Kittens

B

Bellaboo18

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 October 2018
Messages
2,752
Visit site
It's a what would you do situation and I think I already know the answer.

My husband came home yesterday to say he'd seen 4 or 5 kittens at the end of our drive. We're guessing they're from the next farm along from us as they do have several feral cats. I've messaged the lady that lives in the house to ask if they're hers but I think they're more likely living in the farm buildings (which are rented by someone else).

Anyway I'm really worried about these little ones on the fast lanes and want to catch them. My husband thinks we should leave them be.

Thoughts please. It's a rural area but people do drive crazy down the lanes.

Thanks
 
Littlest Hobo said:
Oh please,catch them, check them out health wisr,feed them up and find them lovely new homes. I WAS looking for a pair a while back but incapacitated currently.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I feel I know what I need to do but my OH has definitely made me question my mind set.

I posted for a sanity check and you've given it to me! I'll get them caught.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
Well, if you look up my kitten thread... what I'd end up doing is catching kittens, claiming that they will be outdoor barn dwellers who are not allowed in the house, failing miserably and several months on would have five cats sleeping in my bed.
Click to expand...
I love your thread and did think of it when I posted this one.
We do have an outdoor (by his choosing) cat already but he has a den in the garage and we close the door every night so we know he's safe. We adopted him from the Cats protection and the routine works well for him. I'd love him to come in to the house but he won't!
 
KikiDee said:
Definitely catch them. We have a lot of ferals round here and they have a horrible life on the whole. The Tom’s spend their lives fighting and injured and the females will be pregnant by the time they’re a year old and have litter after litter. :(
Click to expand...
My main argument to my OH is if we don't catch these, there'll just be more and more litters. I don't have any reason to believe the feral cats are out of hand at the moment from what we see but space and resources will become a problem if they keep breeding.
 
Last edited:
Bellaboo18 said:
We're in Cheshire. I'll keep the thread updated, hopefully if all goes to plan I'll be looking for some homes!
Click to expand...

I’m in Cheshire and would have space for a kitten 👀

We had 2 hand-reared orphan kittens from a feral litter (mum died giving birth 😢 ) and sadly lost one 18 months ago at 3 years old to a heart defect. Been umming and ahhing about getting another for a while and you know….if one just came along that really needed a home….. :oops:
 
KikiDee said:
I’m in Cheshire and would have space for a kitten 👀

We had 2 hand-reared orphan kittens from a feral litter (mum died giving birth 😢 ) and sadly lost one 18 months ago at 3 years old to a heart defect. Been umming and ahhing about getting another for a while and you know….if one just came along that really needed a home….. :oops:
Click to expand...
I'll keep you posted x
 
See if you’ve any local rescues who would at least help with neuter and release (& lend you some traps) / take on any that you can’t find homes for. Smaller , local ones tend to be more helpful than larger more national ones (but still worth asking local cat’s protection branch as if they’ve got a neutering officer they may be able to support but sadly they do a lot less of this than they did)

If you can catch them whilst they’re young they’re a lot more tameable.

If mum could be caught and neutered to prevent more litters that would be a massive bonus.
 
You’ll need to start feeding them in order to catch them. Ours hung around for a while and weren’t overly keen on being caught and made their feelings known once in a crate. Cats protection funded their trip to the vets 😀 they both turned out to be female and a few months older than we anticipated which is apparently very common. The younger they can be caught the better. They’re now very demanding, l trod on the tail of one of them yesterday, she was desperate for food and l obviously wasnt quick enough. The noise was extreme!!! However she still hung around and no doubt will be lying in wait this morning unless she’s sleeping in the hay shed. Obviously a busy night last night as left a weasel for me.
 
Bellaboo18 said:
I don't think they'll be old enough to spay yet but we'd be happy to pay if we can catch them. I've been googling traps, I'll do my best to get them safe asap.
Click to expand...
I'm Cheshire too so let me know if I can help.

When we had feral kittens at the yard we borrowed some traps from a local rescue. (Willowsway cat rescue).

Trapping at this time of year is dangerous for the kittens as they can freeze in the trap so please make sure the trap is checked every couple of hours.
 
Crazy_cat_lady said:
Definitely catch them, feral sounds an awful life for a cat
Plus they should be young enough to tame 😍
Click to expand...

Yes, one of my cats was feral until she was rescued with her mother at 6 weeks. Her mum wasn't tame at all (she was spayed and released after weaning her litter) but her kittens are all very tame and good natured cats. Mine is so content to just sleep on the bed all day, her only slightly feral traits are she is very wary of strangers (but a cuddle bug with anyone she knows) and she has a cast iron stomach!
 
Bellaboo18 said:
I don't think they'll be old enough to spay yet but we'd be happy to pay if we can catch them. I've been googling traps, I'll do my best to get them safe asap.
Click to expand...
If yoy ring Cats Protection they will send a message to the local branch and they will loan you a trap. They also give out vouchers towards neutering, some have deals with local vets.
They loaned me a trap to catch my cat that had moved to the village for the summer, and hadn't come home for four months. He then decided to come home, it was obviously getting to cold and wet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top