We have seen her a few times in the past couple of years apparently hanging out either under our deck (18 inch clearance) or under our shed (minimum 8 inch clearance). She takes off like a shot when we come out on the deck, over the fence into our neighbors yard. She's BLACK, totally black and a good looking cat.

How do we know it’s a female? Today we saw her 3 pitch BLACK kittens playing around our gardens. The kittens look to be 1/3 her size and healthy looking (we were watching from inside).

Our area has squirrels, rabbits, lizards and a diminishing mouse population.

We have no local Animal Control or shelter. I have live traps, but I honestly don't want to trap and would be concerned that I would miss some.

Our winters are not severe so their survival isn't really a concern. Could/should we put out some kind of cat food or some raw scrap meat and water?

I would not be adverse to trapping Mama early next spring and getting her neutered.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Johnny 3eagles,

I caught my Momma Kiki on her second litter. It was not easy. She was trap shy so I lured her into our dining room through a slider w/ roasted chicken.
If she's full fledged feral, you may not want to do that.

If her kittens are over 5 weeks, they'll be difficult to socialize. No one will take feral kittens.
At the 3 week to 5 week stage they'll warm up to you w/ soft food feedings if you catch them.
4 weeks is ideal.

I caught one at 7 weeks and while "tame", she doesn't like to interact w/ humans much.

How do you know she's female? I'm guessing because she has kittens? Males won't hang around unless Momma wants to date again.

Please keep her watered w/ FRESH water. Kitties don't drink enough water and often end up w/ kidney problems. This means a clean water bowl as they'll grow stuff on the sides in a matter of days. scrub them good and rinse well.

If she is nursing kittens, put out kitten food for her as it's higher in protein and moms need that. If she looks thin, keep feeding her kitten food afterwards if you can or at least some form of "outdoor" cat food.

ETA: Yes, catching and spaying should be the main goal to stop the cycle.

They sure can multiply. Better to trap the kittens. Then you have to either find them homes or take to your local animal shelter. Many animal shelters don't have room for them. You can get them fixed. Here, they will stay or neuter them but bring them back to drop them off. It's difficult. We've had quite a few litters born here and Noone wants to take them. I just yesterday, found a 2nd kitten skull with no flesh on it. We have owl's and Hawks. I also found a young squirrel which got stuck in a triangle hole in a car rim and died. The butt, rear feet and tail were sticking out of the rim. Today it was gone so something took it. I feed quite a batch of feral here and have shot a few large males which attack my cat. Dealing with the realities of helping small animals can be dufficult.

May I congratulate you on your becoming cat owners! Or owned by cats.

quote:

I would not be adverse to trapping Mama early next spring and getting her neutered.

That’s a good idea. Stop the cycle.
Enjoy watching them!

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:

If her kittens are over 5 weeks, they'll be difficult to socialize. No one will take feral kittens.
At the 3 week to 5 week stage they'll warm up to you w/ soft food feedings if you catch them.
4 weeks is ideal.

I caught one at 7 weeks and while "tame", she doesn't like to interact w/ humans much.

We have the exception to the rule.

Around 4 years ago, we had a feral black & white cat start hanging around the house. He had a clipped right ear which typically indicates it has been spayed or neutered as part of a Trap-Neuter-Return program. It also looks like his right leg was broken at some point. His leg is rotated slightly. It took me over a year before I could get within 10 feet of him. I was determined to win him over. One day, he came into the house and discovered a life of luxury. His name is Charlie. He is super friendly and spoiled rotten. It's hard to believe he was ever feral.

The farm country I live in provides free rodent proofing due to the number of ferals. I keep a fresh water bowl out for them, but they do just fine hunting on their own for food. Every now and then, one will come up on the deck to have a conversation with my indoor. Wish I could understand what they're saying.

I have a feral cat sleeping in my bathroom right now. He was about 1.5 when he claimed us. Only toilets outside, comes and goes as he pleases and brings us dead shit all the time.

He's great with my kids, sleeps on and with them all the time. Loves to play and go on night walks around the neighborhood. I would say try to adjust the kittens to your being around them. They may make great outdoor cats. Trapped and neutered later would be a good idea.

Momma cat who is likely very territorial chose your spot to have her kittens, suffice to say there is no other place she would rather have her kittens. While she may not want to be picked up and cuddled, her instincts have kept her alive this long. Good on her.

I wish we'd have feral cats around to keep the rodent population down, but out here they'd be coyote/bobcat snacks pretty fast.

RUH ROH....2 very young black and white kittens have wandered into our garage today. There is no known Mother cat around. Could be drop-offs from someone.

Put some dry dog food in a blender and ground it up and provided them water and food. They were HUNGRY!

I'm going to have to trap these two and take them to a nearby (we don't have one) shelter, claiming our friend in that town asked us to trap them.

FYI the kitten distribution system has 100% accuracy, so you're in it now.

Garage kittens...

If you'd still like to bring the momma cat in to be neutered, roast chicken has proven to be highly effective feral cat bait in the past. Just be aware that feral cats can eat a truly surprising amount of roast chicken in one sitting!

The cat rescue we have gotten our last six cats from has several programs they are involved in.
They do rescue and have a great group of fosters that home the cats until they are ready to adopt.
They have a pretty cool set up which is a house that is divided into rooms. When the fosters get them ready they are brought up for adoption and placed in different rooms where adoptees can go and sit with them. Watch them play in their natural environment and never caged like so many you see in pet stores. You can get an idea of what kind of cat they are that way. They are up to date on all shots, chipped and fixed. These cats go to adoptees that meet certain guidelines and are to only ever be inside only cats and offer to take them back if for whatever reason you can no longer keep them. The screening process does a pretty good job of getting them placed in forever homes.

They also offer a barn cat rescue service type program for farmers and ranchers.

They are also part of the TNR program that traps treats fix and release feral cats.

They cannot however just take any cat that gets dumped on their steps. They have cameras around the facility and have prosecuted dumpees. Their fosters stay at capacity and just cannot take on more than what they can handle.

Whatever you can do for the cats you have is wonderful including getting them fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
If you'd still like to bring the momma cat in to be neutered, roast chicken has proven to be highly effective feral cat bait in the past. Just be aware that feral cats can eat a truly surprising amount of roast chicken in one sitting!

That's how I caught my feral Momma Kiki! She would not go into traps so I lured her in through our slider door w/ a string on the door.
She went nuts for a bit then hid until I got her kittens situated in the nest I had built in our entryway.

Then during the weening age, I brought her in to the TNR program and she has her ear tipped like all the cool cats.
https://i.imgur.com/f3qbvXv.mp4
https://i.imgur.com/f3qbvXv.mp4
After a few months she warmed up to me and now we're bonded.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
May I congratulate you on your becoming cat owners! Or owned by cats.

I always heard, "Dogs have owners. Cats have staff."

<----- Staff

Make sure they have plenty of fresh water. The slime that accumulates on old water bowls can make them sick. Wash, rinse, repeat.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dsiets,

they look cute. they have adopted you

Well, we miscounted. There are 4 black kittens. AND, the two black/white kittens left the garage and.....moved to the back yard where BLACK MAMA and 4 BLACK KITTENS have welcomed them. The all play and eat together.