Our "little Yellow" Very Young Mother Cat

[George T]

To all those following our "little Yellow" story. Here's an update on the current situation:

Little Yellow and her baby's are doing fine. Little Yellow has been working to train them to eat food. And it's working. But they are still not weened completely.
Our biggest problem is the fact that we have not been able to gather the babies up using the trap.

Right now we are happy to have them getting closer to us while in feeding mode. What will happen next is a mystery for us.

I will keep you posted as things develop.

Regards,
George&Sheila

 

[George T]

To all my friends out there that have been following our "little Yellow"story. I know it's been a while since I wrote an update.
Things are going well with Little Yellow and her babies. They are now eating soft food on a regular basis.
And that presented us with a chance to gather them up. And that is exactly what happened last evening.

We brought our indoor cats in early from the enclosed patio allowing us to open the north door to the patio, and leave it opened. Then we set out three bowls of food and quietly started watching the results.

Didn't take long until all of them were on our patio having dinner. Then the babies started exploring the patio and really enjoying the experience. Little Yellow stayed on the patio also and mostly just watched the fun the babies were having.

A miracle was now in the works!
We decided to just leave the door open for the night and see what happened. We watched then for a couple of hours just playing and exploring. Then Little Yellow decided to join them on a large chair that has comfy pads in place.
She settled in and the babies started nursing. In the end all three went to sleep and spent the entire night on our patio.

This morning they were still inside. I was able to close the door. They are now safe on our patio.
The babies are adapting rapidly, and are very playful. They seem quite comfortable with the situation. However that is not the case with Little Yellow.
Once she realized she could not go outside she became very spooked out and would no longer let me pet her. She spent a long time looking for a way out. Finally gave up looking and went into hiding. So far I've not been able to coax her out. Usually she eats more food by afternoon. And I have it placed where she can see it and the water that goes with it. Hopefully when dinner time comes around she will come out at eat.

I'm assuming that I should not push the issue with her for now and into tomorrow. Just monitor the situation. Spend time on the patio so she can see me. And hope her trust in me will return soon.
I'm hoping the babies will come out when I put food down, and maby Little Yellow will also come out to eat when her babies come out

The babies have not come back out since this morning. But they were out for quite a while, just like they were doing when outside. Then, like when outside, they just decided to take cover and rest. Currently they are still resting. When they were out side then would usually not come out to play till late afternoon.
Hopefully, later this afternoon they will re emerge from their rest.

Any advice anyone can give me to help me understand what to expect will be appreciated. Along with any information you can supply me with to make this adaption have a happy outcome!!
hoping to hear from those of you who have a wealth of information that I'm not aware of.

Regards,
George&Sheila

 

[orange&white]

Oh, how wonderful! That's the news I've been waiting to read.

Hopefully Little Yellow will calm down. The kittens are young enough to be easily socialized. Spend as much time as possible on the patio. You can talk to them, read to them, try dragging a toy on a string to encourage them to come out and play. I'd start handling them as soon as you are able.

Since Little Yellow knows you and loves you, it shouldn't take her too much time to adjust to indoor living. Hopefully. Some stray/feral cats don't transition to indoor living well, but most do. Just set your expectations to be patient with her for several weeks while she gets used to the idea of having a good loving home.

I'm just so happy to read this news!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Admittedly I didn't look back through this thread to see if these have already been posted for you, my apologies if they have.

If not, I'm hoping there's something in these two articles that might be useful for you.

There's also a link to yet another article in the "get a cat to come out of hiding" article under the feral cat hiding section, that could be useful as well.

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

How To Get A Cat To Come Out Of Hiding?

I agree that talking with them, sitting with them, and playing with the kittens is a great idea.

Possibly try playing some classical harp music - nobody knows why this instrument in particular, but it seems marvelous for calming felines.

 

[ileen]

That's so great to have the complete family living on/in? your patio! So your other cats will be indoor only, no patio until they get introduced to the Yellow family? I'm so happy your patience paid off. Please take photos & post them when you are able.

 

[George T]

Oh, how wonderful! That's the news I've been waiting to read.

Hopefully Little Yellow will calm down. The kittens are young enough to be easily socialized. Spend as much time as possible on the patio. You can talk to them, read to them, try dragging a toy on a string to encourage them to come out and play. I'd start handling them as soon as you are able.

Since Little Yellow knows you and loves you, it shouldn't take her too much time to adjust to indoor living. Hopefully. Some stray/feral cats don't transition to indoor living well, but most do. Just set your expectations to be patient with her for several weeks while she gets used to the idea of having a good loving home.

I'm just so happy to read this news!

Hi orange&white,
Thanks for your comments. Little Yellow has calmed down late this afternoon and has come out with her babies. The babies and Little Yellow cleaned out the bowls that Sheila put out for them around 6pm. The food was gone by around 7pm. Then the "baby play" started up. That's GOOD news!!

They are now reacting like they did last night when we opened our patio door for them, and they spent the night.

What a relief for us! We were very concerned because their pattern had changed from patio fun last night to hiding out all of today until late this afternoon. Now they are recovering from the disturbance caused from "capturing" them last night, in a positive way!

Time now is 9pm and they are settling down into the padded chair for some sleep time.

More updates tomorrow.

Regards,
George&Sheila

 

[George T]

Hi! Admittedly I didn't look back through this thread to see if these have already been posted for you, my apologies if they have.

If not, I'm hoping there's something in these two articles that might be useful for you.

There's also a link to yet another article in the "get a cat to come out of hiding" article under the feral cat hiding section, that could be useful as well.

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

How To Get A Cat To Come Out Of Hiding?

I agree that talking with them, sitting with them, and playing with the kittens is a great idea.

Possibly try playing some classical harp music - nobody knows why this instrument in particular, but it seems marvelous for calming felines.

Thanks for your comments Furballsmom. Greatly appreciated . Some very good advice.
Read earlier comments to "orange and white".
Regards,
George&Sheila

 

[George T]

That's so great to have the complete family living on/in? your patio! So your other cats will be indoor only, no patio until they get introduced to the Yellow family? I'm so happy your patience paid off. Please take photos & post them when you are able.

Hi ileen,
Yes our other cats will be staying inside until we can start introducing our new family members to them.
Only about three of our current family of 7 cats may be an issue as they are male's.

Regards,
George&Sheila
PS: Thank you for all the comments and advice I received today!!

NOTE: see earlier posts to read Little Yellow's story from yesterday to current time frame.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[George T]

Hi ileen,
Yes our other cats will be staying inside until we can start introducing our new family members to them.
Only about three of our current family of 7 cats may be an issue as they are male's.

Regards,
George&Sheila
PS: Thank you for all the comments and advice I received today!!

NOTE: see earlier posts to read Little Yellow's story from yesterday to current time frame.

Hi ileen,
Yes our other cats will be staying inside until we can start introducing our new family members to them.
Only about three of our current family of 7 cats may be an issue as they are male's.

Regards,
George&Sheila
PS: Thank you for all the comments and advice I received today!!

NOTE: see earlier posts to read Little Yellow's story from yesterday to current time frame.

 

[orange&white]

Now, George, we are really expecting an update (and bonus pictures). Don't tease us like that!

 

[George T]

Updates on Little Yellow and her babies for this Sunday:

Things have gone very well today. The babies were up early and very active. Little Yellow has become very loving with me today, as she has been in the past. I'm a happy camper! She showed up for breakfast with her babies around 7am this morning.
During the middle of the day the babies spent sleeping to gain more energy for this evening's frolics. They spend a lot of time wearing down Little Yellow for attention.

We have named Little Yellow's babies now Here are their names:
Yellow2 and MC2. Yellow 2 is a spitten image of Little Yellow. And MC2 is a spitten image of his/her father, MC.

I'm attaching some photos of our family that I took today. Enjoy!!

George&Sheila

 

[orange&white]

Oh my goodness...so precious! I could just squeal with delight. Adorable!

 

[ileen]

I love that last picture! I wonder if you'll have any kitties that want to swim in the pool.

 

[orange&white]

Looks like the two kits are ready to compete in synchronized swimming, for sure!

 

[George T]

Oh my go

Looks like the two kits are ready to compete in synchronized swimming, for sure!

odness...so precious! I could just squeal with delight. Adorable!

Sheila and I are just overwhelmed with the joy we feel now that they are safe and under our control.
Of course, there is more ahead,like introducing them to our other seven kittys that currently are under "house arrest" due to not wanting to start cat fights . We have a plan for the introductions,but they will take a while to employ.

For now we just want to make sure they are "happy campers". And they are!

It's going to be touchy when we begin the integration, but we will proceed with caution, introducing them to our brood one at a time.

As time permits I'll post pictures of Little Yellow and MC (the father) that I took way back late in March.

Oh, by the way, Little Yellow and her kittens are already using the litter box we set up. Not one poop or pee anywhere on the patio as of this writing. I find that really hard to believe. But I was privy to watching the babies introduction to the litter box!

More updates to follow as I have the time.
Regards,
George&Sheila

I love that last picture! I wonder if you'll have any kitties that want to swim in the pool.

Most likely not. Over the years we have never had a cat that liked to swim in our pool. Of course that doesn't mean some of ended up in the pool. But not for long! hehe

 

[George T]

I understand that the "kitty olimpics" will feature syncro cat swimming later this year! I'm gonna enter MC and Yellow2 in that event!

We introduced one of our kitties into the life of Little Yellow and her babies today. "Little Guy"
(a male cat) was totally spooked when Little Yellow swatted him when he got to close to Yellow 2. He then retreated to a safe place on the patio. So it appears that he will not be a threat to Little Yellow. He has shown "respect" for Little Yellow, and that's good!

We will keep introducing others of our cat family one at a time until the integration is complete. HOPEFULLY!!

Regards all,
George & Sheila

 

[Willowy]

Yay! Glad to hear you got them inside. A long-handled spoon with chicken baby food on it can go a long way toward making friends . Also just sitting in the room, reading or knitting or something else quiet, so they can get used to you.

I'm confused by the dark tabby kitten! Orange mama cats can only have orange or tortie/calico kittens. So either that's a torbie with very little orange, or Little Yellow adopted that one!

 

[George T]

Yay! Glad to hear you got them inside. A long-handled spoon with chicken baby food on it can go a long way toward making friends . Also just sitting in the room, reading or knitting or something else quiet, so they can get used to you.

I'm confused by the dark tabby kitten! Orange mama cats can only have orange or tortie/calico kittens. So either that's a torbie with very little orange, or Little Yellow adopted that one!

Hi Willowy,
I'm far from being a guru on cats, so I don't have a clue.
But here is what I do know. And the pictures show what I know. They were taken early on, back in late March of "Little yellow and MC cat. And he was a regular around Little Yellow every day until soon after Little Yellow's babies were born. I'm convinced he was the father, but I can't prove it. But I do have a lot of photos that show why I think it was "MC" kitty that made Little Yellow pregnant.
I have attached them to this response.

 

[George T]

By the way,to those that have been following my story of "little yellow" and her babies, here is an update:

As most of you know, we have captured Little Yellow and her babies into our control.
Over the last number days we have been successful in integrating them into our other seven member cat family. Our family has now expanded to 10 members, just like we hoped would happen! There are still some occasional "burps" but not many.
The babies are still quite spooked when they see us. But they are beginning to warm up up to us, a little at at a time.
Sheila and I are Happy Campers, having Little Yellow,MC2 and Yellow2 safely in our family!
I'll try to update as often as possible.
Regards,
George&Sheila