Feral cat advice wanted

[Archangel]

I am borrowing a trap to get some feral kittens spayed/neutered next week. The mum has a new litter but comes every day for food. She eats alongside her first kittens as they now live in my stables.

If she comes for food and finds her first litter have disappeared, she won’t know they have only just popped to the vets, will it spook her enough to move her new kittens or even just clear off?

This new lot are only a week old, I don't know where they are, hopefully she will eventually bring them here as well.

I did think about taking the kittens to be done two at a time so if she turned up she would find two of them still here – would that work or am I overthinking this?

Regarding the neutering/spaying – I think there are two boys and two girls - the cat rescue said just let them go when they get home. But the weather is horrible here at the moment, wet and windy and it is a bit tooth and claw wild up here. They will be so vulnerable and I worry the stress of being taken to the vet will make them just disappear into the countryside.

I was planning, depending on how they are coping with things, on keeping them shut in a barn the night after their operation. I can start feeding them in there now so they are used to the place. I will obviously play it by ear as to how they are coping but has anyone done this with newly neutered ferals or have you just let them go?

Any advice welcomed to make the whole thing as smooth as possible for them. It will be a happy day when everyone is neutered, including Mum.

 

[TPO]

My mum trapped the last litter of feral kittens that kept being born on my grandparents farm.

She shut them in a room of the empty old and disused workers cottage afterwards and we tamed them with feeding etc and then rehomed them.

Mum then caught all the females and took them to be spayed. They were all kept in the cottage for at least 5 days after the op to keep an eye on them. They were truly feral so there was no getting near them

I think your plan to keep them in afterwards is a good one.

I dont think the cat will move current litter if older litter are only missing for a night

 

[Archangel]

Thanks TPO, when the time comes to do mum and the new kittens it will be well into winter so I will keep them in until happy they are all OK.

 

[LaurenBay]

My yard just got their 2 new kittens spayed. They were kept in a large crate for 2 days after. Both are doing well and have not left the yard.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Thanks TPO, when the time comes to do mum and the new kittens it will be well into winter so I will keep them in until happy they are all OK.

When my feral cat had kittens she was spayed when they were 6 weeks old. The vet said they can get pregnant again very quickly so just watch out she doesn't get caught again. Well done for having them all neutered, there wouldn't be nearly so many feral cats if everyone did the same thing.

 

[meleeka]

When my feral cat had kittens she was spayed when they were 6 weeks old. The vet said they can get pregnant again very quickly so just watch out she doesn't get caught again. Well done for having them all neutered, there wouldn't be nearly so many feral cats if everyone did the same thing.

When I took a feral cat to be speyed (with the aid of a cat trap) she was already pregnant again. The people at the RSPCA apologised, saying they didn’t realise until they’d already started the op but I think it was probably the best thing all round to abort them. Her kittens were around 6 weeks. I caught a few kittens one night and then it took a few days to get the mum as well. She kept coming back for food during this time.

 

[Equi]

Not anywhere near me are you lol id love some kittens.

 

[Archangel]

Thank you everyone. Am picking the trap up today so fingers crossed.

Our local vet wouldn't spay until mum had weaned her kittens and her milk had dried up. It was impossible to tell so here we are with another litter. I have found a vet now who does ferals all the time so more flexible.

I will grab mum as soon as I can. They are prolific breeders aren't they. I am after the Toms as well but haven't seen another cat about for months.

Equi - sadly I'm in deepest Wales.

Here are some photos, the kittens look huge but they are actually quite small.
From left - Cariad, Valeria, Orlando, Gwyddian and mum Fenella.

 

[Bradsmum]

Gorgeous. Fenella reminds me of my old stable cat, Smudge - can't put photo up as it always says photo too large!

 

[twiggy2]

Cats protection down south used to request cats were kept in overnight where they were going to be released after neutering, the anaesthetic can make them feel the cold and also make bad judgments on height, distance etc and so vulnerable to falls and being hit by traffic (if there is any).
If you can catch the kittens at about 5-6 weeks it should be fairly easy to tame them, cats protection used to do this if they had fosterers keen to spend the time with them.

 

[Archangel]

Just updating this thread. Fenella kept coming for food but no sign of the kittens. We had torrential rain then cold wind then snow. I thought their chances of survival were slim. I phoned the vet to say I was going to have one final walk round to check for kittens then try and trap her.

Next thing... photos are poor, I didn't want to frighten her. There are 6 of them. Fenella has suddenly become really friendly so I'm confident I can trap her for phase II of the neutering program.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Just to say OP, that it is wonderful you are responsible enough to make sure these little kitt's are neutered. I'm a Fosterer for Cats Protection, and we are always in the situation of having to go and deal with a huge cat problem somewhere or other, where no-one has had the foresight to ensure the cats are neutered, and the whole situation has escalated hopelessly.

Well done!!

(edited) PS: if you need advice, your local Cats Protection branch would be only too pleased to give it!

 

[Bradsmum]

Yay well done Fenella for keeping them safe. Good luck op for the trapping and ongoing neutering.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Even with fuzzy pics you can see that they are gorgeous kittens!

Good luck with the trapping and neutering.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Squueeeeezzzzeeee! How adorable. I hope you are able to sort them out.

 

[paddy555]

do you all take ferals to be spayed to your normal vet or is RSPCA or anywhere else better. I am feeding a feral that I can catch and think she is a female. She is quite small and looks young but may not be. I want to have her back and look after her after spaying and I am happy to pay for the op. I am just wondering if one place is better than the other?

 

[Archangel]

do you all take ferals to be spayed to your normal vet or is RSPCA or anywhere else better.

I take mine to the vet recommended by the cat rescue that I borrowed the trap and transfer cage from. They handle a lot of feral cats during the season and just take it all in their stride. My normal vet would do it but they wanted things done in a way that just isn't possible with ferals.

Good luck with your neutering.

 

[paddy555]

I take mine to the vet recommended by the cat rescue that I borrowed the trap and transfer cage from. They handle a lot of feral cats during the season and just take it all in their stride. My normal vet would do it but they wanted things done in a way that just isn't possible with ferals.

Good luck with your neutering.

thank you. Anything is better than kittens.

 

[Archangel]

I'm a Fosterer for Cats Protection, and we are always in the situation of having to go and deal with a huge cat problem somewhere or other, where no-one has had the foresight to ensure the cats are neutered, and the whole situation has escalated hopelessly.

I can see how that happens, just 1 cat has now turned into 11 in just one summer. I guess left to themselves a number wouldn't make it through their first winter but why let animals breed when they are going to struggle.

 

[Archangel]

Another update... Fenella has moved the kittens into the stables and into the Wendy House I bought for the first litter. Clever Fenella, they are nice and warm in there and close to the feeding place.

Here they are, they have just started on a bit of kitten food. Oh and there are SEVEN of them not six!

 

[cobgoblin]

do you all take ferals to be spayed to your normal vet or is RSPCA or anywhere else better. I am feeding a feral that I can catch and think she is a female. She is quite small and looks young but may not be. I want to have her back and look after her after spaying and I am happy to pay for the op. I am just wondering if one place is better than the other?

Ask your vet if they can cope with a feral and if they don't mind it being short notice.
My vet just said to phone up when we caught them and they would fit it in that day... And ask for dissolvable stitches.
.

 

[BeckyFlowers]

Omg the kittens are so gorgeous! But good luck with the trapping.