Greetings to all of you good Cat People!
I've gotten a lot of help and advice on this site, both from my own posts and those of others, when I took in two strays from my backyard last year. Those two were both pets, probably abandoned by creeps for some reason.
Since all of the help I got from you all last year, I've started managing a small colony from my backyard in Brooklyn, NY and doing some TNR & rescue. I'm not certified for TNR yet, but I've caught 10 feral cats so far, 5 of which are kittens. After I get one more tomcat, I will have spayed/neutered all of the usual suspects in my immediate area.
I was able to socialize two 4-month old kittens in January of this year and get them adopted. Now I've got another three 3-month-old kittens from the same mama cat that I just TNR'd. I've already got people lined up to adopt.
It took me 7 months to catch her. I changed my trap setup this time and she finally went in. She is the "queen" of the area, and really smart. She was in a very early stage of pregnancy when she was finally spayed last Thursday. I've been feeding her and her kittens through her last 2 pregnancy, nursing and weaning phases, for more than 8 months.
My problem right now is that the mama cat, who knows me and my yard very well by now, also knows that I have her kittens and comes over everyday to look for them. She sits just outside of my back door and meows quietly. Sometimes she jumps up on to the window sill to stare at me in my home office, where I also have her kittens.
I just released her on Sunday early evening and she seems to have recovered very well physically, which is necessary here since all of the yards are bordered by very tall fences. She is having her breakfast and supper here again too, fortunately. But she wants those kittens back.
Has anyone else experienced a situation like this? Does anyone have any idea when my mama cat will forget these kittens? I love this cat dearly, but she's unnerving me somewhat right now.
Thanks so much in advance,
a
I've gotten a lot of help and advice on this site, both from my own posts and those of others, when I took in two strays from my backyard last year. Those two were both pets, probably abandoned by creeps for some reason.
Since all of the help I got from you all last year, I've started managing a small colony from my backyard in Brooklyn, NY and doing some TNR & rescue. I'm not certified for TNR yet, but I've caught 10 feral cats so far, 5 of which are kittens. After I get one more tomcat, I will have spayed/neutered all of the usual suspects in my immediate area.
I was able to socialize two 4-month old kittens in January of this year and get them adopted. Now I've got another three 3-month-old kittens from the same mama cat that I just TNR'd. I've already got people lined up to adopt.
It took me 7 months to catch her. I changed my trap setup this time and she finally went in. She is the "queen" of the area, and really smart. She was in a very early stage of pregnancy when she was finally spayed last Thursday. I've been feeding her and her kittens through her last 2 pregnancy, nursing and weaning phases, for more than 8 months.
My problem right now is that the mama cat, who knows me and my yard very well by now, also knows that I have her kittens and comes over everyday to look for them. She sits just outside of my back door and meows quietly. Sometimes she jumps up on to the window sill to stare at me in my home office, where I also have her kittens.
I just released her on Sunday early evening and she seems to have recovered very well physically, which is necessary here since all of the yards are bordered by very tall fences. She is having her breakfast and supper here again too, fortunately. But she wants those kittens back.
Has anyone else experienced a situation like this? Does anyone have any idea when my mama cat will forget these kittens? I love this cat dearly, but she's unnerving me somewhat right now.
Thanks so much in advance,
a