Catch-a-pet: trap and socializing feral cat kitten

You need to do certain things in order to trap and socializing feral cat kitten. You can’t recklessly approach them because they will fear you and you need to do some tricks in order to get their attention. The mom of those kittens is also very protective to its children. Here are some tips to let you approach feral cat kitten without having too much problem.

Scenarios to trap kittens

You have to know whether the kitten you found has their mother around or no. You need to wait patiently in order to check whether the kitten’s mom is just looking for food or has abandoned them. Usually, the mom will return to its kitten after a couple of hours. Observe the kitten from a safe spot to be sure that the kitten’s mom is not returning before taking the kittens. If you think their mom is not coming back or they are in a dangerous place, you can take them out and raise them yourself. You have to know what treatment suits the kittens. Check the kitten’s age because there are neonatal kitten care and fostered kitten care, where the difference between those are only in age (4 weeks old and nine weeks old).

If you see the mother return for its kitten, there are several things you can do.

First, if the mother is feral and the kittens are too young to be separated from its mother, you have to leave them as long as the location is safe. The kittens’ mother has the best method in taking care of them. If you don’t have time and enough sacrifice for taking care the kittens, you shouldn’t take the kittens away from their mother. Instead, you can wait until the kittens reach the age of 8 weeks and then trap and neuter all of them including the mother. The best way is to trap, spay, and return the mother to its outdoor home.

Second, if you think that it is safer for the kittens and their mother to com indoors, you can bring them all or trap them into a small, quiet, and safe place like a bathroom. After the kittens weaned, you can spay or neuter all of them. The important thing is that you should get the kitten first to indoors, then bring their mom. The mom will move its kitten to a very hard to find place, so keep that in mind.

Third, if the mother is feral and its kittens are old enough to be separated from it, you have some options. You can commit to foster, socialize, and adopt all of the kittens or you can just trap, neuter, and then return them when they reach the age of 8 weeks and have at least 2 pounds of weight.

Fourth, if you trap a cat and discover at the veterinarian found that the cat is a nursing mother, you can get it spayed immediately and then return it to the area where you trap it as soon as it has been prohibited to live outside the clinic or your place. It is a tough decision to separate the mother from its kitten, but nursing cat can still produce milk even after being spayed. It is difficult to trap the mother next time, so you should use the chance to prevent further litters. Make sure you let the clinic know that you are intended to take the mother back to its kitten after doing the spay surgery. With this, the doctor on the clinic will give it an anesthesia protocol which enables her to wake up from surgery more quickly. You can try to find the kitten first before releasing their mom or you can just follow the mom and then trap its kitten when they are old enough to have a spay surgery.

Fifth, if you found a pregnant cat, you should ask an experienced veterinarian to do the spay surgery to the pregnant cat. You should allow the cat to have extra day for recovery and extended observation. This is your opportunity to release the cat from any possible health risks and ongoing stress of mating and pregnancy during its lifetime.

Socialize with Food and Play

Giving kittens some food is a good way to communicate with them and building some trust so that the kitten won’t fear your presence. If you use dry food, you can put it outside all day. But, if you put wet food, you should stay in the room where the food is to make the kitten trust you. If the kitten scared, you can put the food on a spoon. As the time goes, you can move the food closer to you until the kittens have no worry and enough trust to do a direct contact with you.

You can pet the kitten when they are eating. You can start to pet them in their face, chin, and behind ears and then start to petting all over their body. You need to spend more time in order to make the kitten approve to be held by you. Canned cat food or any type of baby food that contain no onion in it will act as a reward for the kittens and you can put it on a spoon. Don’t allow the kittens feed and play on your finger since there are possibilities that they will hurt you either by biting or scratching.

You can build trust with the kitten by playing with them 2 hours per day. You have to treat each cat differently since every cat has its own behavior, so observe and adjust. If you have spent enough time so that the kitten let you hold them, you should hold them as much as possible. They need to feel the warmth of your body and heartbeat. If you have a feisty kitten, you can put it in a front carrying pack and then wrap her in a towel but left the head open. With this, you can bring the kitten while cleaning your house or doing other activities. When the kittens are comfortable enough to fall asleep or purr around you, you can move them to a larger and kitten-proof room.

Those are some tips and tricks in order to get close to feral cat kittens. You have to do it patiently since the mother won’t allow you to touch its kittens. Make sure that you do the right thing based on common sense so you do not do something fishy. Trap and socializing feral cat kitten is easy if you know how to do it.