TNR'd Mama looking for her kittens. She knows I have them.

Greetings to all of you good Cat People!

I've gotten a lot of help and advice on this site, both from my own posts and those of others, when I took in two strays from my backyard last year.  Those two were both pets, probably abandoned by creeps for some reason.

Since all of the help I got from you all last year, I've started managing a small colony from my backyard in Brooklyn, NY and doing some TNR & rescue. I'm not certified for TNR yet, but I've caught 10 feral cats so far, 5 of which are kittens.  After I get one more tomcat, I will have spayed/neutered all of the usual suspects in my immediate area.

I was able to socialize two 4-month old kittens in January of this year and get them adopted. Now I've got another three 3-month-old kittens from the same mama cat that I just TNR'd. I've already got people lined up to adopt.

It took me 7 months to catch her. I changed my trap setup this time and she finally went in. She is the "queen" of the area, and really smart. She was in a very early stage of pregnancy when she was finally spayed last Thursday. I've been feeding her and her kittens  through her last 2 pregnancy, nursing and weaning phases, for more than 8 months.

My problem right now is that the mama cat, who knows me and my yard very well by now, also knows that I have her kittens and comes over everyday to look for them. She sits just outside of my back door and meows quietly. Sometimes she jumps up on to the window sill to stare at me in my home office, where I also have her kittens.

I just released her on Sunday early evening and she seems to have recovered very well physically, which is necessary here since all of the yards are bordered by very tall fences. She is having her breakfast and supper here again too, fortunately.  But she wants those kittens back.

Has anyone else experienced a situation like this? Does anyone have any idea when my mama cat will forget these kittens? I love this cat dearly, but she's unnerving me somewhat right now.

Thanks so much in advance,

a

Wow, what great work you have done and are doing!

Mom probably does miss them.  At three months, they are the age where they would have started scattering anyway.  She may be a little hormonal from the pregnancy, too.

In any case, as hard as it is, try to ignore her.  Are you going to be her caretaker?  Maybe when she shows up, can you go outside and visit with her?

Is the mama cat socialized to people? Can you find a home for her, too? She is probably feeling some loss right now.

When I took in a 3 month old feral kitten a few years ago, mama cat was looking for him and crying for him for about a week. She had already lost her two other kittens a month prior because my neighbor and I trapped them, and my neighbor took them in. Papa cat knew exactly where these kittens were. He often saw my/his "Harry" through the windows of my house and in my sunroom looking onto the porch. Harry cried for both mama and papa through the open window every morning for about 5 weeks. We weren't able to trap mama, and after a few weeks she left and never returned. Papa cat and Harry often pawed at each other through the glass windows--Harry was happy indoors, and his papa was happy outdoors.  Although he didn't want to come into my home and become domesticated himself (and we were never able to trap him to neuter him), papa cat brought me a few more of his offspring before he passed away. 

The whole process was hard and disturbing for all of us--there's nothing worse than parent cats missing their offspring, and kittens crying for their parents. It tugs at your heart strings. It does pass, however. 

I hope you're able to find a home for your mama cat. It takes about a month after a cat who was spayed while pregnant to fully recover and for her hormones to settle down. She may be depressed and distressed for a while. Take comfort in knowing that you're doing the right thing for all of these cats, even though it's hard during this time of transition. The kittens you've rescued will all have happy, safe lives, and mama cat will be content and happy to not continue having litters of kittens.  What you're doing is wonderful.  

I intend to be her caretaker.

I've been spending time with her outside. We sat outside together last evening in the rain: me drinking a lot of wine on the patio and her staring at me saying "give me my kittens".  And me drinking more wine.

Oh I know the looks these parent cats give. What may help is if you hold and cuddle each of these kittens in mama cat's presence so she knows you are caring for them. I did this with Harry in front of his papa cat. They do understand that your intentions are kind. They do accept that you have them. It's much better than if they had no idea where their kittens were.

I don't think my mama cat, Tasha, is adoptable right now. She's quite feral and seems to run the neighborhood. 

The kittens are still too feral for me to hold them right now. I'm working on that. 

Thanks so much, 

a

angelaD said:

 
I intend to be her caretaker.

I've been spending time with her outside. We sat outside together last evening in the rain: me drinking a lot of wine on the patio and her staring at me saying "give me my kittens".  And me drinking more wine.

Click to expand...

I know, right?  You wonder what exactly is she plotting!

Thankfully she came over only for a few minutes today to stare into my back door window. I put out her favorite food, after which she ran out to find one of the tomcats she supervises so that he could get fed.  

I hope she comes back only for supper. I can't take that face. I'll open more wine, just in case.

Thanks so much for all of the help,

a

Hi MsAimee,

I somehow missed your very detailed post from last evening.  Thanks so much for posting your experience. It definitely seems to resemble my situation right now.

best,

a

Poor girl, and poor you. Thank you and your kind heart for all the good work you're doing for the kitties in your community. Awesome job. I would say, although I hate to do so, you may want to be careful who you inform of your TNR and rescue efforts. It's so sad, but people who do this so often become the target of drop-offs. Of course, you may not mind this, and if so... well you are awesome and you have a heart of gold.

There was an old man in my hometown, and he was super wealthy. The story I heard is that his wife was a total cat lover, and when she died, he honored her memory by starting to care for strays. Since he was super wealthy and had properties throughout town, his caregiving just expanded and expanded. The canned food never ran dry, and there were several spots where he built little shanty towns of old doghouses and carriers for shelter, where strays just congregated by the dozens. Long story short, the vet clinic I worked for at the time partnered with him and gave him discounted rates for medical care, TNR, fostering, vaccines, etc. The problem is that no matter how many we neutered and adopted out (if not feral), the population kept expanding because everyone in town new that he was caring for the cats and they kept dropping them in the "villages."

It's so sad that we live in a world where we have to be cautious about letting folks know that we like to do good... then again, there's something to be said for not hiding your light under a bushel, so to speak. Thanks again for your kind heart and your good work.

I'm careful about to whom I disclose my plans, and my knowledge of where the cats are, for a wide variety of reasons.

For example, if I go to someone in building management about a cat in their basement or backyard, they will do something "expedient". Or tell their staff to do something, in which case the building staff will do something "expedient".  

Neighbors are typically willing to help me if I let them know that I will take care of the trapping, vet details and the kittens. Most are decent people who want to do the right thing, but they don't have resources or knowledge to do it.  

On the other hand, when I ran accidentally into the super of the building where Tasha and her kittens were holed up in the basement during a cold early April of this year, I told him that I wanted to get her and the kittens from his building's basement. One of his business tenants made the introduction; I was there poking around and she was helping me when he showed up and wanted to know what was going on. That business tenant needs to protect her status with the landlord. He said "GREAT! Just go down there and get them."

I explained to him the issues with feral cats. Then I noticed that someone had put a cinder block over the door from which Tasha was entering and exiting in order to climb into my backyard to eat and get fresh water. So she was trapped.

It took me 3 weeks to figure out where Tasha had been holed up after I noticed she was no longer pregnant on March 23. I had insulated, waterproof cat shelters in my yard during the winter, but she never used them. She preferred some of the various other heated basements in the buildings in my area. All of those yards and basements are being renovated now, so the habitat is diminishing.

I was able to call one of the residential tenants in the building who had expressed interest in helping me, and he had access to that building's backyard and removed the cinder block right away. He had given me his phone number, fortunately. Tasha showed up 30 minutes later to get some food and water. She looked exhausted. She usually wouldn't let me get near her, but when I met her with fresh food and water she didn't move. Too tired. She had already moved the kittens somewhere else, over the extremely tall Brooklyn backyard fences, after nursing kittens without access to food or water for more than 24 hours.

I'm careful about to whom I disclose my cat plans.  

I left a cryptic note on the door of a building addressed to the tenants/owners who had the backyard where I thought Tasha and kittens were hanging out. The note addressed their backyard, but not cats. The husband called me back right away to let me know that my note had had totally creeped out his wife. We talked and he agreed to keep an eye out. Turns out Tasha had moved into the backyard next to them. That building is vacant and condemned. They started looking for the kittens, letting me know where they were,  and ended up being a big part of my being able to finally trap the kittens, and finally Tasha.

Good to know that there may be an issue with cat dumping. 

So many thanks to all of you!

a

She came over only for breakfast and supper today. Perhaps the situation is improving. It's amazing how much less she eats when she's not either pregnant or nursing.

How about some photos

Thanks for all of the good advice. I apologize for my absence. I can post some photos of Tasha in my window looking for her kittens, if you wish. I'd rather not, if you don't mind. It was so heartbreaking.

But the situation has improved considerably.

Since my last post, Tasha (the mama) has stopped stalking me and missing her kittens. She is TNR'd now. I still have her kittens, still socializing them for adoption. 

She has resumed coming to me twice per day for breakfast and supper. 

thanks to everyone here for guidance. 

best,

a

This is such good news.  Thank you for updating us!