Possibly feral kitten outside my house

sphinx97

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So I woke up at 5 am because of constant meowing, I thought it was my car as he was outside at the time but it was a tiny kitten,about 2-3 months only he was tiny and he was just under my windowsill beside the bins, he went on for another hour and I couldn’t get him so I went back to sleep. Woke up again at half seven for my boyfriend to go to work and the kitten was still there under the cars. I tried to lure him out with food but he goes completely into the car from the underneath and hides untill you go away. I left some cat nuts for him n he ate them all he’s starving by the looks of things. It is noW 8:20 he’s gone into one of the gardens beside my house but I left more food outside where he was all morning incase he comes back soon. He’s just going around meowing he’s looking for someone.. weirdly enough when you go “pshpshpsh” like to call a cat the kitten meows almost every time so there’s a possibility he’s not feral just young and terrified..

Can anyone give any advice on what to do?
 

Norachan

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Is there any way you can get hold of a humane trap? Vet clinics often have them, shelters and TNR groups rent them out too. If he will come for food you should be able to trap him and bring him indoors. Here's a video on how to use a humane trap.


Thank you for trying to help him, he really won't survive long on his own outside
 
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sphinx97

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No sadly I don’t drive, I won’t be able to get anywhere that would have one until Friday, there’s no vet or shelters in the village I live in 😒

One of the neighbours was trying to help me lure him over into a pet carrier I have with food but he ran off into one of the gardens,haven’t seen him since so he is gone into one of the gardens beside that,maybe under a shed or something... I have rang a local cat shelter but they said that can’t Come out and just look in the estate for the cat if I’m not sure where he is 🙄🙄 I have food left out for him where he was crying all night, I’m just hoping he’ll come back, there’s lots of foxes around the area so it’s definitely not safe for such a small kitten
 

Norachan

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One thing you could try is contacting shelters and TNR groups and ask if they will lend you a trap, then pay the postage on having it delivered to you. Do you have UPS in your city/country? Or another delivery service? I one had to borrow a trap from a shelter in Tokyo. They let me have it free of charge, as long as I paid delivery charges when I got the trap. It was worth it, I managed to TNR about a dozen cats in the two weeks I had it.

Some groups you could try.

TNR Dublin Area

Feral Cats Ireland

Feral Cat Awareness Week 8th – 14th August

TNR Volunteers -

Leave some food out for the kitten during the day, but not at night if there are foxes around. The smell of the food will attract them to the area.

Good luck, thank you for trying to help him.
 

Sarthur2

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I agree, if you continue feeding him, perhaps you can catch him one way or another. Poor thing sounds starved and frightened. He may have been dumped out in your area.
 
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sphinx97

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That sounds like a great idea, I will get ringing now and see if I can get ups or another delivery service to do it!! I love in Clare in Ireland, there’s lots of shelters in villages nearby and bigger cities but sadly none of them are willing to come out and catch the kitten, they said if I trap him they can collect him but unless it’s a whole litter of cats or something like that then they can’t really do much coz they can’t just walk around the estate looking for him/her...

in the meantime I placed a cat carrier outside where he was hiding all night, there’s cat food and treats in there and a little bowl with water beside it...

I just wish I could explain to the cat that I want to help, it’s so frightened, it was literally screaming since 5am up untill 7 am almost non stop Which is why I have a bad feeling something must have happened to it’s mother, maybe they got chased by a fox and got separated or something, the kittens meows were just so frantic like it didn’t know what was happening...

I have a male neutered cat that goes in and out of the house daily, I’ve kept him in all day tho just incase he scares the kitten away. I don’t know much about cat behaviour towards young that aren’t theirs, if I let him out would the kitten be less likely to come back or would he want to come to my car for protection?? Just a newbie question as my boyfriend suggested I try to let our cat over to it and maybe it will make the kitten feel more secure but I just don’t know if a male cat would have maternal instincts towards a cat they don’t know..? I mean he greets people,children and strangers on the road so he isfriendly but not sure how he would be with a baby cat....
 

Norachan

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I have a male cat who loves kittens, but not all male cats do. Also, you don't know if the kitten has fleas or any diseases so it's not a good idea to let him have direct contact with your cat until he's been checked over by a vet.

Another member made a recording of a mother cat calling kittens. You could try using this to lure the kittens out of hiding.

I need a sound recording of mom cat "trumpeting" call for kittens
 
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sphinx97

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Yeah that’s true you never know how he’s gonna be really...

I just played that video and my cat looked like he was hypnotised:lol::lol::lol: I’m gonna go and try that coz this might really work to get him out I’m gonna try and put this sound on on my phone and put the phone into the carrier and maybe he’ll go in if I step away a bit .

Thanks so much for the help!! I just need to trap him, there’s a small local cat shelter that deals with wild cats, they said if I can trap him they’ll come out and bring him into their sanctuary, they recon Since he’s so young they might be able to socialise him/her and rehome them
 

moxiewild

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You said you have a cat carrier, so that really all you need to trap him!

You can tie a long string to the door, hide (or stand far enough away that he’s comfortable), and pull the string to close the door once he goes in.

It would help if you start placing the food in the carrier to help prepare him for it!

Also, are you talking about red foxes? Or grey foxes? A grey would be highly unlikely to go after a 4 month old kitten. A red would be slightly more likely, but only if food/natural prey was scarce.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but don’t leave food out at night regardless!

Edit - whoops, forgot you said you’re in Ireland! So that would had a red fox! Unless the kitten is obviously sick/injured and/or food is scarce, a red fox will likely leave it alone!
 
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sphinx97

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Yeah I have a carrier, I have left it with food tucked behind the bins which is where he was since 4am till like 8am so I’m hoping he will come over and get used to the idea of feeding in it, the front door is open and the back door If it has like a half opening so I have that open for now so that he thinks it’s safe and he has two ways out if he does come over. I will attach a string now actually because I think I can make it work so that I can close it from inside the house through the window like that.
 

fionasmom

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You are very kind to help this kitten who is clearly desperate. Make sure when you pull the string from inside, which is a great idea, that he does not panic and bolt from the trap.
 
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sphinx97

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We’re all good now anyway, I couldn’t manage to trap him myself but kept him around the house for long enough. Found a local cat sanctuary that sent out two girls with traps they caught him after few hours and brought him back.

They will do checks on him and make sure he’s healthy and if it’s possible rehome him. They have a female cat that has kittens similar age to him so they’re hoping he’ll settle in. Thinking about adopting him but we’ll see if that will be possible :)

thank you everyone for the help, ye all contributed to saving a little kitten :) :)
 
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