VERY preggie stray in my garden

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

I have a VERY preggie stray which comes to my house twice a day for food. Is there any way I can create an environment which will make her want to hang around and have her kitties in my garden?? I can then make sure they have food / water / shelter etc until they are old enough to go to animal welfare with their mom. I thought about catching her now (I have a humane trap) but I dont want to traumatise her when she is so heavily preggies!

I would love to take her in, and her kitties too, but she is a "local feral" - Bahraini Dilmun cat - and they are not popular pets here - everyone goes for Persians etc, so I KNOWI wont be able to find homes for them. I can't take them on myself, as I am not sure how long I will be here (with the war looming - we are in the Mid East), and it is proving difficult enough to organise one cat's paperwork!

[L. Wayne]

Ally Cat's Mommy, Welcome to Pet Talk.

Personally, I would try to trap trap the kitty and keep her in the cage until you have to leave Bahrain. (Assuming that will be necessary in the near future.) How large is the trap? Is it large enough for her to easily turn around inside? And before attemtping to take her, I would fix up the inside of the trap with a shelter box. (an enclosed cardboard box with a hole cut into it so she can hide), with blankets and towels with feeding facilities. This is the time of year for most kittens to be born and if she is as large as you say, she could be due at any time. I am thinking that considering the situation where you are living, I would take the chance of her having her kittens in the trap, that is, if you want to keep them and mama. I am not sure how she will react to being trapped, and if it will place enough stress on her so that she may abandon her kittens. This sounds like a trial and error situation.

.........wayne

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Hi Wayne,
Thanks very much for your input - much appreciated!

I have had a chat to the SPCA here - they have said that they would prefer if I caught her now. She can then have the kitties at their facility - they will put her in a separate room with a small outside "run" and monitor her through the delivery. They will then spay mommy and fix all the kitties and try find homes for them. I am OK with this, as they have a strict policy of never destroying a healthy animal.

I have told them I will pay for Mommy and kitties until they are homed.

So hopefully this one will have a happy ending!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Good luck in trapping her. And thanks for caring enough to make sure she has her babies in a safe environment, and her and the babies are taken care of after they are born. If there were only more people like you in the world, we all might not be in the predicament we're all soon to be in.

And welcome to Pet Talk! :)

[NoahsMommy]

Wow, with all that is going on, you still care about this cat and her kittens. Thank you. :)

I would agree that trapping her now would be best. I don't have anything else to offer as advice. Just my well wishes.

Take care and please keep us updated. :)

[slick]

I agree that it's probably the best solution, although personally, I was looking forward to more pics of kitty piles :D Best of luck on the trapping and I pray you will all be safe.

[Randi]

First Welcome to PT Ally Cat's Mommy! :) It's wonderful to hear you'll help this kitty and her kittens to come. I agree it would be be best to trap her now. Try and find a place where the surroundings are as quit as possible and when you have trapped her, put a blanket over, it will help her relax. It will be easier to trap her if you let her go hungry first. Make sure there's a clean towel or blanket in the cage, if she gives birth when caught.

All the best of luck! Please keep us updated when you can. Be safe! :) Thanks for doing this!

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for all your kinds words of encouragement and welcome!
Today's the day - I'll be hoping to trap her when she comes for her evening meal, then I'll isolate her in a bathroom with blankets etc until I can take her in to the SPCA the next day.

Of course I have NO idea what else I might catch - there is a tuxie called "Bandit" with a really bad eye infection - so if I catch him I will take him in for treatment, and then re-release him. (They will probably "fix" him whilst they have him there)

I'll let you know the outcome - hold thumbs!
J

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

No luck catching the preggie one today - I'll have to try again tomorrow.

I DID manage to catch this beauty - I gave him a good meal and fresh water and sent him on his merry way - what a handsom boy!

Ally was up at the window and I could SWEAR she was batting her eyelids at him - little flirt!

[2kitties]

Sounds like you are giving this mom and kitties a wonderful chance. And this fellow having lunch in your home is gorgeous!

[NoahsMommy]

Awww, he's gorgeous!

Good luck tomorrow. :)

[Karen]

Good luck - a gold kitty first catch, now for the mama-kitty! I'll keep my fingers crossed that she's tired and hungry enough to get caught!

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Good news - caught the mommy cat!

She was a bit upset when she realized she was trapped. Thanks to Wayne for the advice re covering the cage - it really seemed to help calm her down!

She has been collected by the SPCA, and they'll give me a call tomorrow to let me know how she is once the vet has seen her!
Thanks to everyone for your help and advice
J:)

[HayleyRosie]

Thats great news! Will you be able to get pictures of her babies when they arrive?

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Congratulations! It's so good to know she will be taken care of when the time comes, and she and the kittens will find good homes when they are old enough. Thanks so much for caring. :)

[smokey the elder]

Thank you so much for working so hard to catch this cat and make sure she has her kittens in a safe environment. It's very refreshing to see people continuing to take care of their little piece of the world and the critters in it.

:)

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Mommy-to-be is settling in well at the SPCA. She was at the vet this afternoon for a checkup, so I'll phone again tomorrow and find out how she is doing.

I'd LOVE to be able to show pics of the kittens, but to be honest I think it might be better (for me) if I dont see them - I am trying really hard not to get too emotionally attached, as I know I will not be able to keep any of them.

Mommy will be spayed and released back in my garden once the kittens are weaned. (We have a sort of "informal" tag and release program here). And they'll home the kitties too!

I'll ley you all know how it goes with the birth and when I get her back!:)