feral cat

[kathy]

hi. i'm new at this, & may have the wrong site, but...does anyone know anything about taking a "wild" domestic young cat into the home as a housepet ?? we just lost our long time pet, Flash was 16 yrs old and a male dog. he passed away on sat. aug. 30/08. a few weeks before he passed, a young female cat began hanging around our deck, and we fed her, and she was really sweet and gentle and affectionate. we planned on taking care of her without having her live indoors, because of Flash-he was not fond of cats. however, now that we lost him, we are finding all sorts of comfort from the cat. we also noticed that she looks like she's expecting kittens of her own, as she was thin, and now her belly is filling out, and when i picked her up, it felt like there were dozens of big nipples everywhere [i'd never picked up a female anything before, i guess, because i was really surprised!!] we're o.k. with the pregnancy, but can only keep 1 kitten.
what i want to know, since i dont know much about cats, is it possible for this to work out? can a cat come in and live with us, and what about when the other kittens leave?? thanks

[skatscats]

Hi there. My name is Loreen and I work with a local cat rescue group as well as a Humane Society. If you can give me your phone number and location I would be glad to come out and have an assessment visit with you and give you some tips and directions on how you can reach out and help this little furry. My phone number is 519-821-9462 (home) and 519-824-4120 ext 56567 (office). Please feel free to contact me at either numbers as if I am not available I do have phone mail at both numbers. Also my email address is lkelly@uoguelph.ca, but I do not have home access to my email on the week ends because my computer has to go to the hospital as it is suffering from a virus and I don't want to pass this on to anyone else.
Please do call as I will be there to assist.............................Loreen

[funnyfarm]

A stray cat can make a perfect housecat and may have been one in a past life until they were lost or abandoned. I've had 3 now and they were all wonderful!
I'd recommend getting a cat care book (the library has tons!). Feed the momma cat a kitten food as she's probably been under-nourished.

You can't wean the kittens until they are 6-8 weeks old, then you can find them homes. Once the kittens are weaned and the momma's milk has dried up, she can be spayed. You can call your local vet clinic to find out the cost.
I am a huge supporter of spaying and neutering animals. I worked as a Veterinary Technician in a couple of vet clinics a few years ago and volunteered at animal shelters and if you had any idea how many cats/dogs are euthanized because there aren't enough homes for them all, you'd probably cry.
Good luck, and enjoy your new friend(s)!

[kathy]

Hi again, and thanks to the 2 people who were kind enough to respond to my inquiry. I'm not sure how the new turn of events are going to effect our plans to have the mom come in. She is NOT pregnant. I know this because yesterday we met her kittens!!!! I guess she is post-partum, and how will we know how old the kittens are [to attempt to wean them, and, now that they were born outside will it be a good idea to try to keep a kitten or not?] I was kind of banking on her birthing them indoors, so that indoors would be all they know, but that isn't what happened. They seem to be well on their way to becoming outside cats. Mom cat, who, we unfortunately started calling "Killer" before we knew we were going to try to keep, has yet to spend a night indoors, and now we know why. Killer really seemed to want them to follow her indoors, but they wouldn't. The weather is still half decent here [cape breton] but very soon it will be cold in the nights. What to do, what to do! My daughter, who is 15, wants to capture the kittens and move them inside. I'd like for Killer to take them in herself. [they are so small, I thought Killer could pick them up by the scruff and transport them inside] If anyone has any "words of wisdom" or suggestions, I would really be interested in hearing from you. Thanks again. Kathy

[funnyfarm]

Hi Kathy
I'd catch them and bring them in. Keep them all in a quiet room with their food, water and littlerbox until they tame down and become use to their surroundings. Were the kittens eyes open when you first found them? Their eyes open at 10-14 days old. They can lap up liquids at 3 weeks. That might help you figure out their age. You should start them on kitten food at 3 weeks by either adding warm water to canned food or soaking dry kitten food in warm water and mixing to make a gruel. Use warm water to make it tastier for them. Smear a little on their lips to show them what it is. Make sure it's really runny to start off and as they get older you can add less water. Make up just a little the first time and if you are wetting dry food it should be thrown out after an hour. They can nurse all they want at this point, until they are eating well. You'll want to handle the kittens as much as possible to help tame them down. If you check out http://www.catsanonymous.ca, Tish does a lot of work with feral kittens and can help you with any more questions better than I can.

[seraulu1]

Hi Kathy
I'd catch them and bring them in. Keep them all in a quiet room with their food, water and littlerbox until they tame down and become use to their surroundings. Were the kittens eyes open when you first found them? Their eyes open at 10-14 days old. They can lap up liquids at 3 weeks. That might help you figure out their age. You should start them on kitten food at 3 weeks by either adding warm water to canned food or soaking dry kitten food in warm water and mixing to make a gruel. Use warm water to make it tastier for them. Smear a little on their lips to show them what it is. Make sure it's really runny to start off and as they get older you can add less water. Make up just a little the first time and if you are wetting dry food it should be thrown out after an hour. They can nurse all they want at this point, until they are eating well. You'll want to handle the kittens as much as possible to help tame them down. If you check out http://www.catsanonymous.ca, Tish does a lot of work with feral kittens and can help you with any more questions better than I can.

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