A few months ago, I found a bunch of kittens hanging out at my daughter's school in the drainage sewer. Mom was there. I spent a good month feeding them, attempting to catch them. I was in communication with our local feral cat resource to help me and to figure out what to do with them after I caught them. The humane society was notified initially but wouldn't touch her. They were notified again later, as the school insisted that they were a danger to the school and needed to be removed. The humane society trapped mom and the 2 remaining kittens (there were initially 6 kittens, I'm not sure if they were trapped by the humane society previously or didn't make it for other reasons). Anyways, I had contacted the humane society and they agreed to release mom and kittens to me so I could transfer them to a farm I had found for them to be relocated to. Unfortunately, the kittens were not big enough to be fixed, so they didn't touch them. I have been fostering them for a month and they are scheduled to be fixed tomorrow, mom included. They could have gone sooner, but this is my first rodeo and I am not good at catching them. I finally have my hands on some traps, so I am confident about my chances tonight.
Here's the issue. I fixed up my unfinished bathroom in the basement for them. Thought I had it all figured out, but I didn't expect (as I said, my first rodeo) their cleverness in hiding. Mom scaled the framing and hangs out in the ceiling above my finished office. Kittens have navigated to the sump pump, and when they are really trying to get away in the drainage pipe in the sump pump. They are all able to get in and out of where they are, so I'm not worried about it, it has just made the catching of them more difficult. I am fairly certain mom is pregnant again, and is very close to delivering. So, successful trap attempt tonight and she will be at the vet to make sure and see if my calculations are correct.
Plan for now is if all 3 can be fixed, then off to the farm after a short recovery period at my house. If mom can't be, the kittens will go off to the farm so that they have time to grow their winter coats. If mom is too pregnant, I will foster her and the kittens until they can be safely removed from her and socialized.
I am very leary about letting her back out in the room. We basically "drywalled" the majority of the room in cardboard but we didn't go all the way up to the ceiling (rookie mistake). So, while she is gone, I could attempt to secure the room better, but I am not at all confident in my ability to secure the room enough so that she stays out of the places I don't want her to to and has the kittens not in my ceiling or sump pump. I am really thinking that I need to keep her in a cage/kennel for the rest of the time she is with me. Would it be an okay environment to have 2 wire kennels pushed together so that she can move freely between the 2, with bedding in one side and food and litter in the other? Then I can close her off and remove the other cage to change the food and litter? Or is that going to be too stressful of an environment for her to have the kittens? I am worried if she is too stressed, she will harm them or herself in the process. She is not really aggressive with me, but will hiss at me regularly and swat if I am too close to her. I am not sure the best way to help her through this. I will be talking with my local feral cat expert, but I am just looking for additional advice
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
Here's the issue. I fixed up my unfinished bathroom in the basement for them. Thought I had it all figured out, but I didn't expect (as I said, my first rodeo) their cleverness in hiding. Mom scaled the framing and hangs out in the ceiling above my finished office. Kittens have navigated to the sump pump, and when they are really trying to get away in the drainage pipe in the sump pump. They are all able to get in and out of where they are, so I'm not worried about it, it has just made the catching of them more difficult. I am fairly certain mom is pregnant again, and is very close to delivering. So, successful trap attempt tonight and she will be at the vet to make sure and see if my calculations are correct.
Plan for now is if all 3 can be fixed, then off to the farm after a short recovery period at my house. If mom can't be, the kittens will go off to the farm so that they have time to grow their winter coats. If mom is too pregnant, I will foster her and the kittens until they can be safely removed from her and socialized.
I am very leary about letting her back out in the room. We basically "drywalled" the majority of the room in cardboard but we didn't go all the way up to the ceiling (rookie mistake). So, while she is gone, I could attempt to secure the room better, but I am not at all confident in my ability to secure the room enough so that she stays out of the places I don't want her to to and has the kittens not in my ceiling or sump pump. I am really thinking that I need to keep her in a cage/kennel for the rest of the time she is with me. Would it be an okay environment to have 2 wire kennels pushed together so that she can move freely between the 2, with bedding in one side and food and litter in the other? Then I can close her off and remove the other cage to change the food and litter? Or is that going to be too stressful of an environment for her to have the kittens? I am worried if she is too stressed, she will harm them or herself in the process. She is not really aggressive with me, but will hiss at me regularly and swat if I am too close to her. I am not sure the best way to help her through this. I will be talking with my local feral cat expert, but I am just looking for additional advice
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
