Semi-feral pregnant cat -- catch her now or wait?

Not sure if this should go on this forum or the feral cat one.

There is a semi-feral cat at my parent's house -- she's tame enough that she doesn't run away from people who are feeding her, but she runs away if you try to touch her. I bought a house somewhat recently and can now take in more cats, so I have been planning on catching her, getting her spayed, and keeping her assuming she adjusts okay to being an indoor cat.

I've been putting off buying a cat trap for a few weeks because I was originally hoping my parents could just coax her inside with food, but they were too afraid of her freaking out and damaging the furniture before I could get there. I finally bought a trap yesterday. We hadn't physically seen her for about two weeks, but we knew she was still coming around because my parents have a trail camera outside and she was showing up on the camera. She finally came back during daylight hours this morning, acting a lot more friendly than usual... and she's pregnant.

Should I still put out the trap tonight and attempt to catch her? I am afraid that if I do catch her, the process will stress her too much and it will hurt her and the kittens, or, if that alone doesn't cause problems and she has the kittens after I catch her, she will freak out and eat the kittens after they are born. Is it worth the risk, or should I put it off?

Also, do pregnant females normally get extra friendly just before the kittens are born? I'm also worried she might literally have the kittens today. What are the signs I should look for to figure out how pregnant she is or if she is about to have them?

Thanks.

I think you should try to catch her before she delivers. That way she can birth and raise the babies in a safe place.

Thank you for doing this!

talkingpeanut said:

I think you should try to catch her before she delivers. That way she can birth and raise the babies in a safe place.

Thank you for doing this!

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You don't want her complicating things by hiding the kittens or giving birth in an inaccessible place.

Okay, wish me luck!

We put out the trap last night but didn't catch her -- we did find that something set the trap off last night, but nothing at all was caught inside.

My parents said that saw her running around this morning, still pregnant, so try, try again!

try to entice with tuna or kfc fried chicken pull off skin and no bones-I have yet to see a kitty turn nose up at that and don't put out kibble today=you want her to get in the trap!

Has the trap ever been used before? If so, it will need to be cleaned thoroughly before another cat will step foot in there!

Cataria said:

 
Not sure if this should go on this forum or the feral cat one.

There is a semi-feral cat at my parent's house -- she's tame enough that she doesn't run away from people who are feeding her, but she runs away if you try to touch her. I bought a house somewhat recently and can now take in more cats, so I have been planning on catching her, getting her spayed, and keeping her assuming she adjusts okay to being an indoor cat.

I've been putting off buying a cat trap for a few weeks because I was originally hoping my parents could just coax her inside with food, but they were too afraid of her freaking out and damaging the furniture before I could get there. I finally bought a trap yesterday. We hadn't physically seen her for about two weeks, but we knew she was still coming around because my parents have a trail camera outside and she was showing up on the camera. She finally came back during daylight hours this morning, acting a lot more friendly than usual... and she's pregnant.

Should I still put out the trap tonight and attempt to catch her? I am afraid that if I do catch her, the process will stress her too much and it will hurt her and the kittens, or, if that alone doesn't cause problems and she has the kittens after I catch her, she will freak out and eat the kittens after they are born. Is it worth the risk, or should I put it off?

Also, do pregnant females normally get extra friendly just before the kittens are born? I'm also worried she might literally have the kittens today. What are the signs I should look for to figure out how pregnant she is or if she is about to have them?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Moms in extreme stress may hurt their own kittens.  So the trick is, she doesnt need to be stressed into extremis.

Prepare her room in good time.  Nest, a hiding place type cat igloo / sideturned cardboard box, litter food (same brand she got earleier) water, some scratching post.   Something with the smell of her caretaker who gave her food.

You may also set up a Feliway adapter - although its not absolutely necessary.

When she is in the trap, you lay a blanket over the trap - it makes it more cozy. you carry the trap to the room, open the trap and leave.

After a while she notices nobody is mean nor threating to her, and soon enough, she calms down.  After that, she will copy and even cooperate.

As you notice, most high preg femalales get friendlier.  They KNOW they and her children need help.  Her childrens welfare is more important than "freedom".  Here they are exactly as human moms.

As soon she notices there is no real danger for her children, and this is even the best practical chance, she will cooperate.  As long as you are respectful and dont push her too much, you will even be able to handle her kittens.

Its not sure you manage to socialize her in full - she may perhaps end as TNR - but with all probablility, you will be able to socialize and foster the kittens into harmonious home cats.

This is easiest to do if you catch her before delivery.

ps. If you plan on letting a vet check her up, and prescription of suitable dewormers and deparasiters,  its best to do it when she is still in the trap.  If the vet is forewarned and prepared.

So afterwards, its you whom release her in her prepared room, and you are the savior.

But if she seems healthy, its not absolutely necessary.

Thanks all for the advice!

Good news, we caught her yesterday! Everyone, meet Camo.


I've been very, very impressed with her so far! The two other cats I took in from outside were very scared, Camo could best be described as... a little grumpy? When I let her out of the trap and into my attic, she didn't freak out, she didn't scurry or sneak around with her body low to the ground, she just confidently walked around and meowed at everything.

Also, prior to catching her, I couldn't come near this cat, and my parents couldn't do more than pet her head before she would run away. Within one day, I can pet her all over, have her come to me, and she lies on my lap! Definitely the easiest outdoor-to-indoor transition so far -- I suspect the pregnancy hormones have something to do with it, but wow!

Anyway, she's still pregnant! Still trying to get a better idea of how far along she is.

Not sure when she is going to the vet. I'd love to get her checked out before she has the kittens and also to make sure she doesn't have any contagious to my other cats, but still paranoid about overstressing her. In a perfect world, I would love to take her in on April 11th -- I have a vet appointment that day already that I know will exceed the minimum I need for using my CareCredit card so it would be great for me, financially, but that might be too close to her due date -- or she may have already had her kittens by then, who knows!

From examining her, here's what I know so far:
1. She's fat.
2. Her nipples are engorged.
3. Her stomach feels very hard.
4. I don't feel individual bumps.
5. I don't feel any kittens moving.
6. She is still eating and using the litterbox.

Admittedly, I was not pressing very hard at all since I don't want to hurt the kittens, so 4 and 5 may be related to my unwilling to put any actual pressure to avoid hurting the kittens moreso than her stage of pregnancy. Thoughts on how far along she might be?

Does she ever roll over so you can get a shot of her belly? At this point the vet may be able to make an educated guess, but mostly it's just a waiting game. Good luck with the kittens whenever they appear.

If her nipples are engorged and her belly is hard, she is very, very close. I also think she probably had a home once to be so friendly. She's adorable!

Have you made her a nest yet? Is it cold or warm in the attic? Thank you for catching her! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

I would wait on the vet visit, it seems as if she's very close to giving birth and transporting her to the vet would likely stress her out a lot, especially if she is close to delivery.

Of course, she needs to be de-wormed and given vaccinations. There are deworming meds that are safe for pregnant and nursing cats, you could get some from your vet when you go to your scheduled appointment.

If she begins acting like she is sick, then of course, take her to the vet, but as long as she is acting normal, you could probably wait a few weeks until you'd need to take her to the vet.

Just make sure you keep her separated from your other cats in the meantime and wash your hands thoroughly after handling/petting her.

Also, make sure she has a proper nest to deliver in. And you need to pick up some KMR (kitten milk replacer) and a needleless syringe just in case some of the babies need supplementing. This is more of a precaution, but if you notice one of them is not gaining weight as it should, you need to syringe feed it, tummy down, head up, one drop at a time into the side of its cheek, let them swallow and repeat. You will also need a kitchen scale (one that can measure weight in grams) to keep track of the kitten's weights, to make sure they are gaining enough (they should gain a minimum of 6-10 grams a day).

Also, make sure the kittens have a heat source other than mom for when mom has to get up to eat or use the litterbox, since kittens can't regulate their own body heat until they are 3 weeks old. A heating pad set on low placed in the nest under a blanket works well.

Pregnant cats are not given vaccinations.

Sarthur2

I meant the vaccinations should be after she gives birth. I know they are not safe for pregnant cats. But there are dewormers that are safe for them.

Yes, you are correct! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

JUST found this thread!  Where was I?  So glad that things have gone so well, and that another tortie has a good, loving home.  Did you know that placing tortoiseshell and calico cats is even harder that placing black cats?  I don't know why.  I think they are lovely, and so different.

Hey all! Haven't been able to get a belly shot yet -- every time she rolls on her back, she jumps up the moment she sees the phone camera and wants to sniff it. XD I'll be trying again shortly.

Pretty sure she's never had a home, but she has been around a lot of people, I think. We think we know most of her history. Two years ago, a free-roaming cat (not sure if she is was a stray or not) had 5 kittens under my parent's shed. Unfortunately, I was not able to do anything to help at the time, so my parents just started putting out some cat food for them because they felt bad for them. Three of them completely disappeared within in the first year (I fear the worst, but I don't have evidence either way) and a fourth went missing about three months ago, but we're still keeping an eye out for him to come back. Camo's the last of that litter that still comes around, although my parents did pick up a few more strays by putting out food. She's never disappeared for more than a month and she would come hang out late evening, middle of the night, early morning, although she would show up during the middle of the day sometimes. She may have had other people feeding her, but I don't think there was ever a big enough gap of her being missing that another home could be involved.

My parents said that they were able to pet her and sit by her a little bit, but she was always very jumpy about sudden movements and refused to be grabbed (though to be honest, I'm not sure how hard they tried -- they are kind of afraid of angry scratchy bite-y cats). I could never get close enough to even try, so I couldn't say myself.

Anyway! I put lots of boxes and towels in the attic for her, a cat bed, and a heated cat bed too, so she should have options! Unfortunately, she is apparently afraid of towels? XD Hopefully she'll get over it, but she keeps eyeing up the freshly washed towels like they are going to attack her and walks the loooong way around them.

I am debating whether or not I should bring in old branches or anything like that from outside since that's probably what she is used to? Whole other long story, but she had a litter last fall, two kittens, that she chose to have in a woodpile. They got infested with maggots and she abandoned them. One kitten didn't make it (we didn't entirely realize there was a problem until that one died), but we bottle-raised the other one and I have her now too (Kismet). After I bought a house so I could keep Kismet I made plans to catch Camo, but we didn't catch her in time, sigh.

Temperature-wise, I just bought a space heater to put up in the attic because the temperature up there was a bit cooler than I would like -- tolerable for me and cats, but not for kittens! We'll see how that works. I have a couple different options for additional kitten heat, if necessary -- rice bag that can be microwaved (we used that for Kismet), a heating pad, that heated cat bed, and a hot water bottle I haven't figured out how to use yet.

Gonna keep my kitties separate at least until after Camo sees the vet, and possibly until a few weeks after she has the kittens (except for maybe supervised visits). I did let Kismet see her a couple of times though -- Kismet is very clingy and gets upset when I go up to the attic without her. However, Kismet is also afraid of Camo and won't go anywhere near her, so I figure as long as that stays the status quo, it is probably okay for her to be up there as long as I'm there too.

How can people not want torties? Torties are amazing! Two of my other four kitties are grey calicos, and my two kitties over the rainbow bridge were a tortie and a calico. Torties are the best.

Oh, forgot to mention -- so far, she's been refusing to use the litterbox (she goes beside the litterbox instead), but there may be mitigating circumstances to this that I still need to figure out. My attic has this little creepy carpeted side room that I used for my kitties' Litter Robot prior to this week (I moved theirs down to the basement). However, I didn't get a chance to sweep or scrub down the carpet in this room, so there is a lot of cat litter on the carpet as well as in the litterbox... so that might be confusing her?


However... she won't go near any of the towels or boxes I put in the attic. I'm a little worried she might be afraid of the litter box, and that's why she won't get in it? Haha. I'm gonna try vacuuming (hopefully I won't scare her to death) and see if that helps.

Anyway. Here's another picture of the pretty kitty!

I think the litter on the carpet confused her, but she may be used to going in dirt. It's just an overall adjustment for her. The carpet may seem more like grass to her. Hopefully she'll figure it out. I think you should use soft blankets though, instead of towels. Tiny kitten claws get caught in the towels. All of your heating sources sound awesome! She's very pretty! I love torties and calicos - mine lived 21 years.

Hey!

Some updates on Camo! I've gotten her to roll onto her back a couple of times, but never when I have a camera, so no belly pictures yet. :/

I added some blankets upstairs, but so far, she seems most interested in an upside down rug. Not sure what that's about.

Sweeping up the cat litter solved the litter box issues, she is using it just fine now!

I felt really bad about leaving her this morning; she was being super clingy and didn't want me to leave. :/ I don't think she's quite ready to have them yet, but I do plan on taking her to the vet Monday, assuming I'm not completely wrong and she has them before. Shes been eating a LOT and getting steadily fatter!

Came home from work today and Camo is being very clingy! She even grabbed my leg and wrapped herself around it when I tried to go back downstairs!

I could feel kitten movements today! Pretty exciting.

She also has started nesting. Instead of completely ignoring all the boxes, blankets, cat carrier, cat beds, etc., she is now crawling into all of them and kneading.

My uneducated opinion is maybe about two weeks away? Anyone think she might have them sooner?