Congrads! You certainly persevered and deserve a pat on the back!

About the FElv+--how old does vet think he is? Kittens sometimes carry
virus from mother but fight it off. Also, in order to determine whether
virus is truly lodged in his system, you should get IFA test. The office
quick test, Elissa, shows he has been exposed....

Much luck to you and kitties..

"Patricia" wrote in message
om...
Thank you everyone for your help and advice.

I cought the brother one week before and was anxious to get the mom.

I managed to catch her within two days after posting my initial
message.
I put wet kitten food with some tuna on it at the end of the trap.
I put the food container on top of something else so that she would be
able to see it. The day where she came in but didn't go all the way to
the food, the food was on the bottom and eventhough she could smell
it, maybe the fact that she coudln't see it was the reason she didn't
go to it ...

Anyway, she must have been hungry enough and went to the food within 2
minutes.
I saw the little white papaer moving up and went to the trap and here
she was.
I was sooo relieved because I was concerned about her not eating
enough.

I covered the trap with a dark cover and she calmed down right away.
I then picked up thee 5 kittens and put them in a carrier and showed
them to her. Then everybody went to the temporary foster place, where
they still are today, but they should be moving soon to a more
permanent foster home.

You can see them he

Jeremy, the brother:
http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=2815600

Penelope, the mom and her 5 kittens:
http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=2815614

These two cats are incredibly sweet for feral cats. They didn't show
any signs of aggression against humans adn Marta, form
StraysFromTheHeights will work on them to tame them.

The mom has been tested and she is negative for FelV and FIV, which is
great!
Unfortunatly, her brother, who was neutred last Thursday tested
positiv with the quick test for FelV. He is going to be retestet this
week.

It is really sad because they are so attached to each other and he is
sooo shy, he would feel much better with his sister with him ... And
if he is negative, we are going to try to find a foster home for
everybody. Let's keep our fingers crossed ...

By the way, they are somehow related to the young mom that we rescued
in February.

Thanks again for all these useful advices

Patricia

Willows wrote in message
...
I left the trap outside but she din't go there for two days. That is
when I figured out she must have given birth. I went n discoved 7
kittens. Today I counted only 5 of them ...

I would call any local shelters and see if they would be willing to take
the kittens now. Sounds like two have already been lost and a shelter
may have a nursing mom they could put the kittens with until you catch
the mother. You never know who else might make their way into this
boiler room and those kittens could be in danger.

I put then the trap in the boiler room where I feed her once a day in
the evening/late afternoon. The trap is not set.

She is going into the trap and eat the food and leaves. But I don't
know at what time ... I was supposing she would eat just after I left
the food in the trap, she was also coming the the food rigth after I
left it outside, but only after I left and was out of sight ...

Tonight I tried to set the trap, and waited for almost three hours,
without success.
I reduced the portion yesterday, hoping she would be hungry enough to
go right to the food...

Tonight I reduced the portion again, hoping that she will come rigth
away tomorrow night. Am I risking the life of her kittens? ...

Your right to make her hungry but she also needs to eat if she's feeding
them. You could feed her a big meal and then starve her for a bit with
food only in the trap for 36 hours if nothing feed her a big meal again
wait a day and try again. Its possible someone else is feeding her too
in which case your job will be a lot harder. You've got a smart cat who
knows somethings up just keep at it 3 hours isn't alway long enough.

Since I don't see the trap I attached a little bell on the door and a
string with a paper at the end, so that if the door closes I will see
the little paper moving.

Does anyone has an another good idea how to get her into the trap,
without having to spend the night ouside?

What food are you putting in the trap? Best foods to use are something
smelly like tuna, sardines, kfc people say works well too. It shouldn't
just be dry cat food but something she'll really like. Also where in
the trap are you putting the food. It should be as far back as possible
behind the release door.

I thought of putting one of her kittens in the trap, but I'm afraid it
would be cought under the part that is moving up when the trap is set,
and then would be crusched by it when it comes down ...

Don't put the kittens in there she might just abandon them or as you say
a kitten could get hurt either by the door or by the mother going nuts
when she gets caugth.

I am alos afraid that she would move them then and that I won't be
able to find them anymore ... It is a dark room with a lot of garbage
in it where you could hide tonnes of kittens ...

Which is why you need to speak to a shelter about taking the kittens
now. People who are experienced at hand feeding kittens can make them
survive even without a mother, and they may have a better chance even as
orphaned kittens then they do in a boiler room.

Best of luck