| Just yesterday, a group of children brought me a box | | | | yesterday's litter: |
| of kittens and asked me to "rescue" them. Their | | | | When they discovered the crying kittens, all nestled |
| mothers had told them to put the kittens back | | | | together in a grass thicket or a wood pile, they |
| where they found them. The kids were unhappy | | | | should have called their local shelter (or some |
| with that order and soon located me. | | | | responsible adult who understands cats) to request |
| I'm the local cat rescuer, so it seemed logical to ask | | | | help rescuing this little family. While waiting for help to |
| me. But the facts of the situation show how little | | | | arrive, their mission would be to keep an eye on |
| people know about cats, kittens and proper rescue | | | | things from a non-threatening distance. The mother |
| procedures. The mothers weren't too far off with | | | | cat would most likely return, and then might remove |
| their advice, except that it doesn't solve anything. It | | | | her babies to another, safer (in her mind) location. |
| only would have helped these kittens survive in their | | | | Cats seek privacy when they have babies to care |
| current situation... maybe. | | | | for. |
| Are They Really Abandoned? | | | | Call an Experienced Rescuer |
| The first mistake the kids made was to assume the | | | | Ideally, help would arrive before she moved any, in |
| kittens were lost or abandoned. But when they | | | | the form of someone with a trap. One or all of the |
| approached and gathered them up, they saw the | | | | kittens could be placed into it, as "bait." Then, when |
| mother cat dart away. They then felt justified in | | | | mama kitty goes in, you have them all safely |
| assuming she was abandoning them, and if they | | | | confined and they can be moved. |
| were to survive, it would be up to them. | | | | Admittedly, that kind of luck is not common. |
| This action deprived the kittens of their mother, the | | | | Therefore, the next method is to gather the kittens |
| one who is best equipped to raise them, and it | | | | and take them to a safe place, while a trap is set for |
| deprived the mother cat of her young, to whom she | | | | the mother at that location. Keep enough distance so |
| is physiologically and instinctively committed. Without | | | | she will return to see if the babies are still there. |
| naturally weaning and releasing them herself, she will | | | | Instead of using food as bait, place a cloth that has |
| now go into heat soon and become impregnated | | | | the kittens' scent on it inside the trap. If you put |
| again. | | | | food in it, some other cat might go in to eat, and |
| The overpopulation cycle actually speeds up with this | | | | you will collect the wrong cat. |
| simple theft of the young from the nest. It mimics | | | | Never Leave a Trap Unwatched Too Long |
| what cats do: Roaming males, or tom cats, seek out | | | | The trap needs to be watched so you can take her |
| females to reproduce with. If they find kittens they | | | | quickly to join her young ones, probably to a shelter |
| didn't father, they kill them, the female soon goes | | | | where she can attend to them in a comfortable, |
| into estrus, and the male completes his mission to | | | | quiet setting. If they are put into a cage in the |
| reproduce his own gene pool. | | | | general, noisy or bustling surroundings, she might kill |
| Have a Plan | | | | them, as mother cats often will refuse to raise a |
| So how can we end the overpopulation cycle? First, | | | | family in what they consider to be a threatening |
| we have to be smarter than the cats. Simply | | | | environment. |
| collecting kittens without a plan only contributes to | | | | This is most likely to happen with feral cats, as they |
| the stray cat problem. Even with barn cats, I no | | | | are afraid of humans. Strays, on the other hand, are |
| longer accept what farmers often call "excess" | | | | usually abandoned former housecats and may be |
| kittens without their mother, who must be spayed | | | | wary, but not terrified. (Warning: It's still wise to deal |
| before they are returned to their barn life. (After | | | | with all loose cats cautiously to avoid injury. Even a |
| accepting 3 litters from the same cat at one farm, I | | | | tame mother animal can be a tornado if frightened. |
| learned that these people weren't going to fix the | | | | Therefore, do not try to touch them.) |
| problem, so I did, and it became a policy of my | | | | Feral moms should be spayed and vaccinated before |
| shelter that mothers, if available, must accompany | | | | being returned to their territories, while strays may |
| surrendered kittens.) | | | | be adoptable after they have weaned the little ones |
| This is how the children should have handled | | | | and have been spayed. |