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I need a little advice on feral cats

Posted: Sep 23, 2016

We've been taking care of a feral cat for 2 years. She finally trusts us enough that we can pet her. She surprised us with 4 kittens 9 weeks ago. They won't let us touch them yet, but they were getting closer to us, within inches, this past week. There are 4. My favorite is the deep dark gray runt. He/she is the only one we haven't been able to get near and is so timid. He/she wouldn't even play with the other kittens that much, just sit and watch.

This morning when we went out to feed them, they weren't there! None of them. But in the past 3 hours momma brought 3 of them back from across the street up a large bank. That's where she used to go every night after she had the kittens for about 3 weeks before she brought them here. She doesn't seem very anxious to bring the runt back. She is now napping with the 3 kittens. I'm ready to cry. :'( Hubby thinks something went after them in the middle of the night and that's why momma took them away.

How can we keep them safe? What would go after them in the middle of the night? I know one night before she decided to stay here, she came with a hole in the front of her neck the size of a half dollar and a limp. She healed quick though.

I'm really bummed. I don't know why she won't let us bring them all in the house. She comes in the house now, but only so far, then goes back out. Is she checking out the place for a winter home for her and the kittens (which would be crazy!)?

;

You don't say where you are, so it's hard to know - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
what might have gone after them in the night, but dogs are everywhere, so I'd head the list with a dog.

There may be something physically wrong with the runt, which is the reason it is the runt. A healthy kitten doesn't just sit and watch its littermates play. In that case, he may have been the slow one that was gotten by whatever chased them off, and if he wasn't, no, mama likely wouldn't be in any rush to bring him back. Animals are usually pretty practical about that kind of thing. Some mothers will even kick a sick kitten out of the nest.

More to the point, though, is the fact that these kittens are essentially feral. Your best bet at socializing them was to give them a lot of human contact starting at 3 to 4 weeks, as soon as they were out of the nest. You've pretty much missed most of the window at 9 to 10 weeks, so they are likely to just disappear into the feral population in the next few months. The only way to "keep them safe" would have been to have socialized them early and found homes for them.

My best advice to you is to trap Mom and get her spayed. That will cut down on the future heartbreak for all concerned.

It would have to be a night time predator - Truthhurts

[ In Reply To ..]
That's when she hid them.

We tried to find out where she had the babies when she came back one day "empty" and larger nipples. We couldn't find them. We are getting closer to them. The runt is gone. She hasn't made any effort to bring him back. I had a good cry over it.

I wish there was some way we could get them a safer place to stay. Right now they stay under a tarp that covers hubby steel pile. There's plenty of room for now but winter's coming. We have 2 sheds with open doors and a car tent that the front flaps are open. I can't believe she never went in one of those to stay. Another feral cat lived in the one shed for months years ago.

I don't know where to get traps and anyway, I wouldn't want momma to mistrust us again after taking 2 years for her to trust us. She's a tiny thing. Her paws aren't any larger than a quarter and she is only about 6 inches high. I have small hands and I can hold her head in my hand.

I'm wondering if it happened early this morning. We have a 3/4 underground house (roof level with ground in the back) and I heard footsteps on the metal roof around 3 a.m. We do have 2 young deer that must have lost their mother a couple months ago and a bear cub about 200 lb. hanging around. It did sound like hooves on the roof. Santa Claus?

Thanks for your advice. If I hear those footsteps tonight, I will be hobbling out with a flashlight. I'm really scared for them now.

Some advice - cat lover

[ In Reply To ..]
The animal shelter close to where I live loans out traps or you could buy a cheap one (15$ or so) at a hardware store. I dealt with ferals for awhile and I had a stray female like yours. Finally got her to trust me, I put her in the trap and she got out. I thought she'd never come back, but the next day she was there, fine. It took a few more days and I put her in the trap again, more securely this time and got her fixed, so no more kittens for her.

The last unfixed ferals around last year had a 2 litters of 4 each, but only 1 survived each time, 1 was too feral and ran away, the other 1 I kept. Since then, no more ferals around so thankfully no more kittens. I think there are some smaller predators around where I live anyway, skunks, possums, dogs running loose, other cats.

Anyway, she will still trust you if you get her fixed. She will be scared for a few days, but will be fine. Please get them all fixed if you can.

If you can't bring her inside - feralcatlady

[ In Reply To ..]
you can make igloos with storage boxes and straw (not hay)and put those under the tarps. You can also buy a couple Snuggle Safe discs that heat up in the microwave. They have a fleece cover but if you wrap them in towels and tuck them into the straw, they stay warm for hours.

I have a "feral" guy (was probably someone's dumped cat) that we allow into our bathroom. Since we already have a cat (who was also a dump) who wants to kill all other cats, we allow "Smokey" to come in through the bathroom window. He has a bed, box, toys, etc in the bathroom and spent the recent heatwave in there. He'll have an igloo outside for day time use.

Try contacting rescues in your area to see if they can help out, too. Good for you for taking care of these little ones.

Feral cats. - Had a friend who looked after some. sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for caring about them, Truthhurts. While I agree dogs would top the list of aggressors, other cats can be downright awful to each other (especially males to very young kittens). There really is not much you can do to keep them safe except perhaps place a wax-coated or plastic box (entrance & exit holes in it) against your house for shelter. If the runt makes it back, if possible, bring it in or find a home for it. I had a friend who was really good at trapping and adopting out feral cats/kittens. I adopted 2 of them and, for the most part, they did pretty well. One had no trouble adapting. The other took a lot of patience. Hid under the bed for about 2 months before he finally warmed up to the family, another maybe 3 months before he would sit near us, then he was the most loveable critter. Good luck, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the runt shows up.

feral cats - Effie

[ In Reply To ..]
Life is hard on feral cats. I have been feeding a colony of cats for about 20 years now. Thanks to help from a spay/neuter group I am actually down to just one cat, but I didn't lose the others from old age. I live on a corner lot and lose most of them to traffic and stray dogs. That said, I am often surprised by a cat showing up after I had given up on it, so hopefully your little runt will show back up

Be sure to get mamma cat fixed... hopefully your area may have a group that will help with capture and costs.

Be

I only slept 2 hours last night. I waited with flashlight - Truthhurts

[ In Reply To ..]
in hand ready to "rush" out the door if I heard any commotion or footsteps on the roof.

I gave up at 4 this morning. When I came into the office this morning, I looked out and momma was sitting by my door. I opened it and she walked in all the way to the inside door leading to the rest of the house. That's pretty far. I was even able to close the screen door and it didn't scare her.

When I opened the door, the kittens were all congregated by our coal trailer by the house. They must have spent the night under there. I could have swore I saw 4 kittens, but thought I was seeing things. When we went to feed them, hubby saw the runt! He is back. Where he was yesterday is odd. I would have jumped for joy if it wouldn't have scared them. :)

I sat on a chair and the brave kitten did come up to my metal 4-prong cane (they're afraid of it) and sniff it. The one gray came pretty close, too. They all have checked out the garage a little bit.

We are going to figure out what to do for winter for them.

As for live traps, I'll have to have hubby check out the hardware stores. I refuse to go to the SPCA because they'll kill the kittens immediately. I've had quite a few run-ins with them, even to stealing our one dog right out of our yard, then lying that they didn't have him, and forcing my son (11-years-old) to sign over 2 puppies when we raised Irish Setters. They told him they would have us arrested and jailed and he was scared. I was at work when this happened. When I called to get them back, they said they had to euthanise them because they were sick. Liars! They had all their shots and were wormed. Two weeks later, their pictures were in the paper up for adoption.

All this happened when we were younger (in our early 30s) and didn't know what to do. So you can see why I won't deal with them.

Well, that was a rollercoaster post. :) - Had a friend who looked after some. sm

[ In Reply To ..]
What a terrible thing for you and your family to go through with the SPCA. Can't say I blame you for not trusting them (although I have had good experiences with them, so far).

I am so happy the little runt is back! Let's just believe that he is a little rebel who decided to explore the area on his own before rejoining the family.

Our Experience - With Feral Cats

[ In Reply To ..]
My MIL took in 3 feral cats (2 females, one male}, after having fed them for 6 months outdoors. She finally folded and brought them all in when it got cold.

Well, one of the cats started spraying in the house like crazy. We had always assumed it was the male--and MIL feels a cat can do whatever it wants and not get in trouble for it.

Well, guess what? Years later, we found out it was the female. Man, the girl could shoot all the way up a sliding glass door. And yes, MIL had all 3 "fixed" when she brought them in.

I'm just telling the story, because you do have that risk with a feral cat. Out in the wild, they have to protect their territory like crazy, and if they've not been fixed early on, they may still instinctively mark their territory.

Just warning you in case you decide to allow them to stay in the house.

feral gatitos - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I haven't read through all the replies to this post so IDK if I'm repeating something. I've had tons of experience with feral cats (as well as not feral). The dark gray kitten that wouldn't come close or even play with the other kittens most likely had a physical condition that wasn't immediately visable. But MomCat knew and that is likely why she left it behind when she moved the others. The poster who advised the cat trap solution is pretty much on target. At least that way you could get MomCat spayed so she wouldn't have repeat litters, which I guarantee she will do and pretty soon you have a feral colony and all that that entails. Trust me

I understand the heartbreak.I have ferals outside that I feed (sm) - An old friend

[ In Reply To ..]
We had kind of the same situation. Mama Kitty had 4 and one morning we got up and there were only 3. Of course, we had no idea where to look, but I felt sick, I was so upset, picturing that baby kitty out in the world all alone, and I knew she would never get a home because she was so scared of everyone. I have no advice to offer. I have had my heart broken by these strays for a few years now, various reasons, and I have a choice to feed them or not to feed them, so I have decided to feed and take care of them the best I can, and I'll just have to deal with the sadness. I'm sorry.

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