Wild Kittens

[Dayne]

We moved back in November and there are two cats that live in the field in my backyard (it's about an acre). Two nights ago one of them made it's way under my house and had kittens. The adult cats are feral and won't let anyone near them, I assume the kittens will be the same way when they finally make their way out from under the house. I don't have any way at all to get under there, the momma cat made her way in through a small vent shaft ...thing... and I can't even lay on the ground and see under the house through the hole she found.

I wasn't doing anything at all with these cats before, but now that I've heard the little 'mews' going on under the house (I swear they are right under the bathtub and anytime you go in the bathroom it wakes them up!!) I started to feed the momma cat. My husband wasn't overly thrilled to see a new bag of cat food and to hear me say "It's for the wild momma cat". I told him now that shes gotta babies she certainly isn't going anywhere (not that she was before) and I don't want her or her babies to be starving to death under our house! So I have been feeding her for the past two days and she really seems to appreciate it. Even the daddy cat comes up to the front steps for his food every morning and night.

So, what I'm getting at here is this: How long should it be before those little kittens start making their way toward the light to follow their momma out from under the house? At what point should I gather them all up and take them to a no-kill shelter in my area? SHOULD I gather them up and take them to a shelter at all? I don't want an extreme cat situation here, and we absolutely cannot afford to take in any more animals... and the SPCA won't give me any discounts for bringing in feral cats to have spayed/neutered (already called them). Think I should worry about the fact they are under my house and there is no way for humans to get under there? It's going to be 90 degrees all next week, I s'pose in the mud and dark under the house it stays cool enough... meh???

[Heather]

It's hard to say. My dad has 7 "ferals" in the garage at his house and I have one here. I raised mine from a week old and she has her quirks but is a very loving girl when she wants to be. She spooks at loud noises but then again, most cats will. Of my dad's cats he has:

Harley who is completely terrified of everyone but purrs when you hold him (Tess and Angel are his siblings, all bottle fed from 2 weeks old)
Angel who hides
Tess is always around but doesn't allow people to pet her much
Josie the momma cat who doesn't bite or scratch but doesn't like being anywhere near people
Grey is Josie's son and is the friendliest of all (brother to T Bird and raised in the garage when Josie wandered in to give birth- recived constant human attention all throughout kitten hood)
T Bird is usually out and about but is not cuddly by any means
Jackie spooks at everything but loves to be petted- Jackie had a badly infected eye and was caught and treated. It took her a year to start coming around people

What my point is is that it's a gamble what you're getting with the kittens. If their mother is feral and afraid of poeple, the kittens will be too. It would be cruel, IMO, then to try and force them to be social house cats, not to mention shelters are badly overcrowded from people taking them feral kittens as well. If I were you I would find a sterile feral program in your area, trap them and get them tagged and fixed. You have to agree to feed them but atleast they won't be reproducing and won't have to wait around in a shelter. My dad got one female fixed so far but 2 others are gonna pop and there's a few other younger ones we're unsure of the sex on and 2 large and aggressive males. They are constantly fighting with the females and each other. The most aggressive male, Smokey, actually attacked the spayed female when she wasn't receptive to him. Ferals really don't have horrible lives. If they're fixed and vaccinated then really they can live quite a while and happy lives at that where people are not trying to force them to be friendly.

[E!!]

I actaully had some really good luck once befriending a wild momma cat. She too had kittens under our house. As soon as the kitties were born I started feeding momma and just being close to her while she ate. At first I had to be far away and then I could get a little closer. The yummier the food, the less likely she was to run. I don't know if this was just an unusual feral cat or if it was because she was so young, but it didn't take her long to get to the point that she would come up and rub (very briefly) against my leg. She eventually got to where I could pet her, but she never liked anyone else.

When she got to the point that she was showing me affection I moved the kittens to a very inviting box with towls and stuff and found a secluded place on our covered porch. I made sure there was plenty of food close by. I always expected that momma cat would move them back, but she never did. I would handle the kitties and momma wouldn't mind, although she kept her distance. By the time they were ready for homes they had no fear of people. I got momma cat spayed and she was a sweet semi-pet until I moved. I don't think she would have hanled a move well and the landlord said he didn't mind her being there and would take care of her.

[Lise]

I don't think a no-kill will take a feral cat in.  A true feral cat is pretty much unplaceable.  That being said, you can bring the kittens there once they are old enough to be weaned.  They will be young enough to come around.

Then I would trap the momma cat and get her spayed, and re-release her.  If the SPCA isn't willing to help you out -- is there a lower cost clinic around that you could take her into and pay yourself?  Then she could stay hanging around but not bring anymore kittens into the world.

[Dayne]

Oh boy! Well it looks like the one I thought was the dad is a female also! And her little belly is starting to get VERY plump. The one I thought was the mom IS the mom for sure, I got a good look at her belly when she was chasing some bugs and shes definetly nursing. So I think I'm going to have TWO feral cats having kittens under my house.... oi. 

I figured the adult cats wouldn't be able to be adopted out since they are wild, they seem pretty young to me also. I've made big steps with them also. I've been feeding them twice a day and we're at the point now where I can fill up their food dish and they come out from under the car to eat, they'll walk right up to within a foot of me to eat the cat food, hissing and growling the whole time of course. 

Husband said if we plan on becoming friendly with them and feeding them and whatnot we need to capture the adults once the kittens are old enough and get them spayed so they don't go on creating more and more litters. So I guess now he is OK with the idea of feeding the strays. I don't mind feeding them and giving them water. I just can't wait to see those kittens!!!        They are getting so loud!

[nakedrats]

I trap-neuter-release feral kitties in Philadelphia and we have a feral cat program that helps out with getting feral kitties fixed.  We have clinics twice a month.  You should see if there is a feral cat group in your area or nearby to help you.  Alley Cat Allies is a good place to check out.  They have great tips for managing and caring for wild kitties.  They can show you how to trap a cat and recover it after surgery, how to set up a clean and sheltered feeding station as well as how to make a nice warm cat shelter so they have a place besides under your house to go to get out of the rain.  They are also a national group and can help you find a local branch if one exists.

I've tamed a ton of feral born kittens.  They hide and hiss for a little while and get over it.  My current foster kitten Boogie was caught at 5 weeks of age and sassed me for a couple days, but is now a feisty, friendly, purring machine that just got neutered and is ready for adoption.  I have to push him off my lap at least 5 times before he gets the idea....  This is after I had to pry his poor infected eye open twice a day for 3 weeks to squirt in antibiotic eye ointment for his horrid conjunctivitis.  Kittens are really easy to tame.  My youngling foster litter that I found at 1-2 days old (I trapped Mom and took her along too to nurse them) had a crazy feral momma and would walk up to me totally unafraid to be picked up and held.

My advice to you would be to catch the kittens once they are 6 weeks old and can be weaned and stick them in your garage or bathroom to get them used to people and then either take them to the shelter or put up signs and find them homes.  Once the kittens are weaned, take mom to get fixed.  You can probably borrow a humane cat trap from your local SPCA.  For Mom#2, if it were me, I'd get her spayed before she gives birth.  Then there won't be more kittens that need homes.  I don't know about you, but our shelters get so full this time of year, that they have to start euthanizing entire litters because there's no room to keep them.  I try not to bring more kittens into the world when we already have too many.  You do what you want, but you technically can spay a pregnant cat and terminate the pregnancy.  Either way, start asking around the office and family and friends now to see who wants a furball.  They grow up fast!

Good luck!

[Dogstar]

Feral kittens can often be tamed and become great pets. I've rescued several kittens and they were all scared/shy at first but quickly warmed up when they realized we were not going to hurt them.
The most recent was my kitten Church. I caught him at about 6-7 weeks old. He was hanging out in the alley with his mother and I was trying to get close to him, but he ran into my yard instead. Unfortunately my big dog was in the yard and she chased him, but I was able to catch him as he tried to force his way through my garden fence (which was too small for him!)   I think he was an "only kitten" in his litter or possibly his other siblings didn't survive because I never saw any other kittens with his mother.
He very quickly warmed up to me, and became very cuddly! I was going to foster him and find a home but I got too attached so I ended up keeping him. He is now about 7 months old. He is very social, he has been entered in 4-5 cat shows so far and also been to a photography studio for a modeling audition and been to a movie set and he was perfectly comfortable in those situations. He also enjoys going to visit pet stores and accompanying me to my friends' houses, which I started doing as soon as he was old enough and I think really helped his socialization.