THEY'RE GONE! What do I do???

This morning I went out to feed and water momma cat and check on her 4 babies. THEY'RE GONE!!!! They weren't sleeping in any section of the fence and I scoured our tiny backyard for them...nothing! My hubby was up late last night and said he heard momma cat. Sounded like she was going up and down! I said WHY DIDN'T YOU LOOK!!!! He said there was a 2nd cat in the yard and thought it was a Tom bugging momma. He tried to chase it away, but I guess it kept coming back.

Oh the babies are gone! What if they're not safe? Our backyard is across from a road and on the other side is a HUGE park. Lots of places to hide, but not safe from mean people. Where would I even begin to look?

Can I do anything at all? WAAAAAAAAHHHH...she was here for a week. Why did she leave???

Stef

Stef-

Kittens that live outside are at great risk. They are susceptible to all types of predators including tomcats. Generally another female cat will not hurt a kitten, but the toms will to bring the mom into heat (because of mourning). It is possible that mom stashed the kittens somewhere safe till the threat goes away. But the other possibility is they are just gone. No, it's not fair, but it is Nature's check and balance in play. And it would be a lot kinder if everyone just spayed and or nuetered their cats.

Oh you must be worried to death, I do hope you fine everyone and that they are ok, I'll be thinking about you, Good Luck

Mom cats can be great mommys. They will often move their kittens anytime they feel even slightly threatened by something else, be that cats, people or other animals. Perhaps even weather conditions I suppose. With any luck she has found them what she feels is a safer place and carried them off one at a time by the scruff of their necks to a new and safer location. Maybe she will bring them back if she checks that area and feels it is safe again or some other area near you or as you said across the street where it seems safer.

maybe if you keep offering food and shelter they will come back. or atleast the mum will?

I'm so sad. I think I'll go out back and look, but I won't hold my breath. The only thing that makes me feel semi-ok is that when she brought them to our yard a week ago they were already about 3 weeks old. So, she obviously got through the first 3 weeks fine without help. I just feel sick about it. I so wanted to help. *!$&# tom cat. Do you think if I leave food out she'll come back? Or will she just come back alone to eat for herself? Darn! Darn! Darn!

Stef

try it. at the moment its all you can do apart from hope and pray. if you try to look for her you might scare her into hiding further away.

just let her know theres food and comfort at yours and when she ready she'll come back

Stef, just out of curiosity, what part of the world do you live in? and sending you lots of hugs and vibes.

Oh, Stef, I am so sorry that the kitties have gone missing!! You were smart to post on TCS. It sounds like mama kitty knows her stuff & I hope and pray that she returns her family to you. Maybe you could go around the park and call for her and/or the kittens. You could also ask around the neighborhood & maybe enlist the help of some young girls in the search. I think that if the tomcat had actually attacked the kittens, there would have been quite a bit of commotion (I've known personally of instances where toms have killed the young kittens by eating their heads off while mama-kitty was away hunting). If you keep putting out food, mama-kitty may come back or maybe the tomcat will take over the territory. If he is the one who moves in, would you be willing to trap him & get him neutered?? You might try connecting with a rescue group in your area & get their thoughts, too. Do what you can, and hope for the best. After that, it's up to mama-kitty & whomever else she may encounter. Please keep us posted! Susan

you can look but you won't find them. and if she shows up and you stalk her to get to her kittens she will move them further away. Put food out for her and fresh water and play the waiting game and hope for the best-

OH no darn tom cat!!! I agree w/ everyone else keep food & water out & maybe once she feels the threat is gone she might be back! Keep us posted!!!!!!

((Hugs))

Your post reminds me of how we adopted Mysty, a feral kitten. In spring of 2002 I remember seeing a white cat carrying something in its mouth ( I thought it was some type of prey), while walking across our backyard.

In June my son spotted two kittens in the bushes by the side of our house. The Mom cat was white and she was obviously nursing and/or bringing food to the kittens. One of the kittens was white and the other grey. My husband was working on the side of the house and scared the white kitten so much that it almost got stuck in the wooden fence next to the house.

Because we had often heard that you shouldn't touch or disturb the kittens with the Mom cat around, we just left the kittens alone. A few days later, we heard the little grey kitten meowing helplessly. This kitten was hungry and Mom cat had disappeared. Mom cat just left and the white kitten was nowhere in sight, so we began feeding the grey kitten, who became our Mysty cat.

Apparently, something happened to the white kitten and the Mom cat just fled. Now I know that the white cat we saw in the spring was the Mom cat carrying one of her kittens to safety. And I sense that something tragic did happen to the white kitten, and whatever did, it caused the Mom cat to abandon her other grey kitten. It's also highly possible the the white kitten was deaf and didn't hear the upcoming danger, whereas Mysty was lucky to escape and survive.

If I had known better, my husband and I would have caught both kittens and brought them into the house where it was safe. Then again, it was a difficult decision to make because the Mom cat was still caring for them.

The thing to do if you find a litter of tiny kittens is to put the kittens in a cat carrier (line the carrier with a clean towel first), then set a trap and line the trap up in front of the carrier, so the back of the trap is up against the front of the carrier. Cover the whole thing with a towel. Mama will go in the trap because she can hear and smell and see her babies and thinks she can get to them by going in the tunnel. Once you have them, you can set them up in a den or guest room or walk-in closet in your home. And if Mama doesn't show up in a few hours, you can pretty safely assume she's not coming back and you can take the kittens and bottle feed them.