Our "little Yellow" Very Young Mother Cat

[George T]

Hi Sarthur2, (I noted your in Fla. We are too-- in Lady Lake, close to the villages, but in the country.)

I was considering a rescue by surrounding the burrow site with chicken wire to enable me to carefully take a close look inside the burrow, and not have the babies able to get away should they become startled by my presence. That would buy me the time to hopefully rescue the three.
My reason for putting Little Yellow in the garage would give me a chance to get the babies to her in a reasonable length of time.

Then I noted your comment about not putting Little Yellow in the garage without her babies. And I've taken a step back in my thinking as I'm sure you have a LOT more experience about rescuing than I do.

It's a bit of a trip to get to Little Yellow's feeding area on our porch from the burrow (about 150 feet). Is it likely she will bring them to her feeding area if we wait out the added time before that happens? And how much longer do you think it will be when Little Yellow brings them out? Currently they are three weeks and three days from their birth. We are very concerned about all the dangers that exist as long as they are in the burrow.

Please give us some more of you thoughts on this situation.
Thank You,
George & Sheila

 

[Sarthur2]

Mama will probably bring the babies out between 4-5 weeks of age. That is when they will have baby teeth and be ready to try food.

So my best guess is in the next 5-10 days you will see one or more kittens with her.

Once you have mama and kittens, do search the brush pile for any remaining kittens.

 

[George T]

Thanks for all your advice. As things play out I'll keep you posted.
Regards,
George & Sheila

 

[Sarthur2]

Just keep an eye out everyday!

 

[tinydestroyer]

I'm certainy not as experienced at cat rescue as others in this thread, but I did rescue my kitty, Lucy, at about 4-5 weeks from under my house. She was abandoned by the momma cat, under the crawl space, and mewing for her mom's return. It took me the better part of 5 hours to get her out, because she was in a difficult location to access, and was very skittish, so I might have some tips for that part of the rescue.
Patience is key. I went outside because I kept hearing mewing, but I didn't see a cat anywhere in my yard or garden. I thought I heard rustling under the house, but it was hard for me to even be sure, so I had to be really patient, and still, and rely on the sound of her hungrily mewing to guide me to her.
Once I knew she was under there, I had to assess the potential exits and entrances for a cat (and myself,) and get dressed and prepared to go into the gross crawl space of my rental property. I took a roll of chicken wire like fencing, and wrapped it in a semi-circle around the other potential exit, hoping that even if it didn't offer complete containment, it might slow the kitten down. So long as it doesn't slow you down, as well, if they make it past the makeshift fence.
It seems you've already done a lot of assessment about the burrow and surrounding area, which is great. Even though you won't be going all the way in there after the kittens, like I did, I highly reccomend you dress in long sleeves, pants, and gloves, so that you can be protected both from the yard debris and the kittens' razor-sharp claws. A towel is also helpful to immediately wrap them so that they don't squirm and scratch away.
Having said all that about their claws, and closing off their escapes: at 4 weeks, they aren't nearly as quick as their mom is, especially in new territory. If you can sight them, and get close, then hopefully you can catch them. My cat, Lucy, was headed for the crawl space exit when I suddenly mewed at her, mimicing her own mewing, and it stopped her dead in her tracks long enough for me to scoop her before she exited. Even if that mewing hadn't worked, though, and with me almost at a complete crawl, I probably could have caught her. She was pretty malnourished, so that could have played a role, and seeing her development over the next week or so, I can say for sure that I couldn't have caught her as easily at 5 or 6 weeks. It wouldn't have been impossible, but my size advantage over her waned steadily as she became more sure-footed.The first week I had her, for example, she stayed penned in an extra large cardboard box in my sun room, but just one week later, she could easily climb out of the box, so their age is a big factor.
Nothing I'm saying is all that insightful to someone with multiple cats, I'm sure, but I thought I'd throw my experience in there just in case it helps! Good luck, and keep us posted on Little Yellow and her kittens.

 

[George T]

Thanks for all your advice. As things play out I'll keep you posted.
Regards,
George & Sheila

I am watching Little Yellow carefully at this point. She is starting to spend more time out at our patio where we feed her.
Yesterday while Sheila watched Little Yellow eating, Sheia told she was still eating. I was standing by the Burrow, so I started to carefully clear some twigs and the next thing I knew I was seeing one of her babies looking directly at me, but not moving. I backed off to not startle her. She was a beautiful baby and colored the same as her father. I've know for quite a while who her father was.

My next move will come on Friday. That's the day that Sheila and I will try to preform a rescue of Little Yellow and her offspring.
Please prey that our rescue will work out. I'm sure that Little Yellow will be in our control before I go to the burrow to see if I can collect her babies.
Please prey for our success ! Sheila and I will be devastated if we can't make this rescue happen.
In our life, Cats RULE. They are God's beautiful gift to loving animal lovers.

Stay tuned everyone

George and Sheila

 

[Sarthur2]

Good luck!

 

[George T]

Thinks Sarthur2,
You have been a big help guiding us in the right direction.

 

[George T]

And I will be checking the brush pile VERY carefully !!!!!

 

[Willowy]

If she's friendly, she'll teach her babies to be friendly too. They always seem to follow their mom's lead when it comes to friendliness to humans. So it shouldn't be hard to collect them once they start coming for food .

 

[George T]

Hi Willowy,
Thanks for the comment. That's helpful to know. And although Little Yellow was very spookey when she showed up, she now looks forward to my caresses when I go out to feed her
Regards,
George

 

[George T]

I'm certainy not as experienced at cat rescue as others in this thread, but I did rescue my kitty, Lucy, at about 4-5 weeks from under my house. She was abandoned by the momma cat, under the crawl space, and mewing for her mom's return. It took me the better part of 5 hours to get her out, because she was in a difficult location to access, and was very skittish, so I might have some tips for that part of the rescue.
Patience is key. I went outside because I kept hearing mewing, but I didn't see a cat anywhere in my yard or garden. I thought I heard rustling under the house, but it was hard for me to even be sure, so I had to be really patient, and still, and rely on the sound of her hungrily mewing to guide me to her.
Once I knew she was under there, I had to assess the potential exits and entrances for a cat (and myself,) and get dressed and prepared to go into the gross crawl space of my rental property. I took a roll of chicken wire like fencing, and wrapped it in a semi-circle around the other potential exit, hoping that even if it didn't offer complete containment, it might slow the kitten down. So long as it doesn't slow you down, as well, if they make it past the makeshift fence.
It seems you've already done a lot of assessment about the burrow and surrounding area, which is great. Even though you won't be going all the way in there after the kittens, like I did, I highly reccomend you dress in long sleeves, pants, and gloves, so that you can be protected both from the yard debris and the kittens' razor-sharp claws. A towel is also helpful to immediately wrap them so that they don't squirm and scratch away.
Having said all that about their claws, and closing off their escapes: at 4 weeks, they aren't nearly as quick as their mom is, especially in new territory. If you can sight them, and get close, then hopefully you can catch them. My cat, Lucy, was headed for the crawl space exit when I suddenly mewed at her, mimicing her own mewing, and it stopped her dead in her tracks long enough for me to scoop her before she exited. Even if that mewing hadn't worked, though, and with me almost at a complete crawl, I probably could have caught her. She was pretty malnourished, so that could have played a role, and seeing her development over the next week or so, I can say for sure that I couldn't have caught her as easily at 5 or 6 weeks. It wouldn't have been impossible, but my size advantage over her waned steadily as she became more sure-footed.The first week I had her, for example, she stayed penned in an extra large cardboard box in my sun room, but just one week later, she could easily climb out of the box, so their age is a big factor.
Nothing I'm saying is all that insightful to someone with multiple cats, I'm sure, but I thought I'd throw my experience in there just in case it helps! Good luck, and keep us posted on Little Yellow and her kittens.

 

[George T]

Hi tinydestroyer,
That's very helpful information for me. Wow, under the crawl space! I couldn't do that most likely, at my age of 79. But no problem to deal with the brush pile that I have to deal with. I know exactly where the burrow is. What I don't know is if it has a exit.
I did get a good look at one of her babies when he heard me cutting some limbs out of the way close to the burrow opening. And all of a sudden she was within probably three feet of me, just staring at me from the burrow exit point.
Thanks for your comments.
Regards,
George
I'll keep everyone posted

 

[George T]

To everyone following our Little Yellow adventure:

Little Yellow is bonding more with me every day. Today she made four trips to our feeding area before noon, to get more food and water. Keep in mind this feeding area is on our front porch. And it is located at least 300 or more feet from her burrow.

She is now in that pattern of kitten growth that is requiring a LOT of food and water for L Yellow to stay on top of the needs of her babies as they near the point of testing food on their own.
Then this afternoon I went out to the burrow to see how things looked. And I discovered that there is at LEAST two ways out of the burrow, as I found Little Yellow looking at me from another entrance/exit in her burrow. She did not seem startled, and just moved around some outside the entrance. Then came out completely and settled down a couple of feet from this new opening I had just found.
I did not attempt to approach her closely to give her love, as I do when she is at our feeding point. Reason being that she was so close to her burrow. I didn't want to frighten her.

At this point I'm thinking that maybe I should put Little Yellow in a cat carrier tomorrow morning, and then try to find all her babies and reunite them. Reason is simple. There is some really bad weather heading our way for Sunday, here in Central Florida.
I would LOVE to have Little Yellow and her kittens in our house, before the bad weather arrives on Sunday.
There are only two approaches to my way of thinking: Either do a rescue tomorrow or do nothing and hope their burrow is not damaged. Then wait until their mother brings one or more to our doorstep for help.
One thing that I'm sure of, Little Yellow fully understands where to come for the food and water she needs for her and her babies. But will she be able to guide one or more of her babies to our feeding area later, if I don't do a rescue?

Any suggestions about how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated!!!

Regards,
George&Sheila, Little Yellow and her babies

 

[Sarthur2]

I thought you were planning to try a rescue today.

 

[lacy2000]

Yes I think you need to get them out before the weather hits. Do what we planned, with the chicken wire fencing and be very careful dismantling the burrow. Wear thick gloves to avoid scratches and have the carrier ready.

 

[George T]

I thought you were planning to try a rescue today.

At the last minute this morning, I decided not to, worrying about unexpected problems cropping up. Or maybe because of my finding another exit/entrance that I had not found untli today.

 

[George T]

Yes I think you need to get them out before the weather hits. Do what we planned, with the chicken wire fencing and be very careful dismantling the burrow. Wear thick gloves to avoid scratches and have the carrier ready.

Yes I think you need to get them out before the weather hits. Do what we planned, with the chicken wire fencing and be very careful dismantling the burrow. Wear thick gloves to avoid scratches and have the carrier ready.

 

[George T]

Ok, we have the rescue all set for tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow when Little Yellow comes over to feed, when she is finished, I'm going to put her in a cat carrier and head to her burrow and try to carefully move slowly thru investigating the various routes in the burrows to be sure we get all her babies.
Then we can reunite them with Little Yellow in our home.
Prey for us that God guides us thru tomorrow's Yellow Kittys baby rescue's.
I'm preying for a good outcome!!
More tomorrow evening. And thanks for all your help giving me a guideline to follow tomorrow morning!

 

[Furballsmom]