Hello,
about 4-5 months ago, a ferrel cat turned up in my garden, it was very timid and on further investigation we discovered two tiny kittens in our lean-to shed. They must have only been about a week old if that. It was quite cold outside and whenever we ventured a look, the mother would just run off. We decided to try to leave some food as she looked very slim, sure enough she polished it off very quickly as soon as we were on the other side of our glass doors! We were still very concerned about the kittens so the next timer she vanished we put down a box with some carpet in. We didn't move the kittens and sure enough she moved them in!
Slowly over time with lots of food bribes she became less timid and soon began to wait outside the glass doors to be fed! She still would not let us touch her though. Whenever she was happily eating we checked on the fast growing kittens (two little ginger toms) and eventually were able to stroke them and hold them without her minding. It wasn't long before she was happy to be stroked, but only when she was distracted by food. Everything seemed to be going really well, the kittens are now very tame as we handled them from an early age and the mother happily comes inside the house and has a snooze on our chairs. They are still outdoor cats though and always sleep in their boxes (there are now three boxes, two cushions...play things etc) outside.
Now comes my problem. She was still not tame enough to even consider neutering after the last two kittens were weaned, so as a result she is now heavily pregnant again. The only thing is we still have the older kittens (now about 5 months) who still are very affectionate towards their mother, what is going to happen when she has this next lot? Will the older kittens attack the new ones? We will be getting her neutered after this lot even if we recieve many scratches and bites! We don't want to loose her or the young cats as they have become fabulous pets and the progression she has made has been stunning. Does anyone think this next birth could be problematic? If so advice would be most appreciated, she is due in about a week!!
Thanks
Anna.
about 4-5 months ago, a ferrel cat turned up in my garden, it was very timid and on further investigation we discovered two tiny kittens in our lean-to shed. They must have only been about a week old if that. It was quite cold outside and whenever we ventured a look, the mother would just run off. We decided to try to leave some food as she looked very slim, sure enough she polished it off very quickly as soon as we were on the other side of our glass doors! We were still very concerned about the kittens so the next timer she vanished we put down a box with some carpet in. We didn't move the kittens and sure enough she moved them in!
Slowly over time with lots of food bribes she became less timid and soon began to wait outside the glass doors to be fed! She still would not let us touch her though. Whenever she was happily eating we checked on the fast growing kittens (two little ginger toms) and eventually were able to stroke them and hold them without her minding. It wasn't long before she was happy to be stroked, but only when she was distracted by food. Everything seemed to be going really well, the kittens are now very tame as we handled them from an early age and the mother happily comes inside the house and has a snooze on our chairs. They are still outdoor cats though and always sleep in their boxes (there are now three boxes, two cushions...play things etc) outside.
Now comes my problem. She was still not tame enough to even consider neutering after the last two kittens were weaned, so as a result she is now heavily pregnant again. The only thing is we still have the older kittens (now about 5 months) who still are very affectionate towards their mother, what is going to happen when she has this next lot? Will the older kittens attack the new ones? We will be getting her neutered after this lot even if we recieve many scratches and bites! We don't want to loose her or the young cats as they have become fabulous pets and the progression she has made has been stunning. Does anyone think this next birth could be problematic? If so advice would be most appreciated, she is due in about a week!!
Thanks
Anna.