Kids brought me 5 newborn kittens. I returned them, but

So today, the neighborhood kids brought a box with 5 newborns. They don't even have their eyes open. 

They told me that the mother was not around and that they found them in a utility closet adjacent to a building when they were looking for possums. 

According to them, the hole under the closet door was dug by possums and they feared they will eat the kittens.

I went and looked around and did not see the mother, but I know she is around somewhere since the kids saw her close to the closet.

Even though I fear that the possum story could be true and they might be in danger, I returned the kittens to the closet and put them in a large box and a tuna can on the side for the mother. 

I feel like they have a better chance with their mother, but I can't be there that often to check if the mom is around and so they are being left there to chance. 

My immediate fear right now is that I have heard that if you touch the kittens at this stage, their mother will abandon them because of the human contact they had. Is this a myth?

I hope placing the box for them to be somewhat more confined and protected was a good move. Any insight?

Savethekitty said:

So today, the neighborhood kids brought a box with 5 newborns. They don't even have their eyes open. 

They told me that the mother was not around and that they found them in a utility closet adjacent to a building when they were looking for possums. 
According to them, the hole under the closet door was dug by possums and they feared they will eat the kittens.

I went and looked around and did not see the mother, but I know she is around somewhere since the kids saw her close to the closet.

Even though I fear that the possum story could be true and they might be in danger, I returned the kittens to the closet and put them in a large box and a tuna can on the side for the mother. 
I feel like they have a better chance with their mother, but I can't be there that often to check if the mom is around and so they are being left there to chance. 

My immediate fear right now is that I have heard that if you touch the kittens at this stage, their mother will abandon them because of the human contact they had. Is this a myth?

I hope placing the box for them to be somewhat more confined and protected was a good move. Any insight?

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Yes, it is a myth that touching kittens will make mom reject them.

How will you be able to tell if mom has come back? Are you prepared to hand raise them?

That goes for wild animals such as bunnies, not kittens. I hope they will be ok. And if mom doesn't come back are you able to bottle feed them?

Mom is likely feral and won't come if kids or anyone is anywhere nearby, she will know and wait.

Hoping the kittens were not away too long, she will come for them, probably pick them out of the box but that's okay.

She was away finding food to eat, poor thing, imagine the shock and stress when she saw them taken.......

It's okay, kids don't know, but really encourage them to stay away.

catwoman707 said:

 
Mom is likely feral and won't come if kids or anyone is anywhere nearby, she will know and wait.

Hoping the kittens were not away too long, she will come for them, probably pick them out of the box but that's okay.

She was away finding food to eat, poor thing, imagine the shock and stress when she saw them taken.......

It's okay, kids don't know, but really encourage them to stay away.

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You are right!!! I went to see the kittens today and they were in a corner of the closet. The mother moved them out of the box and to the dirt, but they were sleeping all leaning against each other. 

The mother was close by and with a little patience she came to me and let me pet her. I gave her a can of wet food and left. 

I will be back later with 2 printed flyers that I will put inside the closet saying " Do not move the kittens. the mother is taking care of them. If you move the kittens, they will die, Please leave alone and close the doors. " 

This is mainly for the dozen kids that already know these kittens are there, but I fear they will be kids and will do the opposite. 

Not sure what else I could do, but feed the mother. She was really skinny. Boney even  

I want to TNR her at some point for sure. She is a cutey! 

Suggestions?

savethekitty

Is there any way to bring her and her kittens to your home? Poor thing. So skinny with all those babies to feed.

Would she perhaps go into a crate with her babies and food? Then bring her home? This is so sad, and I fear that at some point someone will take the babies or hurt mom.

sarthur2 said:

@Savethekitty

Is there any way to bring her and her kittens to your home? Poor thing. So skinny with all those babies to feed.

Would she perhaps go into a crate with her babies and food? Then bring her home? This is so sad, and I fear that at some point someone will take the babies or hurt mom.

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I'd love to bring her home with me. However, I am trying to catch a cat with a broken leg to take to the vet and also another cat that has an ear infection, skin issues and a swollen lip. With all these cats needing help already and me willing to have one of them crated inside (despite having a rescue cat who is aggressive to other males), I am not sure who to give preference. 

I gotta say thought that this cat mom already gave birth to 4 kittens a couple of months ago (in a different closet/building) and I was the one who found them homes. It was the same story, that the kids brought them to me. These were at least 8 weeks though and they managed to survive (at least 3 of the 4 since one got lost according to the kids).

So they have a good chance to make it.

I also say a couple of friskies cat food close to the cat, so there is someone else who is at least feeding the mother some. Not enough since she is so skinny, but I will feed her too.  

She would probably be no trouble once brought in, and maybe she would be easier to get now with newborns than later. She and her kittens equal 6 lives.

You do have your hands full! Thank you for all that you are doing to help neighborhood cats.

Since the mama cat ia being fed, at least for now i would lever her where she is, continue to keep an eye on and feed her, and try to care for the cat with broken leg. That seems the most pressing. I'm sure the mama and her littens woll be okay if you and whomever else is feeding her continue to do so.

I agree that she should be brought in if possible. The others can be vetted and released but this mama needs a safe place to raise her babies. She also needs to be fixed eventually.

If I bring her in, I'd have to have her in the living room in a crate. I live in south florida where for $1300 a month all you get is a 700 square feet condo. So I don't have a separate room or garage for her and her kittens and I am a little concerned about her and her kittens bringing in ringworm or fleas or who knows and making my other cat sick. I worry about this also if I have to bring in the one with the broken leg, but at least with that one it would happen after he sees the vet, so he can tell me whether he has something like that or not correct? Are these worries valid? 

Fleas are almost a certainty with strays, but can be dealt with fairly easily with a Capstar pill or tube of Advantage II.

Ringworm is rare, but always a possibility. Many strays are surprisingly healthy, though most need worming.

If your cat has had shots he's fairly well protected.

Maybe you could get mom and kittens to a rescue that has foster homes available?

If you were able to pet momma cat, she was once owned and tame, but has been on her own for a fairly short period of time so that she hasn't forgotten that people aren't going to hurt her, being on her own, lacks regular interactions with people, causing them to be scared until you've gained their trust.

This also means that you can apply flea treatment to her.

If you don't see obvious bald patches or crusty scabbed areas she most likely does not have any skin disorders.

I also see it as her taking a priority because I think her kittens are not safe while so many kids know they're in there.

Mom will be stressed out and the kittens will be handled wrong, they are very fragile.

Your male won't be that way with a female, it's a male/male thing.

Females actually dominate males.

She needs help. Hers is priority because it can come down to life or death for the kittens.

She surely needs to be spayed too

UPDATE: 

Momma cat is Russian Blue!  

I have been bringing her food every day and her and her kittens are doing great! She just moved her kittens to another close (where she gave birth before) and they are well protected from the elements.

Also, I met a neighbor who ended up being the guy who also feeds her once a day. She is really skinny though, so I told him I will still come and feed her while she has the kittens. 

We also talked about catching her and bringing her to get TNRed once the kittens are older. 

I emailed Animal services to find out if they could shelter the mom and the kittens until they are ready for adoption and then get the mom TNRed by them and released back here. 

The neighbor said he would like to have her back as a community stray since they care for her. We will see about that since I will be doing all the contacts and I feel that this mom is better off in a home rather than outside being fed once a day as she has. He won't have her insider as an indoor cat, and even if he told me that, I would be hesitant to believe it. OMG.. I am being over protective lol... gotta back off. these cats will turn your world upside down!! 

So she is being fed twice a day now. Can you leave dry food for her each day as well? Poor mom. That's still not enough food while she's nursing kittens.

When do you expect to hear back from animal services? Do they euthanize? I've never taken animals there because city/county animal services tend to euthanize to deal with over-crowding. Be leery.

Are there any no-kill rescues in your area? That might be preferable to animal services.

Have you been able to help the cat with a hurt leg?

sarthur2 said:

So she is being fed twice a day now. Can you leave dry food for her each day as well? Poor mom. That's still not enough food while she's nursing kittens.

When do you expect to hear back from animal services? Do they euthanize? I've never taken animals there because city/county animal services tend to euthanize to deal with over-crowding. Be leery.

Are there any no-kill rescues in your area? That might be preferable to animal services.

Have you been able to help the cat with a hurt leg?

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I think double than what she already had for food is good for now since I am also feeding 5 adult cats who are hungry savages I am going broke with vet bills and canned food. Gotta buy more meds for worms etc.. so I have to do the best I can for now. 

I expect to hear back from Animal services on monday or Tuesday. Thing is if you call, you get a customer service person who has no idea of anything other than hrs of operation or basic things, so I have to wait for the email. 

Animal services in Miami Dade will not kill cats. I think miami dade prohibits killing ferals or strays. I hear they are allowed to live because they are self sufficient, unlike dogs for example. All this will be 100% clarified before anything is done with the mom and kittens. 

Unfortunately, the cat with the broken leg has not shown up around here anymore. I feel terrible. Don't want to even think what could have happened to him now or it will ruin my day. 

Savethekitty said:

 
I think double than what she already had for food is good for now since I am also feeding 5 adult cats who are hungry savages I am going broke with vet bills and canned food. Gotta buy more meds for worms etc.. so I have to do the best I can for now. 

I expect to hear back from Animal services on monday or Tuesday. Thing is if you call, you get a customer service person who has no idea of anything other than hrs of operation or basic things, so I have to wait for the email. 

Animal services in Miami Dade will not kill cats. I think miami dade prohibits killing ferals or strays. I hear they are allowed to live because they are self sufficient, unlike dogs for example. All this will be 100% clarified before anything is done with the mom and kittens. 

Unfortunately, the cat with the broken leg has not shown up around here anymore. I feel terrible. Don't want to even think what could have happened to him now or it will ruin my day. 

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I loved hearing you say that Miami Dade will not kill feral or stray cats.

This is because I have just submitted a proposal for an ordinance revision in my city, that gives ear-tipped cats who are healthy, the right to live and stay where they are since they clearly are able to sustain their life well.

Including it becoming unlawful for anyone to trap a community cat without the intent of TNR. 

Also if the county shelter gets an ear-tipped cat, rather than being held for 3 days then euthanized, they are held then returned to their origin.

Fingers crossed it goes through!!

As for the abcessed or broken legged cat, just know that it is much more likely it is an abcess than a fracture, but either way, he will recover and be back.

Pain will not make him die, he will get through it as it heals, and be less and less painful for him. This is why I was leaning towards explaining to you in my reply that he is actually limited on options if broken, being feral and outside he can't be casted or splinted, they would strongly advise euthanizing, can't be given med for pain since it would be too dangerous for him out there, so this is pretty much what's left, allow him to heal it as it will, and he will come back to you, you'll see.

Wish I had a picture of this one cat in one of my colonies I care for, I named him Skippy (rolling my eyes) because his hind leg, from day 1 that he showed up, looked like he had been dinged by a car, the lower half dangled and twisted. Yep, hard to see......

I consider myself a damn good trapper, many years of experience, but this guy would not trap.........I tried endlessly, creatively, traditional, every bait and type trap imaginable, it haunted me knowing he was out there like that.

No deal.

Fast forward a couple years now, his lower leg still dangling, shrunken now, he obviously has blood flow and nerves or he would have become very sick and be long gone before now, he is thick and plush, and has adapted to 3 legs perfectly. I dragged a vet friend out to see him one evening, she thinks the leg bone was completely severed so unable to fuse back and as I thought, has a good blood supply still, and would not have pain, just as an amputee would heal.

Cats amaze me.......so don't discourage, they have this incredible resilience.

Whenever I see him now, it still pains me in my heart to see, but he just wouldn't cooperate!

Savethekitty said:

 
UPDATE: 

Momma cat is Russian Blue!  

I have been bringing her food every day and her and her kittens are doing great! She just moved her kittens to another close (where she gave birth before) and they are well protected from the elements.

Also, I met a neighbor who ended up being the guy who also feeds her once a day. She is really skinny though, so I told him I will still come and feed her while she has the kittens. 

We also talked about catching her and bringing her to get TNRed once the kittens are older. 

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Ah, Russian Blue?   We wanna see pics!

Observe, IF she is a RB for real, perhaps one whom got lost - it does happens now and then - she is slender by  nature.   So the skinnines is perhaps not so bad as it seems...

I havent followed whole tread very closely, because I saw you got good help from others.  There is apparently a cat with a broken leg outside....

Succesful ferales manage not seldom even gross wounds.  I know of at least two cases where their leg was seared off "amputated",  and the cat managed to survive, heal and continue to live alone outside.  As far as I know even without active feeding by any friendly neigbour...

I know these cases, one Swedish, one from this forum, because they both ended well - they were found, got help with fostering and found adoption homes where the new owner didnt mind the cat was somewhat shy - as fostered ex-ferales usually are...

I mean, chances are good a ferale with broken leg with manage, with a little luck and so...  Not nice to think about it, but if no predator or mean kids take him, he should manage, esp if he can get food.

Also meant to add a comment about her skinny bod now.

It is very common for a momma cat to look awful, sunken in and skin and bones after having her kids, and takes a good 6 or more weeks for her to get her girly figure looking right again

savethekitty

Here are a couple more options in your area for the mom and kittens:

http://www.humanesocietymiami.org

http://thecatnetwork.org/help-a-cat/spayneuter/

I hope this helps! [emoji]128522[/emoji]