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- Aug 1, 2018
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The feral queen who I have been working with for half a year now had another litter. Unfortunately when a neighbor tried to trap her it malfunctioned and she escaped so getting her back in one has been difficult. This is the same mother of the kitten I took in mentioned in my other thread.
However! My work with her has paid off and after weeks of thinking the kittens did not survive all the thunderstorms and flooding we had, she trusted us enough to bring the six kittens onto our porch. My father and I have blocked off the porch the best we could so that Mama cat can come and go but the kittens can't get off the porch.
So here is where I would greatly appreciate advice. Preferably we want to get these kittens socialized so they can go to homes. We are the only people on the road caring for the ferals and doing our best to get them in for TNR. Right now we are caring for Mama cat and her remaining feral daughter Boots, and really could not financially take care of another six outdoor cats if these kittens stay feral. Or afford to get this many spayed/neutered, really. For all of them including Mama cat it could be $300-$500 at nearest low cost clinic.
This week they will be 4 weeks old. I have been giving them watered down wet food and kitten chow hard food that was meant for Mama but they ate anyway. Mama cat herself seems very overwhelmed with the six of them (she is only about a year old) and is already cutting back on the nursing.
Luckily she lets me handle them, so if possible I'd love to keep them with her as long as I can socialize them at the same time. Is there an age that would be a good point to separate them? I worry once they hit a certain point they will be able to climb out of their little makeshift pen (they already try ) We have the room to bring the kittens in to finish off weaning if needed but can't bring the mother in also. Mama cat still needs to be spayed, and I planned on using the kittens to lure her into a trap but half the time she seems she just wants to ignore them most of the time anyway
If anyone has gone through something similar, what did you do? How is the best way to go about this? The whole six months I've been working with her she'd greet me with hisses, and now that I've been helping her with her babies she actually came up and wanted to snuggle up to me!It was quite the shock, I never thought I would get to that point with her. I'm very attached to her regardless if she hisses or not I want to do the best I can for Mama cat and her babies.
However! My work with her has paid off and after weeks of thinking the kittens did not survive all the thunderstorms and flooding we had, she trusted us enough to bring the six kittens onto our porch. My father and I have blocked off the porch the best we could so that Mama cat can come and go but the kittens can't get off the porch.
So here is where I would greatly appreciate advice. Preferably we want to get these kittens socialized so they can go to homes. We are the only people on the road caring for the ferals and doing our best to get them in for TNR. Right now we are caring for Mama cat and her remaining feral daughter Boots, and really could not financially take care of another six outdoor cats if these kittens stay feral. Or afford to get this many spayed/neutered, really. For all of them including Mama cat it could be $300-$500 at nearest low cost clinic.
This week they will be 4 weeks old. I have been giving them watered down wet food and kitten chow hard food that was meant for Mama but they ate anyway. Mama cat herself seems very overwhelmed with the six of them (she is only about a year old) and is already cutting back on the nursing.
Luckily she lets me handle them, so if possible I'd love to keep them with her as long as I can socialize them at the same time. Is there an age that would be a good point to separate them? I worry once they hit a certain point they will be able to climb out of their little makeshift pen (they already try ) We have the room to bring the kittens in to finish off weaning if needed but can't bring the mother in also. Mama cat still needs to be spayed, and I planned on using the kittens to lure her into a trap but half the time she seems she just wants to ignore them most of the time anyway
If anyone has gone through something similar, what did you do? How is the best way to go about this? The whole six months I've been working with her she'd greet me with hisses, and now that I've been helping her with her babies she actually came up and wanted to snuggle up to me!It was quite the shock, I never thought I would get to that point with her. I'm very attached to her regardless if she hisses or not I want to do the best I can for Mama cat and her babies.