Feral pregnant cat in Spain

binicat

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
3
Purraise
1
Hi everyone,

I am really hoping for some guidance. I live in Spain in the country and for a few days in the summer fed a few feral cats in our garden. One was a beautiful black cat with lovely markings and clearly very young. They only popped by a week or so then vanished. Fast forward to October/November last year and the cat appeared again. As I live in the countryside, feral cats are common.... The Spanish love animals but there are no real shelters. I started to put food out regularly and Jinxy (our name for her) would come out of her hiding place, have a chat and eat. We have not touched her but she does look at me constantly and is always meowing at me - is that a good sign?

The reason I am emailing is that she obviously went into heat 3/4 weeks ago. Being a dog person, I was a bit slow off the mark with what mating actually was until I saw it a few times. There is no doubt she is pregnant but as she is feral and I have nooooooo experience with cats, all I can do is read and research.

I have people interested in the potential kittens and we will take at least one but what can I do in the meantime? I have two children, one age 3 and one turning 1 in a few months....husband works away, open plan house..... What can I do to help her? I don't want to trap her and then have my son scare her, we have a garden shed, can I encourage her to have her kittens there? Any help would be great, although I haven't even stroked her, she is a gorgeous little cat and I want to do what I can.
 

Kat0121

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
15,036
Purraise
20,362
Location
Sunny Florida
Hi everyone,

I am really hoping for some guidance. I live in Spain in the country and for a few days in the summer fed a few feral cats in our garden. One was a beautiful black cat with lovely markings and clearly very young. They only popped by a week or so then vanished. Fast forward to October/November last year and the cat appeared again. As I live in the countryside, feral cats are common.... The Spanish love animals but there are no real shelters. I started to put food out regularly and Jinxy (our name for her) would come out of her hiding place, have a chat and eat. We have not touched her but she does look at me constantly and is always meowing at me - is that a good sign?

The reason I am emailing is that she obviously went into heat 3/4 weeks ago. Being a dog person, I was a bit slow off the mark with what mating actually was until I saw it a few times. There is no doubt she is pregnant but as she is feral and I have nooooooo experience with cats, all I can do is read and research.

I have people interested in the potential kittens and we will take at least one but what can I do in the meantime? I have two children, one age 3 and one turning 1 in a few months....husband works away, open plan house..... What can I do to help her? I don't want to trap her and then have my son scare her, we have a garden shed, can I encourage her to have her kittens there? Any help would be great, although I haven't even stroked her, she is a gorgeous little cat and I want to do what I can.
Welcome to TCS!!  Thank you for caring about this little one. 

If she went into heat 3-4 weeks ago, she is likely pregnant if there are any intact toms around. She does not sound like a true feral to me. Ferals do not meow as this is something that cats do to humans. Ferals are not socialized to humans so they wouldn't have been taught a way to communicate with one. Cats do not, in general, meow to each other. She sounds like she has spent time around humans, she could be a stray, lost or a dumped pet. 

I don't know what resources are available to you in Spain but the best thing you can do for this little girl is trap her and get her to a vet. I'd contact the vet first and let him/her know about the cat and that you are trying to help her. The vet might have a trap you can borrow or help you get in touch with a TNR group if they exist in Spain. Once you have the cat trapped, the vet can tell you for sure if she is pregnant. If she is not, she can be spayed. Since she is a stray or a dumped pet, they may give you a break on the price as you are attempting to A) help a homeless animal and B) help reduce the number of unwanted cats in the area. 

I know that this is not your responsibility but you'd be doing her a huge favor. Outdoor life for an intact cat (male or female) is not an easy one. She will have litter after litter of kittens which is very bad for her and of course, the cat population. If you get her vetted and spayed, you can then decide to release her or make her a pet. She has already had SOME socialization with humans so the chances of her becoming a house cat are very good. If you decide to keep her and make her part of the family, we will be happy to help you. This little girl is fortunate that she found someone like who to care about her. 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

binicat

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
3
Purraise
1
Thank you so much for replying. I truly want to do what's best but resources are limited. Having read up on as much information as I can, I did read that eye contact and meowing indicated a stray rather than feral but she won't let me touch her as yet. I have dry cat food but will start with kitten food and continue with the cooked meat I have also been giving. I will investigate vets, I know there is no TNR and I will do everything I can to get her spayed after the litter. Can you advise me on what do if I see a vet and if I can't during the pregnancy. I am fully aware that seeing a vet is the best option but it would be great to be prepared if I can't source a trap. If I was home in the UK, this would not be a problem, feel very out of my depth here.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,995
Purraise
10,639
Location
Sweden
A question is, is it possible  for you to spay / abort her NOW?  Before she is high preg?

If not, having her inside your home, is it an option?  you hint it really isnt.

If so, its the shed to have her nest in...   Make sure there are two entrances, so she never wont be trapped, for example, if an dog comes in after her into the shed.
Thank you so much for replying. I truly want to do what's best but resources are limited. Having read up on as much information as I can, I did read that eye contact and meowing indicated a stray rather than feral but she won't let me touch her as yet. I have dry cat food but will start with kitten food and continue with the cooked meat I have also been giving. I will investigate vets, I know there is no TNR and I will do everything I can to get her spayed after the litter. Can you advise me on what do if I see a vet and if I can't during the pregnancy. I am fully aware that seeing a vet is the best option but it would be great to be prepared if I can't source a trap. If I was home in the UK, this would not be a problem, feel very out of my depth here.
Sorry, Im not entirely sure I read you there in bold letters.  Will yoube so kind and rewrithe this sentence, more clearly?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

binicat

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
3
Purraise
1
Thank you for responding. I just want to know what I should do if I can trap her and take her to the vet and what I should do if I can't take her to the vet before the pregnancy. Being in a little village with two small children and on my own makes things more complicated. The other challenge is if I can get her in the house I need to find a room to keep her in. The entire ground floor is open plan but we do have a garage/laundry room so that could be an option. Apart from that, my bedroom is the only other option as it has stairs up to a higher level. I really don't want my three year old chasing Jinxy, he adores cats but he's so young and doesn't understand.

As I said before, where I am is very different from the UK/US. Three of the houses surrounding ours are empty, one of our neighbours feeds the cats but refuses to get them neutered, some rescue them, others poison.... And I am so new to the world of cats.

I will keep investigating about what I can do about a vet visit, I do not want to abort the kittens as I have a number of people ready to adopt the litter. I just wish she would let me touch her, it would make the process so much easier!
 

Norachan

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
32,666
Purraise
32,854
Location
Mount Fuji, Japan
Hi Binicat.

I think you have to decide whether you want the cat to have kittens and then try to rehome them, or whether you want to spay her now while you only have one cat to deal with. As there are so many feral cats and unwanted kittens around I would recommend spaying her before she gives birth.

The best thing to do is to trap her, take her to the vet to have a spay and then keep her confined to the shed or to a safe room in the house while she recovers. Do you have a cat carrier? Or anywhere you can borrow a humane trap from? Here's a link to a trap manufacturers page, so you can see what they look like.

 http://www.livetrap.com/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=590

I borrowed my trap from my vet. I'm not sure if your vet will have one. Maybe local farmers use something similar? If not you could try to lure her into a cat carrier with some treats and get her to the vet that way.

If you don't want to spay-abort the best thing to do would be to try and coax her indoors and keep her there until she gives birth. Most feral kittens born outside die, so if you're willing to rehome the whole litter keeping her indoors is the best way to ensure they survive. She'll be able to give birth by herself without seeing a vet. Most mother cats manage very well as long as they have a safe place and plenty of food and water. You could set up the garage now as her safe place with plenty of nesting boxes and hiding places. Start feeding her in there, then when she is comfortable you just have to shut the door and keep her in. She'll need a litter box as well.

She'll come into heat again about 4 weeks after giving birth, so you need to keep her confined until she is spayed. The kittens all need to be vaccinated and either spayed or neutered before they go to new homes. They reach sexual maturity at five months, earlier in some cases, so if you don't want to be overwhelmed with cats you need to plan for this now.

Thank you for trying to help her. Most of my cats are rescued ferals and they are the best.  


Keep us posted on how it goes.
 
Last edited:

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,995
Purraise
10,639
Location
Sweden
One extra point with having her inside, is it will be much easier for you to foster the kittens.

If you cant do anything else, you CAN have her in the shed, giving food and water.   Its a poorman solution but of course, better than nothing.  But its not especially good.  She will prob remain shy, and with big probability, her kittens too. You risk  they may be almost unadoptable, unless their adoption homes are prepared to do quite a some fostering and socializing themselves.  (A tip in such a case: having adoption homes lined up, take the kittens early, at about 5 weeks.  And let them immeidately go to their adoption homes - OR you foster them yourself at first, the whole bunch, and send them on  fully socialized with humans and with other cats- their siblings - when they are about 10-12 weeks.  Taken from a shy, semiferal mom at about 5-6 weeks they are easy to foster.  It gets much more diffcult when they are 8+weeks. They also become more movable after 5 weeks, so thhey may be difficult to catch.)

So, if you dont abort her now, the advice is you take her inside, where its  comfortable and easy for you to foster them.  She will be shy and perhaps a little aggressive at first, but when she has landed, and realizes there is no real threat to her, she will copy.  Also, she beginning to be high preg, she knows she needs help for her and her kittens.   When she realizes being inside with you is the best practical chance for her kittens, she will surely copy.

Its one of the big miracles of rescue working!   Its thus often easier to have a semiferale high preg or a momma with kittens, than the same cat, alone.

Its not sure she will be socialized (although it may happen), but she will almost surely let you foster and socialize her kittens, as long as you do it respectfully.

If you dont have a good suitable room, you can use a cage, type a big dog cage.

Also, you having small children they can help with the socializing, when the kittens arent no longer very small, say about 6-8 weeks.  Its only good they do meet small children, it will make it easier for them in their new homes.

Also, if you have a friendly dog, it its wise to let them meet this friendly dog, by a similiar reason.
 

ann marie

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
13
Purraise
1
any more advice on similar situation please???

Hi, Im in the same situation. I live north of Madrid. there is a good organization called ANAA if you are near Madrid. They do TNR .

I have been feeding a black and white cat that came into my yard. I thought it was pregnant so I set up a place for it on my balcony to sleep. (I have 3 indoor cats and cant let it in). 

Then I didn't see it for 2 weeks, when it reappeared it no longer looked pregnant, but stayed in our yard and no kittens in sight.

Then i saw it (I say it because Im still not sure) spraying marking territory!! so is it a male? It never walks with the tail up and I cant tell.

Now it is getting fat again, and it looks to me like a pregnant cat.

I can't get close enough to touch it, or trap it. and am hoping to gain confidence to catch it for TNR.

I noticed its breathing seems a bit forced. but otherwise looks healthy.

The info on this thred is helpful I didn't think of spay/abortion, it seems cruel, but really its less cruel, especially here in Spain where it is difficult to home cats.

I will check with the rescue place here and see it they can help. I get so nervous about trying to trap it. will it get hurt, or will I fail and then it wont come back, and be worse off.

As Binicat says people poison cats here often. they put poison in their yards to kill cats thinking its their right since the cats go on their property.

So if I try and can't trap it then it wont come back. 

I loose sleep over these situations, my cats were trapped as kittens and it took me many days and nights of trying.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,995
Purraise
10,639
Location
Sweden
 
any more advice on similar situation please???

Hi, Im in the same situation. I live north of Madrid. there is a good organization called ANAA if you are near Madrid. They do TNR .

I have been feeding a black and white cat that came into my yard. I thought it was pregnant so I set up a place for it on my balcony to sleep. (I have 3 indoor cats and cant let it in). 

Then I didn't see it for 2 weeks, when it reappeared it no longer looked pregnant, but stayed in our yard and no kittens in sight.

Then i saw it (I say it because Im still not sure) spraying marking territory!! so is it a male? It never walks with the tail up and I cant tell.

Now it is getting fat again, and it looks to me like a pregnant cat.

I can't get close enough to touch it, or trap it. and am hoping to gain confidence to catch it for TNR.

I noticed its breathing seems a bit forced. but otherwise looks healthy.

The info on this thred is helpful I didn't think of spay/abortion, it seems cruel, but really its less cruel, especially here in Spain where it is difficult to home cats.

I will check with the rescue place here and see it they can help. I get so nervous about trying to trap it. will it get hurt, or will I fail and then it wont come back, and be worse off.

As Binicat says people poison cats here often. they put poison in their yards to kill cats thinking its their right since the cats go on their property.

So if I try and can't trap it then it wont come back. 

I loose sleep over these situations, my cats were trapped as kittens and it took me many days and nights of trying.
 If you use a so called humane trap, it wont get hurt while being trapped.  Its the beauty of it, much better than try to catch as catch can and wrestle it down...

Of course, its better not to fail so it comes loose from the trap... Try and train some before, so you know all the ropes and how to do it.  Take her to the vet in the trap!   Lay a blanket over the trap, so its nice and cosy, almost as a hidey hole...   Also, if the vet can take her first the day after, let her wait the time in the trap.  Semi-ferales are used to hide even 48 hours if necesary.  So its not as bad as it sounds.

Later on, you will be the one who releases her from the trap, so she will be grateful to you.

But, do have gloves and protective glasses ("goggles") on you, some cats are quite violent when trapped, and its easy for the rescuer to get hurt if you arent very careful.

The same cat, when calmed down and realizing nobody is really threating nor mean, may be a very docile and even sweet  protegé.  So them having much defensive aggression at the self catching doesnt mean they are aggressive in personality.

Good luck!
 

ann marie

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
13
Purraise
1
Thanks so much, I worry so much about homeless animals. Its so sad that there are so many. I will contact the shelter and see if they have a trap. fingers crossed.
 

ann marie

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
13
Purraise
1
TNR in Spain. Update

The TNR was successful. I am thankful for this site. I was waiting for her to have kittens , it hadn't occurred to me that it can be done while they are  pregnant.

She was scared of me afterwards but  bit by bit she is regaining trust in me.

I mentioned it to the vet, but I still see that she has noisy breathing and a big belly. They just said that  the antibiotics they injected after the operation should help.

She has been like that for as long as I have been seeing and feeding her. (6 months)

I thought maybe parasites. I tried mashing up a pill but no way she would eat the food. Does anyone know of a liquid type that cats will eat with their food?

I named the last stray I was caring for in my yard, Daisy, so I decided to name this one Lily.
 

Norachan

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
May 27, 2013
Messages
32,666
Purraise
32,854
Location
Mount Fuji, Japan
I'm glad to hear the TNR went well. Has she been tested for worms? You don't have to take the cat to the vet for this, you just need to take in some of her poop and the vet can test it to see what kind of parasites she has.

Are you able to touch her at all?

I use a liquid wormer on my cat, it has to be put on the skin at the back of their neck. It's very toxic if they swallow any, so you have to put it in a place they can't lick or rub with a paw. Outdoor cats need to be treated for worms every 4 to 6 weeks. Make sure you get the wormer from your vet. There are cheaper ones available, but they're not to be trusted and can cause allergic reactions. (Google the name of the product just to be sure.)

If not, you could try adding diatomaceous earth to her food. I've never used this myself, but some feral caretakers have good results with it.

https://www.vetinfo.com/using-diatomaceous-earth-to-worm-pets.html
 
Top