The little stray cat that adopted us just had kittens...

[Blueridge]

Oh my. The young kitty that appeared on our front porch last month all skinny and mewing has been so sweet and friendly, and we've fed and watered and petted her. I thought all our good food was making her fat. :laugh: We already have a indoor cat and she doesn't seem to want to share her house with another...so we made a bed for the 'visitor' on our covered porch since the weather has been mild. A few days ago she had kittens underneath a bush in the front flower bed! She still comes to eat and visit with us and then goes back to her babies. I am fretting as to what to do. Should we move the babies and mama to our basement (it's nice and lit and we go down there daily) or leave them where she put them? I worry about them with rain and possible predators but I'm afraid of our cat coming unglued if she discovers a new family in our basement. WWYD?

[chepyl]

We had that happen almost 12 years ago. One of those babies still lives with us :) he is the most spoiled cats ever.

 

Mom died when they were two weeks of so we bottle fed them until we found them homes.

[Miss Marple]

That happened to us about 17 years ago.  The momma cat was sweet but did not want to be a pet.  She lived in the woods behind the house and had her litter in a hollow tree.  We have lots of predators here and the boys and I could not rest until those babies were safe.  We moved them into our garage and left the door up just a bit so she could go in and out.  That's what she did.  We were easily able to find homes for the kitties.  The momma continued to live outside but would eat on the porch.  She didn't want to be handled, but was content to just be in our presence.  At Easter 16 years ago she had another litter - she had 4 solid white kittens on Easter morning (this time in the garage).  She was a solid black cat.  Of course my sons saw that as miraculous and we had to keep one of those kittens.  That kitten is still around today.  The momma was a great hunter and we watched her teach our white kitten to do the same.  Today, Marshmallow is the queen of the garage and she keeps it pest free.  I don't think she eats much cat food...she can survive on grasshoppers and other "wildlife".  I've read that the average lifespan for a country cat is 2 years.  We think Marshmallow may have been endowed with more than 9 lives :)

 

In your case, if the momma is friendly, maybe you could move the babies into the garage, porch, or some other sheltered area.  She won't be entirely happy with the other cat either so I would definitely not move her inside with the babies unless it is isolated from the other cat.  Enjoy those babies.  There isn't anything much cuter or more fun than a kitten.

[Annie Laurie]

I had that happen with a stray too, only I could tell she was pregnant and put her in our garage until I could take her to the vet and she had her kittens that night!

 

You could put them all in a box, show the mama and I'm sure she'd follow you. I don't know about leaving them outside. They're definitely at more risk outside, but are you prepared to take on their care? I couldn't believe the amount of work when I took in the stray and her 5 kittens. It's too hot where I live for them to stay in my garage, so I moved them to a bathroom (the mama did just follow along) and that's where they lived for awhile due to my other pets.  I called and emailed every rescue group in my area, they were all full because summer is terrible for homeless kittens. I was able to find low-cost vaccination places and got a vet to give me a small discount since I was bringing in 6 cats for a check-up. I thought it would be easier to place in homes them if they were all caught up. A rescue group had a deal with a vet for inexpensive spaying/neutering so they let me drop all 6 cats off for that. It was really important to me that they all be fixed and not continue the cycle of homeless cats, but I couldn't afford 6 surgeries! The rescue group covered all 6 cats for a $50 donation.

 

I found homes for two of the kittens, and the mom did not get along with my pets and went to  a rescue group I finally found to take her. She ended up in a nice home. I ended up keeping 3 kittens.

[gingersmom]

I would try and move the whole family inside. 

 

My neighbor had the same thing happen and the babies stayed under her porch. A bad storm came through and at least one of the kittens died. 

 

If you can I would also take mama cat in for all her vaccines. 

[JessReplanted]

This happened to us years ago. We 'adopted' the sweetest stray cat, and then she had 8 babies! She eventually meddled her way into our basement, and then the basement stunk and we had fleas in our house! So, I would encourage you not to let them into your house unless you are fully prepared for those kinds of consequences.

 

We ended up giving some of the babies away, and then sadly, the mother cat and two of the babies were killed by cars.  :(

[Blueridge]

I am going to fix an area for them and bring them in today if I get brave enough.  :blush:  There is more rain coming and I just couldn't live with myself if the girls got broken hearts over something bad happening. Thanks for your kind comments.

[mom2scouts]

You probably shouldn't ask me. I'm a total softie for animals, especially cats, and the whole family would already be living in my house.

[zoobie]

My mom had this happen. The first litter she wasn't able to catch the mom but she got all but one of the babies once they were old enough. She moved them to her spare bathroom. Then she called a local no-kill shelter which didn't have room but referred her to a vet that would fix the cats for free. She put up flyers and found homes, keeping one. Then mama had another litter and so did the one she didn't catch! Eventually she caught all of them and has fixed everyone. She went from having 2 to 6 cats.

 

Edited: Keep the cats separate from yours! If you decide to keep one, get it fully vetted first. Stray kitties can have FIV and other yucky stuff.

[Tap]

IF you move them inside, make sure to keep your other cat away.  Some cats will kill the kittens of other cats if they feel they are invading their territory. 

 

 

 

[Adrienne_in_TX]

We have this very thing happening at our house.  This poor mama kitty "belongs" to a family down the street according to neighborhood kids, but last year she was wild, almost emaciated,  and hanging out in our yard with an old collar that was so tight she couldn't eat.  We worked with her to accept being touched and finally got the collar off.  She went back to wherever she'd been hanging out and we didn't see her much for a few months.  Apparently, during that time she had a litter.  I guess her family isn't feeding her anymore, because she's been living in our backyard for weeks now and is very preggers again.  

 

It's so hot and she has a raw bleeding nose like another cat is attacking her at night.  So, I just gave in and made a place for her in the laundry room. I'm hoping we can find a vet who will make us a deal on getting her and the kitties fixed when they're old enough so we can find them homes.

 

Some mama kitties are very persnickety about where they want their babies, and, if they don't like the place you pick or they feel it's too active, will move them.  We had a house cat a few years ago who wasn't fixed yet, and she got out and got pregnant.  She would move those kittens every few days to the craziest places: under beds, the top shelf of a closet, dresser drawers that were left open.  I kept moving them back to the designated spot; eventually, I won, but it was stressful for both of us! :)