- Joined
- Feb 4, 2006
- Messages
- 2,435
- Purraise
- 61
Hi, folks!
Yesterday, I caught an abandoned female cat. She has three, maybe four kittens (of a litter of six or seven) and the neighborhood guess is that they are two to three months old. I took momma to be de-wormed and FELV/FIV tested by a local animal shelter (negative, thank goodness), but I have been completely unsuccessful at getting any of the kittens (I'm using a have-a-heart trap with tuna in it).
Should I keep trying to catch them, or should I let momma go in case they still need her and re-trap her later? My desire is to foster/socialize the little guys until they are ready for adoption, but, obviously, the longer they're on their own, the more difficult that will become. Mom is skittish and doesn't let folks get too close to her when she's on the loose, but after spending just one night in my house, comes right up to me (as long as I move slowly) and rubs on me and purrs. The shelter folks think she may already be pregnant again and I really don't want to put her through the whole release/live on her own/catch and de-worm/retest effort again, but winter's coming on and I can't see her current kittens surviving. Actually, I don't see them surviving without human help, whether momma's with them or not. The winters in Massachusetts can get pretty nasty, and none of her kittens from last year survived.
What would those of you who are experienced in this arena do? Let her go so she can return to the remainder of her current litter, or keep her and just keep trying to catch the kittens?
Yesterday, I caught an abandoned female cat. She has three, maybe four kittens (of a litter of six or seven) and the neighborhood guess is that they are two to three months old. I took momma to be de-wormed and FELV/FIV tested by a local animal shelter (negative, thank goodness), but I have been completely unsuccessful at getting any of the kittens (I'm using a have-a-heart trap with tuna in it).
Should I keep trying to catch them, or should I let momma go in case they still need her and re-trap her later? My desire is to foster/socialize the little guys until they are ready for adoption, but, obviously, the longer they're on their own, the more difficult that will become. Mom is skittish and doesn't let folks get too close to her when she's on the loose, but after spending just one night in my house, comes right up to me (as long as I move slowly) and rubs on me and purrs. The shelter folks think she may already be pregnant again and I really don't want to put her through the whole release/live on her own/catch and de-worm/retest effort again, but winter's coming on and I can't see her current kittens surviving. Actually, I don't see them surviving without human help, whether momma's with them or not. The winters in Massachusetts can get pretty nasty, and none of her kittens from last year survived.
What would those of you who are experienced in this arena do? Let her go so she can return to the remainder of her current litter, or keep her and just keep trying to catch the kittens?