Feral Kittens - Mother Left 1 of 6 on porch

[strange_wings]

Mother doesn't sound feral, just very skittish. What have you been feeding her? If no canned food, take a can out and open it right in front of her. If she used to have a home and had can food before she'll get excited and maybe even come to you. Another thing you can try is bits of meat.

Do you have somewhere you can keep all of the kittens if you can catch them? A bathroom or spare room? The easier to clean the better. If they're just in the skittish category you'll still want to have them separated into a room that makes it easy to socialize with them.

 

[bhnj]

I was putting out cat food last night & one of the kittens started eating. I reached down, caught it & brought it into the house. Big mistake....I got a few scratches. Now it's hiding under the couch & when I try to get it to come out it runs. I really wish I had used the Hav-A-Hart trap because then I could have transferred the kitten from the trap to a dog crate. Any ideas how to catch it now? It finds all kinds of places to go where my daughter & I can't reach.

 

[strange_wings]

Do you have any regular carriers? If so use that and the trap. Cover them both with large towels or blankets. Make them look nice and inviting - and dark. Shoo kitten out of it's hiding place and towards the carrier and/or trap. Hopefully it will run inside in an attempt to get away from you.

Then leave the kitten alone for a while. It will be really riled up and should not be handled until it can calm down.

You're very lucky you haven't been bitten.

 

[ldg]

Ah, you learned "the kitten windmill" the hard way. So did we. It's something we never tried again.

I'm really glad you didn't get bitten! But DO treat those scratches!

My advice is the same as Strange Wings.

Good luck!

 

[strange_wings]

Another thing I forgot to add. Towels or a stretched out and held up blanket (with the help of another person) can be used to guide the kitten - the same method is used to herd various animals into pens.

Much safer than getting your hands down there.

 

[bhnj]

The kitten is loudly meowing @ 4:00 am. It's not settling down. My husband thinks we should let it back outside. I'm afraid it's going to bite one of us or one of our cats. Our 1st floor is a very open design & we can't get the kitten contained. The orange kitten I trapped is hissing at the other kitten when it comes near her.

 

[ldg]

What about putting food in the crate or trap near kitty?

 

[bhnj]

There is some improvement......this morning when I got up the kitten was lying on top of the crate that I have the orange kitten in. I have an old comforter draped over part of the crate. The gray kitten's meowing has decreased somewhat.

 

[minouloveblue]

Oh good. I hope the poor dear settles down. Does it hiss?

 

[bhnj]

He/she was hissing quite often the 1st day. It's lessened somewhat.

What a difference from the 1st kitten I trapped from this litter. She is already licking my hand and looking for attention. A very sweet orange tabby.

 

[strange_wings]

I've had several hissy feral kittens, including my last bunch. They all come around with time.

 

[bhnj]

I'm dealing with an elderly mother with dementia who lives in Canada. I'm spending about 4 hours a day on calls & e-mails back & forth to family doctor, gerontologist, senior day program, a service to help seniors, nursing homes, several neighbors, etc.

I have to go up to Canada for at least 4 days over Thanksgiving week. In order to place a relative in a "nursing home" a government agency assesses the person & then decides if they are at the stage where they need to be in a nursing home. A family can't just decide they are going to place a relative in a nursing home.

I would have to leave my 2 sons (21 and 23) to take care of the kittens & they are not overly responsible.

I just went into our family room & the gray kitten is on the top of the window frame of a window that is 8' tall & meowing. The mother cat & 4 remaining kittens are outside of this window under the bushes.

I'm not so sure this kitten is going to adapt to living inside.

I am going to try again to get the kitten "herded" into a dog crate.

 

[ldg]

Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry.

Sending vibes for you and your mom!

We can really help on the socialization procedure - but at 5 months old, it isn't normal for a kitty to settle in within a few days. In fact, as you have to leave during Thanksgiving week probably isn't such a bad thing... kitty really doesn't need much (at first) other than to get to the vet, be released into a contained room, and be provided for: food, water, clean litter box.

There are a lot of other things that can be done, but providing food at a regular time is really the first, most, important step in the process of socialization.

But it's really not reasonable to expect a kitty that has never been inside to understand he's in a new territory that isn't scary or threatening within just a few days.

 

[strange_wings]

Have your sons come over for a few days before you leave. Tell them just to calmly talk to the kittens, show them what all needs to be done. Right now they won't care if it's you or one of your sons, you're all big, bad, and scary.

And I'm certain that your kids have cell phones. You do, too, correct? Nag them via text message "Did you take care of the kittens? How are they?" etc every day.

 

[catbehaviors]

I hope everything works out with the kittens!

 

[minouloveblue]

Hang in there. You are doing a wonderful thing. Your mother is your obviously priority but I'm sure your sons will help. It's beautiful when feral kittens respond.

 

[bhnj]

It's been a few days since I posted.

The dark gray kitten is a bit more friendly. BUT....when she (I think) was running around (before I got her into the crate) she wasn't using the litter box. I had quite a mess to clean up. Her bowel movements are very "wet".

Any ideas as to why her bowel movements are formed but wet?

I moved the orange tabby kitten to my son's room last night. She is very calm & friendly & has settled in. This is her first time outside of a crate. She is hiding under the bed but comes out occasionally to check things out & to eat.

 

[strange_wings]

Since they were running around outside, it could be a number of things. I've found two things are common with every stray I take in: Parasites and an unsettled GI because of everything they've been eating and the parasites.

Deworm them for roundworms and tapeworms, get them tested for protozoa. Use some probiotics, like bene-bac, for a couple of weeks along with feeding a good food. If the full deworming (couple courses) and probiotics doesn't start to help talk to the vet about the food. Some cats have problems with a particular food and may need a different one. If you have to switch, do so slowly so as not to cause a full out case of diarrhea.

 

[minouloveblue]

I agree about the deworming. Two of my cats have problems digesting seafood canned food.

 

[bhnj]

The crate the gray kitten is in was really dirty & it only opens on 1 end. So to be sure the kitten didn't escape the crate, I transferred the gray kitten to another dog crate. When I came back into the room after cleaning the tray in the original crate, the kitten was gone. I never thought it could squeeze through the crate sides. It will takes hours to catch her again.

She's constantly meowing, the odor from her bowel movements is overtaking the F/R & I'm leaving on Sunday for Toronto for unknown # of days to deal with many issues regarding my mother who has dementia. I had planned to take her to the vet this afternoon who is only open 3 pm to 7 pm. This is a challenge.