Need Advice About A Feral And Her Kittens

BuddyB

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Hi, today my dog was going crazy about some old towel dispenser in my backyard. I investigated and encountered an adult cat. It shot out and, naturally, my dog chased after it. I looked inside the old dispenser and there were three kittens. I took the three kittens and put them in a box by my back door because i did not think that the mom would be able to get the cats out. I put a bowl of kitten food in with the box. The mom has found them, but has yet to come up to them. Another cat (who I assume is the father) came close to them, but got ran off because of a flash of lightening. I assume these kittens are three to five weeks old, and I plan on keeping them. Did I do the right thing? Is it too early to take them from their mother? Am I able to give them solid cat food? Do I bring them to the vet to get shots?
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Norachan

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Hi B BuddyB

Kittens usually start eating solid food at around 4 to 5 weeks. For now you could try giving them some KMR or mixing some KMR with canned kitten food. Yes, taking them to a vet is a great idea. They can get their first shots at 600 grams, but you should ask a vet to check them for fleas, worms, eye infections as soon as you can

What's your plan, are you able to give a home to all three kittens or do you intend to re-home them? Can you take care of the mother too?

If it were me I'd want the whole family and would try to get the mother spayed so that she doesn't keep having kittens every few months.

Do you know of any TNR groups in your area? You can use the bedding that the kittens have been sleeping on as "bait" to get them mother in a humane trap so she can be spayed.

Even if she is very feral and you can't keep her indoors it's best to get her spayed. She will go into heat and get pregnant again as soon as her kittens are gone.

Lots more information here.

I Found Abandoned Kittens - What Should I Do?

Weighing Newborn Kittens (and How This Could Save Their Lives)

Hand Rearing Kittens: What You Need To Know To Save A Newborn's Life

Should You Try And Tame A Feral Cat?

Everything You Need To Know About Tnr (trap-neuter-release)
 
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BuddyB

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Thank you so much Norachan Norachan . I planned on keeping them, but the mother took two of the babies off to another place, and I caught her in the act of taking the last one. The last one is meowing vary lowdly at my backdoor, but I'm not sure if I should take it in or let the mother take it.
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rubysmama

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Hello and welcome to TCS. :wave2: Thank you for caring about the kittens and their mom. :catrub:

Do you know where the kittens are that she moved? Is the third one still on your step? If you can get the first 2 kittens back, she will likely return, and then hopefully she'll follow you into your house, where you can keep them all safe.

If you don't know where she took the kittens, and she comes around, one suggestion I've seen mentioned is to play kitten crying sounds on your phone, and that might get mom to lead you to the kittens.
 

maggie101

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Kittens are way too young to be separated from thier mom. Maybe if you don't let your dog in the backyard you can trap them and keep them somewhere quiet? Right now the dog is scaring her. When they are at least 5 weeks they should start eating canned food.
 

catsknowme

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With your situation of the mom being feral and the kitten being old enough, I would keep the third kitten and work on trying to rescue the others. At least the one kitten will be in a better situation; that is one less wild kitten to either suffer disease or predation and one less cat (if it makes it to maturity) adding to the unwanted cat population. At that age, the kitten is still young enough to socialize easily but old enough to make the food transition. In my experience, goat milk based formulas are more easily tolerated that cow's milk ones, including the whey based. Goat-A-Lac feline works great; fresh raw goat milk is superb if you have a source; I have had excellent results with canned goat milk made into formula using the recipe at www. kitten-rescue .com, which is our TCS member Hissy's site.
To comfort the little one, I would use a soft toothbrush and fingertips to give "licking" on the little one's chin, face, ears and shoulder blades followed by using a soft tissue to stimulate the baby to go poop and pee. Although the kitten should be able to go on its own by now, the action of "the diaper change" is a maternal action. At first, it might be best to wrap the kitten up in a soft towel, to make a "purrito" - it calms them down.
And I do hope that you can locate the other kittens as well as trap the mom. I concur with keeping the dog out of the area. You can try to establish a feeding station using canned food - she will start bringing them out to eat solids soon.
With a tame cat, it is best to keep the kittens together as a family until at least 10 weeks although I prefer 12. With ferals, though, the goal should be to get them out of the field and into managed care as soon as possible.
Please keep us updated!
 
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