Apparently, a neighbor's cat (who sneaks into our garage (used for storage, not cars or 'workshopping') all the time) had babies in our garage. I caught one of them, and fed him milk from a dropper, but I suspect that there are more kittens in the garage. I here rattling in there, but I put little containers of milk out, and they don't seem to be even touched yet. I could open the doors of the garage, and let it/them out, but the one I cought was so weak when I caught it, that I don't think that they would survive outside. Anybody have Ideas/Advice?

Thanks in advance!

Country Gardener

 

You can call animal control and have them come to collect the kittens, or you can collect them yourself and take them to the pound. For the health and safety of the kittens, they should be removed from the garage. If you know the owner of the mother cat you can notify them to come collect the kittens.

From the standpoint of the garage and odor from urine and feces, you will likely have a mess to clean up with enzyme digester cleaner. Feces will attract rats.

If kittens are being fed by the mother, it is doubtful that they would be interested in the milk you set out.

 

Mother cats will remove their young from a threatening environment. I have no idea how you could stimulate this behaviour, but there it is.

On the other hand, all mammals respond to their mother's calls. The rattling tells us at least one of the kittens is mobile. The trick here would be to get the cat close enough kittens will find her, without letting her just go to the kittens. Shut her in a cat carrier, in the garage for an hour? Then establish an alternate nest, which the cat may extract the less mobile kittens to.


Neither tactic will work if the nursing relationship is upset, because kittens will waste away (and then stink up your garage) while the cat's lactation-dependent maternal hormones dry up. In cats, the bond is fragile, and whole litters are easily abandoned if the mother isn't getting the right cues. I'm sure feeding the kitten by eyedropper was fun, but the kitten is really better off depending on it's mother.

Why not just let nature take it's course? Cats are naturally clean animals, and their nests are no exception. They will remove dead offspring from the nest area, for example. It will become far more unsanitary if abandoned with runts in it.

 

Thanks, guys, for your replies! Alright... some update... haven't been on here in a while... Isaw one of the other kittens going into a neighbor's yard (the neighbor puts out food for any cats who wish to enter her yard). Soooo, since rattling had ceased anyway, save one little mouse, I opened my back garage door. The kitten caught, who I found out is a she, not a he as I previously had thought, can eat solids and drink from a dish now, but she stilll likes to be fed from a dropper. She's a very adorable kitten, 6-8 weeks old it seems. She is using my adolescent cat's toys. (He's grown out of toys- he ten months now). I'm keeping the two separate for now, although I may introduce them later.

Thanks again for the replies and advice!

Country Gardener

 

Glad it turned out well.







He has no liberty who is not visited by feral cats.