My outdoor cat left home to give birth

Hello, I'm new here so sorry if this is in the wrong place!

I am just wondering if this has happened to anyone else? Over a month ago, my heavily pregnant cat (at the time) managed to get outside and disappeared for two days before coming back having delivered the babies. For the next month after that she came home everyday to eat lunch and dinner, but would always leave again as soon as she's eaten. I couldn't follow her because she goes on our back fence and through a few neighours houses, and the one time I managed to track her to the street on the block behind us, she just refused to move at all while I was there (I waited almost an hour for her to lead me to her kittens). I am almost certain that she gave birth in someone's backyard/shed, however, as the whole area is just suburb/blocks of houses and she had been leaving for days at a time before she gave birth so I think she had a second home of sorts. In the end I gave up and hoped that she would just being her kittens back when they are old enough.

But now she's gone missing as well, and hasn't come home to eat in almost 2 weeks. I'm really desperate to know what's going on, looking around online I can't really find anything on a situation like this one. I always had a heavy heart letting her go and watching her walk away down the fence because I was always worried something would happen, but I couldn't keep her from her babies. Is it normal for cats to stop coming home to attend to their kittens when they are older/start moving? She is microchipped and I've called up all local vets and shelters but noone has handed in my cat or any kittens from the area. If this has happened to anyone here or if anyone who knows a lot about cats can share their opinion, I would be really grateful.

I haven't had it happen to me, but I have been on the other end of that kind of situation.  I think it could be likely that someone has taken the kittens and  the mother in.  It depends where you are, of course, but a mother cat out and about could well be considered homeless. People may try to rehome the kittens, or take them to a shelter.

 I do hope that is the case, rather than something unpleasant happening to them.

Mani said:

I haven't had it happen to me, but I have been on the other end of that kind of situation.  I think it could be likely that someone has taken the kittens and  the mother in.  It depends where you are, of course, but a mother cat out and about could well be considered homeless. People may try to rehome the kittens, or take them to a shelter.
 I do hope that is the case, rather than something unpleasant happening to them.

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This was my first thought, too. Not everyone thinks to take a cat to the vet for a chip test, and if she has kittens then they may not want to take her in immediately. Can you go and ask at the houses where you saw her go? Or make a little flier and pop it th0ough letterboxes.

It's also very possible that your cat has wandered off because she's in heat again.  When she comes back, it would be best to keep her inside until she can be spayed.  That way you know that she is safe.

talkingpeanut said:

It's also very possible that your cat has wandered off because she's in heat again.  When she comes back, it would be best to keep her inside until she can be spayed.  That way you know that she is safe.

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If she comes back without the kittens, do not keep her in till you know where they are and you have managed to retrieve them. If that happens, I would put a collar on her with a tag so that anyone who may be feeding her and the kittens knows to contact you.

My guess is that someone took her and her kittens in to adopt or foster. Or perhaps took them to a shelter, as she would appear to them to be a friendly stray.

The idea of knocking and asking, or putting flyers up is a good one, but it's been 2 weeks already since you last saw her, so I would think she's found a new home by now.

Thanks for the replies, I'm also starting to think the family who's property she gave birth on have taken her in or given her to a carer. If she comes back I will definitely get her spayed as soon as the kittens are weaned! I'll go and ask around the surrounding blocks and print out some flyers as she could've been taken in by any house. Certainly I won't restrain her without finding the kittens first

I am just very worried about the possibility she had an accident with a car or some wildlife but I live in a quiet suburb area so hopefully that hasn't happened.

Mani said:

 
I haven't had it happen to me, but I have been on the other end of that kind of situation.  I think it could be likely that someone has taken the kittens and  the mother in.  It depends where you are, of course, but a mother cat out and about could well be considered homeless. People may try to rehome the kittens, or take them to a shelter.

 I do hope that is the case, rather than something unpleasant happening to them.

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Oh and just wondering if you ended up finding the owner of the mother cat?

If someone has taken her and the kittens into a house then they would not be likely to let her out again while the kittens are small. I think it is certainly worth a good search. As she is chipped, no vet or shelter would look at her without checking for a chip.

hellotokki said:

 

Mani said:

 
I haven't had it happen to me, but I have been on the other end of that kind of situation.  I think it could be likely that someone has taken the kittens and  the mother in.  It depends where you are, of course, but a mother cat out and about could well be considered homeless. People may try to rehome the kittens, or take them to a shelter.

 I do hope that is the case, rather than something unpleasant happening to them.

Click to expand...

Oh and just wondering if you ended up finding the owner of the mother cat?

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  No, but then she wasn't chipped.

The 'territory' covered by one cat can vary enormously. Some cats will roam a couple of miles in each direction, others only around the immediate neighbourhood, or even inside their own gardens. It depends on their own personality and also what the cat population is like - whether there are a lot of other feliines, how aggressive they are, and how safe the cat thinks the area is. My brother lost his cat a few years ago for a fortnight and finally found him at a church a mile away, having crossed a main road! So if you print some fliers cover as much area as you can, though I suspect from what you say that she is probably not far away,

Good luck! [emoji]128077[/emoji]

Hi, just an update: I went around the neighbourhood knocking on doors and a few people informed me that a house on the street behind mine had a cat give birth to kittens under their deck. Apparently they had taken the kittens to a vet a 1-2 weeks ago, but the neighbours don't know if they had found mum cat. Unfortunately the family of the house in question aren't home so I will go back again tomorrow. As my cat is chipped I have a feeling something may have happened to her since I would've gotten a call if they had brought her in too... :'( Fingers crossed the vets were simply too lazy to scan or something like that.

It will be interesting to see if it's your cat or not. I think it's a 50-50 chance, but you never know! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

They were definitely her kittens! However, the owner said they didn't find a mum cat. She said she only found the kittens because a visitors dogs were barking at where the kittens were. she didn't see a mother cat come back for them and the next day she took the kittens to the vet. Does anyone have any idea what could've happened to her? The house where she had the kittens was 3 just doors down over our back fence.

So sad right now, some neighbors have reported seeing my cat recently but I know there are similar looking cats around.

It is so hard to guess what could have happened to her. Did you check area shelters? Someone may have turned her in.

What did the vet do with the kittens?

Yup I've been checking shelters every week, also she was microchipped so if anyone handed her in I should've gotten a call. Really worried what could've happened to her. I think it's a bit of a coincidence that she went missing when her kittens were found.
The neighbor said the vet receptionists aunt adopted them, so I'm glad they have a good home at least.
EDIT: I just called up the vet and unfortunately the kittens didn't make it... they were healthy at first but suddenly succumbed to worms despite efforts to treat/deworm them. Absolutely devastated right now

EDIT 2- just wanted to say thank you again, everyone who's replied, mani, jenny, sarthur, talkingpeanut. I'm really sorry for the disappointing outcome in the end, I blame myself fully for what happened to the kittens. I will continue to search for the mother, who several neighbors have reported seeing, and I hope to come back with at least some good news soon

Best of luck in finding your cat.  I'm really sorry this happened.

Good luck!