Cat Family

Howdy everyone! I just made this account because i've exhausted all other options and thoughts and wanted advice from someone who is hopefully more experienced than me at this!

On my 22nd birthday, I woke up and immediately let my 3 dogs out in the backyard. To my surprise, I saw a little kitten run away and hide underneath the house behind my home. It is an abandoned home and i haven't seen anyone there in the last 2 years. I put all of my dogs in after doing their business but kept an eye out on the kitten. I'm not a big cat person, but i am a huge animal lover and right away I felt the need to ensure the kitten was safe, healthy and feed. I was shocked to see the kitten, as there is a cat that lives in that same house, whom i was sure hadn't been pregnant ( i also think it's a male) and he/she has been the only cat that I have ever seen in that territory. As the day progressed I saw a total of three kittens, and later in the evening I saw what I assumed was the mother of all three kittens. I tried calling the animal shelter to see if they could do something about it, since it was my birthday and I had friends over and a weekend fully booked. They said to called them back two days later, on a Monday, and they would help me set up traps for the catch and release program we have in our city. I feed the mother, the three kittens and also the other adult cat that has practically adopted me as it's owner (he/she loves to come to my yard so i can pet it, and even cries to come inside sometimes!). So Monday finally arrived and I woke up early to check on the kittens and sadly they were gone. All three kittens and momma had left. I kept a look out for a few days but there was no sign of them, until a few days ago. I woke up and again took the dogs out and found myself with the same three little kittens, running for shelter underneath the old house. I have now spent the last two days determined to capture the kittens, so that i can take them to the vet where they will fix them, and give them their shots for free and release them back if they are too feral to go to the animal shelter for adoption. I want to help the kittens, and help control the huge stray cat population we are battling in our city, however I don't know what else to do to get these cats. They are now super fast and agile, and extremely scared of humans. I have been super gentle with them the past two days, feeding them every day and giving them water. I have even exposed them to myself petting the other adult stray cat that now lives with them too with the hopes that they can trust me enough to at least get closer. I have tried grabbing them while eating, trapping them in my own back yard but nothing seems to work! I live in a small city and we have no pet control, and nobody really is devoted to animals besides the animal shelter. Is there any thing else i can try? Should i even keep trying? I don't want the kittens to end up at the animal shelter if they will be put down for not getting adopted, but I don't want them out in the streets, or reproducing either. I have even considered keeping one after it's fixed and vaccinated because I truly care for these kittens and want them to be heathy and happy. I'm also a college student and can't afford to feed five cats everyday, because I have three dogs and myself to cook/shop for. 

Any advice as to what I can do or should try would be amazing. I am willing to do anything for their safety. My best bet for help is the animal shelter, however it's such a small city that they are not opened everyday or at convenient hours, nor have the staff or volunteers to do much. I worry that the cats leave and the next time I see them it's too late to help them. 

Thank you!

<3 Chochy

Do you have access to a humane trap?  That would be the easiest way to capture them.  The animal shelter might be able to rent or loan you a trap.  You just place really stinky food in the back of the trap and the kittens go into eat.

You also need to trap the Mom or she will just continue to get pregnant and reproduce.  The kitten shouldn't be too difficult to trap, but the Mom might be a bit more leary of the trap.

I am trying to work with the animal shelter but they are soooooo unreliable. I called yesterday and left a voice mail and they called me in the middle of class. I stepped out to answer and told them the situation (a second time because the first time they didn't bother too much with it). The woman on the phone told me about the humane traps and she said she would let me borrow one if I went to pick it up. I told her that'd be no problem and that i'd leave class early to go pick it up since class and the shelter both end/close at 6. However, she mentioned she was going to do a head count really quick to see how many traps, if any, she could let me rent since there are 5 cats in all. She never got back to me and by the time I got out of class again the shelter was closed. Now i'm waiting for opening hours to call them again but I haven't seen the kittens or the mom since yesterday before I left for class. 

Kudos to you for caring for that little cat family! I hope that you are able to get the trap/s and get them TNR'd. Please keep us updated about the cat family. IMO, the traps work best. Alley Cat Allies has great advice for using them. For me, I think that covering them as soon as they catch the cat is paramount to keeping the cat from panicking and to keep the rest of the colony from realizing what the trap is.

One way that I have caught kittens is to corner them in bushes and use a spotlight in their face & scoop them up into a towel and drop the bundle into a cat carrier placed upright with the door open. I wear long sleeves and gloves. Calm & confident is key to success, as is having everything ready for picking up and dropping into the carrier. Be prepared for lots of terrified howls and screeches since the kitten will be convince that you are planning to consume it.

Hiya! Unfortunately the Animal Shelter couldn't provide me with a trap until tomorrow Friday the 17th, and the kittens and momma are gone again. Maybe I will see them again in a month but i'm sure it will take another week then, before the animal shelter can lend me a trap. It's like a never ending cycle, it happened the same way last time. I will, however, try to capture the other adult cat that lives back there. He shouldn't be too difficult to catch since he/she and I have become good friends. But I will wait until I get the trap tomorrow and try to get him/her on Sunday night.

I will keep updated, and hopefully we can manage to get the kittens and stop the cycle. Thanks!

Sending mega prayers & vibes for successful trapping efforts

See, momma and kitties are here today. I want to call the animal shelter and get a trap but they don't open until noon, and probably won't have any traps for me to borrow until next week. Im thinking of just going to go buy my own trap since they are unreliable. I do have a question about the safety of the traps. The three small kittens sort of follow one another. Im scared that one will go in and another will follow it as the first steps on the ledge thingy and shuts the gate on the second one. Can they get hurt this way? Or is it design not too? 

Here are a few photos of Momma and her kittens. They are growing up fast and love to play with one another. 

What lovely kittens. Especially the tortoise shell. Bless

Yeah they're gorgeous and i'm surprised that they are all so different! The tortoise shell is probably the most frighten. Unless momma is there, i can't step outside my door with it running away. 

Update: I was able to get a hold of the animal shelter before they opened and i'm on my way to get a trap or two. Hopefully this does it!

I love tortoise shells but ssshh dont let martha because she says tabbys rule[emoji]128512[/emoji]

Good luck with the trapping.  If you can get up close to the kitties, you could sit near the trap and manually close it when all 3 are inside it.  You just need a dowel rod or other thick stick to place on the trip plate switch and just press it once all 3 are inside safely.  Be sure to practice first.

I like to line the bottom with puppy pee pads.  They make less noise than newspaper. 

I hope you can get all the kittens and Mom too.

Thank you for helping them!

I will try my best to get all four plus the other adult cat that lurks around too. I do have a question though, maybe you guys can help. Do you think the kittens will be able to stay at the animal shelter? Or do you think based on the photos and little information i have gathered that they are too feral and won't be able to "adapt" as they called it? Because my partner and I are kind of thinking of adopting the black and white one if we can, of course after it goes to the vet. 

kittens will need to stay with momma cat until they are 10-12 weeks to learn behavior otherwise they will have to have someone teach them not to bite/scratch etc. Mom cat teaches the babies how to behave.

I love that little calico girl. I have a soft spot for calicos. They are my favorite. Thank you for helping them. Are you going to rehome the kittens? They can be tamed. Just takes time. Do you want to tame them yourself? you need a room dedicated to them. they should stay with momcat too. don't forget momcat can get pregnant at any time even if she isn't in heat.

you can look on a facebook page I follow for ferals=taming Gracie Feral cat care=she lives in NJ and has taken in many ferals. She has lots of tips and pointers to training. She says use hand signals and talk to them. They are smart kitties and will pick up on your routine. The fact that momcat is allowing you near the kittens looks like you wont have too much trouble taming. true ferals wont let you look at them nevermind take pictures.

I plan on trying to socialize them and find homes for them myself. The animal shelter said they can't help if they're feral because they will never get socialized in their cages but they stated that if i can socialize them they will take them in for adoption. I plan on keeping the black and white one (not sure what kind it is, brand new to this) and adopt out the other two. I have a friend that is wiling to take the calico which would mean i would need to find a home for the tortoise shell. I only have two traps so i will only be able to catch two at a time. Mom is warming up to me big time. I give them their privacy and never go into their territory. I make sure to feed them and give them water from a distance and i'm constantly talking to them and checking on them. I hope they are growing trust in me which is why she doesn't mind me getting close. Today, actually as i was giving them water she stood right next to my hand when i reached over to put the water bowl down (something she's never done before). I'm actually worried that setting the trap will break her trust in me . It also helps that the other adult cat that lives there loves to come over so i can give him belly rubs. She's always watching my interactions with the other adult cat. Taming them will be hard, especially with three dogs but I will try, and if I don't succeed I will just put them back in my neighbors yard and continue to feed them and care for them that way, at least they will be fixed. I don't know how old they are, i've never had a cat so i can't tell by their size. Can you guys give an estimate based on the photo? Do they still need mom? I don't think mom will be to keen on my keeping her while trying to tame them. The other adult cat will probably be easy to tame as he/she begs to come in constantly. They are already biting and scratching when they play with each other, calico has a small cat above it's eye, it's healed fine and doesn't look like it's a major issue. Just play fighting possibly with it's siblings. 

Chochy said:

I plan on trying to socialize them and find homes for them myself. The animal shelter said they can't help if they're feral because they will never get socialized in their cages but they stated that if i can socialize them they will take them in for adoption. I plan on keeping the black and white one (not sure what kind it is, brand new to this) and adopt out the other two. I have a friend that is wiling to take the calico which would mean i would need to find a home for the tortoise shell. I only have two traps so i will only be able to catch two at a time. Mom is warming up to me big time. I give them their privacy and never go into their territory. I make sure to feed them and give them water from a distance and i'm constantly talking to them and checking on them. I hope they are growing trust in me which is why she doesn't mind me getting close. Today, actually as i was giving them water she stood right next to my hand when i reached over to put the water bowl down (something she's never done before). I'm actually worried that setting the trap will break her trust in me . It also helps that the other adult cat that lives there loves to come over so i can give him belly rubs. She's always watching my interactions with the other adult cat. Taming them will be hard, especially with three dogs but I will try, and if I don't succeed I will just put them back in my neighbors yard and continue to feed them and care for them that way, at least they will be fixed. I don't know how old they are, i've never had a cat so i can't tell by their size. Can you guys give an estimate based on the photo? Do they still need mom? I don't think mom will be to keen on my keeping her while trying to tame them. The other adult cat will probably be easy to tame as he/she begs to come in constantly. They are already biting and scratching when they play with each other, calico has a small cat above it's eye, it's healed fine and doesn't look like it's a major issue. Just play fighting possibly with it's siblings. 

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If the kittens are still nursing then they need to stay with mom. If they are all eating solids then they wouldn't really NEED to stay with mom, as they would be able to play and learn manners from each other.

Those kittens look to be about 10-12 weeks old to me. I could be wrong though.

Well they are doing both. They eat the food I give them, which is solid but it's wet. It takes them forever to eat but they get it down. I also have seem them nursing from mom a few hours after I fed them. I have seen all three eat the cat food I put down.

Chochy said:

Well they are doing both. They eat the food I give them, which is solid but it's wet. It takes them forever to eat but they get it down. I also have seem them nursing from mom a few hours after I fed them. I have seen all three eat the cat food I put down.

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Okay so it sounds like they are still in the process of weaning but if they are all eating the food you give them then they shouldn't NEED to nurse from mom.

Ok thank you, noted. So I will set the traps tonight and hopefully have two kittens/cats in the morning. I will contact the vet and let them know I plan on bringing in 5 cats over the next week (fingers crossed). I will keep everyone updated and If i have any questions I will let you all know. Thanks so much for the support and tips and be sure to check in tomorrow morning for hopefully amazing news. If this is accomplished, I will try and capture more cats to fix them as well. 

UPDATE: So I just went outside to set up the traps. As soon as I opened a can of food the stray adult cat that has adopted me came running out of nowhere for the food! I put it in the trap and he/she walked in right away!!! When the mom of the three kittens saw this, she too came over to my yard while i was out there! Something she's never done before but she trust the other adult cat and the other adult cat trusts me! She hasn't stepped into the other trap yet and is trying to get the food on the already close trap. Hopefully she steps into the other trap, but if not hopefully one of her kittens does. I set the trap on the fence because she likes to sleep there. The other cat was captured in my yard and now i'm not sure if i should let it spend the night outside or bring it in and put a blanket over it after it's done eating. 

EDIT: I was able to capture momma cat too. Im kind of worried though because now the three kittens are outside on their own without either cat protecting them. Mom is really good at keeping other cats from her kittens while the other adult cat is great at keeping other cats away from it's territory ( i have no idea why he/she even let momma and her kittens in the first place). I will take the two adults to the vet tomorrow and will go on from there. I'm really worried because now i have to care for two adult cats after surgery and it's something i've never done. I wanted the kittens because i'd figure it would be easier. 

Also, is it weird for me to feel terrible for this? I know that it's to help the kittens but i cried over capturing them. I feel like I have broken the trust these cats have build on me. Im scared that this will make their life more troubling and I also feel that i'm not capable or good enough to care for them yet . I was super excited to help them but now I feel fear and anxiety. I will go through with it but hope it gets easier next time. Thanks all for the help and care and encouragement, I will now be doing more research on caring for spray and neuter cats and will do my best with that process.