Shrinking Litters Of Feral Barn Cats

nev

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read through some posts but feel real bad. we split time between a ranch in Nor Cal bay area. and a city. we have a small colony of barn cats that we haven't been able to catch , getting close to being able to touch a few when feeding , most are fixed but someone dumped a few at the barn that aren't.
some live in the barn and a some under the house, there are eagles, owls , coyotes, foxes, bobcats and raccoons as predators . i was able to catch two kittens from a litter of 4 this evening. i think they are at least 5 to 6 weeks old. the mother cat is staying around the location that i grabbed the kittens.I feel bad. been wondering if i should leave the kittens under the house with the mother. but know that to of her litter are already gone and the other cat who had 3 is down to 1. we are leaving town for a vacation in 2 days otherwise we would keep them as i strongly believe they will be eaten by something. going to bring them to the city and have our kids watch them while we are gone and then take them to the vet for check up and shots and eventually be spayed or neutered.

are we doing the right and or humane thing by separating them from their mother who lives in our barn and under our home? we also have a raccoon that stays frequently under the house with a couple of other cats.
 

maggiedemi

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Are they eating on their own? If so, yes I think it's the right thing to do, get them neutered/spayed. Are you going to adopt them out or bring them back to the barn? They might be able to be socialized, since they are so young.
 

di and bob

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They are definitely being killed by something if they are disappearing. Owls got many of mine, the road the rest. It is nature, only the strongest and smartest survive, but with such small kittens it is the luckiest. I hold each and everyone of them in my heart.
The best thing is to find them an inside home if at all possible. It is a big cruel world out there. Is there someone there that can feed a big, cat friendly dog? one taht can be raised to like cats from a puppy? Or put a feeder for one in the barn. That would help to keep the predators away.
 
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nev

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they were eating on their own and gave them a mixture of gruel. while they were with their mom before i caught them. lots of predators here and including snakes, we have a rhodesian ridgeback and pointer that keep away 4 legged predators when we are at ranch, {these dogs sleep with our 2 city house cats} unfortunately we are only there 3 days a week. we noticed that there are less cats after every long vacation even with a feeder and water system for them. we see the activity almost always at night on a camera stationed near feeder

thinking we will get these 2 neutered/spayed and decide once we get back to try to keep them as indoor /outdoor cats at ranch , or find forever homes for them.
i still feel bad for the mother who was in the same spot this morning looking for her litter but we want to give these kittens a better chance to survive
 

trudy1

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You did the right thing! If the cats are disappearing during prolonged times when you’re gone that just means predators have found a good food source. Since these little guys are kittens I would think if they’re socialized at all they could be adopted.
Please try extra hard or get some rescuers help at your ranch to spay and neuter. I think it would stop the predator feeding cycle since the cats that have been there long term probably are pretty wary
 

surya

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You might be able to borrow a trap from a rescue group or just buy one so you can get them TNR'ed. You did the right thing taking the babies. Tame them and get them adopted if possible and they will have a much better life than being a meal for some critter.
 

msaimee

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The youngest feral kitten I trapped and took inside was between two and three months old, the son of a feral Tom I had been caring for but was unable to trap to neuter. This Tom brought his three kittens to me to feed. My neighbors and I trapped, socialized, and a month later got them neutered, and they live with us to this day. It was heartbreaking because for the first few weeks, little Harry sat in my windows and cried not only for his mama cat, who was searching for him outside, but for his papa cat, who was on my porch much of the time. The crying settled down after the first two weeks, but Harry continued to cry for about an hour each morning for another few weeks even though by this time he was fully socialized. Mama cat disappeared, we could not trap her to spay her, and papa cat remained on our block and my porch until he died a few years later (and had brought a few more offspring to us) . He missed his kittens very much, but he knew I had Harry and accepted this. I would bring Harry to the porch and show him to him. Perhaps you could do the same and show the kittens to their mama so she knows they are okay? Any time a kitten is separated from his mama cat, and in my case papa cat as well, it's a very sad time. But it is absolutely the right thing to do especially in the case of feral kittens. There is a window of opportunity to socialize them when they are under a year old, and 6 weeks is not too young, and if they can be socialized they will have a happy and healthy life. So it is absolutely the right thing to do to take the kittens and protect and socialize them, even if it is heartbreaking for a while.
 

Ladysnuggable

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Hey I live in the Nor Cal area too, if you are close to Sacramento or Auburn they do free feral spay and Neuter!
Its good you got those two when you did they are easily socialized at that age :)
 
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