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- Oct 8, 2020
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I'm fostering a feral mama that I trapped from my neighborhood colony. I trapped her about a week ago while she was still pregnant and she had four kittens two days after I brought her in. Her babies are doing great, no obvious health concerns and all are gaining weight steadily. Mama is doing an awesome job caring for them even though I know the poor thing is stressed to be in a strange place.
Last night, I heard a kitten crying outside my house and I was able to catch the little guy. He is from the same feral colony and is about 5-6 weeks old. I am an experienced foster and have successfully fostered and socialized feral kittens so I know how to care for him. My question is whether I should try to put this new little guy in with the mama cat and see if she will help care for him and comfort him. I know I would still need to work with him frequently to socialize him so not planning to just stick him in there and leave him. Obviously if mama were to show aggression toward him it wouldn't work, but she has heard him crying and looks very concerned. My worry is that the older kitten might harm the newborns by introducing a parasite or virus, but they came from the same colony so I'm not sure if that is a valid concern. So what do you all suggest? Try putting the older kitten with mama to see if she will accept him or just keep them separate?
More info for those who care to know. The cats in my neighborhood colony are not super aggressive. I trapped a litter of four a few months ago and they were very scared in the beginning but not hissing, spitting, or swatting. They were already about 8 weeks old when I trapped them but ended up being very easy to socialize. Mama kitty and this new kitten are the same - scared but not aggressive. Mama will sometimes hiss or growl softly but most of the time she quietly lets me do my thing when I am taking care of the food, water, litter, weighing kittens, etc. twice a day. Mama and the new kitten are in the same room - my bedroom - because my foster room is occupied with another litter right now and this is the only other place I can keep them separate from my own pets. Mama and her tiny ones are in a large dog kennel that I keep covered except for the two times a day I check on them, and I have a camera in the kennel so I can check on them from my phone whenever I want. I'm not attempting to socialize mama. I will get her spayed and release her back outside once the kittens are weaned and then I will continue to foster and socialize the babies.
The new kitten stayed in a carrier overnight and this morning I set up a little enclosed space for him on the opposite side of the room from mama. I've never had a little singleton feral kitten before and it hurts my heart that the poor baby doesn't even have siblings with him to provide some comfort while he is so scared. Finally, yes, I am trying to do TNR for the whole colony so they will stop having kittens!
Last night, I heard a kitten crying outside my house and I was able to catch the little guy. He is from the same feral colony and is about 5-6 weeks old. I am an experienced foster and have successfully fostered and socialized feral kittens so I know how to care for him. My question is whether I should try to put this new little guy in with the mama cat and see if she will help care for him and comfort him. I know I would still need to work with him frequently to socialize him so not planning to just stick him in there and leave him. Obviously if mama were to show aggression toward him it wouldn't work, but she has heard him crying and looks very concerned. My worry is that the older kitten might harm the newborns by introducing a parasite or virus, but they came from the same colony so I'm not sure if that is a valid concern. So what do you all suggest? Try putting the older kitten with mama to see if she will accept him or just keep them separate?
More info for those who care to know. The cats in my neighborhood colony are not super aggressive. I trapped a litter of four a few months ago and they were very scared in the beginning but not hissing, spitting, or swatting. They were already about 8 weeks old when I trapped them but ended up being very easy to socialize. Mama kitty and this new kitten are the same - scared but not aggressive. Mama will sometimes hiss or growl softly but most of the time she quietly lets me do my thing when I am taking care of the food, water, litter, weighing kittens, etc. twice a day. Mama and the new kitten are in the same room - my bedroom - because my foster room is occupied with another litter right now and this is the only other place I can keep them separate from my own pets. Mama and her tiny ones are in a large dog kennel that I keep covered except for the two times a day I check on them, and I have a camera in the kennel so I can check on them from my phone whenever I want. I'm not attempting to socialize mama. I will get her spayed and release her back outside once the kittens are weaned and then I will continue to foster and socialize the babies.
The new kitten stayed in a carrier overnight and this morning I set up a little enclosed space for him on the opposite side of the room from mama. I've never had a little singleton feral kitten before and it hurts my heart that the poor baby doesn't even have siblings with him to provide some comfort while he is so scared. Finally, yes, I am trying to do TNR for the whole colony so they will stop having kittens!
