We bought a house and found that there were a lot of cats roaming the neighborhood. In the 3 years we've been here we have brought in two adult males and kept them. Each of those are long stories for another thread
In November one of the cats we see a lot started coming onto our porch with kittens. We are a bit upset with ourselves because we assumed she was spayed. She's not very fearful of humans- she behaves like a pet cat and so we assumed we had nothing to worry about. There was another cat who looked very much like her but with darker points and a thicker body- a himalayan type so we figured some neighbor had two cats (either a mother and daughter or siblings) that they let outside. We also saw a manx roaming around. We assumed someone local just had a few purebred cats and let them outside. In our area- culturally people feel it is right to let cats have time outside and we cannot change public perception overnight. Yet again we assumed they were being taken care of. They looked very healthy and though none come up for leg rubs they do approach and will hang out nearby lounging as I garden. Ttwo of the three will come up close for food or sit 10 feet away and watch what I'm doing and listen to me talking about tomato plants.
But we were wrong. I think none of the cats are fixed. Luckily the smaller female brought the kittens around us and it took us about 5 days of standing outside with food to get them to come closer. We trapped the kittens just using carriers and food and contacted the no kill shelter that we volunteer with. They agreed to take the kittens if they were tame. So we tamed them down. They had fecals, deworming and their vaccine series. They are recovering from spay surgeries (all 3 were females so very glad we got them off the street!) and getting ready to go to the shelter this weekend or early next week.
I had to order a trap for the mother of the kittens though and it came in today. We've already arranged things with a local mobile vet that we've been using for the kittens (and also our 4 resident cats) so we could do TNR on the kitten's mother but she hasn't come around in the last week or two. We have seen the other female who usually comes around very rarely. She looks very heavily pregnant.
I plan to trap her today or tomorrow whenever I can get her. I'm a little worried because we were really planning to get the mother of the kittens and just do a simple TnR (hold her her until she recovered from surgery) but now the priority has shifted to getting this other heavy female before she has kittens outside in some unknown location. I spoke to the vet and she might not be willing to spay/ abort if the cat is very far along. Even at our shelter we volunteer at they will do spay aborts until a cat is very close to delivery but at a certain point they won't do it. I understand some places will do it no matter how far along they are- but the mobile vet we work with is one we trust and respect and even I am having icky emotions about terminating kittens that are pretty much ready to be born.
So now, I'm setting up for the possibility of housing the mother and a litter until they are weaned. The female is not a true feral but she is shy and does not come as close to us as the one we were planning to trap next (we will still trap that one as well when she comes by again). So for the third time I'm a bit anxious about having to keep a nervous cat in an albeit nice enclosure. I do work at the shelter and am used to handling cats but as far as the outdoor community cats I'm always very cautious and don't try to push boundaries with them for their sake and mine.
Growing up my parents had cats and we did get litters. So I do have experience with all the aspects- bottle feeding, kittens that are nursing but die, kitten illnesses etc. Most experiences were fine with the mother cat doing all the work but the hard ones were emotionally hard and leave me anxious. It's just been too long because for the last 25-30 years we have only dealt with our own pets who we make sure are spayed/ neutered and we see our vets so frequently that we can call at anytime just to ask questions. Of course the mobile vet is very very responsive and a true blessing...still I am anxious about having a new cat from outside coming in and maintaining her through her delivery and since I know about fading kitten syndrome and FiV- I'm just wary. Sure I took in two male cats since I've moved in this house and took in 3 kittens but those were all under different circumstances- one male was deathly ill, one was a friendly abandon and the kittens - were kittens so were naturally curious and easy to tame.
In November one of the cats we see a lot started coming onto our porch with kittens. We are a bit upset with ourselves because we assumed she was spayed. She's not very fearful of humans- she behaves like a pet cat and so we assumed we had nothing to worry about. There was another cat who looked very much like her but with darker points and a thicker body- a himalayan type so we figured some neighbor had two cats (either a mother and daughter or siblings) that they let outside. We also saw a manx roaming around. We assumed someone local just had a few purebred cats and let them outside. In our area- culturally people feel it is right to let cats have time outside and we cannot change public perception overnight. Yet again we assumed they were being taken care of. They looked very healthy and though none come up for leg rubs they do approach and will hang out nearby lounging as I garden. Ttwo of the three will come up close for food or sit 10 feet away and watch what I'm doing and listen to me talking about tomato plants.
But we were wrong. I think none of the cats are fixed. Luckily the smaller female brought the kittens around us and it took us about 5 days of standing outside with food to get them to come closer. We trapped the kittens just using carriers and food and contacted the no kill shelter that we volunteer with. They agreed to take the kittens if they were tame. So we tamed them down. They had fecals, deworming and their vaccine series. They are recovering from spay surgeries (all 3 were females so very glad we got them off the street!) and getting ready to go to the shelter this weekend or early next week.
I had to order a trap for the mother of the kittens though and it came in today. We've already arranged things with a local mobile vet that we've been using for the kittens (and also our 4 resident cats) so we could do TNR on the kitten's mother but she hasn't come around in the last week or two. We have seen the other female who usually comes around very rarely. She looks very heavily pregnant.
I plan to trap her today or tomorrow whenever I can get her. I'm a little worried because we were really planning to get the mother of the kittens and just do a simple TnR (hold her her until she recovered from surgery) but now the priority has shifted to getting this other heavy female before she has kittens outside in some unknown location. I spoke to the vet and she might not be willing to spay/ abort if the cat is very far along. Even at our shelter we volunteer at they will do spay aborts until a cat is very close to delivery but at a certain point they won't do it. I understand some places will do it no matter how far along they are- but the mobile vet we work with is one we trust and respect and even I am having icky emotions about terminating kittens that are pretty much ready to be born.
So now, I'm setting up for the possibility of housing the mother and a litter until they are weaned. The female is not a true feral but she is shy and does not come as close to us as the one we were planning to trap next (we will still trap that one as well when she comes by again). So for the third time I'm a bit anxious about having to keep a nervous cat in an albeit nice enclosure. I do work at the shelter and am used to handling cats but as far as the outdoor community cats I'm always very cautious and don't try to push boundaries with them for their sake and mine.
Growing up my parents had cats and we did get litters. So I do have experience with all the aspects- bottle feeding, kittens that are nursing but die, kitten illnesses etc. Most experiences were fine with the mother cat doing all the work but the hard ones were emotionally hard and leave me anxious. It's just been too long because for the last 25-30 years we have only dealt with our own pets who we make sure are spayed/ neutered and we see our vets so frequently that we can call at anytime just to ask questions. Of course the mobile vet is very very responsive and a true blessing...still I am anxious about having a new cat from outside coming in and maintaining her through her delivery and since I know about fading kitten syndrome and FiV- I'm just wary. Sure I took in two male cats since I've moved in this house and took in 3 kittens but those were all under different circumstances- one male was deathly ill, one was a friendly abandon and the kittens - were kittens so were naturally curious and easy to tame.
