well if none of the other cats appears to be nursing, you're probably right in guessing she's the only mom. probably because of their circumstances--out in the "wild" and lack of constant food source, the 6-8 wk olds could very well still be nursing. since you have her, they will be hungry and hopefully will be easier to trap then when you use stinky food/tuna like for bait. good luck. you guys are great to care about these "ferals" barbara
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 10:53 PM Subject: Re: Is there a list for feral lovers? > Guess what? When I went to the site, two of the "ferals" came right up > and started begging for food. Rubbing and bumping and meowing. > Obviously not all of them are feral, if any. We were able to get those > two into carriers and we trapped two more. One of the trapped cats is > Momma. She's still nursing and very emaciated, but very sweet. I'm > hoping her kittens are too. I spotted 4 kittens scrabbling for cover. > They look like they're anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks. They could be older, > but small because of their circumstances. We found someone that says > they are willing to take ferals for relocation, but now we seem to have > tame cats on our hands. I spotted 8 grown cats, but who knows how many > of them are out there. > > As I'm typing this, I've just become concerned about whether the momma > we caught might not be the momma to the older kittens. What if she has > tinnies out there that won't make it through the night without her? Her > breasts definitely had milk in them, not firm or, full. What else > should I have looked for to determine how old her kittens might be? I'm > thinking we should bring her back and release her just in case. I'm > pretty sure we'll be able to catch her again, she's so tame. > Aaaahhhhh! Rescue is not for sissies! > Nina > > Nina wrote: > > > Thank you for your advise. Contacting the media sounds like a good > > idea. I don't know if we'll be able to find the homeless guy again. > > He may have already had to move on. I wrote an email to the > > feralcats.com website. Chris, I couldn't find the list "feralcats" on > > Yahoo. I'm not very savvy at this Internet thing, so I'll try again > > when I get home. I'll also try to contact Alley Cat Allies. > > Jill's deceased mom has a very crowded garage and I'm going over to > > help her consolidate the junk to make room for "holding" crates that > > we're scrounging together. Her mom's house is being renovated and we > > can't house them there. Jill told me why we can't bring them to her > > house, but I can't remember why just now. I don't know what we're > > going to do after we catch them, we'll just have to cross that bridge > > when we get to it. Sorry about rambling on and on. > > > > Barbara, I wish you were closer too! Any and all suggestions are > > welcome. Thanks for caring, > > Nina > > > > Barbara Lowe wrote: > > > >> get a large dog cage and cover it(three sides-top, bottom and sides > >> just not > >> the front opening) with an old blanket--perhaps something of this guy > >> who's > >> been feeding them as they recognize his "smell" as friendly. put > >> their food > >> in there and perhaps can get them to go into it. or can anyone be > >> there the > >> day it's getting torn down to put out food to get the cats away from > >> this > >> hovel? such a heartbreaking story. did you try contacting any media > >> to get > >> attention to this plight? sometimes then the rescue groups will step > >> in to > >> help when they stand to gain something like free, good will > >> publicity--(sad > >> to say but fact of life). I'm here in NY so can't help physically. > >> but if > >> you need money to buy the large dog carrier/or wire cage--I can help > >> with > >> that- what's the name of that one group-Alley Cat Allies--perhaps > >> they have > >> a link to local groups that might help. (oh also if you can get it, try > >> spraying the inside of the cage with that Feliway spray or Rescue > >> Remedy and > >> try sprinkling some catnip in there also--anything to tempt the wild > >> ones > >> into it...) can the homeless guy catch the kittens? do you have a large > >> fishing net? I wish I was closer! (can someone keep the kittens in the > >> large cage then so they don't use the same litter box or eat from the > >> felv+'s bowls? sad thing to say but they could be felv+ anyway....) > >> barbara > >> ----- Original Message ----- > >> From: "Nina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 2:19 PM > >> Subject: Is there a list for feral lovers? > >> > >> > >> > >> > >>> Hi Everyone, > >>> I just got a call from an acquaintance of mine with a sad and desperate > >>> tale. Her name is Jill. She was rescuing a sea gull covered in oil in > >>> a parking lot in Camarillo, CA. A homeless man (mentally disabled as > >>> well), approached her in tears. He told her the house he's been > >>> squatting in is about to be torn down (within a day or two), and he has > >>> to find somewhere else to live. He's been feeding stray or feral cats, > >>> Jill couldn't determine which. After Jill got the sea gull off to a > >>> rehabilitation, she went to the address he had given her. The house is > >>> a hovel, broken windows, fallen in roof, there is sewage from a backed > >>> up septic tank mixed with flood waters from the storm we've been > >>> having, > >>> just a mess. She spotted a couple of the adults running for cover, and > >>> two of the three kittens, she's guessing they're about 8 weeks old. > >>> There are no other houses in the area that these guys might get a > >>> handout from and if they're taking refuge in this abandoned house, > >>> there's a good chance that they will be caught in there when they > >>> demolish it. > >>> > >>> She's called all the rescue groups in the area looking for a feral > >>> colony that she might be able to relocate these cats to, once they're > >>> caught and neutered. Everyone has turned her down. I'm going to help > >>> her trap and I've called everyone I know that might be able to give me > >>> ideas about how to help them. If these kittens are indeed that young, > >>> and have been handled by the kind homeless man, there is a chance that > >>> they can be adopted out and find homes. > >>> > >>> I need some ideas on how to help these guys. I'm going to get out > >>> there > >>> and help her trap, but what do we do with them after that? I can't > >>> foster anyone here, I can't expose them to FeLV! I already have four > >>> dogs and seven cats living with me and there isn't a room where I can > >>> segregate them, even the garage has a stray, who hates cats, living in > >>> it. Does anyone know of a sanctuary that will take ferals that we > >>> could > >>> relocate them to? Does anyone know of a email list that is interested > >>> in helping ferals? > >>> > >>> I know this is off topic, but I also know how much you guys love cats. > >>> If you can think of anything that might help, please email me back. > >>> Thank you for caring, > >>> Nina > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > > > > > > >
