I've CAUGHT THEM!!

Ok.. for the past 3 years every summer, we've come across a bunch of cats on the side of our house. This time I discovered there were 3 mother cats. Total of 8 kittens. But 6 kittens look to be borned before as the 2 look much smaller.

http://www.geocities.com/lelamjade/M...TTEN_BOX_1.JPG

Please look at the photo as I only caught 4 in the box. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW OLD these kittens are. 3 appear to be the same size but the 1 small one seems to be neglected and stuck next to the kitty litter.

I've just only caught them now and hope to get 4 more another day.. however.. the mother cat hiss at me and i'm sure I will need the aid of a cat trap.

What are my next steps in weaning these beauties??? How can I touch them. Also.. i have no way of taking these cats LONG term. The house we live in now is only a summer place and by Oct. we are off in the southern hemisphere. So I could babysit the cats over the next 8 weeks?? or should I NOT bother and just submit them to the SPCA pronto?

BTW.. I think the mother cats will be mighty difficult to domesticate... But I FEAR that more ferral cats will come around and lay more babies.

Last year my dad had to bury 2 dead cats and recently this year.. 3 more he found. The reminence of dead cats after a winter season of ice and snow does not seem appealing at all.

BQ

Ohhh they are beauties!!!
I dont have any advice for you but I just wanted to say what a kind hearted person you are.
And I hope someone comes soon with some advice for you.

Oh they are sweet- www.kitten-rescue.com will help you out. If they are eating solid food that is good.

I just don't understand. What makes a new born kitten born in a social home any different than kittens born outside by ferral cats? In terms of domesticating them, if you both take the cats away from their mothers after a month.... wouldn't both kittens end up being domesticated if they fall through the same social hoop with human contact?

BQ

The difference is that the outside mother is fearful of humans, and a cat brought into a loving home is not. At the crucial age of 2 weeks old and sometimes earlier, the kittens in the home are handled, cuddled, loved, kissed and used to human contact. In the outside, a momcat will sit on her kittens before she will allow a human to touch them or her, and these feral or stray kittens because they are not used to humans will fear them. We tower above them, so you get down to their level, you don't make eye contact, you keep your voice low and you approach them carefully and cautiously or you will get bit. That is the difference. It doesn't matter if they are with the most loving cat person on the planet- they will still fear you because you are not a friend, you are a predator- you took them from their mom.

OK I thought I should give an update. Today we managed to trap the big mother cat and took her down to the SPCA. She was quite aggressive. Then we managed to catch 5 (not 4 that we had originally thought) more kittens.

The 1st 4 kittens we caught are progressing ok. The young one doesn't seem to get distracted too easily and always meows during our presence - always follows our feet while we walk around in the partitioned room. The other 3 aren't as friendly but when feeding time comes, there's no problem touching them. They will go and hide in the box if you walk near them. However before or after feeding time, they sometimes will hiss if I bring my hand too close to them or they run to the box to hide.

I feer that the other 5 we just caught will not be domesticated so easily. Maybe the 2 (that are as young as the small kitty in the 1st batch), will have a better chance of being people friendly.

Also today we have trapped another mother cat but will have to stay in the cage overnight before I deliver to the SPCA in the afternoon. They don't open until 11:30am which I find is late.

I'm not sure how long I can keep all these kittens. They always seem to cry for more food and I wonder how can the mother cats keep up with the nutrition for so many? I'll have to buy more kitty litter and more can cat food. Also the milk powder formula is half used up and only been 2 days.

How soon can the kittens (or the smallest one) can be taken OFF the powder milk formula? Can I just supply only canned stuff? - yes they do eat it.

BQ

gosh I wish I could give you some advise but unfortunatly I cant

you are doing an amazing job for these precious babies - bless your heart

looking forward to continuing updates