Separating Feral Kittens?

[mariek]

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.

 

[Furballsmom]

Awww, she's gorgeous!!
Holy cats !!mama!! that's a big brood!
I've read many times that if a person can leave the kittens with their mama until 10-12 weeks old, they do so much better, learn so much more from mama and end up more competant felines all around.
Could you work it somehow that you bring the little ones in, and sort of schedule feedings where you let them back out to mama on the porch....
Bless your heart for doing all the things that you are!!

 

[mariek]

We could certainly try that out! I'd feel much better with them out of the outdoors but still being able to interact with their mom until their older.

 

[mariek]

It's been a while and I wanted to give a bit of an update!

Mama cat has been spayed!
What we ended up doing for kittens is cleaning up an old storage/mudroom connected to my basement which leads outside but separated from the main basement. The door is old so neither of us minded knocking a hole in the door for mama cat kittens & mom could have food/water access 24/7 out of the elements and mama cat could come and go as she pleased! She still comes to see them at 12 weeks but doesn't tolerate their antics as much.

The top row have all gone to homes, the remaining three haven't had luck but as of today I am waiting to hear back from someone who may want the remaining boy. I'm unsure how long I can care for these little ones so have contacted shelters just in case but none would be able to take them without high risk of euthanizing due to lack of room so I don't want to give up! I do worry about their vaccines, we cant afford to get them in at the moment but did get them de-wormed. These pictures were taken at 8 weeks before I started looking for homes.

The owners of the top row in order named them Tigger, Jazzy, and Blaze They've settled well into their new homes!

 

[surya]

You can take them away from the mom as young as four weeks old when the mother is feral. That is not ideal, but they have a better chance at a good life when you take them and get them socialized. It sounds like you came up with a good solution. They learn social skills from the mother, so in a perfect world it is good for them to stay with her longer. I would take them away from the mom when they are eight weeks. Is there a rescue group who could help you get the kittens fixed and get them adopted? They are very cute!

 

[mariek]

My only option would be the TNR group who also does low cost pet spay/neuters, but the finding homes would probably still be up to me. All shelters and rescue groups I've contacted near me are currently over loaded with cats.

Their little set up in the mudroom has worked well so far but as it starts to get colder outside I'm trying to work out setting the remaining kittens up in a spare bedroom away from my indoor cats.