Stray cat moved its kittens to my backyard

[FelinesFriends]

I bet that 10 mins petting baby was amazing! I haven't petted a baby in quite a while

IT WAS!! They’re so cute! I haven’t been able to pet them since, but every day I try to when the mama cat leaves for a bit, but the kittens usually end up staying hidden under the deck unfortunately.
Thanks again for all your responses! This has been quite a wild ride for me, I absolutely love these kittens but the mama cat hates me so much even though I show her nothing but love and feed her. I have finally got in touch with a service that will spay and vaccinate the mama cat and kittens, but it’s “kitten season” and have been so busy they haven’t been able to come to my home to help me trap them. I’m hoping to hear back from them by tomorrow. Also, they don’t have any foster homes available for the kittens once caught, spayed and vaccinated, and they asked if I can be the foster home. Of course I said Yes! I also asked that the mama cat be returned to me and I’ll just keep feeding her when she stops by, but I’m afraid she might be too feral to become an indoor cat. Perhaps when she is spayed that will change, hopefully.
All that said, I’m super nervous about all of this. I have no clue what I’m doing. And I can’t seem to get close enough to bring the kittens in – and when I am able to sneak up and pet a kitten while it eats, I’m too nervous to scoop it up and bring it inside for fear of devastating the mama cat as well as the kitten. Plus, once I bring some of them inside, then what? What if I’m unable to grab all the kittens, what will the mama cat do when she only has 2-3 kittens outside while the others are in my home? Will the mama cat relocate the other kittens during the night thus making this an even greater challenge? How do I handle the agonizing meowing and cries from the mama cat if she’s outside on the deck crying for me to release the kittens? I’ll feel like I’ll give in and let the kittens out to see mama. It’s just me living at home alone and I can’t handle feeling like I’m emotionally hurting a cat taking her kittens away. Plus the kittens will be meowing for mama.
And the thing about all this is there appears to be nobody else who can help right now. Even the rescue service is booked and may not be able to help for another week, which is another week the mama cat teaches her kittens to be feral.
I feel so stuck and all alone in this journey and I honesty think I’m gonna screw this up somehow and ruin these fluff balls.

 

[FelinesFriends]

Another quick bit of info is whenever I do go outside, like right now because the kittens are eating, the mama cat starts slowing charging at me. I can’t tell if she would actually bite or scratch me if I didn’t slink back into my house. She runs right up to me but doesn’t lunge for the bite. I’m usually holding a plate of wet cat food, so when she comes at me I hold it out I’m hopes she understands I’m trying to feed her and her kittens. I haven’t mustered the strength to let her come fully up to me out of fear she’ll scratch and bite me. But I also can’t help but get the sense of she was spayed and not in hyper protective mode she might actually be a loving cat. All I can say is the mama cat is making this all super hard on me.

My current view:

 

[FelinesFriends]

Oh noes… I got curious and wanted to see what would happen if I played this mama cat calling kittens noise and I got 3 seconds in and mama cat came hurling over to my door. Then she hung around meowing and I felt bad. Oops. Buuut now she keeps doing this purry-meow noise thing that sounds lovey and happy and I can’t help but wonder if she’s in heat again.
Without any device to catch the cats, I’m at a loss.
I’m almost thinking maybe I start leaving my backdoor slightly open and place some wet food just inside the door and maybe some of the kittens will walk in to eat, maybe even the mama cat will. Then I just close the door and they’re in?? But then what? I’m surprised the rescue place isn’t quicker about coming out to help catch them, unless maybe they know as cat experts that I have time.
But at what point will it be “too late” and these kittens be a lost cause for becoming super duper human friendly?

 

[FelinesFriends]

Oh! Another question, err questions... When the mama cat stop nursing her kittens, let’s assume the worst case scenario and I haven’t been able to catch her. Will she go off on her own for a days at a time and maybe that could be my chance to bring the kittens in? Or will the kittens always be nearly impossible to catch even without the mama cat around? They’re definitely getting faster each day and despite petting them once they won’t let me near them. But what are the odds a couple of the kittens like my backyard and want to stay even when the mama leaves, and become they get used to me hanging around and start to like me?
At this rate I’m gonna end up with 30 cats in a few months aren’t I? Might as well start the predictions now.
One of them will have to love me eventually right?

 

[FelinesFriends]

How is everything going with your adorable cat family? It sounds like you have a good plan and I hope everything works out.

On paper it’s a good plan but I can’t get passed the “catch” phase. I don’t want the mama cat to attack me, and I don’t know what happens next after I catch some. I haven’t even seen all of the kittens at the same time, but today that changed. For the first time I managed to get a picture of 5 in one image while they ate:

While those five kittens ate and played on my grill tarp, to the left playing was the white kitten and another super cute fluffy ball:

I assumed there were 5 or 6 kittens, but today got visual confirmation of at least 7 kittens.
I also picked up some of these today just in case I muster up the willpower and knowhow to catch and move some of these kittens into my home:

If I pick up one of the kittens and the mama cat sees, what are the chances she charges me and rips my face off? When I feed her, I’ll kneel down and show her a big ole plate of freshly opened wet cat foot; she hisses, then “charges” me but seems to maybe be going for the food, or my face, but I haven’t been brave enough to simply not move just to see what happens. I suppose one of these times I might, and then I’m sure I’ll end up getting bit. I have no clue. But I do have a bathroom I can keep them in when I catch them. I can make a warm bed.
How angry at me will the mother cat be when I bring some in? Will she notice a few are missing? Or so feral cats move on quicker? What should I expect the first night/day after catching a couple of the kittens? I think I can do this, I just keep imaging a very angry miniature lion in my backyard pacing back and forth at my backdoor / windows along my back deck yelling at me waiting to destroy me if I step outside again.

 

[FelinesFriends]

I’m going to keep chronicling my adventure here if it’s alright. I just found this youtube video about rescuing a feral mama cat and her kittens. The kittens in my backyard are bigger than the ones in that video, they’re already eating cat food, so I’m at a slightly different phase… if you know of any good videos or resources on how to rescue a feral mom and her 8-10 week old kittens please share! I’m sure I’ll find it eventually..
Also what I don’t have which is in that video is a trap cage for the mama cat. And I don’t have the even bigger cage where I could keep them all inside after trapped. I do have a spare bedroom that would fit a big cage and them. It would be a quiet spot where they can acclimate to new smells for a day. If I had all that stuff the mama cat and kittens would all be inside already!!!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, I've been reading your posts - some, maybe most, of the questions you have will resolve themselves as the event occurs.

Additionally, your latest post above is right on track, because you're thinking ahead and aware of the things that you need.

If you haven't already, check with rescues/shelters local to you, they may have a trap you can borrow/rent.

If you have this site/app in your area, check Nextdoor.com . Registering is free. I regularly see quite a few carriers and cages including big dog cages/crates for sale in the For Sale section, along with food sometimes.

Also, check online for sales of cat food and litter, Amazon, Chewy, Petsmart etc. If you have a Tractor Supply, they carry some cat and kitten foods that aren't super expensive, and Fancy Feast foods aren't terribly expensive.

 

[FelinesFriends]

If you haven't already, check with rescues/shelters local to you, they may have a trap you can borrow/rent.

If you have this site/app in your area, check Nextdoor.com . Registering is free. I regularly see quite a few carriers and cages including big dog cages/crates for sale in the For Sale section, along with food sometimes.

I heard back from the rescue service today! They in fact do have a trap I can borrow. I live about 10 miles from the nearest rescue as I’m just outside the city limits, and the only rescue available are all volunteers but they are slowly but surely bringing a trap to my area for me to borrow.
Another interesting update is this morning at like 5am I saved the kittens from a massive raccoon. I randomly looked out my window and saw the mama cat looking intensely at something and that’s when I noticed the raccoon sneaking up fearlessly toward the kittens and had to act fast. I ran outside and charged at it and it just got on its hind legs and holy crap that thing was huuuuge! It wouldn’t back down and I had to use a BB gun and to scare it away. For once mama cat and I were on the same page and she let me protect her and the kittens. By “let me” I mean the mama cat is now very territorial and my back deck is now hers. When I go outside she seemingly charges at me and hisses.
Fast forward about 2 hours and mama cat was at my door hungry. I approach and she hisses so I leave the door open and go inside to prepare their breakfast. She now recognizes the sound of the can of cat food being opened and she got really brave and came inside, seemingly charging at me but then I knelt down and showed her the food and this time just braved it and figured I’m either getting bitten or she’s bluffing and just hungry. I survived scratch and bite free! Turns out she charges at me aggressively but actually isn’t violent when she gets up to me. She was only inside my home for a minute or two, rubbing against stuff to get her smell on it. Then she went outside and waited for breakfast.
After she ate, I went outside slowly and she again charged at me hissing. I again decided to be brave and just stuck my hand out while kneeling down to her level. Instead of destroying my hand she rubbed her head against it, and then gave me a hug and let me pet her for a few seconds. And then she gave me another hug and immediately hissed and walked away. Baby steps. She is slowly warming up to me.

 

[Margot Lane]

Oh man you know you can’t keep an eye on that raccoon 24/7. And they are hungry & persistent. I’m glad you’ve got a trap, but I’d find a way to get rid of that raccoon, or, get everybody inside ASAP. Maybe read the thread “need advice on raccoon problem.”

 

[dahlia]

You have made huge progress. That is great news about mom. Sounds like she will be able to be tamed. One thought, and probably not ideal but if you could set up a large dog kennel inside your door with a litter box, place to hide, etc., maybe you could get them all to start coming into it to eat and, once they are all comfortable with that arrangement, you can shut the kennel door on them. You would still have to figure out how to get them all to the vet at some point but at least they would be safe inside.

 

[dahlia]

Any updates?

 

[FelinesFriends]

Any updates?

Today was the worst day I’ve had since having to put down my previous cats 4 and 5 years ago.
But I’ll rewind a bit and say how amazing the last few weeks have been with the 7 kittens and mom cat. I did start feeding the mama cat inside, and she began inviting her kittens in to eat as well. It was incredible!! I’m so attached to the mama cat and all of her kittens, but especially one of her kittens that runs up to me and lets me pick her up and pet her.
My favorite kitten, who I’ll call The One, is on the bottom:

What’s interesting about the litter box situation is after placing it in a corner of my living room near the door to the back deck, the mama cat walked in, found the litter box, used it, and walked back outside. No training required. How the heck does that work so well?

Fast forward to today.

The worst day ever.
I’m devastated. I’m mad. I’m extremely sad. And I’m totally confused.
So, not really in a good mood to write, but here’s the gist of it.
The cat rescue person came back today to catch the kittens and mama cat. She got 4 kittens but didn’t get the mom and 3 remaining kittens, the most skittish ones, then she spent an hour blasting various kitten in distress calls hoping to lure the mom cat to her. Instead – predictably – the mom bailed and jumped my fence to a neighbors yard, leaving the 3 super traumatized kittens under my deck. So she left with four kittens including The One that I want to keep. But they won’t let me keep her. They won’t just bring her back like they will eventually the mama.
I don’t understand. Are they allowed to adopt her off if I don’t want them to?
Why can’t I be the foster home for the kittens that I wanted to keep?
Why am I letting them take my kitten?
I don’t want someone else to foster my kitten. They’ll ruin it. They have different kitten parenting style. I speak cat! They’ll adopt it off to a family with young kids who will ruin the amazing adorable human loving kitten that I’ve fallen in love with – and who’s chosen me!

So anyway, instead of promising to bringing The One back to me, they’re immediately separating the four kittens, putting one or two into a foster home, and then shipping the others off to “a warehouse” about 1.5 hours from here where they have to stay for another 2-4 weeks until they’re old enough for shots and spaying and neutering and can be put into a foster home for adoption. (Apparently they’re likely younger than I originally assumed, but I don’t know.) So, I’m devastated.
I fully regret calling the rescue place.
I am not happy with the outcome.
I should never have called
I want my kitten back.
Th kitten chose me
The only kitten of all 7 that would approach me, let me pick her up, and would hangout and play with me when all the others wouldn’t. But I can’t get her back because some other foster home is first in line? I want my kitten back.
Do they get paid per kitten they catch? The One isn’t just a number to me and I don’t want to adopt her off. I’ve also become extremely attached to the mama cat, but the nonprofit doesn’t care about that one so they’ve promised to return her very quickly. These cats aren’t just numbers to me, I formed relationships with them! Now the one I fell for is gone forever and I’ll never see her again. ***!

Everything I just witnessed and what’s happening next.. I fail to see how this was the most humane solution.
So there we have it. I guess this is how it ends. I spend hundreds on food, toys, bed, scratching post, and hours of my time rescuing these kittens only to have zero say who gets to go where. Feels like I got scammed.
The only leverage I have left are the 3 skittish kittens hiding under my deck, and their cage trap. The rescue place surely wants them. But you know what? I’m tempted to put their cage traps in my front yard and telling them to go away and leave these remaining kittens alone, if they don’t give me back The One. They can have 5 kittens to adopt off, I just want two of them… I want The One. I may have saved them, for 3 weeks, but this is too much for me. It’s not worth it and I’ll let the remaining 3 go have kittens of their own rather than let the rescue people ship them off to a warehouse to be traumatized and alone.

 

[FelinesFriends]

They went from happy and safe…

…to caged up and dumped into a truck that’s going on a 1.5 hour drive.

A part of me died inside today.

 

[Hobiflowery]

Today was the worst day I’ve had since having to put down my previous cats 4 and 5 years ago.
But I’ll rewind a bit and say how amazing the last few weeks have been with the 7 kittens and mom cat. I did start feeding the mama cat inside, and she began inviting her kittens in to eat as well. It was incredible!! I’m so attached to the mama cat and all of her kittens, but especially one of her kittens that runs up to me and lets me pick her up and pet her.
My favorite kitten, who I’ll call The One, is on the bottom:
View attachment 452733What’s interesting about the litter box situation is after placing it in a corner of my living room near the door to the back deck, the mama cat walked in, found the litter box, used it, and walked back outside. No training required. How the heck does that work so well?

Fast forward to today.

The worst day ever.
I’m devastated. I’m mad. I’m extremely sad. And I’m totally confused.
So, not really in a good mood to write, but here’s the gist of it.
The cat rescue person came back today to catch the kittens and mama cat. She got 4 kittens but didn’t get the mom and 3 remaining kittens, the most skittish ones, then she spent an hour blasting various kitten in distress calls hoping to lure the mom cat to her. Instead – predictably – the mom bailed and jumped my fence to a neighbors yard, leaving the 3 super traumatized kittens under my deck. So she left with four kittens including The One that I want to keep. But they won’t let me keep her. They won’t just bring her back like they will eventually the mama.
I don’t understand. Are they allowed to adopt her off if I don’t want them to?
Why can’t I be the foster home for the kittens that I wanted to keep?
Why am I letting them take my kitten?
I don’t want someone else to foster my kitten. They’ll ruin it. They have different kitten parenting style. I speak cat! They’ll adopt it off to a family with young kids who will ruin the amazing adorable human loving kitten that I’ve fallen in love with – and who’s chosen me!

So anyway, instead of promising to bringing The One back to me, they’re immediately separating the four kittens, putting one or two into a foster home, and then shipping the others off to “a warehouse” about 1.5 hours from here where they have to stay for another 2-4 weeks until they’re old enough for shots and spaying and neutering and can be put into a foster home for adoption. (Apparently they’re likely younger than I originally assumed, but I don’t know.) So, I’m devastated.
I fully regret calling the rescue place.
I am not happy with the outcome.
I should never have called
I want my kitten back.
Th kitten chose me
The only kitten of all 7 that would approach me, let me pick her up, and would hangout and play with me when all the others wouldn’t. But I can’t get her back because some other foster home is first in line? I want my kitten back.
Do they get paid per kitten they catch? The One isn’t just a number to me and I don’t want to adopt her off. I’ve also become extremely attached to the mama cat, but the nonprofit doesn’t care about that one so they’ve promised to return her very quickly. These cats aren’t just numbers to me, I formed relationships with them! Now the one I fell for is gone forever and I’ll never see her again. ***!

Everything I just witnessed and what’s happening next.. I fail to see how this was the most humane solution.
So there we have it. I guess this is how it ends. I spend hundreds on food, toys, bed, scratching post, and hours of my time rescuing these kittens only to have zero say who gets to go where. Feels like I got scammed.
The only leverage I have left are the 3 skittish kittens hiding under my deck, and their cage trap. The rescue place surely wants them. But you know what? I’m tempted to put their cage traps in my front yard and telling them to go away and leave these remaining kittens alone, if they don’t give me back The One. They can have 5 kittens to adopt off, I just want two of them… I want The One. I may have saved them, for 3 weeks, but this is too much for me. It’s not worth it and I’ll let the remaining 3 go have kittens of their own rather than let the rescue people ship them off to a warehouse to be traumatized and alone.

I am so sorry that this happened Definitely call the rescue service and see if you can do anything, after all you wanted to foster all of them and keep some in general. This whole thing seems shady too, my parents work closely with a cat rescue since years and they never did anything like this, usually you think they would be happy that the person wants to foster all and keep some!! Maybe it's a country difference but it still seems weird to me. I hope you get them back. Thank you for trying so hard for mama and her babies

 

[FelinesFriends]

Oh man you know you can’t keep an eye on that raccoon 24/7. And they are hungry & persistent. I’m glad you’ve got a trap, but I’d find a way to get rid of that raccoon, or, get everybody inside ASAP. Maybe read the thread “need advice on raccoon problem.”

The raccoon hasn’t come back, fortunately. I did a pretty good job scaring it off. I was aggressive but humane. But I also suspect the raccoon was after the wet cat food and not the kittens, which others here have suggested as well. Since then I only leave the cat food out for about 30 minutes max, anything the cats haven’t eaten yet gets put in the fridge and saved for the next time the mom cat looks at me through the windows meowing. I can tell when she’s hungry. And she does an excellent job sharing with her kittens.

Another amazingly cute thing happened today about an hour before my horror story began, my big squirrel that I’ve been hanging out with for 2 years came by and was eating peanuts right next to the kittens who were obviously very curious. They actually got along well! I was worried what the mom cat would do when she returned, but when she did, they all hung out peacefully together. Like within a foot of each other, including me, just in case things got heated. It was the cutest thing ever. The squirrel stayed for about 30 minutes, definitely longer than usual.

 

[FelinesFriends]

I am so sorry that this happened Definitely call the rescue service and see if you can do anything, after all you wanted to foster all of them and keep some in general. This whole thing seems shady too, my parents work closely with a cat rescue since years and they never did anything like this, usually you think they would be happy that the person wants to foster all and keep some!! Maybe it's a country difference but it still seems weird to me. I hope you get them back. Thank you for trying so hard for mama and her babies

Thank you for the kind words! I haven’t given up. I will be calling tomorrow to investigate further because it doesn’t make sense – I too would think they would be thrilled about me wanting to keep two of the kittens. I won’t give up on them, and I’ll be sure to update here about what happens next.

 

[FelinesFriends]

I’m going to see if I can make at least one of the remaining three kittens love me. It’ll be incredibly challenging considering they haven’t yet let me pet them, so if you know any tricks please do share. If I can actually manage to scoop one up after I feed them, I’ll bring it inside for a 20 minute snuggle session. Or a couple hours of snuggles. Then return it to mama. I just need them to learn I’m on their team. They already watch me put food out for them, but it’ll make my day if I can get one interested in letting me play with them using a makeshift cat toy I built using string, rubber bands, and a fluffy wire tie. Sometimes I wonder if I need these kittens more than they need me.

 

[Hobiflowery]

Thank you for the kind words! I haven’t given up. I will be calling tomorrow to investigate further because it doesn’t make sense – I too would think they would be thrilled about me wanting to keep two of the kittens. I won’t give up on them, and I’ll be sure to update here about what happens next.

I'm praying for this t

I’m going to see if I can make at least one of the remaining three kittens love me. It’ll be incredibly challenging considering they haven’t yet let me pet them, so if you know any tricks please do share. If I can actually manage to scoop one up after I feed them, I’ll bring it inside for a 20 minute snuggle session. Or a couple hours of snuggles. Then return it to mama. I just need them to learn I’m on their team. They already watch me put food out for them, but it’ll make my day if I can get one interested in letting me play with them using a makeshift cat toy I built using string, rubber bands, and a fluffy wire tie. Sometimes I wonder if I need these kittens more than they need me.

Here's something that helped me with making strays accept pets: Liquid Snacks! Especially one with a cheese flavour lol. In one hand you offer the snack and while they are busy licking it, you gently try petting the it with the other hand. Also thats so cute, I really hope this works out. You will be a great dad for them once they fully trust you

 

[dahlia]

I agree that this does not make any sense. I help out with the Shelter doing TNR and they love it when people want to keep the kittens (provided it is a safe environment, we had one that was not good). Almost all shelters are crammed with kittens this time of year and can't even fit any more in. I would definitely keep communicating with them.
One of my cats was a feral kitten that showed up. I started out by putting the food down and just going a little ways away so he got used to eating in front of me. I would inch closer and closer until I could get a few little pets in while he was eating. I also started playing with him with a wand toy.

 

[Avery]

Just wanted to add my thanks to you for working so hard on behalf of these kittens and their mama. I would definitely call the rescue and talk with someone in charge! Why on earth could you not be a foster for at least a couple of the kittens, especially your very special little one?

I hear how upset you are but please don't let the remaining kittens go off to have kittens of their own. If you don't adopt them, perhaps you know someone who is ready for a kitten. And when you talk with the rescue, ask questions about this warehouse. Perhaps it is just a large room where kittens live and folks come in to adopt them. Near where I live, an indoor mall is using a large empty store as an adoption site for one of the local cat rescues. It makes it convenient for people to come and observe the cats and, hopefully, decide to adopt one or two!