found feral kittens and mom in backyard...

[neko999]

the kittens are maybe 6-7 weeks old, maybe 8? for the last week i have been going out and feeding them and they let me pet them while they eat except one that's very shy. the mom runs whenever she sees me, waits behind a fence and then comes to eat when i leave. they also play, chasing a toy on string. two of them have climbed up on my lap for a short moment. my dilemma is should i trap them and find them homes or let them live with their mom and dad (he comes around and i saw him kiss two of the kittens!). and then of course i would have to trap neuter and release all of them. if i take them from the mom i fear she will have no support group/colony and will be miserable. i have 3 cats of my own in a studio/almost one bedroom so i can't take them in. does anyone else share my overly emotional concern for the mom cat? well also i do wonder for the kittens....would they be happier living with their siblings and mom than possibly going to homes where they would be the only cat and lonely as hell??  i am beginning to lean towards finding them homes, i just wish i could be sure they'll go in pairs but i know how hard that may be to accomplish. -sam/antha

[strangeduck]

As Ferals, they're not likely to stay together for a long time, anyway.  Plus, without proper care, they face starvation, illness, parasites plus the chance that some sick kid will do something unpleasant.  Better by far to try and find the kittens homes while they are young enough to adapt to life with humans.  Also, I'd trap and spay the momma.  Having litter after litter without proper vet care and constant access to high quality food is a death sentence for her.  Many communities have free spays for ferals.

[ZooKeeper83]

I came across the exact same situation when a neighbor of mine told me there were feral kittens in their yard and could I please do something to help them.  Since I was a zoo keeper I became the animal expert of the neighborhood, I guess.   

I ended up catching two of the kittens and relinquishing them to a local shelter.  I was going to catch the mom, too, to at least have her fixed and released but a third kitten ended up getting away and it couldn't survive completely on it's own yet.  As for the two that I did catch, I figured they'd honestly at least have warmth, food, and safety in a shelter and hopefully a good home.  I live in a small city and there are already too many feral cats or cats that people just let wander running around getting hit by cars, going through trash cans, and reproducing.  So, I figured I'd at least give those two kittens a shot a good life off of the streets.

If you have the time and resources to take them in, get them checked by a vet, and find them homes yourself great!  I just didn't have that, so I had no choice but to take them to a rescue.

And yes, right now the kitten's are probably very happy with their mother, but eventually they will grow up and go off to find their own mates and territories - just adding to the numbers of cats out there.  The fact that the kittens are just shy but not aggressive gives them a better chance at getting adopted already.

I would honestly try to catch the kittens while they're eating with you by hand or net and putting them in a carrier.  After the kitten's are caught, I would try a hav-a-hart trap for the mom to at least get her fixed.  I would just do it in that order, because I have visions of the mom walking into the trap and a kitten starting to follow, but getting hurt as the trap shuts.  That could just be me worrying too much, though.  By catching the kittens you might be giving up your chance at catching the mom, as she might run and not come back, but think of all the kittens you'd be keeping off the street with their future kittens, and their kitten's future kittens.

That's just my 2 cents.

Good luck with whatever you decide!
Melissa

[Mousie452]

I'd try to find homes for the kittens. Mom cats don't keep their kittens with them for life and she doesn't need a colony to be happy. I would trap her too personally because I don't like strays roaming the neighborhood.

[Punkygirl0101]

Definitely trap the kittens and rehome them (Or give them to a no kill shelter!), and trap and spay the momma. and actually, a lot of the time you can find people out in the country willing to feed the ferals (ONCE they are spayed and neutered of course!!) and they use them for mousers...So the ferals get a home and have a job to do.

[neko999]

Thank you for all of your replies and advice! and Zookeeper, those are good ideas, thank you. i have been trying to post some pics of the kittens but can't figure out how to do it. they are so cute. but yes, i've got to do something quick before they get too much older. Some people at Fix Our Ferals think it's ok to let them be feral and then fix all of them and return them to their colony. but they are the only people who I've heard say that. they think feral cats can be happy as long as they're fed and given some shelter. I would worry about when i would have to eventually move from here though...then who would feed them.

There is a feral colony (actually 3 colonies all near each other) near where i live that i used to feed  and they do have their little families that they seem to stay with and I would see them rubbing heads, etc.... I think when all of them are fixed it's different than in the wild and the males don't leave their group like they would if they were not neutered but I'm not positive. (I only fed them a short while because I got injured but there is a group that still feeds them). sometimes one would join another group/colony. those colonies seem happy but when it rains and is cold i do feel sorry for them. I live in the bay area/ san francisco area so it doesn't freeze but still gets pretty cold.

 I really am DREADING trapping these kittens. I'm going to call some shelters today but I am told that they are all full of kittens now and the only ones that will accept them are kill shelters like animal control and no way am i taking them there. i have 3 cats in a studio so can't take them in. I guess I will try and find a home for them that will also socialize them. I'm going to make some flyers and put an ad on craigslist. sorry this is so long.

[nakedrats]

My feral cat group tries to never leave kittens wild if there is a chance of making them adoptable.  It's really hard living outside.  You'd be consigning them to a life as a semi-wild animal in a densely populated colony.  Feral cats don't live a wild romantic life.  They are crawling with fleas, scratch their ears to tatters from ear mites, their bellies full of worms, outside in the rain, snow, wind....  Their wounds and illnesses either heal or kill them, unless someone happens to notice and is kind enough to help them.  Even cats from neighborhoods that get regular feedings often are thin and have broken whiskers (a sign of malnutrition).

Any luck finding them a foster home?  Try asking the feral cat group.  My group gets requests all the time.  You can also put them in your bathroom.  Young kittens tend to tame pretty quick, just pick them up and hold them as much as possible.  Start asking around and see if any of your friends or coworkers want a kitten.  If you're going to try to help them, please do so ASAP, the older they get, the harder they are to tame.

[neko999]

I know you are right. I am freaking out about it every day. my bathroom is soooo small though...not even a bathtub just the smallest shower known to man. i cant even dry myself off in my bathroom, it's so small. and i have 3 cats in this studio. i am so upset about this and can't find anyone to foster them and all the shelters are full except ones that would kill them. i've been trying to socialize them outside but i know this is impossible to fully do. i have got to do something quick. is there anyone in the bay area that can foster them?? or anyone who will adopt them and foster them both?? i am so upset...yes they need to be de flead, etc....  There are 2 women in my neighborhood, one who works for fix our ferals who said they would help me trap them but they can't foster them...they have cats too.  i really need some help. I feel so alone in this and so responsible for their lives. if anyone knows anyone who might be able to foster these kittens or adopt them, please let me know. I am putting up ads for adoption. I am also going to screen the people by having them pay for the spay and neuter to the Humane Society so I know they wont sell them to research labs or use them as bait for dog fights...Peta's website talks about that when you post ads... Free to good home. i have taken so much time off work trying to socialize them outside and it's not fully working...now i have to work or i can't pay rent. ok sorry this was so long. -sam/antha

[strangeduck]

Is it possible you could pick up one of those cat cages at a pet store and have the kittens there, rather than in your bathroom?  This would keep them safe from your other cats and confine them to one area since you don't have alot of room.  Then you can socialize them and have them deflead and dewormed and get their shots and have them fixed and adopt when you are ready.

[nakedrats]

The bathroom's probably still your best bet if you want to socialize them.  You want them confined somewhere small so they can't really get away from you and realize that you're not going to do anything bad to them.  I put kittens in a dog crate.  They don't need that much room.  Just enough to separate the food and water from the litterbox and sleeping area.  My bathroom's tiny too, so I feel your pain.

Another thing you might want to ask around about is FELV/FIV testing.  FELV (feline leukemia) is very contagious and very deadly.  It spreads like a cold and is fatal and incurable.  I don't know if you have it in your area or whether your trapper friends test for it.  Leukemia positive kittens generally fail to thrive and die young, but I like to be safe rather than screwed.  Feline leukemia vaccines in adult cats are only 85% effective.

My suggestion would be to try and trap all on one day.  Get the mom and kittens all together.  Get mom spayed and FELV/FIV tested.  The kittens won't be exposed to anything mom's not exposed to, and she's their primary method of catching disease.  My group considers a mom's test result to apply to young kittens as well, you may do as you wish.  See if you can get Kitten Revolution to flea treat those kittens.  It's sized for a little 'uns and acts as a partial dewormer (not complete, you can ask if they have injectable ivermectin to give as well or if Revolution is not available).  Ask the feral cat group to hold the kittens for you for at 2 days (or until mom is tested) to give the flea medication a chance to work.  Two days will give you flea free kittens that hopefully are tested negative for Leukemia.  Depending on your standards of disease control, you could conceivably bring the kittens in to your house and mix them in with your current population until they get adopted.  Outdoor kittens do tend to have respiratory infections and this could give your other cats the sniffles.   I get this all the time and it resolves itself just fine in my healthy and well fed indoor cats.  They have good immune systems and may sneeze for a day or two and be done.  This is in my experience and it's no guarantee that it will be the same for you.  You can also have problems with ringworm, and that will transmit to the other cats and to you and takes forever to get rid of.  Thankfully I haven't gone there yet. *knocks on wood*  Distemper isn't as much of a concern if your cats are vaccinated, and since you're already feeding them at your house already, your cats will have already been exposed.  It's stable in the environment for months and tracks readily in on ones shoes, clothes, hands etc...  You can ask your feral kitty friends if they have had problems with any other diseases in that particular colony.  It is up to you though.  It can be problematic to bring in kittens from the outside into your house. 

I don't know about your feral cat network, but mine will spay a kitten that's 8 weeks old.  If you get the babies spayed/neutered, it tends to make them a lot more adoptable since it's so expensive of a procedure.  Plus you can guarantee there won't be oops litters with these guys either and keep the number of unwanted kittens down.

P.S. Sorry, I'm in Philadelphia.

[ZooKeeper83]

I just wanted to add that if you get the kittens tested for FELV/FIV and they DO come up positive, it doesn't necessarily mean they have it depending on their age.  I have my newest kitten because she was a 2 month old stray that tested FELV+ at a cat rescue, so my wildlife rehab director agreed to qt her for a few months to see if it was just her mother's immunity.  She was tested again at 4-5 months and came back with it only slightly positive, meaning it was leaving her body as she was growing out of her mother's immunity.  If that's the case, they will still need to be QT separately from any other cats just in case, but they still could end up fine after a few months.

Melissa