Advice on what to do about ferals

[Boris Diamond]

About a month ago, I noticed a cat in my yard.  She is a small grey and white cat.  She would run if I got closer than fifty feet from her.  I am in an isolated area and this cat does not belong to the only other person on my road who has cats.  I assumed that she is feral.  I started feeding her, meaning to TNR when I could get her used to the food.  It is the kitten time of year, so I wanted to make sure she had no kittens before I took her off to be neutered.  

Three days after I started feeding her, she showed up with four kittens that were about four to five weeks old -that's how I know she is a female!  She brought them to the cement area in front of my storage building behind my house to play.  I had been feeding her in a barn 100 feet from my house where I think she had the kittens.  When she came to play behind my house I moved the feeding area there.  It is a small old two story building with a second floor with a steep ladder/stairs.  I started putting the food and water on the stairs to keep it away from dogs.  

Here is one of the the dogs eating the cat food.

Feral cats 009.JPG

• Boris Diamond
• Jun 10, 2015

Now I put it at the top of the ladder/stairs.  The kittens can climb up there and I think they drink the water and have started eating the solid food, too.  I have sweet talked the mom and that with the feeding has made it so I can get less than ten feet from her now, but she will hiss.  I have gotten within a few feet of the kittens when they were hiding behind some small propane tanks.  They looked healthy and bright-eyed.  One is black, one is grey, one is grey and white and one is black and white.  I really like the grey and white one.  She(he?) has a little white heart on her chest.

Here is the mom at the first feeding station.  I used an automatic motion-sensing camera.  I am going to try for more pictures soon.

Feral cats 023 2.jpg

• Boris Diamond
• Jun 10, 2015

After feeding them for ten days they all disappeared!   I did not see them for days and the food was hardly touched.  Is this normal?  This area is a bad one for outdoor cats and I worry.  She may be someone's cat, but it is almost two tenths of a mile past the barn where she had the kittens and across a steep gully and creek to get to another house.  I'm sure she could cross it, but would she with kittens?

After a week of no kitties, this afternoon I saw the mom cat leaving the storage building.  I checked the food and water bowls and they were empty.  I refilled them and when I checked later, mom was there and I saw one of the kittens run into the storage building.  I hope the others are still around.  The kittens usually hide either upstairs which is not safe for large people. or under a generator in the storage building where I can't see well, even with a flashlight. The mom hides behind some pallets I have leaning against the wall outside the storage building.  She tries to distract me from her kittens - good mom!  I admire her though she does not trust me.  The kitten looks seven to eight weeks old now and well fed.

I took pictures of the kittens, but I took them from 30 feet away through a screened window and the pictures were not good.  

I have some idea how to proceed though I have never done this before and I would appreciate any advice.

 

[ondine]

If you can get a humane trap, start feeding only in the trap.  Probably better of you can get more than one, as you can trap mom and kittens at the same time. 

Tractor Supply sometimes has a two-for-one trap deal - one regular sized and one smaller sized trap together.

If there is a rescue nearby, you may be able to rent a trap or traps from them.  A drop trap may be useful, as you might be able to trap several of them at once.  But you definitely want to trap mom ASAP.  She may very well be pregnant again.  The kittens will begin to scatter to their new territories soon, so trapping them soon is important too.

Thank you so much for taking on this challenge.

 

[Boris Diamond]

@Ondine  Thanks for the information.  I am now feeding in the Hav-a-Heart trap.  She took to it right away.  Tuesday is the day I plan to take her into the vet's for the operation.   

I am now wondering if she was in heat when she disappeared.  She may very well be pregnant again.

Once again, thanks.

 

[ondine]

Hoping she isn't pregnant and the spaying goes well.

 

[Boris Diamond]

Update on TNR.  

I will have Molly neutered Wednesday.  My vet had a doctor out of work and the workload was so heavy that I had to wait to have Molly neutered there.  I called local rescues and they had long waiting lists, one telling me it might be six months!.  Sad that they are so overworked!  I decided to wait for my vet.  He said that the county shelter that neuters so many cats around here loses an unhappy percentage of the cats taken there for neutering.  He said that he has a much better record.

The mom and three kittens are still well and look healthy.  I don't think mom is pregnant again, as she looks thin.  She no longer runs from me and she will stand two feet behind me when I am putting food in her dish.  I think she wants to trust, but it will take time.  She still hisses, but maybe to protect her kittens.

Tuesday my vet said to bring Molly in.  She was easy to trap and she is now in my back room in the trap.  She is calm.  The vet said that she should not eat after ten pm, so I had to trap her by then.  I will take her to the vet at eight am this morning (Wednesday.)  

Here is Molly's picture with the trap in the background.  She's a tuxedo cat, but with the less formal grey tuxedo! 

Ferals and garden 118.JPG

• Boris Diamond
• Jun 30, 2015

I'm not sure what to do about the kittens.  Three are staying around.  I think they like the food.  I don't want to see three un-neutered kittens scatter and become kitten producers themselves.  They are too young to neuter.  I don't want to bring them into the house to live as I have a cat that has not had leukemia and aids vaccines. I am asking around for anyone who might like the challenge of a feral kitten, but so far, no takers. The kittens are wilder than their mom and I can't get close to them.  Will they will stick around if I keep feeding them?

When I set the trap tonight, Molly let the kittens go in first.  Before tonight, she always went in first.  I did not want to, but I trapped all three kittens before I got mom.  I was watching and let the kittens out quickly.  I had fed the cats earlier and I was hoping the kittens were full enough that my presence twenty feet away would keep them away.  Did not work.  I knew that Mom is always hungry and I knew she would enter the trap even if fed earlier.  I hope I can trap the kittens again if I need to.  I was surprised that mom went into the trap ten minutes after I set the kittens loose three feet in front of her!  I have been feeding her there for weeks and I suppose she trusts it.

This has been a very interesting and educational experience.  There is a male feral tabby that comes through from time to time.  Maybe I can TNR him next, though it won't be as challenging as mom and kittens!  

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[ondine]

Good news about Molly!  One less thing to worry about,  Your vet sounds like a gem.

If you continue to feed the kittens, chances are they will keep coming.  You should try to get them neutered by around 4 months.  Is there any way you can give them a room of their own, so they are't exposed to your cat?  That way, you can workoto socialize them a little.  Even if you can't find homes for them and must return them to outside after neutering, being social will help keep them close.

You'll have to plan on providing them all with shelters once the cold weather comes on again, too.  Even a simple Rubbermaid tote, insulated, makes a great sleeping place for them.

 

[Boris Diamond]

The neutering went great.  I picked her up at 4:30pm and I will keep her in the back room overnight.  She is quiet and calm.  It will take some time to completely get over the anesthesia.  I have given her water and a small amount of wet food.  I will give her more food later.  

The vet said that she is wilder than he expected.  He did not put a collar on her as he said that he did not know how I would get if off.  I had told him I cannot touch her at this point.  Also she got a rabies shot and tested negative for leukemia, aids and heart worm.  She is not worrying the incision at this point.

To give the kittens a room of their own would be difficult, but maybe doable.  I will see what can be shifted around.  It is an attractive idea.  I mean, kittens are...KITTENS!