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#1
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Stray Mom, Feral Kittens
A stray that lives at the local American Legion appears to have had a
litter of kittens under a small building. Mom is friendly and enjoys some human contact. The kittens, though, will certainly be feral when they finally grow big enough to come out exploring, and will therefore be nearly impossible to catch. I'd like to capture all of them to have mom spayed and vaccinated, and to see if I can find good homes for the kittens. Any suggestions on how to do this? It is impossible to get to where the kittens are now without partially destroying the building. Thanks in advance. -- 8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail) ~~~~~~ "I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson http://home.earthlink.net/~sme617 ICQ: 349878998 |
#2
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In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", Suzie-Q
artfully composed this message within on 14 Aug 2004: A stray that lives at the local American Legion appears to have had a litter of kittens under a small building. Mom is friendly and enjoys some human contact. The kittens, though, will certainly be feral when they finally grow big enough to come out exploring, and will therefore be nearly impossible to catch. I'd like to capture all of them to have mom spayed and vaccinated, and to see if I can find good homes for the kittens. Any suggestions on how to do this? It is impossible to get to where the kittens are now without partially destroying the building. Thanks in advance. Do you know how old they are? If they are not teeny tiny, you could probably use mom as bait and they'll come to her. Either be ready to grab them, or have a kitten trap or two ready and line it up next to a cage or trap with mom in it. Good luck! -- Cheryl |
#3
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In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", Suzie-Q
artfully composed this message within on 14 Aug 2004: A stray that lives at the local American Legion appears to have had a litter of kittens under a small building. Mom is friendly and enjoys some human contact. The kittens, though, will certainly be feral when they finally grow big enough to come out exploring, and will therefore be nearly impossible to catch. I'd like to capture all of them to have mom spayed and vaccinated, and to see if I can find good homes for the kittens. Any suggestions on how to do this? It is impossible to get to where the kittens are now without partially destroying the building. Thanks in advance. Do you know how old they are? If they are not teeny tiny, you could probably use mom as bait and they'll come to her. Either be ready to grab them, or have a kitten trap or two ready and line it up next to a cage or trap with mom in it. Good luck! -- Cheryl |
#4
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Yes, if they are old enough to eat (around 4 weeks), try borrowing or buying
a have a heart trap. Put a smelly fish in it. You can keep the mom in a care near by for them to see her and come forth. Gail "Suzie-Q" wrote in message ... A stray that lives at the local American Legion appears to have had a litter of kittens under a small building. Mom is friendly and enjoys some human contact. The kittens, though, will certainly be feral when they finally grow big enough to come out exploring, and will therefore be nearly impossible to catch. I'd like to capture all of them to have mom spayed and vaccinated, and to see if I can find good homes for the kittens. Any suggestions on how to do this? It is impossible to get to where the kittens are now without partially destroying the building. Thanks in advance. -- 8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail) ~~~~~~ "I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson http://home.earthlink.net/~sme617 ICQ: 349878998 |
#5
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Yes, if they are old enough to eat (around 4 weeks), try borrowing or buying
a have a heart trap. Put a smelly fish in it. You can keep the mom in a care near by for them to see her and come forth. Gail "Suzie-Q" wrote in message ... A stray that lives at the local American Legion appears to have had a litter of kittens under a small building. Mom is friendly and enjoys some human contact. The kittens, though, will certainly be feral when they finally grow big enough to come out exploring, and will therefore be nearly impossible to catch. I'd like to capture all of them to have mom spayed and vaccinated, and to see if I can find good homes for the kittens. Any suggestions on how to do this? It is impossible to get to where the kittens are now without partially destroying the building. Thanks in advance. -- 8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail) ~~~~~~ "I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson http://home.earthlink.net/~sme617 ICQ: 349878998 |
#6
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"Suzie-Q" wrote in message ... A stray that lives at the local American Legion appears to have had a litter of kittens under a small building. Mom is friendly and enjoys some human contact. The kittens, though, will certainly be feral when they finally grow big enough to come out exploring, and will therefore be nearly impossible to catch. I'd like to capture all of them to have mom spayed and vaccinated, and to see if I can find good homes for the kittens. Any suggestions on how to do this? It is impossible to get to where the kittens are now without partially destroying the building. Thanks in advance. My sister's done this a few times (she lives next to a dairy farm, & feral litters were showing up regularly for a while), both when the mother cat was very feral, & semi-friendly. Once the kittens start coming out w/ the mother & they're old enough to be weaned, you can trap them w/ a Hav-a-Hart trap. You can buy one or borrow one from a shelter - they'll probably require a refundable deposit. You may wind up trapping one at a time. Wet cat food, tuna fish, whatever for bait in the trap. My sister had a difficult time trapping one last kitten & the very feral mother cat; she found that bacon finally lured them in. The kittens - she kept & socialized them, & adopted them out when they were ready. The super-feral mother cat: she had spayed immediately (had already talked to the vet saying that it would be on an as-soon-as-I-can-trap-her basis) & released her. Good luck w/ this bunch. Cathy |
#7
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"Suzie-Q" wrote in message ... A stray that lives at the local American Legion appears to have had a litter of kittens under a small building. Mom is friendly and enjoys some human contact. The kittens, though, will certainly be feral when they finally grow big enough to come out exploring, and will therefore be nearly impossible to catch. I'd like to capture all of them to have mom spayed and vaccinated, and to see if I can find good homes for the kittens. Any suggestions on how to do this? It is impossible to get to where the kittens are now without partially destroying the building. Thanks in advance. My sister's done this a few times (she lives next to a dairy farm, & feral litters were showing up regularly for a while), both when the mother cat was very feral, & semi-friendly. Once the kittens start coming out w/ the mother & they're old enough to be weaned, you can trap them w/ a Hav-a-Hart trap. You can buy one or borrow one from a shelter - they'll probably require a refundable deposit. You may wind up trapping one at a time. Wet cat food, tuna fish, whatever for bait in the trap. My sister had a difficult time trapping one last kitten & the very feral mother cat; she found that bacon finally lured them in. The kittens - she kept & socialized them, & adopted them out when they were ready. The super-feral mother cat: she had spayed immediately (had already talked to the vet saying that it would be on an as-soon-as-I-can-trap-her basis) & released her. Good luck w/ this bunch. Cathy |
#8
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The kittens will be easy to trap or even lure within reach if they aren't too deeply within the building foundations. Kittens around 3-4 weeks are mobile enough (though barely, at 3 weeks) and innocent enough to lure to the hand if Mom isn't around to distract them. In your case, the mom might even help lure her kittens out to you. I have rescued entire litters by hand by calling the (with a shrill mew, since I can't manage a mother's trill) within reach of my hand. Or simply sit down and call and talk to the kittens with Mom there with you. By 5 weeks (or even younger), the kittens are attracted to solid food and can be taken with a livetrap. We use a squirrel trap for babies, so we don't get the mom before we want her. Feral-born kittens are quite tameable up to 8 weeks and even older, but the sooner you catch them after 4 weeks the better. By 4 weeks they are developed enough to wean to solid food. But you are lucky, to have a tame momcat on tap. Let us know how it goes. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats |
#9
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The kittens will be easy to trap or even lure within reach if they aren't too deeply within the building foundations. Kittens around 3-4 weeks are mobile enough (though barely, at 3 weeks) and innocent enough to lure to the hand if Mom isn't around to distract them. In your case, the mom might even help lure her kittens out to you. I have rescued entire litters by hand by calling the (with a shrill mew, since I can't manage a mother's trill) within reach of my hand. Or simply sit down and call and talk to the kittens with Mom there with you. By 5 weeks (or even younger), the kittens are attracted to solid food and can be taken with a livetrap. We use a squirrel trap for babies, so we don't get the mom before we want her. Feral-born kittens are quite tameable up to 8 weeks and even older, but the sooner you catch them after 4 weeks the better. By 4 weeks they are developed enough to wean to solid food. But you are lucky, to have a tame momcat on tap. Let us know how it goes. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats |
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