Got a Mama Cat

notme1295

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There's a cat family who lives behind my apartment complex. I caught the Mama cat because she was guarding the kitten, who hissed and ran off like a bat out of hell. The kitten is probably 8-10 weeks old and IMPOSSIBLE thus far to catch. I am not sure what to do-- if I should take the mama in to the shelter so she can be spayed and hopefully put up for adoption to avoid more kitten-- or let her go and be out to protect her kitten.... There is the father cat out there too, also impossible thus far to catch.

Advice?
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by notme1295

There's a cat family who lives behind my apartment complex. I caught the Mama cat because she was guarding the kitten, who hissed and ran off like a bat out of hell. The kitten is probably 8-10 weeks old and IMPOSSIBLE thus far to catch. I am not sure what to do-- if I should take the mama in to the shelter so she can be spayed and hopefully put up for adoption to avoid more kitten-- or let her go and be out to protect her kitten.... There is the father cat out there too, also impossible thus far to catch.

Advice?
You should take mom to be spayed as retrapping her probably will be difficult. Try to trap the kitten so that it can be taken in.

Katie
 

beckiboo

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Originally Posted by TNR1

You should take mom to be spayed as retrapping her probably will be difficult. Try to trap the kitten so that it can be taken in.

Katie
I agree 100%. There is no kindness is letting her go now, to birth more babies who don't have much chance. Once she is spayed, if you let her go in the same area, she will most likely reunite with her kitten(s) and continue to protect them.

Keep trying to trap that baby. A day or two without Momma will make it more likely to come for food.

Best of luck!
 

hissy

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Unless you know for a fact that the kitten is on solid food, I suggest you turn the momcat loose to be with her kitten. If she is younger than you are estimating and still nursing you could be putting this kitten in great danger. Get the mom spayed quickly and just release her so she can continue to raise her kitten and protect her as well. The tomcat if he is in the area will be a threat to the kitten that without the mom in the picture is quite vulnerable to predators.
 
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notme1295

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Originally Posted by hissy

Unless you know for a fact that the kitten is on solid food, I suggest you turn the momcat loose to be with her kitten. If she is younger than you are estimating and still nursing you could be putting this kitten in great danger. Get the mom spayed quickly and just release her so she can continue to raise her kitten and protect her as well. The tomcat if he is in the area will be a threat to the kitten that without the mom in the picture is quite vulnerable to predators.
I have fed the cats and kitten. They are a "family" or a unit of some kind. They are always together. The kitten eats both moist and solid foods. He is not going to come easily and I have no experience trapping. I'll try to get him, and/or the father cat. There is also another stray in the area. I just can't see letting this female go to birth more kittens, knowing that she probably had others that didn't make it and their fate was worse than this last kittens' could be, and like more kittens' would be...
 

hissy

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Thank you for explaining more about the situation. You can rent kitten traps from either an animal shelter, or a feed store in your area, that would be the best way to trap the kitten. You want to use smelly bait- mackeral, sardines, etc. If momcat is using a litter pan, put some of the soiled litter in the trap to entice the kitten to come in. He will smell his mom.

Once the mom is spayed release her back in the area that she came from if you cannot find her an alternative home-

Good luck-
 

shiraz21

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Originally Posted by hissy

Thank you for explaining more about the situation. You can rent kitten traps from either an animal shelter, or a feed store in your area, that would be the best way to trap the kitten. You want to use smelly bait- mackeral, sardines, etc. If momcat is using a litter pan, put some of the soiled litter in the trap to entice the kitten to come in. He will smell his mom.

Once the mom is spayed release her back in the area that she came from if you cannot find her an alternative home-

Good luck-
Hissy, do you know EVERYTHING about cats??
I read these forums every day and you seem SO educated and a wonderful caregiver
, almost like you were meant to do this
Just an observation from a new mom/forum user... sorry it's off topic, haha.
 

semiferal

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Catching the kitten with your bare hands is very unwise. It is simply not safe for you to do so. The kitten will think you are a predator and you will end up with some very nasty bite and/or scratch wounds as a souvenir of the experience.

Borrow or buy a humane trap. They are very easy to operate and basically 100% safe for both of you.

Then you can get to work on taming the kitten. A 10 week old should socialize well (though it will take some work) and be a fine pet. Keeping Mom with him will facilitate the process (assuming Mom is friendly) since he will learn from her that humans are not scary.
 

stampit3d

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Originally Posted by Shiraz21

Hissy, do you know EVERYTHING about cats??
I read these forums every day and you seem SO educated and a wonderful caregiver
, almost like you were meant to do this
Just an observation from a new mom/forum user... sorry it's off topic, haha.
I too thinks she pretty much does know just about everything about cats. She always has such wise replys......me thinks perhaps that with her knowledge and given her name ..."HISSY" might very well actually be part cat herself....whatdaya`ll think???
Linda
 

muttigreemom

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Just a note about humane traps since you've never used one before...

Once the cat is trapped, watch your hands! We had two litters (1 year apart) under our shed in our backyard from a stray. We trapped all the kittens and had them spayed/shots/etc. The type of humane trap we used was mesh on the outside instead of solid (I know they make both), but we chose this one so the cats could see the food as well as smell it. While some ferals just get nervous and hide in a corner when trapped, some come out fighting and will climb the sides of the cage to get to your fingers... so if youre not careful when you pick up the trap, you'll have the same scars as if you caught the kitten with your bare hands
So... just a thought... gloves might be a good idea when you pick up the trap for the first time with the kitten in it or your hands may end up looking like mine


As for bait... I agree with Hissy that sardines and smelly fish work best, but if the kitten seems not to like fish (some of mine dont.... go figure
) we caught a lot of our ferals with hot dogs as bait.
 

lionessrampant

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Originally Posted by stampit3d

I too thinks she pretty much does know just about everything about cats. She always has such wise replys......me thinks perhaps that with her knowledge and given her name ..."HISSY" might very well actually be part cat herself....whatdaya`ll think???
Linda
It's entirely possible
 
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