Good morning,
I'm so thankful I found your forum. I need help finding a litter of kittens born to a feral mom outside in a residential neighborhood.
Background: We've been feeding a few feral cats in our backyard all winter and one has had kittens (probably in late March or early April)...somewhere. I called a rescue organization, they came out with traps and caught mom and one of the kittens (who is now in foster care, doing great and will be adopted out next month) but released the mom to care for the kittens they didn't catch. Now the mom has moved the remainder of the litter, the size of which we also don't know. Because it's kitten season and Rescue Org is really busy, they've asked me to watch to find out where the remaining kittens are, so they can come back but I have no idea where to look and I've exhausted all their suggestions:
I've tried following mom and when she sees me she immediately runs off in a different direction (never the same direction).
I've tried looking in what I presume would be the usual places she'd take them (under steps, under covered furniture) - nothing.
I've tried listening for sounds - nothing.
I've tried making a nice cosy place for her in our yard - no luck.
I live in a neighborhood where most people have fenced yards, so I can't really trespass into all those yards to look (even if I had abundant time to do so). I'm happy to ask my neighbors (most of whom we don't know yet) for access if I see her go into one of their yards, but without narrowing it down somehow I'm not sure where to start. Mom (and dad) still come for food every day. The goal is to capture the mom (and dad) and kittens as soon as possible so rescue group can foster kittens to be adopted out, mom and dad can be fixed, and then released back to the local colony, all of which Rescue Group has agreed to do. We also agreed to allow mom and dad to recover from surgeries here so that's all sorted too once they're caught.
We're trying to do the right thing, but unsure how. I'd really welcome some help in suggestions where else to look/how to look for these kittens based on the forum's extensive knowledge of mommy cat behavior. Thanks in advance for any advice!
I'm so thankful I found your forum. I need help finding a litter of kittens born to a feral mom outside in a residential neighborhood.
Background: We've been feeding a few feral cats in our backyard all winter and one has had kittens (probably in late March or early April)...somewhere. I called a rescue organization, they came out with traps and caught mom and one of the kittens (who is now in foster care, doing great and will be adopted out next month) but released the mom to care for the kittens they didn't catch. Now the mom has moved the remainder of the litter, the size of which we also don't know. Because it's kitten season and Rescue Org is really busy, they've asked me to watch to find out where the remaining kittens are, so they can come back but I have no idea where to look and I've exhausted all their suggestions:
I've tried following mom and when she sees me she immediately runs off in a different direction (never the same direction).
I've tried looking in what I presume would be the usual places she'd take them (under steps, under covered furniture) - nothing.
I've tried listening for sounds - nothing.
I've tried making a nice cosy place for her in our yard - no luck.
I live in a neighborhood where most people have fenced yards, so I can't really trespass into all those yards to look (even if I had abundant time to do so). I'm happy to ask my neighbors (most of whom we don't know yet) for access if I see her go into one of their yards, but without narrowing it down somehow I'm not sure where to start. Mom (and dad) still come for food every day. The goal is to capture the mom (and dad) and kittens as soon as possible so rescue group can foster kittens to be adopted out, mom and dad can be fixed, and then released back to the local colony, all of which Rescue Group has agreed to do. We also agreed to allow mom and dad to recover from surgeries here so that's all sorted too once they're caught.
We're trying to do the right thing, but unsure how. I'd really welcome some help in suggestions where else to look/how to look for these kittens based on the forum's extensive knowledge of mommy cat behavior. Thanks in advance for any advice!
