- Joined
- Mar 5, 2018
- Messages
- 4
- Purraise
- 7
Hi everyone,
I made the following posts on another community, but figured that this community may be better equipped to provide timely advice.
The following was posted on Wednesday night:
The following update was posted tonight (Monday/Tuesday):
The TLDR version is that I rescued a mother cat and her two kittens, but have seen three kittens on previous occasions prior to a sizable thunderstorm that occurred today. I'm wondering how to best find it if it's still alive (which I truly hope it is).
Thank you.
I made the following posts on another community, but figured that this community may be better equipped to provide timely advice.
The following was posted on Wednesday night:
I am hoping for some advice on a time sensitive attempt at rescuing a mother and her three kittens. I've just returned home (it's now 12:30AM) after spending a few hours scoping out the situation.
At approximately 9:30PM, after picking up my girlfriend from work, we were on the way to grab a late dinner when I spotted something near a storm drain. Obviously, it's not unusual for it to simply be debris or rubbish from a previous storm, but it was odd enough for me to decide to stop the car and turn around. Sure enough, it was a mother with her three kittens huddled together.
Being a bit startled from the car pulling over, they took cover in the storm drain, but remained towards the opening. I called my mother to meet us there and bring a cage and some food, since I figured if I went to my house for supplies, the mother and her kittens would likely be gone by the time I returned.
For the next 20 minutes, we sat approximately 15-20ft away from the storm drain encouraging them to come out. Adorably, the kittens kept curiously popping their heads out. The problem is that the storm drain is located on a connecting road, so cars and trucks are frequently speeding past. On a few occasions, one or two of the kittens would jump out of the storm drain and sit in the gutter, but then quickly retreat once the next car or truck came along.
Eventually, my mother arrived with the cage and food. We sat the food a few feet away from the storm drain (and more importantly, the road), hoping that the close proximity would give them the confidence to venture out. It worked, sort of, but was ultimately unsuccessful due to unfortunate timing.
The bravest (or hungriest, maybe both) kitten jumped up, made a beeline for the food and started chowing down. It looked healthy, was obviously old enough to eat wet food, but was small. Based on photo comparisons, I can't imagine it (and they) were older than eight weeks, but it was dark and hard to precisely determine.
Moments later, the mother jumped up with the other two kittens close behind, but just as they'd realised where the food was, a truck rounded the corner. One of the kittens panicked and started running across the road. My mother, concerned that it might get run over, leapt out in front of it, consequently scaring all of them back into the storm drain. I knew it was going to be tough to gain their trust again.
We waited around a while longer, but the mother and her kittens retreated deeper into the drain system. My mother returned home, and my girlfriend and I decided to drop the plate of food into the storm drain (thankfully, it landed the correct side up, which was no easy task) and grab some takeaway.
Surprisingly, approximately 20 minutes later on the way home, we spotted them again, but this time in an alternate storm drain on the other side of the road. This time, we stayed in the car and simply observed them. The mother went roaming, whilst the kittens remained in the storm drain. After a little bit, there was meowing (which sounded like the mother calling for the kittens), and they were gone.
Checking on the plate of food in the first storm drain, it appeared that it had been mostly consumed. We dropped another plate of food in the second storm drain, and called it a night, hoping that they'd be safe until we could find them again.
Obviously, the mother appears to be doing a good job, and we don't want to separate the kittens from the mother (especially due to uncertainty regarding their age). It would be great if all of them could be rescued. The environment is not very safe for them. As previously mentioned, the road they're hanging around is quite busy (especially during the day), and there is also the risk of other wildlife (roaming dogs, foxes, etc.). So, given the option of only rescuing the kittens, I don't know if that would be in their best interests or if I should leave them with the mother.
Any suggestions on how to approach this situation and (if appropriate) how to catch them would be greatly appreciated. I sense that time is of the essence, so I don't know if gaining their trust through routine feeding is the answer.
At approximately 9:30PM, after picking up my girlfriend from work, we were on the way to grab a late dinner when I spotted something near a storm drain. Obviously, it's not unusual for it to simply be debris or rubbish from a previous storm, but it was odd enough for me to decide to stop the car and turn around. Sure enough, it was a mother with her three kittens huddled together.
Being a bit startled from the car pulling over, they took cover in the storm drain, but remained towards the opening. I called my mother to meet us there and bring a cage and some food, since I figured if I went to my house for supplies, the mother and her kittens would likely be gone by the time I returned.
For the next 20 minutes, we sat approximately 15-20ft away from the storm drain encouraging them to come out. Adorably, the kittens kept curiously popping their heads out. The problem is that the storm drain is located on a connecting road, so cars and trucks are frequently speeding past. On a few occasions, one or two of the kittens would jump out of the storm drain and sit in the gutter, but then quickly retreat once the next car or truck came along.
Eventually, my mother arrived with the cage and food. We sat the food a few feet away from the storm drain (and more importantly, the road), hoping that the close proximity would give them the confidence to venture out. It worked, sort of, but was ultimately unsuccessful due to unfortunate timing.
The bravest (or hungriest, maybe both) kitten jumped up, made a beeline for the food and started chowing down. It looked healthy, was obviously old enough to eat wet food, but was small. Based on photo comparisons, I can't imagine it (and they) were older than eight weeks, but it was dark and hard to precisely determine.
Moments later, the mother jumped up with the other two kittens close behind, but just as they'd realised where the food was, a truck rounded the corner. One of the kittens panicked and started running across the road. My mother, concerned that it might get run over, leapt out in front of it, consequently scaring all of them back into the storm drain. I knew it was going to be tough to gain their trust again.
We waited around a while longer, but the mother and her kittens retreated deeper into the drain system. My mother returned home, and my girlfriend and I decided to drop the plate of food into the storm drain (thankfully, it landed the correct side up, which was no easy task) and grab some takeaway.
Surprisingly, approximately 20 minutes later on the way home, we spotted them again, but this time in an alternate storm drain on the other side of the road. This time, we stayed in the car and simply observed them. The mother went roaming, whilst the kittens remained in the storm drain. After a little bit, there was meowing (which sounded like the mother calling for the kittens), and they were gone.
Checking on the plate of food in the first storm drain, it appeared that it had been mostly consumed. We dropped another plate of food in the second storm drain, and called it a night, hoping that they'd be safe until we could find them again.
Obviously, the mother appears to be doing a good job, and we don't want to separate the kittens from the mother (especially due to uncertainty regarding their age). It would be great if all of them could be rescued. The environment is not very safe for them. As previously mentioned, the road they're hanging around is quite busy (especially during the day), and there is also the risk of other wildlife (roaming dogs, foxes, etc.). So, given the option of only rescuing the kittens, I don't know if that would be in their best interests or if I should leave them with the mother.
Any suggestions on how to approach this situation and (if appropriate) how to catch them would be greatly appreciated. I sense that time is of the essence, so I don't know if gaining their trust through routine feeding is the answer.
The following update was posted tonight (Monday/Tuesday):
I do have an update on the situation, but it's not ideal.
Every night since I made the original post, I've been placing food in a humane trap and then observing for three to four hours. Even though the humane trap uses a pressure plate to trigger the door closing, I was worried that it could potentially injure/kill a kitten if it were standing in the door frame, so I opted to simply prop up a corner of the door with a small cardboard box attached to approximately 60ft of cord, and then manually trigger the door by pulling on the cord when I could confirm that the mother and all three of the kittens were accounted for.
Anyway, each night there was one or two opportunities to trap them all simultaneously, which were ultimately ruined by bad timing (i.e. a car speeding past) or nearby people being oblivious (or in one case, acting quite selfishly). One of the kittens was extremely cautious, so even when the mother and other two kittens were happily eating within the trap, it would take several minutes of inactivity (i.e. no cars or loud noises) for it to build enough confidence to run out of the storm drain and investigate. The whole process made me quite anxious, but I was confident that if they remained in the same area, and nothing happened to them in the meantime, I would eventually get them.
Today my worst fears were realised when there was a sizable thunderstorm with a heavy downpour of rain. The storm drains outside my house were flooded with water, and the whole time I was just hoping that the mother had relocated the kittens somewhere safe.
Earlier tonight (approximately six hours ago), I went through the routine of setting the trap with food and observing. The mother entered, ate, and left to retrieve her kittens. Two kittens emerged, entered, and ate whilst their mother sat outside the trap. However, I never saw the third kitten. This isn't unusual, as mentioned above, one of the kittens is extremely cautious, and there was still traffic driving by and it was lightly raining.
I placed more food in the trap and waited. Again, the mother entered, but this time she stopped eating, remained in the trap, and audibly cried out for her kittens to join her, but only two of them did. At this point, I was concerned about the third kitten. I didn't know if something had happened to it during the thunderstorm or if it was still waiting in the storm drain. I was debating with myself what to do, but was rushed by the mother turning to leave the trap. I pulled the cord and trapped the mother with two of the kittens.
Immediately afterwards, I started to panic that I wasn't going to be able to find the third kitten. I checked both of the storm drain openings, but there was no sign of it. I left the mother and two kittens in the trap briefly hoping that they would call out for the third kitten, but they didn't make a peep (likely due to being petrified). I also left food on top of the storm drain hoping to lure it out, but still, there was no sign of it.
At this point, I'm absolutely devastated. Although the mother and two kittens are doing fine thus far (they've been sleeping snugly on a cushioned bed with warm blankets in our guest bathroom, but the mother did hiss and growl at me when I entered to top up their food), I can't stop thinking about the third kitten. I don't know if it became lost or died during the thunderstorm, or if it was still in the storm drain and fled when it heard the trap close. The thought of it being alone without its mother or siblings to keep it warm (it's a colder night than usual, about 16c with wind gusts), and perhaps without the ability to find its own way or seek out the food I've left it, is soul destroying. I'm going to go look for it again shortly (4:00AM), and will look again tonight (7:00PM), but I fear the worst if I don't find it on either of these occasions.
Every night since I made the original post, I've been placing food in a humane trap and then observing for three to four hours. Even though the humane trap uses a pressure plate to trigger the door closing, I was worried that it could potentially injure/kill a kitten if it were standing in the door frame, so I opted to simply prop up a corner of the door with a small cardboard box attached to approximately 60ft of cord, and then manually trigger the door by pulling on the cord when I could confirm that the mother and all three of the kittens were accounted for.
Anyway, each night there was one or two opportunities to trap them all simultaneously, which were ultimately ruined by bad timing (i.e. a car speeding past) or nearby people being oblivious (or in one case, acting quite selfishly). One of the kittens was extremely cautious, so even when the mother and other two kittens were happily eating within the trap, it would take several minutes of inactivity (i.e. no cars or loud noises) for it to build enough confidence to run out of the storm drain and investigate. The whole process made me quite anxious, but I was confident that if they remained in the same area, and nothing happened to them in the meantime, I would eventually get them.
Today my worst fears were realised when there was a sizable thunderstorm with a heavy downpour of rain. The storm drains outside my house were flooded with water, and the whole time I was just hoping that the mother had relocated the kittens somewhere safe.
Earlier tonight (approximately six hours ago), I went through the routine of setting the trap with food and observing. The mother entered, ate, and left to retrieve her kittens. Two kittens emerged, entered, and ate whilst their mother sat outside the trap. However, I never saw the third kitten. This isn't unusual, as mentioned above, one of the kittens is extremely cautious, and there was still traffic driving by and it was lightly raining.
I placed more food in the trap and waited. Again, the mother entered, but this time she stopped eating, remained in the trap, and audibly cried out for her kittens to join her, but only two of them did. At this point, I was concerned about the third kitten. I didn't know if something had happened to it during the thunderstorm or if it was still waiting in the storm drain. I was debating with myself what to do, but was rushed by the mother turning to leave the trap. I pulled the cord and trapped the mother with two of the kittens.
Immediately afterwards, I started to panic that I wasn't going to be able to find the third kitten. I checked both of the storm drain openings, but there was no sign of it. I left the mother and two kittens in the trap briefly hoping that they would call out for the third kitten, but they didn't make a peep (likely due to being petrified). I also left food on top of the storm drain hoping to lure it out, but still, there was no sign of it.
At this point, I'm absolutely devastated. Although the mother and two kittens are doing fine thus far (they've been sleeping snugly on a cushioned bed with warm blankets in our guest bathroom, but the mother did hiss and growl at me when I entered to top up their food), I can't stop thinking about the third kitten. I don't know if it became lost or died during the thunderstorm, or if it was still in the storm drain and fled when it heard the trap close. The thought of it being alone without its mother or siblings to keep it warm (it's a colder night than usual, about 16c with wind gusts), and perhaps without the ability to find its own way or seek out the food I've left it, is soul destroying. I'm going to go look for it again shortly (4:00AM), and will look again tonight (7:00PM), but I fear the worst if I don't find it on either of these occasions.
The TLDR version is that I rescued a mother cat and her two kittens, but have seen three kittens on previous occasions prior to a sizable thunderstorm that occurred today. I'm wondering how to best find it if it's still alive (which I truly hope it is).
Thank you.
Good job, sir!!
