Trap or don't trap??

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Please give me some advice:

A pregnant stray has started coming to my house for food. I have two choices........

1. Continue to feed her, hope she has the kittens somewhere safe, then eventually try to TNR the entire litter. The problem with this is that it COULD be the start of a new colony. I have succesfully spayed all the female strays in the compound, so the only new cats we have here are ones which "move in" from elsewhere or are dumped. There is a risk that I may not catch them all before they are sexually mature, and wel all know how many kittens ONE unspayed female can produce.

2. Trap her now, and allow her to give birth at the shelter, then help socialise the kittens. Hopefully some of them will find good homes. The problem is that we DO NOT have a no-kill shelter, so I have no control over the fate of mommy cat or her kittens. I am also concerned that the trauma of trapping her will cause her to lose the kittens.

PLEASE HELP! I don't know what to do!

PS she is a gorgeous grey and white girl - looks like our Edwina, and is no more than a kitten herself - poor thing!:(

[NoahsMommy]

Are you able to trap and then foster the mama and kittens in a garage or somewhere like that?

If not, I would not trap her and then try to find her and the kittens.

Good luck! :)

[K & L]

Unless you have somewhere to place the kittens I would suggest to trap mom cat and abort the kittens. Then release mom and continue to feed and provide for her. I know most of you do not approve or like this option, but this is what we do to manage our feral colony. This way you don’t have kittens living a feral life, and mom cat does not have to be destroyed. Now if we have homes for the kittens we will trap and foster mom until kittens are ready for their new home, then have mom spayed, and release her and continue to care for her.

[catmandu]

I would trap the Mother , and socialize the Kittens , and hope that someone will take in the Mother. That way the kittens have a fighting chnace and the Mother Cat can be spayed , breaking the chain of unwanted Babys!

[K & L]

Originally posted by catmandu
I would trap the Mother , and socialize the Kittens , and hope that someone will take in the Mother. That way the kittens have a fighting chnace and the Mother Cat can be spayed , breaking the chain of unwanted Babys!

This is good advice as long as you have placement for all. Otherwise what are you going to do with them? If you socialize the kittens and then do not have homes, where do they go? If you can’t place them in a no-kill shelter, where do they go? If they have to go to a kill shelter, then the inevitable will happen anyway. Then where does mom cat go if you don’t have a home? When it comes to ferals, the best thing is to TNR. If the cat happens to be pregnant, then the kittens will have to be aborted. It’s just not the same as when a cat is tame and has somewhere to go. The breeding process needs to be stopped

[Corinna]

Not to sound heartless too but I agree with K&L if she is a kitten her self she may not be ready to take care of kittens and then YOU will be stuck taking care of kittens . Trap her and have her spay (aborting kittens) it is the kindest thing to do.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

I think K&L has (unfortunately) sussed up the situation very well. The sad reality is that there is NOT a no-kill shelter in Bahrain. (if you knew the number of animals we PTS every month you would be sick). I don't have a garage or any airconditioned place for the Mommy cat to have her litter, and their fate would still remain in the hands of the shelter - only a couple of months later.

People here just DO NOT adopt Dilmun cats - if someone is looking to adopt a cat, they can take their pic of persian-lookalikes at the shelter, or they can go behind their neerest restaurant and grab a kitten out of a dumpster.

It's the same decision I make every time I rescue a cat here - either drive by and ignore it, knowing that it will be killed in traffic, or "rescue"it and take it to the shelet, where it has a 99% chance of being PTS anyway!!!

I am going to try to trap Grey Mommy on Saturday (hubby is overseas on business so I have time to run around).

Wish me luck, and pray that I am doing the right thing.

[K & L]

I wish you ALL the luck. It's not an easy decision, but in the long run, the best one! Will you have mom cat fixed and the release her? Can you set-up a feeding and watering station for her? I really think your doing the right thing! Good luck with trapping and let me know if you have any questions. We've trapped over 100 now!! We can give you some pointers.

[PayItForward]

I have no advice but wanted to post my support whatever you decide to do.

Bless you for caring :D

[kimlovescats]

Good luck in trapping Momma Cat ... and thank you for caring!!!;)

[jenluckenbach]

Best of luck. I have faith that you WILL do what needs to be done for the good of all.

[moosmom]

I also agree with K & L. The best thing to do is trap mama now and have her spayed, providing she's not that far along. If she IS about to pop, then maybe you can foster her and the kittens till their weaned and find homes. Everyone is looking for kittens these days.

If you let her stay outside while pregnant, she could have the babies and you may never find them, which would put more unspayed/unneutered cats out to multiply.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

[lizbud]

Ally Cat's Mommy,

Unfortunately your situation is not unfamiliar to many people
who live in smaller towns in the U.S. :(

I wish you the very best of luck in trapping momma cat. TNR is
really the only humane thing available to you.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Originally posted by K & L
I wish you ALL the luck. It's not an easy decision, but in the long run, the best one! Will you have mom cat fixed and the release her? Can you set-up a feeding and watering station for her? I really think your doing the right thing! Good luck with trapping and let me know if you have any questions. We've trapped over 100 now!! We can give you some pointers.

The mommy cat will always have shelter and food for as long as I am here. I already feed all the ferals and abandoned pets in my housing compound, and provide fresh water for them daily. (I have two - Dilly and Kissy, who never leave my garden - Kissy was at the vet a couple of weeks ago for an abcess in the side).


Also THANKS to all of you for your advice and support - if I spoke to anyone else about my dilemma they would just sya "so what - it's just another stray cat"- that's the great thing about PetTalk - none of you think I am crazy!!

I have booked a trap and am picking it up on Saturday morning.

[Kater]

I commend you for making a most difficult decision. I wish you luck in trapping Momma kitty!

As others have said....THANKS FOR CARING! :D

[catcrazylady]

It's such a horrible situation and there really is no happy outcome so you just have to choose between the lesser of two evils. I know at my shelter they abort if the mother isn't too far along. They hate it too but what solution is there? They had one the other day that came in and I was holding her and I thought she felt pregnant. I told them and they had the doc check her and she determined that she was but not very far along. When I came in the next time the director was very upset. They took the kitty to surgery to spay and abort and found out that she was much further along than expected. Of course it was too late for the kittens but there were tears shed for them. The vet was in shock because she couldn't believe how starved this poor young mother was. She was so skinny that you couldn't even tell she was on the verge of giving birth. It is simply a very very sad reality.
Good luck to you with whatever you decide to do and please keep us posted.