Feral Mom and one kitten TNR’d now in my Room, Fear level 10

Kuraudo

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HI,

Background: Found Momma cat by my patio door asking for food on June 18. she came back so i fed her again. She brought 2 kittens on July 23.
However, 2 of 3 didn't trust me, the one who did was sent to foster. The mom and one sibling refuse to eat unless i close the blinds and leave the food when the were living in my yard.
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I just had a backyard feral mom TNR’d and delivered back today at 10am. I decided to put her in my bedroom/nursery and trapped her one kitten that has been here since last night at 9pm.

Because the feral is not adoptable is attached to my property, has an injured eye from territorial issue with other cats who marked my yard before I moved in, I decided to put her indoors. Another reason is that if there’s a chance of us moving, then the feral cat will not be domesticated and attached enough to me to want to move, leaving big problems with realtors and new homeowners.

Her other kitten got fostered and will be socialized to adopt after she/he can be neutered at 3 lbs. Not sure why 3 not two. Anyways the other sibling was all alone in the yard in the rain and thunder so I brought him in, though he hasn’t been neutered as he’s not ready. The city rescue said they can take him/her now but the problem is that he’s scared and hiding. Kitten is in my room but not sure where. I dn’t want to make noise to frighten looking for him/her.
The momma is behind my entertainment center

Was this a bad idea? It’s 830pm almost, not sure if the vets fed the neutered mamma yet and she last ate her canned meal Tuesday night.

The kitten had his last meal last night at 9pm. The kitten didn’t come to greet his momma to get reunited, no meowing, no eating, no drinking water or using the litter box or pooing in my room. However, I did hear some munching at 3am last night from the kitten.
I don’t know if I made the best decision? Remember what I said about moving.

But now I’m faced with another issue is to capture an already well hidden, unmotivated by food kitten in my room. Means both starve and the mom might re enter? Ughh. Because the animal rescue would need him back. They are calling the shots because they paid for the TNR through the city program.

Do i need to leave my bedroom for 24 hours??
Cat family 8.11.21.png
 
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Norachan

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Hi K Kuraudo

Thank you so much for helping these cats.

So, the mother has already been spayed but you're not sure if she is eating? And the kitten hasn't been spayed/neutered yet, but is hiding somewhere in your room?

If you can't get this kitten fixed tomorrow are the TNR group willing to give you another appointment in a few weeks? Judging by the picture you posted the kitten in the litter box is a bit too small for surgery yet anyway. I would treat this as an outdoor trapping attempt, except you have the advantage of knowing that the kitten is safely indoors. Put canned food out regularly and then you can make some plans to trap the kitten, if you need to get him/her TNR'd soon, or work on socializing.

Just come and go as you usually would. The kitten is more likely to come out of hiding while your asleep in the room and it will help him/her to get used to people having you close by. A kitten that small will be pretty easy to tame and rehome.
 

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Also, check out some of Flatbush Cats videos on YouTube. They're amazing, they do loads of great work with feral cats in Brooklyn. Some tips for socializing your feisty feral kittens here.

 
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Kuraudo

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Hi,
Thanks for ur reply! For both of them
I assume the mom is 1. Fearful 2. In PAIN still. But she last ate Tuesday night at 730pm. IT's now Friday morning, unless the vet fed them. No answer from the alliance on that.

My MAIN concern is should i keep the feral Mom in my room where she seems to hate it or put her back outside? I dont want her to starve and not drink or pee, or groom or whatever. She still smells like urine cuz she peed herself in the trap on the way from surgery.
I guess if ill need to retrap her if all comes to worst if i relocate with her with me? I don't have any date of moving but its rare that I live at the same house that long.


At 11:00 i fell asleep on my gaming chair and noticed the kitten trying to eat, as I opened my eyes at 11:30, he ran back into the closet. So then,
I decided to sleep in the living room.
Surveillance: Yes, the mom did not come out since i released her from TNR at 10a THUR and now it Friday 611am.
She's under the bed right now.

Kitten: Surveillance shows he came out at 329, which was insane because I woke up exactly that time to check my Arlo (never notifies for pets, u need to pay for that sub lol)
He also came out again at 530, again I woke again to check my phone. It's like i'm in sync with the kitten.

Because the cats are too fearful to eat in front of me and hide in closet or bed and are fearful when putting chicken baby food or tuna (Their favorites) in their face then its too difficult to socialize them if they aren't food motivated. It seems i need them inside A KENNEL for a dog which I can't afford .

Seems I have to trap the kitten on Sunday night for the fosters to adopt out.


Hi K Kuraudo

Thank you so much for helping these cats.

So, the mother has already been spayed but you're not sure if she is eating? And the kitten hasn't been spayed/neutered yet, but is hiding somewhere in your room?

If you can't get this kitten fixed tomorrow are the TNR group willing to give you another appointment in a few weeks? Judging by the picture you posted the kitten in the litter box is a bit too small for surgery yet anyway. I would treat this as an outdoor trapping attempt, except you have the advantage of knowing that the kitten is safely indoors. Put canned food out regularly and then you can make some plans to trap the kitten, if you need to get him/her TNR'd soon, or work on socializing.

Just come and go as you usually would. The kitten is more likely to come out of hiding while your asleep in the room and it will help him/her to get used to people having you close by. A kitten that small will be pretty easy to tame and rehome.
 
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Kuraudo

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Yes the TNR for city can be picked up M-F call before 9 for same day pickup.

But really, the cats have too many places to hide and i think it will be hard if not possible to socialize them if they don't come up for air during the day and only at night when I sleep. If they deliberately woke me up to ask for food then that would be good. But no Large kennel? Not sure. I might have to put the feral mom outside again?

Yes i watched many Flatbush for a few mos now great stuff but i'm missing a key element.

Btw the first night with the kitten alone i slept in my room thats when i noticed him crunching on the food bowl at 3am.

But yea it seems if I don't leave food out they will just literally starve themselves and hide
 
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Kuraudo

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Btw i did open up canned cat food, warmed it and waftd th smell in my room into the closet and under the bed but that didn't work. Socialization is not working well without a kennel
 
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Norachan

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My MAIN concern is should i keep the feral Mom in my room where she seems to hate it or put her back outside?
I guess if ill need to retrap her if all comes to worst if i relocate with her with me? I don't have any date of moving but its rare that I live at the same house that long.
Was she a feral mom fending for herself before you started feeding her? If she knows the neighborhood and you (or others) leave food out for her she'll probably be better outside. With the very feral cats I've TNR'd I only keep them caged for 24 hours after surgery. If it was a straight forward spay and she doesn't need to continue with any medication you can release her now.

You talk about relocating. Do you mean as an outdoor feral cat or do you think you can tame her and make her an indoor cat? It is possible to relocate feral cats, but it involves keeping them crated for 30 days and then doing a kind of "soft release" where the cat is confined to an enclosure or fenced in yard until they get used to their new home. It's possible, but probably only something you can successfully manage once. If you are thinking you might not stay put for long you won't be able to keep moving an outdoor cat with you. It would be better to leave her where she is.
It seems i need them inside A KENNEL for a dog which I can't afford .
Kennels are great, but I didn't have one with the first dozen or so kittens I took in. I think you can use your room. You need to set up a safe area for the kitten. A cardboard box on it's side covered with a blanket is fine. Put the litter box near by and have the feeding station about a meter from the litter box. You'll need to kitten proof your room. Block off any other hiding places so that the kitten has to use the safe area you've designated.

It takes time! One of my feral rescues hid in a closet for a month and I didn't see him at all. He eventually came around, but there's no need to worry if the kitten hides for the first week or so. The fact that he is eating already when you are in the room is a great sign.
 

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I have a feral mom now that I brought in & she is a happy house cat NOW (trapped her last October, she gave birth to 3 kittens 3 weeks later.) It CAN be done, but you need a lot of patience! The first 2 weeks she tore the room up trying to get out, then she started adjusting. I would sit on the floor of the room, NOT looking at her, & read out loud at least once a day until she decided I was not out to kill her.I kept her confined to one room for 6 months, then started leaving the door open so she could go in the rest of the house. After 8 months she likes being indoors so much she runs to the other end of the house when I open a door & she asks for a couple of pets several times a day (helps hugely if you have a lovey-dovey cat the feral can watch you interact with). I also put rescue remedy drops in her food daily to ease her stress. I'd keep feral in personally, but it takes many weeks to see improvement.
 
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Kuraudo

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Ok guys sorry for the slow update. In fact the feral cat mom had everything to do with it!

So I had to make a decision, time was ticking TICKING! The feral mom was not just adjusting to her new room, it was she hated me even more. She always was scared of me when feeding her and gradually only ate during nightfall. This time in the room, she only ate, shit,when I was not there. But she only peed on herself and everything else.

The stench was INCREDIBLE that we could smell it in the entire house now with the door closed and windows open in that room. There was no way I could keep it up any longer if she was doing that.

So i decided that only her i pushed a soft brush broom (its hand woven has no head just a brush) and gently tapped her out to let her I know "I found ya!" and closed all the paths but kept the front door open.

I spent 2 days cleaning up all the piss. She only peed on herself and every fabric in my room and bag. My graduation gowns, plushes, green screen, towels, bagged up clothes I was gonna give away or use later, my cats old bed and towel, my books and wallscrolls. Some stuff was not salvageable. I also had no access to my room as her trauma was just at a 10. So she's outside again.

Both kittens are are in foster for adoption and here's a pic of that. For the past 2 days, she was also searching for her kittens. This confirms they were maybe 7-8 weeks old.

Some other stuff happened along the way:

Feral Mom was seen again finally, in my arlo cam. But oh! A new black cat, (Tom cat I think) well one i've seen in the neighborhood showed up. He was eating first, then the brown feral mom sniffed his butt. He got startled, ran off lol! Then she went to the food, looked up and got startled and never came back. I don't know what? As the blinds were closed so there was nothing to see by looking forward.

Then an hour later an opossum came to finish off the food! My mom got real mad and took the food away from it as it walked away and said she didn't want opossums in the yard having babies and eating all her fruit .

So now with all these other critters, I'm not really so sure the feral mom is getting enough to eat and I don't want to keep attracting bigger predators as my neighborhood has a Coyote problem and they can hop fences and climb short walls I have seen.

So maybe i'll wait a few days so the original feral mom can get fed (she didnt eat for 2 days as she didn't want to go into the trap again) and was looking for her kittens. Then I might trap the black cat.
 

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Kuraudo

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What's the best thing to buy for removing horrible cat urine? This smells like no cat urine, I've smelt before. Almost as strong as Coyotes. I need something that won't ruin color on fabric as its a green screen and ineffective with even slight fading. Thanks!
 

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What's the best thing to buy for removing horrible cat urine? This smells like no cat urine, I've smelt before. Almost as strong as Coyotes. I need something that won't ruin color on fabric as its a green screen and ineffective with even slight fading. Thanks!
You need to get a proper enzyme cleaner designed for dealing with cat urine. Nature's Miracle or Fizzion, something like that. You can saturate where ever she's peed with the cleaner, leave it for about 30 minutes then rinse and dry (fabric) or dry with a cloth (Hard surfaces) If she's peed on clothes or bedding the Fizzion works better. You can buy tablets that dissolve in hot water, so fill a bowl with water and leave the clothes in there while the tablets dissolves, then put through the wash.
 
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Kuraudo

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You need to get a proper enzyme cleaner designed for dealing with cat urine. Nature's Miracle or Fizzion, something like that. You can saturate where ever she's peed with the cleaner, leave it for about 30 minutes then rinse and dry (fabric) or dry with a cloth (Hard surfaces) If she's peed on clothes or bedding the Fizzion works better. You can buy tablets that dissolve in hot water, so fill a bowl with water and leave the clothes in there while the tablets dissolves, then put through the wash.
OK thanks ! Yea unfortunately, I can't stick a 7 foot chroma green screen into the wash its huge and not shaped to fit. (it has a metal frame that is not removable).

But I have used peroxide, baking soda,vinegar which is actually working. But that created rust so then I had to make an anti rust solution of soap, salt, lemon. Thank God that worked because the rust on the green screen functionally destroys it, but the smell, while annoying does not.

Anyways here's some pictures of my midnight-snack gang! Opossum is passing through cleaning up the garden and "Bruticus" Black tom cat made friends with the feral mom that was neutered XD I will neuter this cute black guy too. All 3 of them have chivalry and take turns eating, its cute!

then in the mornings, i take a walk and 3 kittens come running out of the front yard bbq that they are sleeping under and i also feed them treats. They eat a whole lot of them, so I wonder if their "owner" is feeding them enough lol. Can't say
 

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Kuraudo

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Here's "Bruticus' Community cat that I've seen over several months living from house to house, then I realized is probably homeless. I got him to medical and neuter today! He's more mellow than the feral mom and didn't make a peep when held for a long 14 hours til pickup arrived! He has been eating at my "Midnight and friends restaurant" for a week.

Cute face if u look up close :) Maybe we can be buddies ^.^
 

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Kuraudo

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Great updates :yess:. TNR for the ferals is a great idea! It has worked well for me.
Thank you :D
I now have 6 hungry cats to feed (That don't belong to me), not including the birds who come up to the sliding glass door if there's no food in the bowl lol!

There's the neighbors cat behind me who comes daily now. He's orange and I attached a pic. His name: CLYDE.
I think his own stopped feeding him ? He's not getting second breakfast or he'd be fatter but he's not getting fat.

There's the 2 ferals (brown momma and black retired tomcat) I caught who hide in the bushes 24/7 . I wish they would come out to lounge in the yard. The momma used to do that but now that her kittens are gone and we trapped her, the traumatic experience keeps her hidden all day and night =/ This seems not good for their mental and physical health? NO exercise, enrichment ?

Then there's 3 more super friendly domestic kittens who seem like the neighbors don't feed them as they flagged me over. The neighbor has a bbq and they live under that! Door closed and he never came out when I have been feeding them daily for 8 days straight.
One i think is a SNOWshoe Cat? He looks under a year old. Maybe a girl? This cat loves headrubs and is middle of the road chill relaxed/playful.
Then the muted tortie appears 3-4 months old and is totally like Dino from Flinstones! She just needs so much love, attention and FOOD!
The cheetah looking tabby in back is more aloof but he certainly shows his affection to me and runs me over when I pass by . Loves chin scratches and ham :)

It's very common in my area for people to "pity feed" cats and they don't actually want them, or their kids wanted to keep them but parents wont let them inside. Either way with coyotes and passerby cars, no wall in the front , no shelter and 1 empty food bowl seems bad.
 

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Kuraudo

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Btw , The touring opossum is gone. The official opossum preservation of USA did mention that he/she would be touring for a couple days and simply leave and the cat food won't keep him/her there. But Opossums in my yard, the longer they are there would mean my backyard would be scotch free of roaches, snails and ticks! And rotting fruit would be finished off.

Have fun buddy, was nice to be your Airnbnb for a few days ;)
 
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I talked to the owner. She was thankful I brought them some food. She said the small one isn't spayed but the other 2 are and the snowshoe was a gift, the tabby found on the street or the tortie, not sure.

Names are weird> Meow-meow 1 and meow meow 2. "old" for the little kitten.
 
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They are all so pretty, especially the snowshoe. I am glad to know that most of them are fixed :happycat:
I had to shrink this one to attach. The little one was facing the sun so her eyes were squinting . She really has cuter eyes than the other pic XD I think she might be 3 months? She's like Dino from the flintstones. Won't let me go home or she follows ! It feels so wonderful to be loved by them each morning :) And that her owner doesn't mind
 

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