Semi feral kittens

twiglet98

One of my colleagues is an Eastern European teenager who lives at a group of static caravans on a poultry farm. Evidently there are several cats there and one had three kittens a month ago - under his bed. He has asked me to take them or he will put them outside. They have been using newspaper but not a litter tray, and at 4-5 weeks I don't imagine the mother will clean up after them now.

I have talked long and loud about spaying and castration but their adult cat population will just multiply and inbreed. I have talked about weaning, worming, fleas, socialisation, all met with a laugh and not helped by the language barrier. Cats at the farm aren't pets, they have meat from the floor and hunt, of course. He handles the kittens but he doesn't want them in the caravan now.

I have never taken on kittens under 8 weeks but given the circumstances, I think they may be easier to socialise, health-check and ultimately rehome if I get them out of that caravan tomorrow. But I'm not sure my home will be right for them either. I have a 5 year old cat, spayed, tolerant and sociable. Two years ago I had three other cats, the oldies have both passed away and the other one went out one day and was never seen again. This one has settled happily as an only cat, she uses only one of the two litter trays available to her, she spends a lot of time outdoors. She gets on well with next-door's old cat, and we have regular visits from a young Tom who will sunbathe in the garden with her. I also have an elderly terrier, who is gentle and polite, and my daughters young cocker spaniel is dropped at my house during workdays. I work full time but go home for lunch to let the dogs out.

If I retrieve the kittens tomorrow, how best can I help them? I have crates and litter trays. I can continue to wean them onto raw meat, though my older cat refuses it and prefers it cooked. I would obviously have my vet examine them ASAP. And I will continue to preach about neutering, though it falls on deaf ears. I wondered about taking their mother too, but that might be even more traumatic for her and for my other pets (she is though to be about 3 and has had several litters in the past), but at such a young age the kittens should adapt more easily. And if it works, I will happily keep (and neuter) them all.

I won't see any replies until late as I'm out all day but I'd be very grateful for advice and ideas. I'm reluctant to add them to the local shelter's population but they would possibly have a better transition there, if they are to make happy domestic pets.

SensibleSarah

If they are only 4-5 weeks the they won't be fully weaned from their mum yet, so really shouldn't be taken from her yet as will still be taking milk as well as starting on solids. Would you be able to take the mum too and then can get her neutered & returned to the farm once the kittens are fully weaned in a couple more weeks? It would be less traumatic for her than being split from kittens so young and getting pregnant again in a couple of weeks.

They'll pick up the litter tray in a couple of days if they are kept in a crate with one in, it's just instinctive to go for that sort of texture. I would give them a conventional kitten food diet, as they won't be getting the right nutrients from scraps of meat and raw diets for cats takes a lot of work & calculations to get right. It's unlikely that the mum or kittens have been wormed so that's a priority asap, along with flea treatment and a checkover from the vets.

I would contact a local rescue for advice at least. They might also be able to help with trapping & neutering the adult cats (with owner's permission of course) to stop the cycle continuing. If you do want to rehome some of the kittens then the rescue could probably help there too, perhaps with you 'fostering' them until homes found. That way you're not using resources etc.

Kittens that young should be no issue in terms of socialising them. I've had terrified foster kittens at 8 weeks which have had no human contact & within a few days they come round if you just let them take it at their own pace.

SensibleSarah

Oh and if you take mum too, you'll need to keep her & kittens separate from your other pets until she is spayed & returned - spare room? Otherwise she WILL be stressed by the move.

twiglet98

Excellent points Sarah, thank you for taking the trouble to think it through. I don't even have a dry shed they could go in, I can isolate them into a bedroom and turn the mattress up to protect it, though my present cat has access to all areas so her scent is everywhere. The 'stray' tom who hangs around here scoots inside if the back door is open, he's often been upstairs too (I do NOT encourage him inside, and if I can get him into a carrier he is going to the vet too to be scanned for a microchip, and neutered if I can't identify his owners). The dogs stay downstairs.

I expect the kittens are still having milk though they'll have teeth by now, I can't quite get confirmation whether they are being offered solid food at all. From working with some really nice foreign migrants they seem keen on dog ownership but the cats are there for pest control, not pets at all, and I don't think there's any prospect of anyone at the farm spending anything on them, nor allowing me to remove any others.

Of course the problem will continue ad infinitum, and this lad will simply not allow any cat under his bed again. I'll let you know what happens over the next few days. He may have already shoved them out and lost track of them anyway.

twiglet98

Just a quick update to say the lad told me today that he has bought Whiskas Kitten Food in Jelly, the kittens are eating it although their mother still feeds them "all the time", he has taken lots of photos and videos of them and now they are responding to him, and he feels a bit more confident, I'm happy they're not about to be dumped outside. They have the run of the caravan and he was asking lots of questions. He agrees it's better for them to have at least another couple of weeks with their mother, and he will gradually increase their solid food. He's given them a litter tray, it's not quite clear whether they've used it, but I'm much less anxious for them, in the short term, than I was at the end of last week.

I won't be surprised if he decides to keep one or all of them now he's clearly enjoying them, but I'll do whatever I can, and hopefully at least this litter won't have the same future as the rest.

Froglet

I hope you can persuade him to have the mother neutered as well.

twiglet98

I will not stop trying to get that message through and I hope he will let me take her, but I doubt the community as a whole are likely to take it on board. The cats are not handled, let alone neutered, vaccinated or wormed, nobody there is going to spend anything on any of them. The kittens and various adults do actually look well in his photos and videos, I wonder if a charity would go into what could be quite an intimidating community - with the language barrier too - to try and curb the incessant breeding. They want cats for pest control and evidently don't consider there is a problem at all.

ETS I don't know anyone else living there, nor how many people (or animals) are there, I only found out about the situation when another colleague told the lad that I had a cat so he should talk to me. Perhaps it's too much of a risk to my own cat's health and sanity to think of bringing these particular kittens home. But at least I could try to give them a chance to integrate as pets, hope that they're not already damaged beyond help, and remove at least three cats from a future like their parents.

Mupette

wow twiglet98 your doing something amazing here :T