Are The Kittens Alive?

[shannon1984]

Luna appeared pregnant in March. At the time I would call for her but sometimes hadn't gotten a response for days. Eventually she'd pop up again always from that side of our property.

She got nipped by a neighbors dog about 2 weeks into her pregnancy and had noticeably wandered away from her usual side of the woods behind our 4 acre property. On March 20th she suddenly looked slimmer. Soon after she seemed to settle finally on a property 2 lots to our right and began returning to my call for feeding though now she came daily. This daily feeding went on for 3 weeks during which she always came from that lot and luckily things were pretty storm free until last week.

After a bad storm she suddenly appeared in the woods directly behind where I feed her. Now she is obviously within feet of the feeding spot every time I check on her no matter what time of day it is. I've tried peeking into the woods but can't hear or see any kittens. My only clue that they might still be alive is that she is always there immediately behind our feeding spot, whereas when she wasn't pregnant she roamed a lot and it would sometimes take a while for her to hear me.

If she has kittens back there they'd be about 5 weeks old. I leave her fresh water and food (including extra for the babies to practice solids) every day at least once but I'm dying to see the babies are okay.

Do you think she indeed has kittens there still and what else can I do for them??

 

[Primula]

If you really really want to help this cat, have her spayed. It is a torture for a female cat to be outdoors & having multiple litters. Personally, I will not feed a cat unless I have it spayed or neutered. I will not feed a cat to breed.

As to the kittens, impossible to say if they are alive or not. Momma got nipped by a dog, as you say, so imagine how dangerous it is for kittens.

 

[Willowy]

You'll know in a week or so. If they're alive, she'll start to bring them to the feeding spot when they're about 6 weeks old.

And, yes, the best gift to her, whether this litter survived or not, would be to have her spayed. Soon! Or she'll get pregnant again :/.

 

[shannon1984]

If you really really want to help this cat, have her spayed. It is a torture for a female cat to be outdoors & having multiple litters. Personally, I will not feed a cat unless I have it spayed or neutered. I will not feed a cat to breed.

As to the kittens, impossible to say if they are alive or not. Momma got nipped by a dog, as you say, so imagine how dangerous it is for kittens.

She's not being fed to breed. She's being just fed because I could not get hold of her to spay her (all my other cats, all rescues, are spayed/neutered). I'm afraid if I fail to get her into a cage while attempting to do so I'll lose her trust and she'll run off and die a horrible feral death.

The dog is not an issue as it got caught in a snare trap (the man should be charged) and is now kept inside. I actually was the one who found and saved her though her presence months ago was making it more difficult to trap this cat.

I will try to trap her but for now I'm waiting for signs of kittens because I don't want them to die horribly either.

 

[shannon1984]

You'll know in a week or so. If they're alive, she'll start to bring them to the feeding spot when they're about 6 weeks old.

And, yes, the best gift to her, whether this litter survived or not, would be to have her spayed. Soon! Or she'll get pregnant again :/.

There is one other clue they may still be alive. She has allowed me to touch her. She also hasn't attacked me. Not even a hiss or growl in days (this cat has torn me to shreds for even thinking about touching her in the past). I sense she needs me for some reason and the kittens may be why.

I can't try to snatch her up until I'm sure the babies will survive if I fail and she runs off. I do have a cage but without a proper trap I will need her trust (which I seem to be gaining) to get her in it.

 

[Primula]

I hope someone will come along here with advice on how to get her in the trap.

 

[shannon1984]

Yes! Thanks, I figured hopefully this will evolve into that too

 

[Primula]

I found this link for you. Ignore the horrible title! Dying Kittens

In post #2 there is a video of how to use to use a drop trap.

 

[miagi's_mommy]

You can always get a humane live trap from animal control, your local rescue or shelter. It's completely harmless, albeit spooky when the door shuts. That's what got my family's dog back after she went missing. (She wouldn't let anyone catch her because she was abused before we got her and the trap was the last resort but it worked!) All you have to do is put a can of wet food in it or tuna after you set it up and it should entice her.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree that you do not want to trap the mom cat right now because I also agree that she probably has kittens in the woods that she is nursing.

As Willowy said, she will bring those kittens out with her to the feeding station any day now.

Once she does, you should spend time with the kittens and mom, and that may make it easier to bring all of them into your home.

 

[shannon1984]

I found this link for you. Ignore the horrible title! Dying Kittens

In post #2 there is a video of how to use to use a drop trap.

Thanks! I'll look into this.

 

[shannon1984]

You can always get a humane live trap from animal control, your local rescue or shelter. It's completely harmless, albeit spooky when the door shuts. That's what got my family's dog back after she went missing. (She wouldn't let anyone catch her because she was abused before we got her and the trap was the last resort but it worked!) All you have to do is put a can of wet food in it or tuna after you set it up and it should entice her.

I did not know this might be an option, thanks!

 

[shannon1984]

I agree that you do not want to trap the mom cat right now because I also agree that she probably has kittens in the woods that she is nursing.

As Willowy said, she will bring those kittens out with her to the feeding station any day now.

Once she does, you should spend time with the kittens and mom, and that may make it easier to bring all of them into your home.

I hope so! It's so hard to wait because I worry that I should have asked neighbors for permission to check behind her after she left her old spot (in case the babies were hurt, etc). I'm trying to stay level headed. Since all logical clues point to her just moving them closer I've not bothered anyone.... but I don't think I'll stop being a ball of nerves till I see them and then eventually get hold of mom too.

 

[Sarthur2]

I don't blame you! Please keep us posted!

 

[shannon1984]

Hmm weird. Today it's raining a little so I expected to be on alert for changes but what I saw doesn't make sense.

I went to our feeding spot and immediately noticed the styrofoam plate I used yesterday was empty, dirty from the rain, and no longer under the rock I used to weight it down but otherwise unharmed. Luna did appear but now from the opposite side of our property, still from the woods directly behind though.

I walked over to a hose to clean the plate and refill the now empty water dish. I thought it was odd that the dish was empty because it's 4 inches high and I fill it 3 inches deep. The dish had been exactly where I had it placed and sitting upright and never had been empty overnight before.

The entire feeding spot however had been altered. It's an old shallow dig out spot under the fence that she comes through to get from the woods to our side to eat. The leaves and twigs had been freshly dug out of the dip and mounded up around it on our side, exposing fresh black dirt. The dirt did not appear to have clear claw marks, foot prints, or other marking that would explain what happened (though those could have been washed away overnight). If it was an animal (all neighborhoods have them roaming at times) it clearly stopped without digging much earth out of the hole.

I guess the thing that gets me is it almost looks like this had to be human intervention (perhaps the 13 yr old boy in the house we rent on the front acre?). Between the flimsy un-torn plate removed from it's weight, the empty but upright water dish, and the appearance of the hole coverings being dug out but stopped before any significant earth digging was done, this seems too odd to have been a natural occurrence.

I did work late last night so I did not check the spot after 2 pm and was not home to see anything.

On the bright side, she's still behind us (just much deeper into the woods and farther to the opposite side).

I recovered the old dip and moved her food to a spot from the side she's now on. The only thing I know to do is start taking pictures of the food station as I leave it in case this happens again. If evidence points to human disturbance I can politely ask our tenants not to disturb the area (they've never done it before) because it'll cause her to keep moving and will make it next to impossible to eventually trap her.

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like a raccoon found himself a buffet, and that the tracks got washed away.

If you feed mama kitty closer to the house, would she come eat?

 

[shannon1984]

Nope, I've tried but I can live with it being a raccoon. Pesky and skilled enough to get the plate from the rock without tearing it but at least a raccoon wouldn't spook her too bad.

I've been trying to catch her for over a year. At several points I thought she was long gone and then she'd break into my house to eat (cat door) after weeks of not seeing any sign. I'd go back to feeding her at the edge of the woods again. Each time I've tried to catch her she got away (just me with limited tools). It would take weeks of me going back to her turf to get her to come regularly again. I'm going to try to borrow a trap like miagi's_mommy mentioned...but only after about 12 weeks from the DOB in the case the kittens are out there.

 

[Sarthur2]

Sounds like a good plan!

 

[shannon1984]

UPDATE: The kittens are alive and healthy. It stormed really bad all night so I knew she'd have to move them. She took them under a small shed on the lot next door (it's a small cattle lot for the local "jack of all trades", no homes). I saw she came from there to eat so I watched her go back after. She let me get right up to the fence 20 feet from where they had come out to play in the sun. There are 3 Calicos and 1 fluffy orange one. Lord help me with all these females I will have no time to waste getting them all fixed.

They all seemed to not be bothered by my presence but when the land owner drove by on his way to work the other side of the lot they hid. I trust her to handle that because she's kept them healthy and safe so far.
That's mom btw in the pic I added for my avatar.

 

[Sarthur2]

Hurray! I told you she would bring them out.

Are the kittens interested in wet food?

Do you think mom would let you catch them, and would follow you back to your house?

It's still not safe for them out there, and the bigger they get the harder it will be to catch them.

I'm so glad the mystery is solved!