New Feral Mama And Kittens

catsknowme · May 20, 2019

Awesome progress!! Probably Mama Kitty has had some socialization but it could also be that she was very hungry and is very smart. Last fall, I caught a 4 month old kitten from a feral colony and by morning, he was accepting scritches so some kitties are just naturally tame - I have others that I bottle fed that I can rarely pet
Those pictures are adorable & your descriptions of their antics are very amusing. :rock:

LittleShadow · May 21, 2019

Guess what I discovered this morning? I peeked out the window, and saw mama and her kittens eating from the cookie sheet of food...in the catio. So I carefully snuck over to the rarely-used back door right next to the catio door....and moved the step stool holding the door open and closed the catio door. Kittens scattered back through the wire, like I knew they would, and mama tried to follow...only to discover that she didn't come anywhere close to fitting.

By the time she realized her mistake, I'd already closed the door and was latching it. She's understandably a bit freaked out right now, so I'm going to give her a while to calm down before I go out and give her some nice wet food to pacify her a bit.

I'll admit to being a touch annoyed with myself, as I just realized the low window I'd been thinking of using as the entry/exit to the catio after capture has a lock block that I'm not sure how to remove, since I haven't tried to open that window in....3+ years? Last thing I want is mama escaping, as she'll be harder to trap a second time.... I'll see if I can remove the lock block. Anyone know how to remove the block in the lower picture? But main first goal of catch mama has been achieved!

Kflowers · May 21, 2019

I can't see the block or tell anything about it, but I'll tell you right now, metal or wood, get some WD-40 on that window - down the sides - before you try to open it.

Have you caught the kittens yet?

LittleShadow · May 21, 2019

I can’t keep the kittens caught, they’re too small. They were in the catio when I caught mama, they just squeezed out right through the wire. They’ve also come back in since I caught her, but when they see me, they escape and hide under the catio again.

I’m going to only be putting food out inside the catio going forward. They will eventually be too big to easily get in and out through the wire, and hopefully they’ll end up stuck on the inside.

If not, I have a live trap with mesh small enough to hold them, and a large dog crate with finer mesh than the catio. If I have to, I’ll trap the kittens and keep them in the dog crate for a few hours while I go to the store for chicken wire, add a kitten proof layer to the catio wire, and then let the kittens go in the catio again to finish growing to fixable size.

Hopefully they’ll just get stuck in the catio with mama as they grow though, that’s much easier. :crossfingers:

Kflowers · May 21, 2019

you are the best that's happened to this little family.

catsknowme · May 21, 2019

You got Mama Kitty - hooray!!

LittleShadow · May 22, 2019

Yep, mama kitty is caught! And this morning, all five of the kittens were in the catio with her, nursing. They can still slip in and out easily, but I've seen them playing in there now that mama is in the catio. They especially seem to like the scratching post with the little cave in the bottom part, they have lots of fun pouncing in and out of that.

Mama is mad at me, understandably, and hissing or growling at me and refusing to come up to me right now. She is using the litterbox, which is a relief, and doesn't seem panicked about being caught anymore, just mad. Hopefully as I feed her, she'll continue to calm down. The kittens still run and escape if they see me coming, but they should calm down as they grow and I continue to not be a threat to them.

Best news? Three of the kitties have homes lined up already! A friend of mine lost her cat to old age a while ago, and would like a pair of the kittens, while my mom's neighbor would like one as a companion for their current cat. They've indicated that if mama tames down, they'd prefer her, but will take a kitten otherwise. Both homes know it will be probably a good two months before I'll be willing to split mama and kittens up, as I want the kittens fully weaned, all six kitties fixed, and the kittens to have learned the basics of how to cat from their mama before I think about separating them.