Feral mom cat and kittens

Hi! I'm new. I recently rescued two kittens from someone that found them by his house. They are two weeks old. Went back the next day and was lucky enough to trap mom who is wild. I have them in a large dog crate in a quiet area of the house. Mom is very scared. She seems to be feeding the babies. Any advice would be great! I just want her to feel safe. She is so scared. Once everyone gets old enough we are fixing babies and mom. What are the chances that mom could live in our home with us? I hate thinking about her being out on the streets again.

The chances are very good, and thank you for rescuing mom and babies!

Move slowly and speak softly around mom. It will take time for her to become less afraid and more trusting.

Once the kittens are 3-4 weeks old and more mobile, you will want to begin opening the door of the dog crate so mom and kittens can explore the room. They do need to be in a room of their own with a door that can be closed. The door to the crate should be left open so they can go back inside anytime. The crate also needs covering with a sheet or blanket for privacy, with only the door side uncovered. Mom will feel safer.

You need to spend fair amounts of time in the room with them. Sit on the floor near the crate and read or watch TV. Once the crate door is open, let the kittens crawl on you when they become mobile. The kittens will easily tame. Eventually mom should realize it is safe and become friendlier.

Feed her plenty of wet food and kitten chow now. Has she been treated for fleas?

Thank you! Yes, We had to drop the flea meds on momma cat through the cat trap. She was not happy! Lol. She was hissing and spitting. They are currently in a little upstairs room off the stairs with no door, in the crate. I don't really have a room to put them in. I'll try to figure something out. I have 9 people living in my home right now so we are busting at the seams over here! Lol. My kids have birds in their rooms so can't put them in there and I'm allergic so I don't usually let animals in my room. Might have to use my room since I can't think of any other place.

This will take time, so be patient! Keep us posted, and good luck in the meantime. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Thank you. I moved them into my room. That way I have a door. So for starters I just sit and talk to her a lot. The babies come up to the cage wanting me. Is it okay to open the crate door now or should I wait awhile till mom gets used to me? My worry is her getting out and then how do I get her back in the crate? Lol. Don't know if I want a wild feral cat running lose in my room when I'm sleeping. Lol.

Glad you moved them into your room. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Does mom have enough room to stand and to fully stretch out in the crate? If so, wait another week until the kittens are 3 weeks old.

If not, open the door now. Be aware mom may move the babies under your bed - mine did. But they won't stay under there forever!

Leave mom's food and water in the crate so she has to go in to eat. This way, if you need to catch her, you can.

Put her litter box in a private corner for her to use.

Let the household know not to open your bedroom door if she is free in your room, so she does not dart out. And open slowly and carefully when you enter as well.

Let me know how this works out.

You all are awesome! they are in an extra large wire dog crate. It's big. I have her litter box with non clumping litter, a large box covered with a towel to hide in, and her food and water. She has lots of space. I'm sure eventually she will want to get out and move more. I hate keeping an animal in a cage. Especially if all they have ever known was outside. I'll wait a week and then we will give that a try!

askbecki said:

You all are awesome!

they are in an extra large wire dog crate. It's big. I have her litter box with non clumping litter, a large box covered with a towel to hide in, and her food and water. She has lots of space. I'm sure eventually she will want to get out and move more. I hate keeping an animal in a cage. Especially if all they have ever known was outside.

I'll wait a week and then we will give that a try!

Click to expand...

Im happy to read your story.  I will return later on, Im at work now.

But as a rule, as soon momma realizes you arent mean to her, and being in your home is the best practical chance for her kittens, she will copy. As childrens welfare is more important than "freedom". For human moms and for cat moms.

Its not entirely sure you will manage to foster her into a home cat, but it shall be entirely possible to foster her kittens.

IF you dont manage to foster her, there is always the plan B - spay and release her back, along the TNR-lines.  She is use to that live, so she will manage OK, especially if she gets some help from you. And not needing to become preg again, nor needing to defend from territorial toms...

I guess we take one day at a time and see what happens. I'll try to get some pics soon of them. I have a couple but they aren't very good.

I would love to see more pictures. The lighting is not great in this one.

These are the babies. Just gave them baths since they got into mommies food and was a mess! Mom is hiding so I will try to get a better pick of her soon.

They are adorable! I look forward to a better picture of mom. [emoji]128149[/emoji]

askbecki said:

You all are awesome!

they are in an extra large wire dog crate. It's big. I have her litter box with non clumping litter, a large box covered with a towel to hide in, and her food and water. She has lots of space. I'm sure eventually she will want to get out and move more. I hate keeping an animal in a cage. Especially if all they have ever known was outside.

I'll wait a week and then we will give that a try!

Click to expand...

Cage isnt that bad, its a protection too.  She knows it...  But after a couple of days, you can leave the door open if you wish and keeping her closed bothers you.

Im a little aghast you dared to bathe the kittens.  The usual ruleof thumb is to do everything nearby, so momma sees what you are doing, knows there is no danger, and hears they arent screaming in protest...  So this is the trick with shy AND defensive semiferales...

Good you are talking a lot to her in a friendly voice.  Friendly louds is a natural language for cats.

Observe, the common advice to have radio on, is much tooo early as yet.  She must land first.  Radio NOW would just put her in a new alert state. But your friendly voice is the trick.   But you can put on  relaxing calming music on.  Classical harp music is best thay say, but almost any will do.

You can also have an Feliway adapter. Not necessary, but may help.

You tell it seems momma is nursing them and giving thhem milk. Good. The way to KNOW is to weigh them every day. They shall atdd 10+ grammes every day...

I weighed them this morning so I can keep an eye on them. Last night they were crying a lot and mom was ignoring them. We ended up feeding them some formula. When the babies see me they start crying and trying to get out of the cage to be held. They are so adorable. It bothers me that they don't seem too attached to her like other kittens I've seen. Maybe it's a phase. They are starting to be aware of their surrounding.

You can take them out to cuddle as often as you wish. Can you weigh them? It would be good to know how they are doing. This way we know if they need regular supplementing or not.

I think a Felliway diffuser, like Stefan mentioned, is a great idea. The calming pheromones may really help mama kitty.

It would be great if mom could come out of the crate soon to explore the room. She may be more interested in her kittens when she feels less anxiety.

Sorry it took so long to get back on! I weighed them wrong so I did it again.
One is 14.1 oz
The other is 13.1
They are around three or four weeks old? They have teeth now. They can get around pretty good, just wobbly. The grey one is getting shy like mom. The calico is very friendly but a little skittish. I'm going to try and hold them more. Mom is not tamable. She is too wild. I'm debating wether to keep them with mom and handle them more or pull them from her soon? Any advice?

They need to stay with mom, but you also need to handle the kittens daily.

Have you tried a Felliway diffuser in the room with mom yet? Are you letting mom out of the cage?

I haven't gotten a diffuser yet. My son just got home from the hospital so I've been super busy.
I have not let mom cat out of the crate yet. I'm afraid I won't be able to get her back in! She is mean. Hissing when we come in the room. She hasn't tried to attack me though. She usually runs into her box to hide when I reach in to feed her or pull her litter box out to clean it. We take the babies out every day but it doesn't seem to be enough. Maybe three times a day would be better. I don't want to keep them away from mom for too long. I don't know how to make the grey one more comfortable. He cries constantly when we hold him. it's so sad. His brother is so much more comfortable with us.