How to catch stray & Kittens??

Hi! I am so glad that my beau found this site! I need some advice. I found a momma cat and 6 kittens living under my house. The kittens are, I would guess, about 2 months old. They, of course, are pretty scared, thought some are curious, of me. I think that mom is a stray, not feral. She will let me get pretty close to her, but not close enough to touch her yet. I have been feeding them, and have slowly moved the food around to where they are coming on to my porch to eat. My question is what do I do now, as far as catching them? I have one, indoor spayed female cat, who does not like sharing her home, so I cannot keep them. We do have a no kill shelter where I can take them, and since they are so young (and CUTE) I think they will be adopted quickly. Any suggestions would help!!

HP

Have you talked to the no-kill shelter about borrowing a trap?

Here's a link to instructions on trapping: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...threadid=11403

You can also use this link http://www.pets911.com/organizations/organizations.php to help find a trap you can rent or borrow. If you live in a rural area, even local vets may have one you can borrow.

The most important thing, right now, is not to spook them. I'd just keep my distance from mom, and continue to put out food and water regularly to keep them coming back for more.

We had a situation like that once - and four of our six cats are from that original litter we rescued.

Any more questions, feel free to ask away!

Thank you for caring for this family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laurie

I've had situations like this also. One thing to do is NEVER try to take the kittens or the mom until you have earned their trust. If you do it will prove disasterous for them. The kittens will scatter and the mother will either not trust you again or move the kittens. They are good at hiding and you may never find them. Watch the mother, does she take care of them well? Is she there often? How does she react when you get near them? It sounds as though you're doing good though. A little more time and you'll get the trust you need. The kittens will most likely trust you more quickly because you haven't harmed them and continue to be a unharmful presence. BUT, you must first capture the mother when you have her trust. If you don't, the results won't be pretty. Make sure to have help with you, does she trust your beau? Try putting a carrier close to where she is but not too close to where she will distrust you so she can check it out. If you're lucky you may catch them all inside. But don't get your hopes up, it's highly unlikely. If you continue to be patient you should have them all in due time. Please just remember that she will be weary of you, main reason being...you said she is more likely a stray and not feral. Which means she has distrust issues with humans. Maybe they were good to her and kicked her out when they left or a million other reasons. But they don't forget, so take it slow and don't push. I hope I helped you some. Mary

Just my thoughts... if we waited to earn the trust of the families before we trapped them, we'd have trapped about 140 less cats than we have. And we use the opposite theory - because mom will likely bolt, we try to trap the kittens first.

We used to wait until we were pretty sure the kittens were 12 weeks old before working on the trapping, but it's proven too difficult to adopt out the older kittens, so we'll trap them as young as 8 weeks.

In our experience, the moms let the kittens eat first. We've always managed to trap the kittens before the moms (knock wood). We always hope we trap the moms last, and we get them spayed and then release them. They do usually disappear - but at least we've got the kittens to foster (or someone to foster them), and mom has been spayed so she can't have any more litters.

Thanks for all the advice. I was really wondering if I should go for mom or the kittens first. I am a little worried that if the babies start to go missing, she might move the rest of them, but I hate the thought of leaving the kittens with out a mom. I guess I will just get who ever comes first. Usually, Mom comes with 2 or 3 kittens to eat then the other 3 or 4 kittens will come at the same time to eat. The shelters/animal control all have long waiting lists for the cat traps, but I have rigged my pet taxi to work, I am going to try to get them tonight. They usually come about 9:00pm. Mom is pretty accepting of me, she knows I bring the food. She will let me sit about 2-3 feet away from her and watch the kittens with her, but if I get closer to her, reach my hand out to her, or I go toward the kittens, she runs, and tells them to run and hide. She does seem to be a good mom. Wish me luck.
HP

Originally Posted by H.P.

Thanks for all the advice. I was really wondering if I should go for mom or the kittens first. I am a little worried that if the babies start to go missing, she might move the rest of them, but I hate the thought of leaving the kittens with out a mom. I guess I will just get who ever comes first. Usually, Mom comes with 2 or 3 kittens to eat then the other 3 or 4 kittens will come at the same time to eat. The shelters/animal control all have long waiting lists for the cat traps, but I have rigged my pet taxi to work, I am going to try to get them tonight. They usually come about 9:00pm. Mom is pretty accepting of me, she knows I bring the food. She will let me sit about 2-3 feet away from her and watch the kittens with her, but if I get closer to her, reach my hand out to her, or I go toward the kittens, she runs, and tells them to run and hide. She does seem to be a good mom. Wish me luck.
HP

Click to expand...

If possible....borrow several traps so that you can trap as many as you can. Don't worry if mom and a kitten or two kittens end up in one trap....once they have been taken to the vet and are sedated..they can be moved into individual trap.

I have to agree with LDG....the idea is to trap them when you can so that you can stop the breeding cycle for mom and try to socialize the kittens so they can be placed into homes.

Katie