.

kells321 said:

 
I called all of our local cat shelters and nobody will take the kittens or help me.  PeeWee's won't even take a cat more than 50% black!  2 of the kittens are all black.  The cattery will only take friendly kittens.

The 8 month old cat, Harry, is friendly to me.  I can pet him and he always rubs my legs.  I've been feeding him since December 1st and have grown to love him.  I just can't have an indoor cat because I have a 4 year old and 2 dogs inside the house and I'm pregnant.  The mother actually rubs my legs too, but I'm too afraid to pet her.  It took her around 3 months to start showing love to me.  When I would go out to feed them, they would rub my legs so much I can barley walk without them almost tripping me.  I have never pet the mother, but she rubs me.  A few hours after she attacked my dog, I had to take him out to use the restroom and I moved my arm telling her to stay back and she hissed at me.  A few days before the attack, I was feeding her and Harry some chicken scraps and she hissed at either me or Harry, but it scared me a little bit.  Then, right after she hissed she started to rub my back.  Odd behavior?

Since the attack, my husband wants them gone and I haven't fed them in two days.  I feel so bad.  I know the Mom is a survivor, but I'm worried about Harry since I've been feeding him since he was a kitten.  Will he be ok?  They are sitting by my door, I feel horrible and probably never should have started to feed them in the first place.  Do you think they will eventually go away if we continue not to feed them?

We actually caught one kitten, so I went to our local grocery store and spoke to a worker about which litter to buy.  I told her the whole story and she told me to let the kitten go back to the mother and just let them be. Survival of the fittest.  I took her advice and let the kitten go.  I hope I made the right decision.

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That is a sad story.  Oh so sad...  You are so near to save them, they are so near to be saved, but the rescue boat is just sailing by...  The Shepherd decided he was entirely happy with his 100 excellent sheeps. He never bothered much to go seek out after that one whom got lost...   But that would never be the wonderful, spirit lifting story no?  That story become so nice firstly when he decided to go search it out, and even carry it back, although it wasnt easy at all, to carry an adult sheep through the wilderness and rough terrain.

It was honest from the shelters to tell you they coulndt help you.  Because, if they dont work with fostering nor rescuing, what they do with admitted unwanted cats, its the gas chamber.  Or which killing method they use.

Re the 8 months again.  If you cant have him as your indoors, you can surely can have him as your outdoors, if you and your husband reconsider?   Neuter him of course, and have him as your outdoors cat.  Make do some nice shelter with entrance and an emergency exit, and he will do OK.

Essentielly the same solution is possible for the mom.   But if you grew afraid of her...   She wont attack you, but your dog is apparently in danger.  And he must go out, sometimes probably unsupervised...

Im thinking why she is that touchy.  Possibly she has some pains somewhere.  Cats with pains has much lesser patience than otherwise.

So my recommendation would be, if you can and afford, is to spay and neuter them both.  After it you take the decision what to do exactly.

And while she is at the vet, let him check her up.  Vets usually do a quick check up before spaying, so let him do the check up a little more thorough...

If she is severely ill, it may be the question of putting her down then and there.  So be it, if so.

The kittens... Cant you really take them in all and foster them?  Give them life??   Please?

Please, I beg you. Reconsider.

As we said when I was a kid born in a catholic country:   Virgin Mary and the Jesus Child would reioice, hearing you DID reconsider, and did helped them adequately.

ps.  If you cant do all of this, but are willing to do at least a tiny bit of it,  do pick up one or two of the friendliest kittens, and adopt them as your own.

THIS is the true meaning of the survival of the fittest.

these most friendly tend to be adopted.

 NOT by deeming them all to try and survive on their own.

I was going to try and catch all the kittens then a worker at the local grocery told me to let them be. I had everything in my cart to buy and had to put everything back after I talked to her. She was a cat lover and had 6 cats. She seemed so sincere. Can I please get any others opinions.

None of the kittens are friendly. They run when they see me. When I caught one, it was crying so bad.

Honestly, you need help, have you tried contacting Alley Cat Allies? I think it was very rude of the above lady to go ahead and talk you out of buying food/litter for them.  I agree with StefanZ you do have a short amount of time to either foster them yourself or they will be feral/wild. Survival of the fittest is usually sick cats, dying cats and lots of kittens, they will not go away, they may pass on but other cats will come in their place, its called a vacuum effect. You would need a have-a-heart humane trap to catch them in and a vet who treats ferals. Here is a link. http://www.alleycatallies.org/

It will not be easy  but it must be done, they will continue to breed and there will be more fighting and issues. Please feel free to message/tag me, I have quite a large colony of my own. I am sorry your dog was attacked. You may need to go out with a towel or blanket with which you can frighten her away if she approaches aggresively. She must be either ill or felt threatened to have attacked like that.

I have run into sad opinions about ferals from people before, they have pet cats but for some reason think that ferals/community cats are worth less than other cats and as such don't deserve care and love. There is no difference, only that the outdoor cats have had hard lives and were never tamed/had a home or they were dumped and grew wild.

kells321 said:

None of the kittens are friendly. They run when they see me. When I caught one, it was crying so bad.

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Now, if you arent willing to put in some work, time, patience and love, you shall of course not do it.  Hope somebody else is willing.

This forum is full of peoples woh are doing so, putting in their time effort love and often enough also money..

But its exactly the cause why they say kittens of 8+ weeks arent possible to foster.  NOT true, but it takes effort etc.   So whose who saw once a film where everything turned around because the heroine looked understanding, and becuase "Im worth it" -  it wont work, and thus, it it better to discourage them from fostering.  They may perhaps instead adopt later on such a kitten when it were fostered by someone more engaged.   Adoption homes for the ready fostered are important too, helping out the situation.

The engaged people, who ARE willing to put in some effort etc, they dont care about this "impossible".  They just do it, and becuasue they do it, they are winning.

Of course the kitten was protesting when you took it from momma and siblings.  He even didnt knew you very much.

Its like with children.  They dont like groceries, pancaces and pommes frites are more fun.  Buty you being the grown up, must decide for them, at least in the beginning.

Sorry not more forumites wishes to participate here.  Usually you would have half a dozen eager forumists....   Im a little surprised.

But if you cant or dont want, so you cant and dont want.   You can perhaps find someone else who can and is willing??   This way you would do your fair share in the rescuer work.

Another thing, about the younger cat, who is tame, it is very wrong to feed a cat then decide you won't feed him anymore. He's come to trust you and to depend on you, you should feed him. He is only one kitty.

If it was just the 8 month old cat alone, Harry, I would continue to feed him. But now after my dog was attacked, I have stopped for the safety of my dog and son. She could have ripped his eyes out! My dog is on a triple antibiotic ointment right now. Harry is very very close to his mother. They would sleep together by my back door. I can't even let my dogs into the backyard now because they are blocking the door. I've been taking them to the front yard. How can I feed just Harry? His mother is always by his side. Look this whole situation is very stressful and I've been crying a lot over it!

I can not care for the kittens. I can get Toxoplasmosis. I can trap the kittens and take them to my mother in laws until we can find them a home. She agreed. What do I need to do? Before the lady from the grocery store told me to let the kitten go, she was giving me advice on how to get the kitten to use a litter box. Any other suggestions? I'm just confused cause the lady at the grocery store told me to keep them with their mom and now you think it's best to take them away from their mom.

@nanaludi do you think Harry would ever attack my dog like the mom did?

You have a really difficult situation, I'm sorry.  The reason the mother attacked your dog is that she is very afraid for herself and for her kittens.  Street cats are used to fighting for everything they are able to get.  She doesn't know that your dog is gentle.  Maybe if you could approach her with the mindset that you know she is fighting for her life as well as those of her kittens, you two could have a meeting of the minds.  As long as she thinks you are helping her survive she will become an ally to you.

If you wish to trap the family yourself the humane society will loan you some traps.  Make sure they know you have kittens so they can provide you with kitten traps.  Alley Cat Allies and here on the Cat Site are many articles on the best way to trap.  If you get a kitten first, you can even use the kitten as bait to trap Mom.

Hopefully, you will find a rescue to help because the first time trapping takes quite a bit of tenacity.  Thank you so much for trying to help some of these creatures.

I don't think Harry would ever harm your dog...as long as he doesn't frighten him.

Agreed with Dandila, it would also work if you could trap the kittens. The reason why we're suggesting you do take the kittens from their mother is that they will turn feral if not accustomed to people, if you were able to have them worked with or if they were not strays they could stay with her longer. But as long as they are weaned and are eating food, it is safe to take them from their mother. As for Harry, if proper introductions were done and his mother was spayed and him neutered, I really doubt either of them would attack your dog. I say this because I have a dog, a large one and when I first took over the colony, they did try to attack him, I ended up putting a barrier up and him a bigger kennel and after they were spayed, they actually got along well with him. They still do. If you could, could you feed both Harry and his mother farther away, possibly behind a shed or opposite corner, so that they would not see your dog?

Please try to not be too stressed it's not good for your or your baby. I am sure your dog is picking up on it also. I know that's easier said than done but I am sure you're doing all you can for them and that is a great thing. 

Did you see the Alley Cat Allies link? Maybe they can help, especially with getting them fixed and possibly lower-cost medical care as I know it gets expensive.

I think the mother cat attacked your dog because A) she may be pregnant again and B) she is protecting her "territory", which is by the back door, which has been her food source. I agree you should continue feeding them until you determine what to do. It is cruel to just stop feeding them. The mother cat means no harm, in fact, all she wants to do is eat without a dog around. Can you try feeding the cats in another place in the yard rather than right at the back door in the interim? And Harry sounds as though he could easily become someone's pet and a house cat if allowed. I see you have many suggestions about how to handle this, so I urge you to do the right thing to save these cats and give them a future. Let us know what you decide, and good luck!

kells321 said:

I can not care for the kittens. I can get Toxoplasmosis. I can trap the kittens and take them to my mother in laws until we can find them a home. She agreed. What do I need to do? Before the lady from the grocery store told me to let the kitten go, she was giving me advice on how to get the kitten to use a litter box. Any other suggestions? I'm just confused cause the lady at the grocery store told me to keep them with their mom and now you think it's best to take them away from their mom.

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Its true, there is some theoretical risk for toxoplasmosis from cats for pregnant women.  But the most common source for toxoplasmosis in humans are not properly washed off groceries...  Or a not properly cleaned of cutting desk...

Let your  husband clean off the litter during the time you are pregnant, so you wont risk the contagion from THIS source. Being high preg, you probably cant crouch down anyway.

Or use gloves (wash off the hands) and a breething mask on your face.

Re taking from mom.  There is the rule of thumb, kittens shall be with their mom and siblings till they are at least 8 weeks, preferably 12.  Its surely what the grocery lady told you.  Very true.

But kittens of the semiferales is one of the few exceptions.   IF there is a good foster home waiting, or a good adoption family lined up.  The reason is exaclty because they are easily fostered and socialized in the ages 5-8 weeks.   It is still fully possible later on, but not longer as easily.  And the socialization is often not so total - they will be nice family cats all right, but older socialized cats usually remain shy to visitors and strangers.    While if socialzed in as kittens, they will be nicely sociale to everyone friendly person.

The other exception is accidents and emergency cases, of course, when you just do the best  of a dire situation.

Im happy to see you are beginning to turn around, beginning to consider to help them for real.   Yes, Im beginning to be glad me too.

I just sent an email to allie cat allies.  It said there was only 1 person in the area.  Are they supposed to call me?  I called the number, but only got an automated response.

Also, the mother and Harry were sitting on the mat by my back door again last night and this morning and I couldn't let my dog out.  I got a towel to get her to move and she wouldn't budge.  I had to take my dog out the front again.

Okay, sounds good, it is Sunday so they'll either get back to your tomorrow or in a few days. Might be good if you could call again tomorrow. I'm sorry that she didn't move. She must trust you.

kells321 said:

 
I just sent an email to allie cat allies.  It said there was only 1 person in the area.  Are they supposed to call me?  I called the number, but only got an automated response.

Also, the mother and Harry were sitting on the mat by my back door again last night and this morning and I couldn't let my dog out.  I got a towel to get her to move and she wouldn't budge.  I had to take my dog out the front again.

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It may be the best solution till things clear up.  Even if it is some inconvenience, but its working.   If all crises were so easily solved!

Can you feed them while you seek a solution? They are still there because they are hungry and you have been feeding them until now. Accept the fact that you have to take the dog out front for now, and feed the cats until you find a solution because it is cruel otherwise. They are probably starving, and you said they were both being friendly, and you may be able to get both in a pet carrier and take them to a relative to feed for now as you mentioned before. I know you are overwhelmed with advice, but please do the right thing by these cats.

@sarthur2 I do not think I would be able to get mom cat or Harry in a pet carrier. I borrowed a have a heart trap from my friend. I also thought you weren't supposed to move feral cats?