stray cat and kittens

Question
QUESTION: a stray cat recently had kittens in our window well - we discovered them yesterday, not sure how old they are but thier eyes are still closed. We can see them and access them from the window inside our basement. We would like to find them good homes once they are ready. Can you please tell me how we should go about this. Right now we have not touched the kittens (the mom is very wary of us and usually moves to a nearby spot when we 'look in' on her nest). We are only putting food and water outside and nearby for the mom but she isn't very interested in that. Our main concern is getting the kittens before they would leave naturally (and then become wild like the mom) and not to take them too early to risk thier health. Can you help?

ANSWER: Jen,

My advice to you would be to try and catch mom in a humane live trap and bring her and the babies inside. Humane live traps work by using something irresistible to cats as bait (tuna, salmon, sardines all work well). What happens is that this humane trap is a cage with doors on both ends, one door is closed once the bait is placed in the trap while the other door is closed by the cat stepping on a metal trigger on their way to get food. Bringing mom and her babies inside helps to accomplish a few different things. Firstly it eliminates the risk of mom or her kittens becoming victims of human cruelty which is unfortunately all too common. Barring any serious illness the kittens will be raised by their mom which means that they will be more stable as they grow up.

Having mom indoors prevents her from being hit by a car which prevents the possibility that you will have to hand rear kittens with formula which is expensive and labor intensive. You also get the chance to monitor mom and her family for any signs of illness and improve their chances of survival if they become ill. In case supplemental feedings with formula are necessary to allow the kittens the chance to grow and develop at a normal rate you will be able to see that sooner and provide for their needs with a commercially available formula. If you do need to hand feed these babies I would recommend that you use a commercially available formula as they are formulated to ensure a balanced diet and proper growth for the kittens. I would suggest that you use KMR, Just Born, or Mammalac as these seem to be the best quality and most easily available kitten formulas. I tend to prefer KMR because it is user friendly, commonly available and reasonably priced. I would recommend that you write back for more information on formula feeding for kittens if it becomes necessary as there is quite a bit more to hand raising kittens than most people would think.

Be sure to isolate the family from any other pets in your home to prevent any contagious viral or bacterial infections from being passed on. Making sure that mom and her little ones are kept in a quiet environment also minimizes any stress that being moved inside may produce. I would suggest that you keep an eye on the new family over the first week or so after they come indoors because some mother cats have been known to reject or even kill their babies when they feel threatened. I would recommend that the room be kept dimly lit and very quiet during the first week to minimize any potential for mom to reject or harm her kittens. During this observation period it is also important to keep an eye out for any signs of illness. Just because mom is fearful doesn't mean that she is a feral cat. It's quite possible that she is simply a frightened stray that has been the victim of cruelty. Unfortunately people don't consider the possibility that a cat is lost or has been abandoned and may need some human help, most people will scare a cat away from their property by shouting or chasing them off. There are too many people that believe that since they don't like cats it is perfectly appropriate to strike them or even poison them so being a cat that is alone in the world often makes for a very fearful cat.

The best thing that you can do for this mom and her kittens is to make sure that they are safe, warm and cared for which is difficult to do when they are outdoors. If it rains young kittens may develop hypothermia and die because they are unable to maintain their own body temperatures at this point in their lives. Mom should be fed a decent quality kitten food to ensure that she is able to provide the best possible nutrition for her babies. It is very important to be patient with mom and start working with her to gain her trust. The best way to gain this frightened mom's trust is to allow her to come to you in her own time. I recommend sitting in the room where mom is with her babies and not paying attention to her. Read a book, crochet, sew or do a crossword to distract you and prevent you from making eye contact with an already fearful kitty. Patience has been my best tool in terms of gaining the trust of abused, abandoned or lost cats. Mom will eventually come to check you out because cats are extremely curious and once she realizes that you aren't any threat to her or her kittens that curiosity will take over and she will most likely gradually come closer and closer to you until she is able to inspect you. Once this mom comes to you try to observe her behavior without making it obvious, look at her body posture and manner. If mom is confident you can expect to see her with her tail high in the air and walking with a purpose towards you, in this situation it is okay to talk to her quietly and offer your hand for her to rub against.

Given the information that you have provided I would suspect that this mom will most likely be crouched down as close to the floor as possible and slinking towards you poised to run off at any sudden noise or movement. If mom is obviously quite fearful and slinks towards you it is important not to give her any reason to run away from you, make eye contact with her or pet her initially. After some time has passed and mom has become more confident in approaching you it's okay to extend a friendly hand to her, but be sure that you don't try to pet her from above her head, fearful cats must not be given any reason to believe that you are trying to dominate them because they may react aggressively. If mom comes towards where you are sitting with the hair on her back and tail standing up, hissing, growling or making a move towards you to bite or scratch I would advise that you have a spray bottle on hand to prevent her from injuring you with her claws and teeth. I have rarely seen a cat react this way to people, but if this mom has a history of abuse she may potentially react quite aggressively to you in the anticipation that you may hurt her.

Once this kitty sees that you are only wanting to take care of her and her kittens she will slowly begin to trust you. It is important to handle this mom's litter several times a day to help socialize them and allow them to feel safe with people. It's quite possible that mom will run and hide when you handle her kittens, but it doesn't sound to me like an aggressive reaction is likely based on what you have told me. I do think that it is in the mother cat's best interests to be spayed two weeks or so she has weaned her kittens (6-8 weeks of age) which will likely mean that her milk supply has dried up. These kittens should be given a good quality kitten food to eat when they are old enough to be eating a diet made up entirely of solid foods.

Routine vaccines and health care should be provided for mom and her kittens. Your vet should examine mom and treat her for internal and external parasites if necessary. The other important reason for this mom to be taken to the vet as soon as possible is so that she can be scanned for a microchip to see whether or not she is somebody's lost cat. The healthier that mom is the better off her babies will be so vet care is important. I would recommend that you try a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which I have found to be quite effective in lessening anxiety and fearful behaviors. This remedy can be found in natural health/health food stores and is used by vet clinics and pet owners worldwide to help calm and reassure fearful pets. I would recommend that you give mom a dose of 8 drops daily in fresh water. I don't recommend that you give the Rescue Remedy directly to mom as it is in a grape alcohol base and cats aren't terribly fond of the smell or taste. You may be pleasantly surprised at the difference Rescue Remedy can make in this mom and the best part is that it is safe for her and her babies.

The other advantage of bringing this mom and her babies inside is that you will be able to monitor her health and the condition of her kittens more easily. Making sure that the litter is growing properly and that mom is able to keep up with the demands that nursing a litter places on her body is important to ensuring good health of babies and mom in the future. My recommendation would be to set up a room for mom and her little ones prior to bringing the family inside. The room that you decide to set aside for this family shouldn't be cold or damp. Natural sunlight is a plus as most cats enjoy basking in the sun. You will need a kitten sized litter box and an adult sized box and unscented clumping kitty litter. The reason that I recommend avoiding scented litters is that many cats are sensitive to perfumes in the same way that people are and this can result in problem behaviors like inappropriate elimination developing.

As the kittens grow older they will learn many different skills from their mom including eating solid food and using the litter box. Some kittens have a tough time starting to eat solid food and I have found that mixing a tablespoon of plain, unsweetened, organic yogurt containing active bacterial cultures, a commercially available weaning formula or kitten formula and pureed boneless skinless chicken breast blended together until they are about the consistency of cooked cream of wheat can be a good start. You can use commercially prepared baby food, but I have found cooking my own chicken and combining it with yogurt and kitten formula/weaning formula is much more cost effective and you know for sure what is in their food. With young kittens sometimes they would rather not try new things. I have found that you can encourage the kittens to consider trying new foods by dipping your finger into the meat mixture and placing a small amount on a kitten's nose can help to stimulate interest. The majority of kittens will become interested in the new food once they get a small taste of it. I have had kittens become almost desperate to get more of this mix to the point of becoming quite vocal and even chewing on fingers so be careful. I would suggest that you gradually decrease the liquid portion of the puree over several days and introduce a good quality kitten kibble to the mix. I prefer feeding hard foods as the main staple of a cat's diet with small servings of a good quality holistic canned food. Hard food has a few advantages, for one it can be available at all times while soft foods and any leftovers must be disposed of promptly.

Mom and her kittens should have a comfy place to sleep, a cardboard box lined with old towels that mom can easily get in and out of while keeping the little ones contained is a good choice. Be sure to check the bedding daily and be sure replace the towels with clean ones when they become soiled. There should be a good supply of clean fresh water in a spill proof bowl available at all times. Mom will need to eat a high quality diet of kitten food to ensure that she is able to maintain the growth of her family without causing her body condition to suffer. It's not a bad idea to have a scale that measures in grams up to two pounds on hand to keep track of the kittens' growth and determine if they are getting adequate nutrition from their mom and whether the kitten need supplemental formula in order to keep up with their rapid growth.

I would suggest that the kittens stay with their mom and siblings until they are 10-12 weeks of age. The reason for this recommendation is that in my experience kittens taken from their families at 6-8 weeks of age can develop insecure behaviors, anxiety and they haven't yet learned valuable skills such as bite inhibition (Trust me, one kitten hunting attack will have you convinced that bite inhibition is important!) It has been my experience that kittens who have been able to learn how to be a cat from staying with their families for the extra 2-4 weeks are more well adjusted than those who haven't had this opportunity.

Kittens between 6-8 weeks of age are quite fragile and susceptible to infection and broken bones. Kittens are born with immature immune systems and are usually protected by the antibodies that they have received from mom's milk until about 6-8 weeks of age. It is quite important to supervise children with all pets, but specifically young kittens. An older cat is able to wiggle free and defend him or herself with claws and teeth if necessary. Young kittens may not be able to defend themselves and could easily be injured unintentionally by young children. Children must learn that animals aren't toys and they must be treated gently and with respect which they can only learn if they are properly taught by their parents. Kittens can easily sustain accidental injuries including broken bones and internal injuries if they aren't handled with care which is part of why I normally recommend that kittens not be rehomed until they are 10-12 weeks of age. At 10-12 weeks of age a kitten is still fragile but their bones have started to harden and they are stronger and more able to defend themselves should the need arise. It is still important to supervise children with pets regardless of their species, age or breed as many accidental injuries children receive from the family pet are related to a lack of parental supervision and a belief that their family pet would never injure their child. Pets will defend themselves if they feel threatened or they are being hurt, it doesn't matter whether they are the most submissive pet around or not.

Kittens should receive their first series of vaccines around 6-8 weeks of age depending on when their mother has weaned them. Deworming is also important because most kittens are born with worms, and in this case it wouldn't appear that their mom had routine care throughout her pregnancy. Female cats can become pregnant while they are still nursing so another motivation to bring mom is so that further pregnancies can be prevented. When rehoming the kittens it is okay to ask prospective owners to reimburse you for any vet care that their kitten has received. This includes emergency care as well as routine health care. To be honest the best way to be sure that the kittens go to good homes is to request reimbursement for any health care that you have provided. Good owners know that cats and kittens need routine check ups, as well as other routine health care and they will be prepared to spend the money to provide appropriate care. All too often people who get a kitten advertised as "free to a good home" don't place the same value on their new pet as those who have paid to adopt a pet from a local shelter or animal hospital. I would also suggest that you take the time to discuss the individual habits, medical history and any quirks that each kitten has with prospective owners so that they can be assured that the kitten they have chosen is the best match for their household.

I hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions, concerns, or you would simply like to send an update or some pictures my way, please don't hesitate to contact me again.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ali - first thank you so much for your answer and all the thought you put into it. You obviously have a lot of experience and boy do we need your help now! We tried everything to catch the mom but were unsuccessful and we were very worried that she would move her kittens after our attempts. We moved the kittens inside to care for them and are still trying to catch mom. I am very nervous about this but we were so afraid that she would move them and then there would be little to no chance we could help them and end this cycle of feral cats. The kittens have their eyes open and are active but their ears are not totally back yet. We purchased KMR and fed them by bottle tonight but were unable to stimulate them to urinate or defecate. We were trying to do this with a cotton pad moistened withwarm water. I plan on taking them to the vet tomorrow and we are keeping them in a basket with towels and a hot water bottle. I am not sure how much we should be feeding them, or how often. Based on what we have read we are feeding them every 4 hours about 3 tablespoons total a day. Please help me, what else should we be doing. I hope to take very good care of them and find them homes where they will be spayed or neutered. I know the next weeks are critical so I appreciate any help you can lend.

Answer
Jen,

I normally don't recommend removing kittens from their mother as this can cause behavioral and emotional issues later in life. I would recommend that you ask your veterinarian about the possibility of borrowing a live trap and continue trying to catch mom because she is much better qualified to raise kittens than a human surrogate. If mom is truly feral then I would suggest that you have your vet spay her, deworm her, vaccinate her and then you can release her back into your neighborhood. By implementing a trap, neuter, vaccinate, release habit in your neighborhood the cycle of feral cats will be humanely controlled and the colony will gradually die out over a space of several years. Be sure to encourage your neighbors to make sure that their cats are spayed and neutered also as domestic cats can certainly contribute to the stray population. It sounds like these kittens are between one week and three weeks of age based on the fact that their eyes are open and they seem to be active. Your earlier question described these babies as having their eyes closed so I would tend to guess that these babies are on the younger side of that estimate, your vet will actually be able to see them and therefore give a more accurate estimate. I would recommend that you mix the formula as directed on the package and feed them every 2-3 hours or so, essentially on demand. The kittens should be kept close to your bed so that you will be able to hear them when they cry for a feeding in the middle of the night... It's not a bad idea to mix some organic plain yogurt that is unsweetened and has active bacterial cultures as the kittens could potentially get diarrhea from the formula as they are used to getting mom's milk. The bacterial cultures in the yogurt will help to reduce the severity of any diarrhea that the kittens may get. Kittens being fed formula must be burped during and after each feeding to prevent them from having painful gas as well as ensuring that they are getting enough nutrition. The best way to burp a kitten is to place the palm of your hand under their belly and gently sit them upright while using 2-3 fingers to gently pat their backs. More stubborn kittens can sometimes be coaxed to burp with a gentle, but firm belly rub, again being careful to hold them upright as though they were sitting on their haunches. If you notice any difficulty with the kittens not wanting to take the bottle it's going to make your life easier if you purchase several oral syringes from your local pharmacy(the kind used to give babies medicine, however they must be new as human medications can be toxic to cats). If the kittens need to be syringe fed you will want to place them in your lap facing you and use one hand to gently hold the kitten and gently pull back his lip while using the other hand to gently guide the syringe into the corner of the mouth. A towel on your lap will prevent the formula from staining your pants and protect you from those tiny little claws. Be sure that you always feed the kittens in an upright position because they can choke on or inhale their formula if fed in the same position as a human infant. As for the issue with stimulating the little ones to urinate and defecate some kittens won't respond to the use of cotton balls moistened with warm water so you could try purchasing face clothes from the dollar store or using an old towel cut into segments and moistened with warm water and disposed of once used. It is important that you try to mimic what mom would naturally do in order to be relatively successful in getting the little ones to urinate and defecate. Mother cats will usually start off by bathing their offspring from head to toe prior to trying to stimulate them to use the toilet. I recommend that you start off by using the moist piece of terry cloth to wipe the kitten down starting from the top of his head to the root of his tail. The next step won't be popular with more dominant babies, but a mother cat would ignore it so that's what I would suggest that you do. You will want to gently roll the kitten onto his side or back and carefully use two or three fingers to mimic mom holding the kitten down, then you will need to clean the kitten's face, move under his chin and wipe him down including his chest and belly. It is important to keep the cloth warm in order to have the best chance of effectively stimulating the kittens to go to the toilet because mom's tongue wouldn't be cold. Once you have finished wiping the kitten's belly you will need to make sure that the kitten is gently secured on his back with your fingers and wipe the little one from genitals to rectum repeatedly. Be patient, I have had some kittens take up to 5 minutes to produce feces. Once you are comfortable with the technique the kittens should urinate quite easily for you. The kittens will be ready to voluntarily use the toilet around 3-4 weeks of age.

Mother cats will normally wean their babies around 6-8 weeks of age so starting the kittens on solid food often happens naturally as they imitate mom's behavior. When hand rearing kittens formula is not as nutritionally complete as mom's milk so solids need to be started earlier to ensure that the kittens are getting enough nutrients to support their rapid growth. One of my favorite ways to start kittens off on solid food is to poach a boneless, skinless chicken breast and allow it to cool. You will need to add two tablespoons of the plain yogurt that you have already been adding to the formula to help keep the beneficial bacteria found in a kitten's digestive tract balanced. The next step is to use a food processor and some kitten formula or weaning formula to puree the chicken until it is about the consistency of cooked cream of wheat. Over time you can replace the pureed chicken with a good quality holistic kitten canned food, but I prefer to start kittens off this way as I am completely sure of what they are eating. You can opt to use commercially available baby foods, but I don't recommend the ones in jars as they often have starch and other additives that aren't terribly nutritious for growing kittens. I would suggest trying to find a fresh frozen baby food by the name of Mother Hen Homestyle Baby Foods as I have found this to be good quality and reasonably close to homemade. I do think that organic chicken is best if you prepare it at home since the kittens don't receive antibiotics, preservatives or other unnecessary junk in their first diet. I would recommend that you start off by making sure that each kitten gets about a half teaspoon of this mix 2-3 times a day. You can try to syringe feed this formula but I have found it much easier to start teaching the kittens how to eat solid foods from a saucer on the floor as syringes can clog and more than one kitten that I have raised has gotten an accidental face full of this mix. Even when you begin introducing solid foods I would suggest that you slowly decrease the bottles and increase the amount of solid foods that you include in their diet. The solid foods should make up the vast majority of their diet by the time that they are 4 weeks old and the formula should be completely gone from their diet and replaced with weaning formula by the time that they are about 5 weeks of age. Commercially available weaning formulas work well to add extra nutrition to the kittens' diet as they may not necessarily be eating enough to meet all of their nutritional needs. I would suggest that weaning formulas be completely removed from the kittens' diet at about 8-9 weeks of age. By this time the kittens should be eating a good quality kitten food (preferably holistic).

Some people will teach kittens to eat solid foods by dunking their noses into the plates which I find kind of cruel and more than a little rough. The way that I teach kittens to eat solid food is by dipping my finger into the food and gently putting a tiny bit onto their nose to stimulate their interest, you will need to repeat this several times initially and gently bring your finger closer to the plate of food so that the kittens make the connection that the food can be taken right from the plate. Do be careful as some kittens can become a bit nippy and over excited once they realize what you are offering them. Once your little ones have figured out what you are offering them to eat they can become quite pushy and competitive so it is important to try feeding them separately to ensure that everyone gets their share.

The debate over whether to feed kittens and older cats wet food or dry is heated. There are good arguments for both types of food. I tend to think that a high quality kitten kibble that is supplemented with small servings of wet food twice daily works well for the most part. In terms of adult cats I recommend a high quality adult kibble, the choice of whether or not to add wet food is a matter of personal preference. I feed adult cats a high quality holistic dry food with occasional servings of canned food that is made with human grade ingredients. I have found that lower quality brands of kibble and canned food are simply not consistent with their ingredients and they just don't make the grade as far as I am concerned...The food that I feed is made from human grade ingredients and actually smells like what the ingredient list claims it is. The dry food smells like you would expect it to after reading the ingredients. You can actually see the chicken and veggies in the canned food and while it is bland by human standards the ingredients are human grade...I have taken to trying to educate pet owners prior to their best friends becoming ill about the quality of the food they are giving their pets. I recommend that pet owners as a whole start asking more questions rather than taking the labels at face value. Don't be afraid to demand straight answers and higher quality ingredients. The better your pet's nutrition is the less they will become ill. What that translates into is that by spending a little extra on your pet's groceries you will save on vet bills, heart aches and tough decisions. Over the last several years I have become rather disillusioned by the commercial pet food industry and retailers. In all honesty I view the Menu Foods scare as a wake up call and a confirmation of what I have long suspected about the standards regarding ingredients that the majority of manufacturers have. I have also made a point of helping people to understand that if they try to buy the cheapest food on the market they will get what they pay for. I am convinced that the poor quality of foods is a major contributing factor in the increased health problems in our pets ranging from allergies to kidney failure. Ultimately I believe that the pet food industry makes false claims about the quality of the ingredients in pet food and the laws that regulate this industry are antiquated and useless. According to the law governing the pet food industry in Canada manufacturers can use leather as a protein source in spite of the fact that it has absolutely no useable protein, they can also include things like wood chips for fibre, again, nothing useable for a cat, and they can include used motor oil as a source of fats. I think that this is disgusting. The pet food industry should be forced to conform to a minimum standard of quality in their ingredients and the finished product. As the Menu foods industry clearly showed quality pet foods are not indicated by cost. The advertising in this industry is misleading for pet owners which can have detrimental effects on our pets' health. In the UK there are still numerous people that don't feed their pets commercially produced foods, preferring instead to cook extra foods for their pets. I recently heard about a 25 year old cat that was in amazing condition and this cat lives in the UK. As far as I am concerned this speaks loudly about the quality of commercially prepared foods in Canada and the US as you rarely hear about domestic house cats living beyond 20-22 years of age in this part of the world.

I hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions, concerns, or you would simply like to send some pictures or an update my way, please don't hesitate to contact me again.