Caught her!!!

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

I caught the preggie stray in my housing compound! Last night was very frustrating - she walked into the trap, and the door mechanism didn't trigger, so she calmly licked her lips and walked back out again!

This morning I set it again, and within a couple of hours the watchman called me outside to show me she had been caught.

She was surpirisingly calm (I was worried she would freak out in the trap and hurt herself and her babies).

Pam at the shelter thinks that she is too far along to abort the kittens. She also says that the poor girl is barely a kitten herself! What they will do is see how large the litter is, and probably "downsize" it to 3. (I am glad I don't have to make THOSE sort of decisions). They will call me when she shows signs of labour, and if I am able to get there in time I want to watch them being born - I've never seen it before!

After the kittens are weaned Mommy cat will be spayed, and released back into my compound.

[jenluckenbach]

Good work.

[K & L]

Great job!!!! She'll be so much better off once spayed. Keep us posted.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

I caught another one this evening! A black and ginger tortoiseshell! I have noticed 3 kittens in the building site next door to the language centre where I teach. One torie (today's catch), an orange and white, and a black and white. The orangie was also sniffing the food in the trap, so it was just pot luck which one I caught first.

It is currently in one of the bathrooms (with no contact at all with Ally and Connor), and tomorrow it will sadly be going to the BSPCA.

I think this one is around 3 months old, although it's hard to tell when they are so skinny - could be older.

She is VERY wild, when I go into the bathroom she hurls herself straight up the wall, trying to escape . I am leaving her alone now - she has food, water, litter, a bed and a box to hide in - I am scared she will hurt herself the way she is jumping around!

[moosmom]

Great job!! One question though...if the first pregnant one is calm, is it possible for her to be placed rather than putting her back out??? Just curious. She COULD very well be someone's abandoned pet.

You deserve a medal!!

[jazzcat]

That is great. I think it is wonderful that you are helping these kitties.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Originally posted by moosmom
Great job!! One question though...if the first pregnant one is calm, is it possible for her to be placed rather than putting her back out??? Just curious. She COULD very well be someone's abandoned pet.

You deserve a medal!!

She is either calm because she was a pet, or because she is used to human contact from the watchmen, gardeners etc who look after the compound. We will check her personality once she has has a couple of days to settle down at the shelter, and is she is "pet"material we will do our best to re-home her.

[rg_girlca]

A job well done.
Good luck with the mama cat. I hope all goes well.

[QueenScoopalot]

Good job! Sure glad you got her before she gave birth out there. I get nervous sometimes though. I have trapped cats in the past that look very pregnant and have found out the next morning they are filled with milk. Luckily my vet is usually good about doing a spay first (risky for her newborns) so she won't continue reproducing. I let them go as soon as she's able to stand up. It's sometimes hard to tell if a cat has just given birth though they tend to stay with the newborns for 24 hours. They still can look pregnant for a few days after birthing until the skin stretches back.

[leslie flenner]

happened to me several years ago! Brought in a stray from work that I swore was pregnant only to hear she is actively nursing! She had been at my house overnight and not knowing how old the kittens might be, i felt terrible! (Around here, raccoons will go after kittens and newborns can't live for 24 hours with no mom milk). Of course I released her and managed to find her feral four living under an old living room chair on the porch of an old man who would shake his fist at me everytime I came around to get off of his property! They were under the chair with a long dead squirrel that mom had given them! All were socialized and placed in homes and I still have then kitten Dorian!
If at all possible, it's really best if you can watch the trap. If you can get them used to going to one place for food at a specific time with a specific call, you'll have no problems with the wait! If you can't watch the trap and cover it immediatly, then cover the trap before you leave- it will help keep the others from freaking out when they see the trap door go down and the cat inside freak out. Also keeps the cat inside calm. Be careful to lay the cloth that you use to cover so that when the door goes down, that end is covered but not too long so that it catches in the door and prevents trapping at all (from experience, an almost trapped cat will be forever trap shy and you'll never get that cat again!).
If you have to keep a feral in your house overnight, they are truely happier staying in a covered trap where no other pets will bother them. Longer than overnight, use a small cage so you can provide litter etc. and also more easily get back in the trap when it's time to move them. (Be careful for the quick to escape!) I don't know how you're going to catch the one in your bathroom now! May be a keeper!!!
Keep us posted for sure for sure!!

[AvaJoy]

Way to go!!

I hope that all will be well for them, and keep up the great TNR work!

[moosmom]

I trapped a feral pregnant mama in CT behind the post office. I thought fo sure I was doing the right thing. Turns out she was so stressed being in the trap, she gave birth IN the trap. None of the babies survived, but we were able to have her fixed. A friend of mine who owns a house kept her in her basement till she started coming around.

That reminds me, I need to e-mail her to see how she's doing.

[leslie flenner]

EEEK! That's just everyone's nightmare come true! It's bad enough when they bloody themselves by banging their head repeatedly on the trap or by clawing at it...
Once, I trapped a tom cat who, by the time i lifted the cover at the vets to do the once-over, found blood EVERYWHERE! Turned out he had busted an absess on his head- he was fine and was purring and happy while I was panicked! (Named him Pepsi- don't remember why but remember he was adopted within a few days!)
I have panicked plenty of times that a cat will give birth in the trap, just never had it really happen!

[QueenScoopalot]

Leslie, Don't forget about the one in labor on the porch railing who gave us the run around for several hours! She made it back here without popping any out, and gave birth to 5 beautiful babies. "Cow-Plow" as she was dubbed thought her kittens were the best, and would shove them all around the cage with her head! The ENTIRE family was adopted by a well-to-do woman who kept the whole gang. I did feel awful that they came down with ringworm shortly after she took them. Ellie is one of a kind though! Her house is filled with our trappings.

[leslie flenner]

I forgot about her! She was squatting to give birth all over the place (sidewalk, porch, etc) but then held them in for a couple more days once at your house right? What a good mama. She loved her babies so much that she pushed them with her head all over the cage then would lie down and pull them in to nurse, then do the whole routine over again! They were a VERY healthy bunch that took to being plowed around well! I'm sure the ringworm has cleared up by now!