Originally Posted by
Naturalmama
Even if their mom was still around, think of the life they would've had - not all would've survived, and the rest would've become just as wild - and would've continued the cycle of adding more poor stray kittens to the world. Maybe one thing that could still be done is see if a live trap could be set in that area (just during the day so you don't catch racoons or skunk). Mama needs help too!
If you contact your local humane society, they may know of a low cost spay/neuter clinic that could help too. I have an appt to fix our feral mom and young ones - hopefully the feral dad too if we can get him. The cost for all of them, including shots, will be about what it would cost to have ONE done at a local vet.
Thank you for caring!
I agree 100%. I have been bottle feeding a little kitten that we found near death in our upstairs storage space.
Archie must have been the runt of the litter because he was the size of a week old kitten (though his eyes were open) and you could feel every one of his little vertebrae. Absolutely skeletal. He was so malnourished that he had no hair on his tail or belly. He ate, pooped and pee'd (with help) and slept for a week. He would lay in his box without stirring and more than once I was sure I'd open it to find him dead.
The Mama and the other two kittens had been coming down at night and eating out of our stored cat food so they were comparatively healthy and about three times the size of this little guy.
Unfortunately, the Mama and one of his siblings were hell-aciously wild and we had to turn them over to our local no-kill shelter. The second kitten (Alf) was wild until we caught him but calmed down when we held him and has been slowly but surely learning to trust us.
Archie thinks I am his mama and sleeps under my chin every night. My husband says it is just like having a newborn again. He also says he is "More rat than cat" because his tail is bare. lol
We plan to keep Archie and Alf. I shudder to think what their life could have been like.