I need some advice...
We had a cat living under our deck that we tried to TNR in late October. Instead of catching her, we caught 3 kittens that were apparently about a month old. We also discovered that there was a 4th kitten, which the mom cat took and moved elsewhere in the neighborhood. Mom still comes around every now and then. We keep food and water out for her. We also have an outdooor shelter for her if she ever wants it. She looks pregnant again too.
The 3 kittens have been living in a catio in our garage for 3 weeks. The catio is insulated and heated 24/7. They have also received their 8 week shots. Two are healthy and the 3rd has a limp paw and a damaged ear. We took him to the vet and his ear is recovering, but the paw injury is likely permanent. He is just as playful as the others, although a bit slower. Our vet estimates that they were born at the end of September.
Unfortunately we cannot bring them in our house due to severe allergies. However, they do get played with and held for at least an hour every day. They are not shy and seem to be adapting well.
We would like to release them, however we cannot get them all spayed/neutered until January. It seems inhumane to release them to the outdoors in January and are considering waiting until night time temperatures warmup to at least 50. However, this means them living in our garage for a few more months.
My underlying concern then is are they getting too comfortable inside the catio and will this inhibit their ability to survive outdoors when the time comes? Furthermore, is keeping them caged most of the day, for a few months, going to harm them? We wish we could bring them inside but it's just not feasible.
Any advice on how we should proceed would be much appreciated!
We had a cat living under our deck that we tried to TNR in late October. Instead of catching her, we caught 3 kittens that were apparently about a month old. We also discovered that there was a 4th kitten, which the mom cat took and moved elsewhere in the neighborhood. Mom still comes around every now and then. We keep food and water out for her. We also have an outdooor shelter for her if she ever wants it. She looks pregnant again too.
The 3 kittens have been living in a catio in our garage for 3 weeks. The catio is insulated and heated 24/7. They have also received their 8 week shots. Two are healthy and the 3rd has a limp paw and a damaged ear. We took him to the vet and his ear is recovering, but the paw injury is likely permanent. He is just as playful as the others, although a bit slower. Our vet estimates that they were born at the end of September.
Unfortunately we cannot bring them in our house due to severe allergies. However, they do get played with and held for at least an hour every day. They are not shy and seem to be adapting well.
We would like to release them, however we cannot get them all spayed/neutered until January. It seems inhumane to release them to the outdoors in January and are considering waiting until night time temperatures warmup to at least 50. However, this means them living in our garage for a few more months.
My underlying concern then is are they getting too comfortable inside the catio and will this inhibit their ability to survive outdoors when the time comes? Furthermore, is keeping them caged most of the day, for a few months, going to harm them? We wish we could bring them inside but it's just not feasible.
Any advice on how we should proceed would be much appreciated!