One of the semi feral cats had kittens 2-1/2 wks ago. She had them in a fairly hidden spot in our garage. There is a pet door where the cats can go in and out. Food and water is in the garage for all of the ferals. So far she has not moved them. I was able to look in on them a couple of times when I knew she was not with them. I have not touched them. When would I be able to touch them without her moving them? I'm afraid she might move them outside somewhere and I don't want that to happen. We live in a rural area and winter is coming. The temps are starting to cool down. NIghts are in the low 40's. The temp in the garage is in the mid 60's and we do keep it heated in the winter. Thanks for any advise.
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When cay you handle semi feral kittens?
- Thread starter gleason
- Start Date
That can happen. Can you make up some sort of a warm bed in the garage and place it where she will possibly move the kittens into it? Since they are in your garage already, which is a good thing, and she is not running around moving them, also good, you probably should not rock the boat at this point. I have run the gamut on this with ferals. One extremely feral mom let me handle her babies with no concern or movement of the litter. Another one moved her litter all over, to places I never figured out, but finally they came back to my house and were rescued from there. A friend who is cat savvy had a mom move kittens to a patently unsafe place because she did not want him around her litter. I think that keeping them in the garage is step one. How friendly is this cat to you? That might be another piece of this.
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- #3
This cat is friendly to me. She lets me pick her up when she is in the garage but when she's outside she keeps a little distance. There are only 2 kittens and if she keeps them in the garage I will be able to tame them. Just not sure when I can actually touch them.
Since she is friendly to you, and that is quite friendly for a feral, you might try approaching the kittens or their bed when she is around and start to judge her response. I know that your fear is that she will move them, and it is a very good concern to have.
When Is It Safe to Touch Newborn Kittens?
This site gives advice on touching feral kittens when the mother is still with them. As they get a little older and start to explore, they are not going to stay where she put them, so you will probably have more chance to interact with them as they move around the garage. By 4 to 8 weeks you definitely should start to socialize them.
When Is It Safe to Touch Newborn Kittens?
This site gives advice on touching feral kittens when the mother is still with them. As they get a little older and start to explore, they are not going to stay where she put them, so you will probably have more chance to interact with them as they move around the garage. By 4 to 8 weeks you definitely should start to socialize them.
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- #5
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- #6
So far so good. I looked in on her this morning and she came out. I talked to her and I reached in and petted the kittens. I then left her alone. I went out this afternoon and she was with the kittens but came out when I came in the garage. I put food out in the dishes like usual. She kind of watched me. I reached in and picked up one of the kittens. She just walked away and went to the food dish. I then picked up the second kitten. She didn't seem to mind at all. Will see what happens overnight.
I am glad to hear this. It is more of less what I expected when you said that she was friendly to you, but you never know for sure. She trusts you already and knows you won't hurt the kittens. I would keep this up. They still need to nurse, so maybe just continuing this routine so that she sees that you can be trusted with her babies. This probably all going to go very smoothly. Your garage is heated, which is good with winter coming; are you going to get her spayed once the kittens are weaned?- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
She did not move the kittens overnite. I did pick them up again today in her presence and she doesn't seem to mind. I do it when none of the other cats are in the garage. Also it got down to 30 degrees last nite and was 60 in the garage. I'm happy!!!!!!
This is all very good news! She is okay with you and trusts you with her kittens so this will work out. It was never off the table that this would be doable, but it was best to proceed with caution. Now you know that she is not going to move them.
