mom cat and her one kitten

Question
My cat who "adopted" me about four months ago had her litter around May 1st.  I never saw the litter as she hid them in various places.  She is (right now) an outside cat and would hang out around the house during the day, but she would always go across the street at night.  I didn't know why she was doing that, because she would always be back on the porch in the morning. Last week she was coming across the street and she had one of her kittens with her.  I don't know if this was the only one she had or what happened to the rest of the litter.  My cat (Samantha) is a beautiful black and white cat about a year old.  I've had her spayed and all her shots.  The kitten looks like a calico or a little tiger with orange, brown and white.  She's a female and they seemed inseparable.  I noticed this morning that Tabitha (my name for her) was not with her.  When I got home from work, all I saw was Samantha, not the kitten.  I was planning on keeping the kitten, getting her spayed and her shots so she would not have to go through what her mom went through, but where is she?  Has Samantha hid her somewhere or has she gone out on her own?  It seems like Samantha is looking for her, like maybe she knows where she is, but I'm very new to "cat communication."  :) I'm just worried about this little girl.  Any ideas??  Do you think Samantha knows where she is?

Answer
Pat.

What a sweet story! Tabitha sounds like a little calico since she has brown on her. I have a calico named Tabitha Sue.

There are some different possibilities here.

Tabitha is at the age (4 months) that she CAN come into heat. It's early but it happens. A neighbor who didn't get his cat spayed had kittens at 5 months! She was only a baby herself. But they were OK. So Tabitha may have wandered. Not a real good possibility though. But something to keep in mind.

The kitten may have followed mom back across the street and stayed there. Are there neighbors who could be feeding her? Or think she is THEIR kitten?

If she is 4 months old (May 1) then mom would have a hard time keeping her hid if she didn't want to be kept hid.

A sad thought: since you say she crosses the street could she have been hit by a car?

Samantha may look for her because of her company but Tabitha is old enough that they don't recognize the mother-daughter relationship any more. Just as friends. No, I don't think she knows. But if you see Samantha going somewhere, quietly follow.

My first place to look would be across the street, and speak to any neighbors to see if they have seen her. Someone may have thought she was a lost kitten and picked her up.

She may be up a tree. Or something may have chased her and scared her and she is hiding somewhere. The best time to look is late at night when everything is quiet and you could hear her if she meowed.

Go......you're on a mission! Keep me updated. I'm concerned about her too.

Carol