Caring for 2 feral kittens- advice needed

[inspirashin]

Hi
Originally i had initially posted about finding these guys in my garage, and soon after the mother ( i thought it was mom but evidentally she had adopted them) left them when she had her own litter. They were about 4-5 weeks old at the time, and when her litter was about 1 week or so she moved them out.
Ive since built a large cage pen in my backyard ( cant have them indoors bc some of my dogs want to attack them), and have built a little home for them. Theyve got a couple scratching polls, beds& blankets & pillows, a tent, a floor mat, toys, a wall shelf/seat thingy and room to run around.
Theyre about 9 weeks old now, and theyve become very friendly to me and seem very happy from what i can tell.
ive dewormed them and given them flea treatments, and am planning to get them neutered and spayed.
I know they cant be caged forever, so my question is when can i safely let them out to explore and will they come back home?
Right now they seem very content and not frustrated being in the pen at all- but ive read that cats need sensory stimulation and eventually need to be able to roam. I cant have them be indoor cats but now after caring for them i dont want to necessarily let them go to be feral either.
Is it possible to transition them to be outdoor cats if i leave their home intact for them and is it possible to have them come back home?

this is my first time raising cats, admittedly i wasnt planning to, but ive completely falled in love with the little tikes and would love if they could somehow transition safely into outdoor happy cats.

thanks for taking the time to read

 

[tabbytom]

Theyre about 9 weeks old now, and theyve become very friendly to me and seem very happy from what i can tell.
ive dewormed them and given them flea treatments, and am planning to get them neutered and spayed.
I know they cant be caged forever, so my question is when can i safely let them out to explore and will they come back home?
Right now they seem very content and not frustrated being in the pen at all- but ive read that cats need sensory stimulation and eventually need to be able to roam. I cant have them be indoor cats but now after caring for them i dont want to necessarily let them go to be feral either.
Is it possible to transition them to be outdoor cats if i leave their home intact for them and is it possible to have them come back home?

this is my first time raising cats, admittedly i wasnt planning to, but ive completely falled in love with the little tikes and would love if they could somehow transition safely into outdoor happy cats.

Firstly, thank you for taking care of these kittens and planning to have them spayed and neutered From my point of view, since you already taken this step of keeping them safe, best is to keep them indoors and at this age, they adapt to new surrounds pretty fast and also that are already familiar with you.

An outdoor cat may look free and happy but actual fact is that they live in fear as the meet all kind of dangers, wild animals, get into fights and meet with accidents, tolerate the weather and not to mention cat haters.

Best place is to keep them indoors and if you want them out, put then on a leash and bring them for walks. Safest place is in the house where it's secure from all what I mentioned above. And of course, they won't be ferals anymore and if left outdoors, they may wander off and never coming back again.

Since you are a first time raising cats, we have lots of good reading materials and many experience members that can help you bring in your cats and on how to take care of them. All you need to do is just ask and there is no such thing as a stupid question here. As long as you ask, we'll link the articles for you and also share our experiences with you so that it'll be an easy transition for you and the cats.

An indoor cat is a happy cat.

 

[fionasmom]

I agree with tabbytom that indoor life is better for any cat. You are very kind to have helped these babies. To answer from experience about letting them out and having them stay in your vicinity, most feral litters or feral cats I have TNRed and who saw my property as a source of food and shelter did stay.....generally speaking. If they are not fixed, they are going to look for mates and probably bring the new kittens back to you. If they live entirely outdoors, they will probably, but not guaranteed, stay around unless new cats come and bully them away, they generally develop wanderlust, or something else intervenes like an accident or illness, in which they may or may not return to you.

I do have 5 outdoor ferals who are TNRed, only two marginally friendly, the other three hate the sight of me, but they have hung around and returned for food for several years. But with outdoor cats, each day is a new day and they may or may not be around and you have to accept that.

 

[solomonar]

My tomcat is indoor for 3 years now. One year before the pandemic I used to walk him on a leash. Amazing experience, believe me! Totally different from walking a dog.

 

[IndyJones]

Have you considered buying or building an enclosure for them? It could even be something as simple as a modified chicken coop.

Something like this might work
Amazon.com : Cat Pet House Outdoor Run Enclosure Wooden Fun Small Animal Shelter Tunnel : Pet Supplies

 

[inspirashin]

Firstly, thank you for taking care of these kittens and planning to have them spayed and neutered From my point of view, since you already taken this step of keeping them safe, best is to keep them indoors and at this age, they adapt to new surrounds pretty fast and also that are already familiar with you.

An outdoor cat may look free and happy but actual fact is that they live in fear as the meet all kind of dangers, wild animals, get into fights and meet with accidents, tolerate the weather and not to mention cat haters.

Best place is to keep them indoors and if you want them out, put then on a leash and bring them for walks. Safest place is in the house where it's secure from all what I mentioned above. And of course, they won't be ferals anymore and if left outdoors, they may wander off and never coming back again.

Since you are a first time raising cats, we have lots of good reading materials and many experience members that can help you bring in your cats and on how to take care of them. All you need to do is just ask and there is no such thing as a stupid question here. As long as you ask, we'll link the articles for you and also share our experiences with you so that it'll be an easy transition for you and the cats.

An indoor cat is a happy cat.

Firstly, thank you for taking care of these kittens and planning to have them spayed and neutered From my point of view, since you already taken this step of keeping them safe, best is to keep them indoors and at this age, they adapt to new surrounds pretty fast and also that are already familiar with you.

An outdoor cat may look free and happy but actual fact is that they live in fear as the meet all kind of dangers, wild animals, get into fights and meet with accidents, tolerate the weather and not to mention cat haters.

Best place is to keep them indoors and if you want them out, put then on a leash and bring them for walks. Safest place is in the house where it's secure from all what I mentioned above. And of course, they won't be ferals anymore and if left outdoors, they may wander off and never coming back again.

Since you are a first time raising cats, we have lots of good reading materials and many experience members that can help you bring in your cats and on how to take care of them. All you need to do is just ask and there is no such thing as a stupid question here. As long as you ask, we'll link the articles for you and also share our experiences with you so that it'll be an easy transition for you and the cats.

An indoor cat is a happy cat.

Thank you for the info- i really appreciate it
Honestly, i want ti bring them both indoors, but I dont know how to with six dogs already inside and a few of them are very aggro towards the babies.
Ive been trying to get them used to the babies by letting them go outside maybe once or twice a day, but i dont want to overly stress the little ones either.
Im not sure how to deal with the situation or how to bring them in with a few of the dogs wanting to constantly attack them?

 

[tabbytom]

Thank you for the info- i really appreciate it
Honestly, i want ti bring them both indoors, but I dont know how to with six dogs already inside and a few of them are very aggro towards the babies.
Ive been trying to get them used to the babies by letting them go outside maybe once or twice a day, but i dont want to overly stress the little ones either.
Im not sure how to deal with the situation or how to bring them in with a few of the dogs wanting to constantly attack them?

Can you like fortify the playpen that you mentioned and make it into a catio? That'll be better than a playpen and if you could like have an entrance made so that it leads into the room and restrict he cats to that room and catio so that the dogs don't go near them?

 

[momof3b1g]

What do you plan to do with them? Please don't let them out. I regret not building something to keep my last 2 rescues safe and the boy was hit by a car are there any rescues to take them?

 

[inspirashin]

Weve put together a few pens and made this temp enclosure for them currently, but yesterday taking your advice my husband and i significantly enlarged the enclosure. Its now 12'x12' and 4.5'high. The kids seem to love it, and since we live in california and summer is creeping up on us, hes going to try to install some sort of cooling system to keep them from getting too warm. I really want to have them transition to coming inside, but at the momentbmy dogs arent having it. Im still going to try to socialize the dogs with the babies, so theres still hope
Attached is a photo of the enclosure we had quickly put together for them before yesterday.

 

[inspirashin]

Can you like fortify the playpen that you mentioned and make it into a catio? That'll be better than a playpen and if you could like have an entrance made so that it leads into the room and restrict he cats to that room and catio so that the dogs don't go near them?

Unfortunately the only access we have to the backyard is through the living room, but we have made a sort of catio for them yesterday. I dont really know if my husband would be open to demo-ing a wall to make access to the room, so im going to continue to try to socialize my dogs w the babies. Im hoping that eventually we can transition them to indoors.

 

[inspirashin]

Have you considered buying or building an enclosure for them? It could even be something as simple as a modified chicken coop.

Something like this might work
Amazon.com : Cat Pet House Outdoor Run Enclosure Wooden Fun Small Animal Shelter Tunnel : Pet Supplies

We did look at those options thank you! My husband and I decided to enlarge their enclosure to something a little larger for now, and hes thinking of building out an even larger one- but i guess thats going to be a process for him. With all the feedback ive gotten from everyone here, weve increased the size of their space to a 12x13x4.5' enclosure, and added a new cat tree and some other things. I hadnt thought about bringing them in until ive read all your replies, so thank you for the advice- were now going to aim to socialize my dogs (fiesty yorkie pack of 5 + a french bulldog) to the kittens (whom weve named truman and show because, well, we have a camera on them 247 i really hope my dogs will be social enough to bring them in before august and the hotter heat wave hits.
Thank you all so much for your advice- although these little ones were not planned, theyve grown to be a part of the family and ive gotten so so much help from here on how to raise them (hopefully) to be their healthiest, happiest and strongest little kitties

 

[fionasmom]

How cute....The Truman Show. I did have five dogs at once time along with cats and it can work. Since you have four little terriers though, it can take a little more work since they are tough little hunters. Yorkies can hold their own against almost any other dog who hunts small prey.

How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog – TheCatSite Articles

Thank you for taking such good care of these little babies.

 

[inspirashin]

Thank you so much for the great advice!

 

[tabbytom]

Unfortunately the only access we have to the backyard is through the living room, but we have made a sort of catio for them yesterday. I dont really know if my husband would be open to demo-ing a wall to make access to the room, so im going to continue to try to socialize my dogs w the babies. Im hoping that eventually we can transition them to indoors.

I think if you've enlarged the catio would be pretty good. At least they are sheltered from the elements.