I’d try trapping her. The kittens will be more socialized, and she will be easier to have readily available to spay.
Definitely an advertisement for fixing felines. Blessings on you.
I’d try trapping her. The kittens will be more socialized, and she will be easier to have readily available to spay.
Definitely an advertisement for fixing felines. Blessings on you.
Isn’t there a whole thread here on dealing with feral cats and their kittens? I think they did crates and it worked out well. That is probably a good idea to put her somewhere safe but contained so there is no risk of her taking the kittens off and you not being able to find them.
I remember that being @BatCoach who had the two feral litters but I can’t find any such post in her history
I think she posted in the same thread as @ThreeWishes.
Bless you @moonlitoaksranch - you are doing a good thing. Be careful if you try to trap her - she may become more aggressive or she may decide she wants nothing to do with her kittens. Could you build a pen around her current lodgings?
Having no idea how sturdy or heavy that plywood box is…
Could you quickly slap a cover over the opening and then pick the whole thing up and move it somewhere like the garage or silo? Might be the easiest way to get it done.
Oh man! You are for sure earning your animal guardian wings here…
Can you borrow a have a heart trap from your ACO? Once trapped try transitioning her to a dog kennel. (Life tip: just leave the trap inside the dog kennel open… don’t be a dummy like me and try to TRANSFER a feral from trap to cage… lol)
Once they are in a dog kennel they are way more manageable and easy to tame. If you need to move kittens or adjust bedding with a totally feral cat, use a spaghetti spoon to pull kittens out from momma.
Found it - the “Neutering a cat that isn’t technically yours” thread:
Just sent you a PM.
And there are six kittens, of course. But at least that makes it 14 kittens total, instead of 13, lol
Wow! Great job!
She does not look that upset even.
She hates me. But she’s safe.
@moonlitoaksranch AWESOME!!! And look at those little babies!!! They have no idea how lucky they are.
If you are afraid of getting scratched while cleaning the litter box, just put a towel over the box while Momma is in it. Momma will come around with wet food and treats. I give my momma-cat treats every time I enter the room, every time I leave the room, every time I clean the cage, etc. She’s decided I’m alright!
How are you going to come up with 14 names?? I thought having 8 cats was bad, you’ve gotten me soundly beat.
As far as names go, Queen Victoria had nine children, so that will give plenty of names to choose from (we’ll skip Louise because of the other mama cat) for Victoria’s kittens.
Louisa’s kittens will be named after our son’s friends from his old school (before we moved). We’re going to send his friends pictures of their ‘namesake kittens’, lol.
Polly’s kittens got Star Wars names, (Han, Luke, and Leia) but we’ll adjust based on sex, if need be.
For us, naming is the easy part.
Don’t panic. It sounds like you have a high rate of attrition on your farm. Spay and neuter who ever is left at 6 months. Within a few years, you may be looking for replacement cats. I was in a similar situation 25 years ago with 13 kittens born one summer. Gave some away, lost some to early kitten failure to thrive and altered the rest. Within a few years I was looking for kittens. Just try not to get attached.
Yay! You did great!
You’ve just reminded me of back in 1989 when I was working/living at a conference/retreat center and the manager’s family had just gotten a new kitten. They named him Ewok.
The local pound and rescues are begging for fosters for kittens, but I have a small house (with 3 dogs, 2 cats) and not a separate room I can put them in. It breaks my heart I can’t help.