Reuniting Feral Cat With Mother And Siblings

[alexmartell]

I drove to work this morning and found there was a kitten hiding up in my wheel well. I left food and and was going to get a have a heart trap when I realized it was in yet another car up under the hood. (can't make this stuff up) Long story short, I caught it and it is definitely feral (hissing and meowing). Can I try to bring the kitten back and reunite it with siblings and mother? I am not sure how close I would have to be to the group of cats before it is safe to let this one go with them. Will they accept him/her? I brought it inside wearing plastic gloves and it is very scared and doesn't seem to want to be a domestic cat. I'm afraid if I bring it back "home" it will end up inside my car again since it seems to really like them. Please help

 

[Kieka]

It kinda depends on too many factors to know one way or another.

Many mom cats will accept back their kittens if separated, especially if the kittens are younger. However, knowing that a specific cat is "mom" and not just a cat who happens to be in the area is hard. It could be that the litter was moving from spot a to spot b so the Mom cat might have moved from the area entirely and accepted the kitten as taken by predators. She could come back looking for the kitten.

Given the mobility to get in the wheel well and under the hood, my guess would be the kitten is at least 5 weeks old. So old enough to be homed or taken in if you are so inclined. If the kitten is older it may have already left Mom or Mom could have been killed herself and it is on its own.

While hissy isn't fun, it doesn't mean the kitten wouldn't be better off in a home. Most feral kittens are a little hissy but "kisses for hisses" will eventually win them over. My girl was nearly four months old and hissed at me quiet a few times (well once she had energy, poor thing was half starved at first). She now refuses to let me sit anywhere without crawling into my lap and promptly falling asleep. If I am not sitting she is right on my heels, following me around the house and waiting for me to sit. My advice would be to see if any rescues in your area will take in the kitten, if you absolutely can't keep it see if you can get it spayed/neutered before releasing it at the very least so it doesn't produce more kittens.

 

[surya]

I agree it is better not to release a kitten that young, not knowing if it will be able to find it's family again. Can you post a picture of it, so we can guess at it's age? What kind of food are you feeding it?

 

[kittypa]

If you can, fix a room in your house for it. Then spend as much time as possible in the room with it. We had a feral kitten get in the engine compartment of my wife’s car. It was about 6 weeks old. It took 4 days before she would eat while we were in the room with her. It was 10 days before we could pet her. It takes time for them to come around. The first two days and nights she was very upset and had me wanting to release her back to her mama. I’m glad I stuck it out. She is much better off now.

 

[msaimee]

A kitten that young can be easily socialized within a few weeks or less. She would have a much healthier and happier life indoors. The kitty may cry for its mom and be frightened for a while, but that will pass. If you release the kitten outside, she might get inside someone else's wheel or hood and that person may not notice and drive off and the kitten could get injured or killed. In a few months the cat family will separate anyway. Female cats can start going into heat and get pregnant at 4 months old, mom will get pregnant again, and Tom's become sexually active at 5-6 months. You have a small window of opportunity to rescue one or more of these cats. It would be great to get the mom trapped and spayed so there won't be more kittens, if that would be something you could manage. Thanks for wanting to help this kitten.