feral mom and kittens

Question
A feral mom has taken up residence in our yard with her four kittens.  I would like to get her spayed, so this doesn't happen again.  I have been feeding the kittens wet kibble to try to wean them, but they are still nursing.  I had hoped to trap them and try to tame them, but she never lets them out of her sight, and growls and hisses and once came at me when I put the food down for them.  If I trap her to spay her, I will probably never be able to get her again.  I am waiting for the kittens to be at least 3 months old so they will be able to survive on their own overnight, but am concerned that if they continue to nurse on her after she is spayed they could open up the stitches.  She had one previous litter in our yard and nursed them for 7 months.  We have had them spayed and neutered by a vet who will deal with ferals.  We don't want her to continue to produce, but we don't want to have her die, if her kittens nurse, as a result of our efforts to keep her from having another litter. Do you think her kittens, now about 7 weeks, could hurt her in another month's time when we have her spayed?

Answer
Louise,

Unfortunately most vets won't spay a female cat unless she has weaned her nursing litter. You can't force mom to wean her babies and unfortunately if she won't let you near them you may have to wait until she's weaned them and then catch the whole family to be spayed and neutered. It's quite possible that mom will be pregnant again, but if you are to stop the endless cycle of reproduction you just might have to have her spayed when she is in some stage of pregnancy. You can certainly feel free to check with your vet about the possibility of having her spayed while she's nursing, but most vets won't do this. This is however an exceptional situation. As for the worry about the kittens pulling out the stitches while she nurses them that's not a big concern, one cat that I cared for had to have a spay caesarian and she nursed her kittens with no trouble at all, the vet can bury the stitches under the skin so that the kittens can't get to them or s/he can use a special skin glue to avoid the need for stitches at all. I would recommend that you talk these options over with your veterinarian, you may find that catching the entire family up in a humane live trap would be the best possible option and having them all spayed/neutered so that they can recover together. It's worth a try if your vet will spay/neuter younger kittens, obviously if these kittens are under 8-12 weeks of age most vets won't consider administering an anesthetic for an elective surgery like spay/neuter.