Feral Cat Advice

[ste_noni]

[x-post with Natter, mostly hoping that Deb will see this and have some feral cat advice]

It's been a sort of upsetting day around here. When we got home, our dog Sebastian was walking around the backyard with a dead kitten. I was hoping that the kitten had somehow fallen in the backyard off the edge and died of natural causes, but I'm now fairly certain that was not the case because...

Coming in from our walk tonight, the dogs were freaking out in one area of the garage. After putting them inside, we found three very small kittens hiding in a box. I can only assume that the 4th ventured out earlier today through the fence into the backyard and the dogs got him.

Cat people, any advice for me? The kittens look well fed and are rather feisty, although there was no sign of a mother. They are small - heads probably less than two inches in diameter and maybe the length of my hand in body size. I'd like to take them in but the dogs have already killed one. Plus, at some point we will be moving, via plane, and I"m not sure I could handle taking 5 pets back to the States. And they were feral cats to begin with. But, I don't want them to die or get killed by the dogs.

Do they need care or should I leave them alone? They are safe in the garage as long as they don't venture out, but I suppose they need to eat. I'm not sure how they got in there. The fence around the house is 6 feet high and they are so small. (and cute! I totally want one! but I just don't think it will end well)

Comments

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Are their eyes open? Are they walking around? If so they probably do not need much care. My guess would be that there is a mother around someplace. If you make it so she can get into the garage somehow, they should be okay.

But I am interested to see what the real expert says!

[debg.livejournal.com]

Jesus.

In re the kittens, um, yes, they need to eat. Food won't magically appear and their mother, now, is out of the equation, even assuming she was alive, knew where they were, and could get past your canines.

Go to the local vet. Get a feeding bottle and some kitten formula (it comes in powder and can be dissolved in warm water in the bottle itself. Feed them in turn. And make sure they get enough per feed.

While you're there, ask the vet to please check into who adopts weaned kittens.

[paperdol.livejournal.com]

I worked with a woman who had a deal with the local vet to spay/neuter found kittens, and was amazing at finding foster homes.

This might be a good option for you, as deb said, so you know they're going to a place where they'll receive proper care. It'll be a few bucks out of pocket, but it's much easier to find homes for kittens who have been fixed, and it'll make you feel better that you were able to help them.

My Ruby was spayed, got all her shots, and they gave me a (wee) bag of food, litter pan, and a toy for fifty bucks.

Your local Petco probably does a pet adoption day and the no kill shelters in your area are way more likely to take the kittens if you bring a check to spay/neuter foster and feed the little ones with you.

I can send a few bucks your way toward getting them into a home that fosters newborns til they're ready for adoption.

[debg.livejournal.com]

Yep.

But remember that most shelters won't take unweaned kittens - they really do have to be hand-reared until they're old enough to eat actual food.

And man, I wish I *could* send money, but right now, we're at the leading edge of not-quite-homeless and we're barely able to feed our own two colonies.

But please, PLEASE keep me posted. I won't sleep well, otherwise.

[ste-noni.livejournal.com]

When Joe went out into the garage this morning, he startled a cat who he thinks was probably the mother. Cats go into our garage here all the time (it opens directly into the backyard, although there is a iron fence which keeps the dogs in the back but lets cats and other small animals in). I'm hoping the mother is still taking care of them and just stashed them in the Christmas tree box for the day. I tried to check on the kittens this morning, but it's too dark to see out there.

I'm going to call the vet on the base and see about getting them spayed/neutered. I'll also check about a shelter. Over at b.org, JZ left me a link to the local Humane Society and I think I will start with them. I'm honestly not sure about the shelter situation here - peoples' attitudes towards their pets are very different than ours in the States. I guess I need to figure out how to say "no kill shelter" in Spanish.

I just remembered, though, that my neighbor has like 5 dogs and 4 cats, most of whom she took in because they were strays so maybe she has some suggestions for me.