Momma cat and two babies in the crawl space under my house.

[fefelamay]

I have been feeding a feral cat for about a month now. She has been in and out of the crawl space under my house. Today when she came to eat she had two babies with her. They look to be about seven or eight weeks old. They ate the cat food and some boiled chicken, so I guess they are at least partially weaned. They are all very skittish, but did eat when I was sitting about ten feet away from them on a blanket in the grass. If I made the slightest move they ran back into the crawl space and would peek out . I would like to socialize them. I'm afraid that if I try to trap the kittens I will lose whatever trust I have gained with the mom. However another cat rescuer told me that I will never be able to socialize the kittens if there is a feral mom around. The kittens are getting close to the "window" where it will be too late to socialize them. I don't know what to do. I purchased a kitty tube and some of those microwaveable heating discs, but I'm still worried about the approaching cold weather.
Any advice would be appreciated. The mom looks pretty young herself, they are all so cute. :-)

 

[Norachan]

Hi, welcome to The Cat Site.

Thank you for trying to help this cat and her babies. The best thing to do would be to trap the mother and the kittens. That way you can socialize the kittens and get the mother spayed so as she doesn't have any more. Cats can have two litters a year, so if you don't get her fixed you'll soon have more kittens than you can handle living under your house.

The mother is already bringing her kittens to you to be fed, so that is going to make things a lot easier. Are there any groups that do TNR in your area? They might be able to lend you a trap and help you with the trapping. If not you can buy a humane trap quite reasonably. Set the trap up in the place you usually feed them but wire it open for now. Once the mother and kittens are comfortable going in there you can set it. 

You can get the mother spayed straight away. Explain to your vet that you are bringing a feral cat in and take her there in the trap. I weigh my trap so that when I get feral cats to the vet they can weigh the trap with the cat in and work out how much sedative to give them without needing to take them out of the trap.

The mother may be a stray rather than a true feral, in that case it might be possible to socialize and rehome her too.

The earlier you can get these cats used to humans the better, but it's never too late. My avatar cat was feral for at least ten years before I met him, now he's a big old teddy bear who lets me pick him up and give him hugs.

Keep us posted, let us know if you need any help.

 

[fefelamay]

Thanks for your quick response. The Mom is defiantly feral and not a stray. She is pretty small herself. She looks to be about a year to two years old. I noticed when I saw them yesterday that the mom and one baby will eat together while the other kitten lagged behind. How can I make sure that I trap all three. And if I do get them all do I bring them all to the vet right away and let the folks at the vet get them out of the trap? Also about two weeks ago I heard her screaming and "fighting" under my house, what if she is already pregnant again?

 

[shadowsrescue]

Thank you for caring for this feral Mom and her babies.  She does need to be trapped right away and also her kittens.  You will need more than one trap and you may not get them on the same day.  First I would call around and find a vet who will take ferals.  There are often low cost spay/neuter clinics that are familiar with working with ferals.  The one in my area doesn't require an appointment for ferals.  They just have to be in a trap.  You bring them in the morning, they do the spay/neuter and you pick them up that night.  It is also required they receive a rabies shot.  Ear tips are important too since they are feral and if they move elsewhere, it will let people know they have been spayed/neutered.  Once the surgery is done, you will need to keep them in a safe place for a day or two.  They will stay in the trap.  Depending on your location it can be a garage or basement.  Yet it needs to be dry and above 50 degrees. 

Once trapped, do not remove them from the trap.  Cover the trap with a sheet or towel as this will help calm them down.  Make sure your vet or clinic will take them right away. 

Here is a link to Alley Cat Allies on trapping and TNR

http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=555

Ask lots of questions as we are here to help.

 

[Norachan]

You don't need to trap all three at the same time. If you get a kitten first keep it indoors while you trap the second kitten and the mother. If you trap the mother first the kittens will stay put until she gets back. If you keep feeding them in the trap it will be easy enough to get them too. You can actually use a kitten as bait to trap the mother. You put the kitten in a carrier with the door shut, put the door of the carrier up against the back of the trap and cover the trap and carrier with cardboard and blankets so that she has to go into the trap to retrieve the kitten.

If you are planning to socialize the kittens you'll need to set up a room with a bed, litter box, food and water for them. A small room such as a bathroom works fine. It's much easier to get them used to human contact and they'll feel much safer in a smaller space. The mother will need to be kept indoors for a few days while she recovers from being spayed, so this kitten room could be her recovery room too.

She could already be on heat if her kittens are around 8 weeks old. You can get her spayed when she is on heat or even after mating. If she is on heat already it's best to get her trapped and spayed as soon as possible. Cats can be spayed even if they are pregnant, but of course no one likes the idea of doing that.