First Timer: Fears And Concerns W/ Four Ferals

[DasKatzchen]

Hello, everyone!

As you might be able to tell, I am a new user. I've been looking around to speak with some folks who have lots of experience handling cats, particularly feral ones as recently my porch has become home to four young cats.

Below, I will share my history with these feral cats and afterwards my questions and concerns. Please forgive me for any uneducated decision or attitude I have, as this is honestly my first real experience with cats and especially with them being feral.

I do apologize for the length of the post, and you are free to skim through the story section just to where the interactions last Thanksgiving began.

Begin History

A few months ago in the summer, I had the pleasure of coming into contact with a female feral cat that decided to visit me on my property. She always kept a reasonable distance, at least six feet, though there were a few occasions where she'd come near me and let me pet her, usually when I was sitting in a lawn chair. I fed her off and on for a few weeks, and she looked reasonably healthy.

One day, I noticed weird noise that sounded a bit like chirping coming from a box nearby. I thought there was some bird that had made a nest in the box, but it turned out to be a litter of kittens! Apparently that cat was a pregnant mama, and I hadn't noticed. Well, one day when the mama wasn't around, I decided to go investigate the box and there was a hole, and I had a bunch of these cute kittens come out and investigate this strange looking human! A few of them were friendly, and a couple didn't come anywhere near me.

Well, as lovely as that event was, I noticed the next day that the kittens has completely disappeared! I didn't see the mother for a long time after that, only once after actually. I guess she didn't like me getting near them, though I don't recall handling them.

First Contact

Anyway, the point of this all is that last Thursday on Thanksgiving, approximately three to five months later, I see four small cats on my porch! I can only assume they were part of that litter I had once witnessed, as the colors seem to match up (two orange, one grey/white, one Calico).

I have never had the opportunity to play with or handle cats like this in my life, so excitedly (and somewhat foolishly), I went outside in forty degree weather, barefoot and without any real protective clothing, just to play with them. Strangely enough, they would let me pet and handle them without issue, and of course I only attempted this if they felt comfortable first. I did this for about two days. They generally let me pet them and love to run in and out from between my legs, often rubbing against me. Some exposure their bellies so I could pet them there. They also have a tendency to nibble at my toes and fingers, which causes a concern that I will now get into.

On Sunday, one of them scratched me on the finger, and I have other scratches on my arm and finger which may or may not be related to them. I didn't think anything of it at the time until I was told by a family member that I should watch out for potential diseases. I don't recall washing my hands all that well either. It wasn't until tomorrow that I realized there is a chance that the cats may be contagious with rabies, and over the last week this has greatly worried me both for my sake and the cats.

As a result, I've largely limited contact with them, which breaks my heart because they are and were so lovely, but it just scares me too much. Perhaps irrationally so, which is why I'm here to ask about the cats, their health, and what I can and should do.

End Story

As I mentioned I was scratched, I wanted to know what risk, if any, there might be of these cats having been contagious with rabies. None of my exposures have drawn blood, but my research has shown that non-bite and non-bloody exposures can still be dangerous. Rabies isn't very common in my area at all, and most "experts" with whom I've spoken do not seem to be very knowledgeable in the subject or about cats in general. I have read online that otherwise healthy cats can still be contagious for a period, though the length of that period is never very consistent.

I am aware of the ten day observation period, and tomorrow evening will mark that point since Thanksgiving, but I am concerned that my observations haven't been close enough For one, I have not been able to confine them, so they are still exposed to the wild and out of my sight for the majority of the day. I can say that when I do see them, generally when I tap the window to have them rush towards the porch, they look health, active, and overall fine. The Calico is often absent as the most distant or skittish of the bunch, which may or may not have been caused by my dog's incessant barking.

My plan is to keep them for at least another week doing this sort of amateurish observation, though I still worry about missing potential warning signs due to the lack of confinement and security.

Though in an ideal circumstance I would love to own these cats, I'm afraid it's not an option given my current living situation. I do want to do what I can to find them a place that will take care of them and not dump them off with animal control that will almost certainly have them euthanized.

With all this being said:

Question Shortlist

• What sort of signs should I be aware of when determining if the cats might show signs of rabies? Are scratches and licks really cause for concern? Is my lackluster observation satisfactory enough? Will having witnessed them for 10-16 days be enough to determine that they are (and subsequently I am) okay?
  
• Is the behavior of these cats normal? Most sources for feral cats I see state that they are generally adverse to humans. If this is abnormal, is it a cause for concern or indicative of potential sickness?
• What sort of procedures should I follow to ensure these cats are safely removed and cared for afterwards? Is there something I should specifically ask for with shelters or rescues around here? I've seen "TNR" thrown around online, but searches specific to my area do not seem to show anything.

I do apologize for the long winded post, especially as it is my first contribution here. I simply do not know that much about cats, and oftentimes my fears overwhelm me.

Thank you for your time and any help you can provide!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!!
Jcatbird is one of the best experts here and hopefully will have a chance to weigh in for you very soon.

 

[Willowy]

Are you in the US? Some things might be different if you aren't.

What is your goal with these cats? Are you willing to let them live at your house? Can you bring them inside and try to find them homes yourself?

The mother is probably a dumped stray and not fully feral. Kittens learn their attitude toward humans from their mother, even if they don't have contact with humans at a young age. I don't know how to explain it; cats must have a way of communicating with their babies that we don't recognize. So don't worry about them being friendly. It's not abnormal.

Rabies in cats is not common in developed countries and there's really no reason to worry about it unless they're visibly sick (like foaming at the mouth or staggering kind of sick, not just sneezing or something). Also a scratch isn't much of a rabies concern, not like a bite. Anyway, if they were shedding rabies when the scratch occurred, they would be dead within 10 days. This is very well studied and 10-day observation is the approved protocol.

TNR means that the cats are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and released back where they came from. You can do this yourself if you're financially able to; you don't have to contact a group. Since they're friendly, it's not so much TNR as just keeping outdoor pet cats, if that's what you choose to do.

If you can't keep them, try contacting all the cat rescue groups within driving distance that you can find on Google. Not kill shelters, but real rescue groups. Hopefully even if a particular place is unable to help, they can point you in the right direction to someone who can help.

 

[DasKatzchen]

Hi! Welcome!!
Jcatbird is one of the best experts here and hopefully will have a chance to weigh in for you very soon.

Hello there! Thank you very much for the welcome. I look forward to hearing from this individual, as I will take any help I can get

Are you in the US? Some things might be different if you aren't.

What is your goal with these cats? Are you willing to let them live at your house? Can you bring them inside and try to find them homes yourself?

The mother is probably a dumped stray and not fully feral. Kittens learn their attitude toward humans from their mother, even if they don't have contact with humans at a young age. I don't know how to explain it; cats must have a way of communicating with their babies that we don't recognize. So don't worry about them being friendly. It's not abnormal.

Rabies in cats is not common in developed countries and there's really no reason to worry about it unless they're visibly sick (like foaming at the mouth or staggering kind of sick, not just sneezing or something). Also a scratch isn't much of a rabies concern, not like a bite. Anyway, if they were shedding rabies when the scratch occurred, they would be dead within 10 days. This is very well studied and 10-day observation is the approved protocol.

TNR means that the cats are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and released back where they came from. You can do this yourself if you're financially able to; you don't have to contact a group. Since they're friendly, it's not so much TNR as just keeping outdoor pet cats, if that's what you choose to do.

If you can't keep them, try contacting all the cat rescue groups within driving distance that you can find on Google. Not kill shelters, but real rescue groups. Hopefully even if a particular place is unable to help, they can point you in the right direction to someone who can help.

Thank you for posting!

I am indeed in the United States. If I have to disclose a more specific location, I'll say somewhere in the southern half of the Central Time Zone.

That is an interesting insight regarding the mother, and you are probably right. Any sort of research I seem to do always indicates that feral cats are human-unfriendly, but that is the farthest from the case regarding these four (mother somewhat excluded). She probably is the one that told them I give out free food!

Unfortunately, I cannot let them live in my house, and because of my dog and a family member who is allergic (or says they are), it's probably not best we keep them around outside for much longer. That's why I want to go ahead and start preparing for a way to get them acquired by a rescue that will take care of and find them a home. I'm not sure about the finances involving doing TNR myself, as I am only a university student, but I will look into it or at the very least some rescues for them.

I have seen that cat rabies is much less common, but considering I am a very nervous person, health scares like this stress me considerably and have over the last few days. A couple people still die from it every year here and I don't want to find myself on that list. I will say that if the 10-day period is indeed sufficient, I should rest much easier in a couple days, not to mention I do plan to keep them around probably for a few days afterward or at least until I can secure them a safe new home. Is there any tips on keeping other wildlife away until that point? I leave my outside lights on every night now, though I remember I saw a raccoon on the porch Saturday. Felt like the whole neighborhood was moving in!

Anyway, from what I can tell, they are not sick or showing any of the signs you mentioned. The Calico being absent so often does worry me because I am not as sure in determining its health, but the other three seem fine. I still tap on the windows outside to see them running up towards them to meow at me endlessly. Poor babies.

 

[Jcatbird]

Hi! Thank you Furballsmom I’Kk try to help here.

First let’s adrress the rabies. The disease is most often assocated with other animals. A bite is more likely to spread it than a scratch and it sounds like the kitties act healthy. It would be good if you could catch them for close observation but it sounds like they are not showing signs of the illness. The Calico not coming as often is not uncommon and likely, it is just more shy of people or more untamed than the others.
TNR or Trap , Neuter and Release or Rehome of relocate is dry important. If you don’t then they will continue to breed and you could end up with a very large number of kitties on your hands. If you need help getting this accomplished there are many groups who do this. You could start with the National Spay Alliance and Alley Cat Allies. You can google then to find contact information Your local animal shelters can propbsbly give you good information and possibly assistance as well. Animal control will often lend traps for this purpose and may know of discount services or grant funding that can pay or help pay for spay/neuter and rabies immunizations. Possibly other services too. If you cannot locate services then you can private message me with more detailed information I will try to help you find the services you need. It’s really a good idea to do this quickly. Mom can immediately get pregnant again and the kittens won’t have to be very old to start mating too. If you live in a cold area it would be best if you can set up some kind of shelter for them. You can let us know about that. If a person there is allergic, many of our members who own cats are also allergic. There are allergy medicines for that. Even if you can’t keep them it would be best if you could contain them somewhere until observation is over and you have gotten TNR done. What about a garage or outbuilding? A spare bathroom? A covered porch? Anyplace is better than leaving them fully exposed to predators, mating and the weather. Having a Raccoon show up is not great. That may be one reason the kittens are seeking you out. If they come when you tap on the window then they could easily be good rescues and go to great homes. There are groups that do TNR and adoptions. If you ignore this then you leave them to get pregnant, sick, injured or die. Please do continue the great things you have been doing to help them. They are probably out there because someone failed to do the right thing for the Mom! I wish more people were like you and cared enough to help them and, hopefully, prevent more unwanted kitties from suffering.
Since you are feeding them I suggest you take up and dishes or uneaten food at night. Leftovers will bring Mister Raccoon and other unwanted guests back. The lights may help some but the predators can get used to that and come anyway. The only real way to keep them safe is to capture them and get them inside somewhere. If not with you then someone else.
For future reference, a scratch should be watched for spreading redness as an indication of infection. Usually a picture wound, like a bite is more likely to be an issue. Hand washing is a very good idea.
I am sorry the scat he’s made you so nervous. Likelihood of rabies is remote. I am very grateful you are willing to help these kitties. The fact that they come to you means they trust you. You have already formed a bond of love with them. I think you are awesome! It’s people like you who make a difference in the world. Please feel free to @ and then put my ID after to get my attention or PM me if you have a question or need help. I am sure many other great people will post information to help you as well. Thecatsite is a great place! I’m glad you came here for help. Please keep us updated on your scratches and the kitties. We’ll be waiting to hear how things are going for you all! Thank you for helping the kitties!

 

[maggie101]

I live in Houston. One of my cats got adopted from Houston Area Cats and kittens. I posted a video on YouTube which a rescue saw and contacted me. I have also gotten them adopted on Next door which is an app used nation wide
Another adopted from a pic I put up on a wall at a restaurant. Do you have a separate room to keep them In?

 

[DasKatzchen]

Hi! Thank you Furballsmom I’Kk try to help here.

First let’s adrress the rabies. The disease is most often assocated with other animals. A bite is more likely to spread it than a scratch and it sounds like the kitties act healthy. It would be good if you could catch them for close observation but it sounds like they are not showing signs of the illness. The Calico not coming as often is not uncommon and likely, it is just more shy of people or more untamed than the others.
TNR or Trap , Neuter and Release or Rehome of relocate is dry important. If you don’t then they will continue to breed and you could end up with a very large number of kitties on your hands. If you need help getting this accomplished there are many groups who do this. You could start with the National Spay Alliance and Alley Cat Allies. You can google then to find contact information Your local animal shelters can propbsbly give you good information and possibly assistance as well. Animal control will often lend traps for this purpose and may know of discount services or grant funding that can pay or help pay for spay/neuter and rabies immunizations. Possibly other services too. If you cannot locate services then you can private message me with more detailed information I will try to help you find the services you need. It’s really a good idea to do this quickly. Mom can immediately get pregnant again and the kittens won’t have to be very old to start mating too. If you live in a cold area it would be best if you can set up some kind of shelter for them. You can let us know about that. If a person there is allergic, many of our members who own cats are also allergic. There are allergy medicines for that. Even if you can’t keep them it would be best if you could contain them somewhere until observation is over and you have gotten TNR done. What about a garage or outbuilding? A spare bathroom? A covered porch? Anyplace is better than leaving them fully exposed to predators, mating and the weather. Having a Raccoon show up is not great. That may be one reason the kittens are seeking you out. If they come when you tap on the window then they could easily be good rescues and go to great homes. There are groups that do TNR and adoptions. If you ignore this then you leave them to get pregnant, sick, injured or die. Please do continue the great things you have been doing to help them. They are probably out there because someone failed to do the right thing for the Mom! I wish more people were like you and cared enough to help them and, hopefully, prevent more unwanted kitties from suffering.
Since you are feeding them I suggest you take up and dishes or uneaten food at night. Leftovers will bring Mister Raccoon and other unwanted guests back. The lights may help some but the predators can get used to that and come anyway. The only real way to keep them safe is to capture them and get them inside somewhere. If not with you then someone else.
For future reference, a scratch should be watched for spreading redness as an indication of infection. Usually a picture wound, like a bite is more likely to be an issue. Hand washing is a very good idea.
I am sorry the scat he’s made you so nervous. Likelihood of rabies is remote. I am very grateful you are willing to help these kitties. The fact that they come to you means they trust you. You have already formed a bond of love with them. I think you are awesome! It’s people like you who make a difference in the world. Please feel free to @ and then put my ID after to get my attention or PM me if you have a question or need help. I am sure many other great people will post information to help you as well. Thecatsite is a great place! I’m glad you came here for help. Please keep us updated on your scratches and the kitties. We’ll be waiting to hear how things are going for you all! Thank you for helping the kitties!

Many thanks for the welcome, kind words, and help!

Indeed, I know that it's most bats and dogs that get it, though there still exists that possibility, however slim. I admit that I'm acting quite neurotic over this, but that doesn't make the worry any less real.

I should mention that the mother isn't around anymore, as well as two of the original litter. I sure hope they're okay. These four seem to be doing well so far so I would like to think the same goes for the others.

We unfortunately don't have anywhere in the house where we can store them. On our land, I can't think of anything that they wouldn't just hop out of out. These are crafty little cats! I've noticed they really like getting on whatever ledges they can find and are excellent climbers. The Grey one in particular really likes to try and climb our doors. We have a dog run with some cabinets in it, coincidentally partly where the mama had them as kittens, but I feel like they'd climb out of it as there's no roof to it.

I am hoping to see about getting in contact with someone that can keep me updated on their condition after they take them from me, as this would be ideal. I don't want them to just disappear after I hand them off so I can keep up with their condition (which should relieve my fears) and know that they're doing well. Really sucks how nobody is ever reachable on the weekend!

But yeah, these babies deserve love and affection. I am hoping they continue to be happy and healthy for years to come! Not sure about coming into contact with them just yet, but tomorrow I do want to try and get them some food with deworming medicine we recently bought in it.

I live in Houston. One of my cats got adopted from Houston Area Cats and kittens. I posted a video on YouTube which a rescue saw and contacted me. I have also gotten them adopted on Next door which is an app used nation wide
Another adopted from a pic I put up on a wall at a restaurant. Do you have a separate room to keep them In?

That's great to hear maggie. I'll look into Next Door.

Unfortunately, having them in the house just isn't going to work. As mentioned above, I don't think there's really much I can do in terms of an outside enclosure either. I will have to look and see tomorrow.

 

[Jcatbird]

Hey! You don’t have to totally close them in if there is no where to do that but protecting from weather and predators will really help them for now. I’ll try to post to you again tomorrow. I saw a very clever shelter made using a Rubbermaid container straw and a styrafoam cooler that I can tell you about as well as a dog kennel one. The cats can use them as needed and you can put stuff up for them to climb into. Just make sure to take the food up at dark when there are likely to be predators around. A raccoon, fox or even a opossum can be a threat. The kitties probably would hide from these things if they have a safe place to go. If you give me a preference on where you would like them to take shelter I can give you better information. Also, how cold does it get there? If your porch has an outlet then heat would help. There are cat shelters on the market that have heat built in.

 

[DasKatzchen]

Hey! You don’t have to totally close them in if there is no where to do that but protecting from weather and predators will really help them for now. I’ll try to post to you again tomorrow. I saw a very clever shelter made using a Rubbermaid container straw and a styrafoam cooler that I can tell you about as well as a dog kennel one. The cats can use them as needed and you can put stuff up for them to climb into. Just make sure to take the food up at dark when there are likely to be predators around. A raccoon, fox or even a opossum can be a threat. The kitties probably would hide from these things if they have a safe place to go. If you give me a preference on where you would like them to take shelter I can give you better information. Also, how cold does it get there? If your porch has an outlet then heat would help. There are cat shelters on the market that have heat built in.

I have made them a bed outside that I see them use periodically, though they must have some spots elsewhere, perhaps in a whole that leads underneath our house. There's a lot of unknowns here which makes me all the more concerned, but I think so far they're doing okay. They should be faster than any predator that might come after them, right?

I will send you a PM with my location to see what sort of thoughts you may have. It hasn't gotten real cold here except for a few days, but as they huddle together there doesn't seem to be any concern there. I remember just watching them prowl about the lawn, kicking off the motion light during one of the cold nights so they don't seem to care.

Only seen two of them today, but my grandfather said he said the three aside from the Calico. I'm not a fan of how elusive that one has become...

 

[DasKatzchen]

Jcatbird sorry to post another reply, but could you initiate a PM with me when you get the chance? I think I am trying to do so and the site wont let me. I'm not sure what has to be done before I can.

 

[Jcatbird]

The. Calico is female. It’s a genetic thing that they are. At 4 to 6 months they can come into their first heat. She may be hiding from any males. Is there any way you could cover the top of the dog kennel with tarps and fasten them down to keep her from male kitties? If not then you really need to get her spayed as soon as possible.
CleanitSupply.com has instructions of how to make a shelter very inexpensivly that is rain proof and pretty warm. If Calico is alone she will be colder. Boy kittens with her are at risk from older male cats. I know you are already worried but time is crucial on this. The sooner you catch them the better. Maybe you can borrow a cage or large dog carrier to contain them in. It would buy you some time. Like these....

The kitties may be a little unhappy at first it would help to keep them safe and make it so that you can tame them. I just got a PM. I’ll see if it is from you.

 

[Jcatbird]

I Got your PM. Looking up info. See if you have a reply from me at the mail symbol at the top right of your screen.

 

[DasKatzchen]

I Got your PM. Looking up info. See if you have a reply from me at the mail symbol at the top right of your screen.

Indeed, I have. Working on a reply right now.

I'm not sure if I have anything like that around here in order to secure the dog run, but maybe. I also worry about their waste collecting, as I also don't have anything for that and have been glad they haven't decided to go on our porch.

I don't get the feeling there are any male cats around to worry about, but you never know.

Monday I plan to make some calls around here to hopefully get something done next week. The semester ends for me Wednesday, so I should be able to go out and do things Thursday or Friday, though finals week is afterward and I can't neglect that. A very busy end of the year so far!

I will work on the PM right now.

 

[DasKatzchen]

For those of you who may be interested, I have some pictures of the cats here. It goes from recent to old. Sorry some of them aren't great, and excuse the mess.

 

[Jcatbird]

Beautiful babies. These pictures happen to be very timely for me. I was sad today for giving up two that look like two here. The Calico ( mine was here 7 years and named Lambie and the ginger cat that I had almost as long and was named Saffron) I gave them up since they were very socialized to make room for unadoptable ferals that still need some work. It broke my heart but I am hoping they get homes where they will be the center of attention instead of being in the middle of all my rescues. If they don’t get adopted they will come back to me. Thanks for posting the pictures. They made me feel better because it reminds me that I need to keep working on rescues and let go of the ones that can get good homes. Thank you. Love these babies and I hope the info I sent to you will help them find TNR and homes as well.

 

[Willowy]

The gray one is a girl too. You can see some orange bits on her fur, which means she's technically a dilute tortie (and almost all torties are girls). The orange ones are probably boys. What color was the mama cat?

Most outdoor cats don't go into heat between September and January. So you probably have a month or so before things get frisky. But don't count on it! Cats are weird, and very efficient at reproducing.

 

[DasKatzchen]

The gray one is a girl too. You can see some orange bits on her fur, which means she's technically a dilute tortie (and almost all torties are girls). The orange ones are probably boys. What color was the mama cat?

Most outdoor cats don't go into heat between September and January. So you probably have a month or so before things get frisky. But don't count on it! Cats are weird, and very efficient at reproducing.

If I'm not mistaken, one of the Orange cats was a girl, as I noticed this when she would roll on her back.

Aw, how sweet. Thank you for clarifying the coat of the grey cat; I wasn't sure if the cat has a dirty or unhealthy coat because of the discoloration.

If I'm not mistaken, at least one of the orange cats is a girl, because it would often roll on its back and I think I got a look. Haven't verified the others though.

I'm not really sure what to say the mama was, if there is a term for it. I will enclose one of the very few pictures I was able to get of her. The date for this was July 11, so it's definitely been a few months since then.

Does seem I am safe for the mating. I am a bit worried though, as I went out to the store, leaving three of them sleeping on the porch and I've returned to them not being here. Tapping on the window or calling them hasn't worked, even though it pretty much always has in the past. I hope they return, as I'm not done watching them yet. I'm worried I might have waited too long to feed them again.

 

[DasKatzchen]

Whoops, sorry for the double post there. I don't see a way to edit the post.

 

[Willowy]

Mama is a calico . Very pretty! Lots of white, nice clear spots. So she could pass on either the orange or the black, and if the daddy cat was orange she could have orange daughters. But 75%-80% of orange cats are male.

Anyway, yeah, it's not something you want to wait too long to deal with, or there will be a lot more cats to think about!

 

[DasKatzchen]

Is it normal for them to disappear like this for so long? I need them to come back.