No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

fionasmom

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In the course of the last year, I TNRed two feral calicos. I have a long history of doing TNR successfully, so that is not a problem. The second calico was harder to trap, but on May 21 of this year I did get her into a trap and to my vet. Both were crazy wild and never got close enough to me to allow a good look, but once she was trapped, I did observe that she seemed of normal weight and size. I always allow an extra day at my vet's for recovery, so she came home on Day 3. Problem solved, returned to her usual eating schedule in my back yard. However, on last Saturday morning she appeared with 4 kittens by her side, a black and white one who is the exact image of a male in the area, and three little calicos. When they saw me through the window they all freaked out, jumped and ran. While my vet made no anecdotal notes about this cat apparently having recently given birth, I must have trapped her shortly after the births. How the kittens survived, I have no idea, but they look fine and are eating and drinking from the 20 feet distance that I am able to view them. Given the time frame, I think that they are about 8 weeks old and they seem very feral. They live under a huge bush in my neighbor's yard, seemingly, and come through an opening in the fence to eat on my property. My neighbors are nice people, but not animal people, and I prefer to leave them out of this right now. The kittens appear in the early morning for food, but I do not see them for the rest of the day. It is entirely silent all day on my neighbor's side of the fence, but if I approach, the mother jumps, hisses, and darts at me, banging her body on the fence. I am considering contacting the Alley Cat Allies local support people and also the TNR Project, but don't hold out hope that they will be able to drop everything at this kitten season to help me personally. Thirteen years ago I trapped an entire feral litter and mother and got them all fixed. Only one kitten became socialized and I kept him as a pet for the last 12 years, unfortunately he passed away last December. Three were crazy wild and clawed out of a dog proof screen after I brought they home from being fixed, and one remained in the house. She is the only survivor of the litter and has remained an indoor feral, despite being trapped at about 8 weeks. She still panics if we cross paths and runs like she has seen the devil if my husband or I cross her path. She is very close to an older cat I have, who I think she mistook for her mother once the whole trapping and spaying and living in the bathroom for a while was finally over. So, what should I do about these four kittens? I am hesitant to bring them in because they seem very wild. This is partly because I had recent breast cancer surgery and was instructed not to get all scratched up or cut, even from non-cat sources.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
I am considering contacting the Alley Cat Allies local support people and also the TNR Project,
Your recent surgery changes the landscape of this, if it were me, I'd contact one or the other, mention your TNR abilities but that you are hampered due to being in recovery from breast cancer surgery.
My guess is that they will find a way to help you. :redheartpump:
 
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fionasmom

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Thank you for your replies. I am in the general Pasadena area and I do know of a couple of groups I am going to contact today. If you have any others, I will be happy to contact them as well.
 
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fionasmom

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I have not had any luck with returned calls from the groups I contacted. I do get it, these are all volunteers who are doing what they do after work or in their spare time, along with other commitments in their lives. As of today, I believe there are three kittens only. The entire litter and mother went missing over the weekend and I carefully canvassed the neighborhood for any sign of an opened garage that might have been closed and trapped them, but they did appear, very hungry on Monday with one less kitten. My husband has seen the kittens playing in the alley behind our house where the garages are at night, so they are independent enough to be out on their own. I tried to approach one but it was quite aggressive and would not get closer than 10 feet, ran under a parked car. I have no problem with trying to trap myself and am not afraid of a cat who is contained in a trap and needs to be transported; I just don't think they are going to be able to be brought inside. So my question is....how do I trap three kittens? Simultaneously, with three traps? One at a time? Hope for the best? Years ago when I did this it was sort of unorganized...one kitten walked into the trap with the mother but was too small to spay, so lived in the bathroom. She is the one I referred to previously who still lives the life of an indoor feral. A few days later I got both boys. A couple months later I got the two remaining females who were already pregnant. All trapping can be done on my property in the backyard area which is secured by a wall and fence. Thanks so much for the advice.
 

surya

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You can start feeding them at the same time every day. Then you can catch them separately. But I prefer to get more than one or all if I can. It make's it easier. In order to do this you can use the bottle and string method, so you wait till they all go into the trap and release it. Kittens are easier to catch because they are naïve. But it is more of a challenge when the mother sees you around, she will make a sound that tells them to hide. But if there is just one kitten around and it goes in the trap, go ahead and get it and just remove it quickly and set the trap back up for the next ones.

Here is a video that shows how to use a string and a water bottle to set off the trap:

 
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fionasmom

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Thank you! I had entirely forgotten about propping up the door to the trap so that it can be closed by me from a more distant location. I had to chuckle a little bit because the mother was already trapped and spayed in May, so she is completely aware of traps and has already warned the babies from even going to the food as I put it out for them. They do eat at the same time every day...6 AM and 6 PM.
 

surya

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It's so funny watching the mother heard the kittens. I have seen them scurry away with just a look from their mom.
:)
 
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fionasmom

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This mother cat has a cast iron hand over those kittens, possibly made worse by the fact that one of them is definitely missing and has been for a couple of weeks. I am actually very impressed watching her making them eat first...there is ample food for all....and then making them go back from where they came. One of the female kittens is a little bold and this morning was corned by my dog who loves cats having been rescued as a tiny puppy by a cat rescuer and additionally is very old with Cushings and a melanoma related amputation. He wanted to just see her but the mom ran out furiously and made the girl, who is a little to big to carry, go back home.
 
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fionasmom

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I am going to order an additional Havahart trap today, possibly the larger size hoping that more than one kitten will use it at the same time...with the bottle at the door method. Here is my next question and I know that no one can answer this with any certainty except what your own experience has been. Two of the kittens are calico, very clearly, so female. The other one is a black and white tuxedo who is the identical image of the father cat, who is a black and white tuxedo alley cat who has been untrappable. Right now I concern is the two females, but if I get the black and white he will go to the vet as well. So here is the question....would you assume that he is male because of his resemblance to the father? In my experience I have seen this go both ways.
 

surya

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I would not assume the tuxedo kitty is male, sometimes the girls get their looks from the dad too. Good luck catching them. Let us know how it goes.
 
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fionasmom

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I do agree with you and am going to try to trap starting Monday using the bottle and string method.
 
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fionasmom

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Thank you. This morning the mom seemed to "tell" the kittens not to eat in the traps. I had been putting out some dry food as well for the mom and the other spayed feral, but now they are all trying to eat that and must be getting a little bit hungry. I will feed again tonight and see what happens.
 
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fionasmom

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This morning I set up the traps with the soda bottles and string, which made it necessary for me to get a small ladder and stand on the other side of the wall to my property as the cats eat near the back. I had tried to move the food but they did not follow. No doubt they intuited where I was or the mom did, as nothing happened. Finally I went inside, having set the traps the regular way. A little while later the black and white kitten was in the trap...no sign of the others. I took him to the vet. I left the remaining trap set and a few hours later a young cat, not of this litter, who has been around for food went into it. I figured that I should not release him/her so took this cat to the vet as well. Vet just called to say that there is a clear incision that they firmly believe is a spay incision and they feel confident not doing surgery. I am going to let her stay overnight since they did have to anesthetize her to check.

How should I handle feeding when the other cats come home? If I put food only in the trap, they won't get anything to eat, especially the kitten as I don't think that he hunts on his own or has any other food source.
 

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It is good for them to be hungry. It makes them easier to catch. So I would just put food in the trap. Don't leave the trap unattended for too long, when they see their friends in there all upset it makes them harder to trap. Sometimes if I am unsuccessful trapping, I leave food for them after I remove the trap. I don't want them to go too long without eating. But they will be OK going one day without food. I would continue trying to use the bottle method because you want to get all the babies before you get their mom. And if you catch her and then release her, she will be harder to trap again. They need her to protect them, so leave her for last. It's good you got the young cat checked out to see if it had been fixed. If it's a tame stray you could check with rescues in your area to see if they could help getting her adopted. Good luck catching the rest of the kittens.
 
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fionasmom

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The black and white cat that I trapped which was the identical image of the dad ended up being female, so you guys were right about not being fooled by appearance. The other cat was brought back from the vet and released in her own territory. She is either a pet who is not friendly by nature or a TNRed cat with no ear tip. I have encountered this several times around here and she can eat in my yard if she needs food. If she warms up I will try to do something g for her.
 

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She is either a pet who is not friendly by nature or a TNRed cat with no ear tip.
Do you know anyone else doing TNR in your neighbourhood? It's always a good idea to work together with other feral cat care takers. More traps, more hands, more people to wait around keeping an eye on the traps. It makes things a lot easier.

I agree, don't leave the traps set and unattended. One of the women I helped TNR a colony last year caught a raccoon by mistake. He managed to pull up the plate from the floor of the trap, so it was useless after that. We'd borrowed then from a rescue, so had to buy them a new one.

Also, some cats really panic and thrash around in the traps. They can hurt themselves, so you need to be there to cover the trap and keep them calm as soon as they're trapped.
 
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fionasmom

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People do TNR generally in the area, I know, but there is no one is close proximity to me. I found this out when a coyote jumped into a neighbor's yard and half ate her dog and several of us went door to door to warn people. No sign of the remaining cat family, mom or two calico girls. The previously spayed gray cat was back at its old place this morning, but is never desperate for food. Released the one kitten I caught this morning and it ran back to the last place I had seen the family...so the plot continues.
 

surya

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How old was the kitten? I was hoping you were going to tame them so they could be adopted.
 
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