Cat with kittens in my backyard

[Amandine]

I have a bit of a problem. My dog, Edgar and the dog we are watching for a friend found a cat and kittens on Sunday. I am sure the cat thought where she had the kittens was very safe: between a firewood pile (in neighbor''s yard) and our chain link fence, which is next to some moderately heavy bamboo.Unfortunately, Edgar just cannot let it go. I kept checking at a distance yesterday and this morning, hoping that she had gotten smart and moved the kittens. Unfortunately, no! I tried piling some of the firewood and an old board on our side of the fence, blocking Edgar''s access to the family, but it doesn''t matter. His instinct overrides it, and even with me standing there trying to get him away, he just won''t stop.

Now, I don''t really mind having to leash him and walk him to get him to go to the bathroom, but I have a puppy arriving on Saturday (!!!

) and I don''t know how I can handle puppy and Edgar without access to our yard for playtime. Even now with the visiting dog its made it a lot more difficult, as they used to go out and play a lot and work off some energy, not to mention the visiting dog seems to have an unfortunately small bladder for her size

, and needs to go out more often.

The kittens are small,their eyes not even open yet that I can tell. Should I wait a few more days for the mother to (hopefully) move them, or contact a rescue group now (I will not call animal control, don''t want them killed)? I don''t believe this is anyone''s cat, but I plan on going over and knocking on this house''s door to ask if they know. They are behind and to the side of us, so we do not know them.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[dendon]

I would contact a rescue group, just in case the dog gets too close and it scares the mommy away.

 

[tlh]

sometimes there are special no-kill shelters that specialize in cats. I too hope that the kitties will be alright!

 

[Elmorton]

Amandine, I think the responsible thing is to call a shelter right away. My bet is that a no-kill shelter likely doesn''t have room for kittens - I know at the shelter where I volunteer, the pets they take are the ones that are least likely to be adopted, and often when they have a space, they call a regular shelter and take the kitties that may be candidates for euthanasia or who have been at the shelter a long time. That said, it''s still worth a try.

My kitty Morty was actually adopted from Animal Control, not a Humane Society or No-Kill Shelter. Kittens in any kind of shelter are likely to be adopted pretty quickly. Even if Animal Control is your only option, it''s MUCH better than letting the kitties continue to be in your yard. First, part of the litter may die due to "natural" causes like a predator, malnourishment or disease, etc, where they might not if there is a vet there to check them out. But more over, what happens if one day you look out and the kitties are gone? Adding to the feral cat population, in my opinion, is worse than having a cat put down. That''s no life for a cat either, and a feral cat is likely to die from disease or being hit by a car, etc, while meanwhile adding multitudes of kitties to the feral cat population.

Also, any shelter (Animal Control, Humane Society, etc) should keep the kitties with their mama, in isolation, and under supervision until they''re old enough to be adopted - so it doesn''t make any sense to wait for their eyes to open, etc. Calling now is the right thing to do.

 

[Blackpaw]

definitely call a shelter. SO and i used to foster cats for a shelter at home (we knew we were going overseas so couldnt have any pets) and we just sort of went ''guarantor'' on the cats we looked after, that we''ld pay any costs if we could to keep them at the shelter or in foster care til they got a home. Poor angels

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 3/30/2009 1:17:56 PM
Author: Elmorton
Amandine, I think the responsible thing is to call a shelter right away. My bet is that a no-kill shelter likely doesn''t have room for kittens - I know at the shelter where I volunteer, the pets they take are the ones that are least likely to be adopted, and often when they have a space, they call a regular shelter and take the kitties that may be candidates for euthanasia or who have been at the shelter a long time. That said, it''s still worth a try.


My kitty Morty was actually adopted from Animal Control, not a Humane Society or No-Kill Shelter. Kittens in any kind of shelter are likely to be adopted pretty quickly. Even if Animal Control is your only option, it''s MUCH better than letting the kitties continue to be in your yard. First, part of the litter may die due to ''natural'' causes like a predator, malnourishment or disease, etc, where they might not if there is a vet there to check them out. But more over, what happens if one day you look out and the kitties are gone? Adding to the feral cat population, in my opinion, is worse than having a cat put down. That''s no life for a cat either, and a feral cat is likely to die from disease or being hit by a car, etc, while meanwhile adding multitudes of kitties to the feral cat population.


Also, any shelter (Animal Control, Humane Society, etc) should keep the kitties with their mama, in isolation, and under supervision until they''re old enough to be adopted - so it doesn''t make any sense to wait for their eyes to open, etc. Calling now is the right thing to do.

Ditto - start calling local shelter and rescue groups ASAP. The sooner these babies can get into rescue, the better their odds for survival and successful socialization so they can hopefully find good homes and not add to the feral cat population and/or end with a gruesome fate. If you need help finding local groups, let us know where you are located and I''m sure the cat lovers on here would be happy to help you find local options. Fingers crossed these babies can be saved.

 

[Amandine]

I think I will call a rescue group, I''m in Atlanta and I know there are several cat specific ones here that are great rescue groups. I was hesitating because I wondered if it was someone''s cat in the neighborhood, but short of posting fliers, I have no way of notifying anyone we found her.

 

[Elmorton]

Great! I''m glad you''re calling a rescue group right away. I understand not wanting to call if it could be a neighbor''s kitty, so putting up fliers is probably a good idea, but if the mama IS a family pet, hopefully she''s microchipped, which means a vet or shelter/rescue would be able to reunite her with her family (and talk them into spaying her!).

 

[bee*]

That''s great that you''re looking for a shelter. Hopefully they''ll all get lovely homes when they''re a bit older.