Hello, I had a situation with a stray or feral cat and her kittens today, and I am wondering if my family did the right thing. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
The story:
We have a very large dog (American Akita) and she found something underneath the tool shed. When we locked up our akita, we saw nothing underneath the tool shed (save for an old tire, some leaves, perfect dry spot for strays really...). When we scooped the tire out we saw a kitten inside! It's ears were folded in so it probably was less than a week old. We looked underneath the tool shed to see if there were any more, but saw nothing, so I scooped the kitten and put it in a warm towel. When we inspected underneath again (this time with a flashlight) we found 4 kittens, and the mother (they were a dark color, so it was very hard to see them). The mother didn't hiss or anything, but she didn't come. We called some people and rescues, but it was getting late and everything was closing, so no one could help us.
When we went back to see if we could coax the mother out, both the mother and one kitten were gone! We thought she took what she could and left, so we took the three other kittens, cleaned out the leaves (we're going to put wire underneath the shed to block off access because we've already found another cat (which we now own LOL) underneath there, and we don't want anymore strays getting any ideas) and bought some kitten milk for the four kittens so that we could care for them until we found someone who could do a better job.
Well, I was sitting with the kittens and we have these french doors open that go into the yard. So here I am reading on my cellphone about how to take care of neonatal kittens, and I see a cat come up as far as the door! But when she noticed me she ran away. We assumed this was the mother cat looking for her kittens, so we put the kittens outside by the french doors and waited. 20 minutes passed, nothing. I went to check on the kittens and there were still 4. Then 10 minutes passed, and when I went to check on the kittens, one was missing! I was sitting right by the doors the entire time! So I set up my camera to record and one by one the mother cat came and took her kittens away (if you're interested in seeing the video, I can upload!).
I'm wondering, did we do the right thing? the shelters in the area take only kittens, and because I saw the mom still looking, we decided maybe it was best to let her take them back.
The second question, the first cat I saw by the french doors (which gave us the idea to leave them outside) that ran away, was actually not the same cat that came and took the kittens. Do cats in a colony help each other out? Could this have been a scout or something, helping the mother cat? Or did this just happen to be another stray cat wandering around? Or was it the father?
Although the situation has passed, I would appreciate any feedback or comments! I love cats, and I would really like to gain more knowledge so that if something like this happens again, I can be better prepared!
Thanks for your time!
The story:
We have a very large dog (American Akita) and she found something underneath the tool shed. When we locked up our akita, we saw nothing underneath the tool shed (save for an old tire, some leaves, perfect dry spot for strays really...). When we scooped the tire out we saw a kitten inside! It's ears were folded in so it probably was less than a week old. We looked underneath the tool shed to see if there were any more, but saw nothing, so I scooped the kitten and put it in a warm towel. When we inspected underneath again (this time with a flashlight) we found 4 kittens, and the mother (they were a dark color, so it was very hard to see them). The mother didn't hiss or anything, but she didn't come. We called some people and rescues, but it was getting late and everything was closing, so no one could help us.
When we went back to see if we could coax the mother out, both the mother and one kitten were gone! We thought she took what she could and left, so we took the three other kittens, cleaned out the leaves (we're going to put wire underneath the shed to block off access because we've already found another cat (which we now own LOL) underneath there, and we don't want anymore strays getting any ideas) and bought some kitten milk for the four kittens so that we could care for them until we found someone who could do a better job.
Well, I was sitting with the kittens and we have these french doors open that go into the yard. So here I am reading on my cellphone about how to take care of neonatal kittens, and I see a cat come up as far as the door! But when she noticed me she ran away. We assumed this was the mother cat looking for her kittens, so we put the kittens outside by the french doors and waited. 20 minutes passed, nothing. I went to check on the kittens and there were still 4. Then 10 minutes passed, and when I went to check on the kittens, one was missing! I was sitting right by the doors the entire time! So I set up my camera to record and one by one the mother cat came and took her kittens away (if you're interested in seeing the video, I can upload!).
I'm wondering, did we do the right thing? the shelters in the area take only kittens, and because I saw the mom still looking, we decided maybe it was best to let her take them back.
The second question, the first cat I saw by the french doors (which gave us the idea to leave them outside) that ran away, was actually not the same cat that came and took the kittens. Do cats in a colony help each other out? Could this have been a scout or something, helping the mother cat? Or did this just happen to be another stray cat wandering around? Or was it the father?
Although the situation has passed, I would appreciate any feedback or comments! I love cats, and I would really like to gain more knowledge so that if something like this happens again, I can be better prepared!
Thanks for your time!