found a cat & her 1 day old kittens

credit_crunch

im looking some advice please!

over the weekend we found a cat hiding in the garden - a few hours later she just gave birth to 4 kittens

we have never owned cats so have no idea what to do! we have been feeding the mother who is a only a wee young thing herself - she is very timid so we think she is either wild, or has been lost or not cared for properly. we are feeding her at least 3 times a day and she seems to be getting used to the sounds of our voices and starting to come a bit closer!

we were in touch with the cats protection league, and they will get her spayed once the kittens are old enough - obviously then we can get the cat & kittens all checked out by a vet - at the minute she doesn't come close enough for you to touch!

the next time she leaves should we put the kittens in a box and make a little bed for them - she had them on a sheet of plastic, so we just put a wee light pillowcase on top to make it a bit more comfortable!

the kittens still have their cords, and haven't even opened their eyes yet!

going to the library 2day to pick up a few books for a bit more info!:D

all advice welcomed!

paddypaws101

How exciting!
I would be very careful about 'spooking' the cat by moving or touching the kittens. She could easily turn against them if they smell strange, or could pick them up and move them somewhere else.
Most cats make good mums and you are really helping her by providing food so she does not have to leave them and go looking.
Of course the best thing would be to get her and kittens under cover, or even into a spare bedroom! Ideally you will be able to handle the kittens as they grow so that they will be socialised and suitable for homing rather than living an outside life.
Would you be in a position to take on the cat herself and maybe one of the kittens?

spike7451

credit_crunch,
Congrats! Good advice from Paddypaws there.You might want to search thru the threads here:

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php

Have you contacted the ASSISI in Newtownards to see if they can help?
028 9181 2622

Their website seems to be down at the moment so here's the facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Conlig-United-Kingdom/Assisi-Animal-Sanctuary/51547198037?v=wall

Regards,

Merv

mallada

Seems like all the good advice has been given.

If she is very timid then ideally she may belong to someone and have gotten lost or not wished to return home due to giving birth. If they were good caring owners they will have had her micro-chipped, any vet or rescue center will have a machine (generally portable) to check this (The micro-chip contains owners name, address and phone number)

Obviously it could be difficult if you cant get close enough at the moment but as the kittens settle and such it should become easier to get closer.

Someone out there may be extremely worried and looking for her.

Other than that kittens and cats bring a world of happiness when looked after correctly

David

EmptyPockets

DH and I were in a similar position ourselves last year. The house next door to us had been empty for years and the garden was terribly overgrown: bramble bushes eight foot tall! One day we noticed a little wild family of ferals living there. Mum cat must have been someone's pet at one time, because she was semi-tame, but the kittens were all feral.

If possible, you need to do everything you can to avoid the same happening to these kittens, as it will be much harder for anyone to catch / rehome them once they've gone that way. We managed to catch mum cat, and one by one, the kittens followed her until we had the whole family. For the next two weeks we fed them all and sheltered them until arrangements were finally agreed for a shelter to take them in. However, 'our' kittens were near-on three months old.

These ones you've found do sound too young to consider moving or touching though, you don't want mum to turn against them while they're so dependant.

Hope you manage to find them all a home. Please keep feeding mum if you can, that's the best thing you can do for the whole family so that mum cat doesn't have to stray far from babies. If it's a struggle financially for you to feed the whole family, you could ask for help on your local Freegle group. We did this and were inundated with offers from kind locals all wanting to help with food and biscuits. When the family eventually left us they went off with bags of left-over food!

Best of luck.

picklepick

You could make a bed for her out of a box with some newspaper in and place it near. She may move the kittens there by herself.

credit_crunch

wow! thanks for all the responses

she had them all in the corner of our dilapitated shed so they are well hidden and sheltered!

i know not to touch or move them with the hole scent thing - the last thing we want the mother to do is move them or else abandon them!

bit of bad news this morning tho - one of the wee kittens had died! dont know whether it was ill or maybe the mum had smothered it!

the cats protection league will neuter the mum once the kittens are old enough, so i think my mum will hang onto her and one kitten, and hopefully i will get the other 2 kittens!

thanks for all the opinions - it really has helped and i hope the 3 wee munchkins survive!!

credit_crunch

ok so 2day i put a box with newspapers in and moved the 3 kittens into it. the mum was happy enough and climbed in besie them once she had finished her lunch!

is it ok to give the mum cows milk? she wont drink the water we leave out!

she is still very timid and doesnt come close enough to touch but hopefully she will soon - i guess she will when she is ready!

im taking 2 kittens, dad has found a home for the 3rd and mum & dad will try and hang onto the mum!

at what stage do we rehome them/ they are a week old 2day so i imagine at 6/7 weeks? also do they need to see the vets soon? or again is that when they are a bit older?

sorry for all the questions but clearly this is all new to me! next thing will be finding out their gender and then picking names lol!

rita-rabbit

You are doing a fantastic job - well done you!

However

do not give Mum cows milk, if you can't afford cat's milk good quality food will suffice

kittens should be left with Mum for 12 weeks - earlier than that is not good for them (physically & psychologically)

keep up the good work & any chance of photos?

rita-rabbit

If Mum won't drink water feed 75% wet food 25% dry

huskypup

Just a quick note to say you are doing a grand job:)

Don't give her cows milk it will upset her tummy, you can get milk for cats and kittens from any supermarket - as she is feeding her kittens I would recommend kitten milk as it has a higher fat content, you can also get a substiute milk from any vets ( I got it from mine when I was hand rearing rabbits and my cats loved it,).

I rehome and spay ferrals from where I work, and over the past 6 years have caught nearly 500 cats and kittens - glad to say now down to just two females and both of them have now been spayed and released, though I do feed them everyday and they live quite happily down a heating duct - even have a duvet to sleep on. I would - as she is inside is to just sit very quietly and very still with her, talking very gently - she will then learn to associate you with food, and will gain your trust, place the food bowl near to you, and only when she comes to you for food, touch her while she is eating - it sometimes takes a while - my guess with her it won't, if she was frightened of you she would have moved the kittens.

Now the thing I hate to do, but sometimes I find with semi ferrals its the best, when the kittens start to eat solids, don't feed them for a day - so when they are hungry they come straight to the bowl , be ready, have a cat box on its side open, and just grab - and drop straight in the box, don't try to get too many too quicky, I do it over a couple of days and be prepared to be bitten and scratched, I also have two traps, I place the food in and when they step on the plate the cage shuts, but you have to be arround to get them out as quick as possible, before they become to distressed. When you get the kitten home - place in a room and leave them alone - I leave a radio on with talking on - not music - so they get used to human voices - and again I bring the food bowl in and sit very quietly, I also pick them up and hold them, handling is very important, if you don't they will remain wild.

Good luck and remember paitence is needed, I beleive that semi ferrals make the best cats as they never lose that naughtiness - though I wasn't saying that at 4am yesterday when George brought a starling into the bedroom.:D

Just a thought - if they are semi ferral they will be eating solids alot quicker than domesticated kittens - I have removed kittens from their mothers as young as 4 - 5 weeks - the older you leave the kittens the harder it will be for you to catch them - especially if you are gong for the grab technique, the cattery I take my cats to - she is an RSPCA adoption centre - says you need to grab them by 6 weeks, if she is ferral she could just disappear at about 5 - 6 weeks as she could be pregnant again by then.
Take care xx