Do stray cats leave their territory after their kittens grow up and why?
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/fera... She did that because it was time to leave her babies to survive in the evil world. A stray cat is a pet cat who is lost or abandoned. Feral cats are the offspring of lost or abandoned pet cats or other feral cats who are not spayed or neutered. Stray cats are accustomed to contact with people and are tame, but feral cats are not accustomed to contact with people and are typically too fearful and wild to be handled. Wheras stray cats may be reunited with their families or adopted into new homes, feral cats do not easily adapt or may never adapt to living as pets in close contact with people. However, there are many things you can do to help improve the health and quality of life of feral cats.
Do mother cats leave on purpose and go away from their kittens after two months?
Most mother cats will start weaning their babies when they are around 8 weeks old. Kittens usually begin eating food when they are 4 to 5 weeks old. And by the time they are 8 weeks old, they can begin to do without their mother’s milk. The weaning process is usually pretty complete when the kittens are around 12 to 16 weeks old. If the mother cat is happy in her home, then near 8 weeks she will probably start to cut nursing periods short, and refuse to allow them at all more and more. She will begin to be tired of babying her offspring. She may greatly enjoy playing with them, though. And through play she will teach them; how to be gentle with family and friends, and how to fight when necessary and protect themselves from enemies. If there is a good balance of space, food, and human loving care for the number of animals present, she will probably keep a good relationship with the kittens as they mature. And she will probably want to stick around.Harmonious relationships are more likely to be maintained if all or most cats in the household are spayed or neutered when they mature. Adult cats with intact sex drives are like adult humans - they want to be in charge of their own home territories. If the home is crowded with cats, and/or if meals, comfort, human love, and security are not reliable, a mother cat (who is able to go outdoors) may become unhappy enough to leave and seek out another home. And even if she is content at home, when she goes into heat, she will probably leave long enough to get pregnant again. After that, if she discovers another home she feels is a better environment to raise her babies in (less crowded with older kittens, for instance), she may not return. This may happen even if she loves you, due to the powerful commitment mother cats have to ensuring the well-being of their babies.
Stray kittens under my porch?
I would leave them, but try to keep as close a watch on them as you can without scaring the mother too much. If it gets too hot under there, the mother will probably move them on her own. I'd also leave out food for the mother - while she's nursing she'll need extra calories and it may help win her trust and you may be able to eventually bring them all inside. Good luck!
What should I do with a stray cat and 3 kittens outside my house?
Look for resources to spay and neuter feral cats at a reduced cost or maybe even free. Have all of them done. For every cat that enters a pound or shelter one does not come out. For every cat that finds a home one stray does not. So if you fix, feed and look after them that is the best and nicest thing you can do. If you can find a way to keep them safe as well that would be good too. The kittens will need to be tamed young because it gets harder as they age. Feral acting cats are often killed in shelters and pounds even tame cats can be mistaken for feral because when trapped they act feral. Everyone should do something good and these cats are depending on you for their support. Be a kind person and do the best you can for them. I am sure you can give up some recreational activities such as partying, alcohol cigarettes, chocolate to give them a chance at life.
Stray Cat and her 3 kittens wet under rain(for hours), what can I do to help them?
With them being used to the outside I doubt if they would care for coming into your house, unless the mother happens to be tame. The fact that she has not arranged a very secure (and relatively weather-proof) location for her kittens is kind of odd. Perhaps something happened to her "nest." If she is very approachable and will approach you then she may have been a house cat at one time. You may want to check your local newspaper and websites like www.Petfinder.com to see is anyone has lost a cat. If she is obviously feral and will come to eat but not get too near you then I would not recommend trying to get her inside your house, or attempting to pick up her kittens. The garage idea someone else mentioned is perfect. A shed will work too. Just leave the door cracked open about a foot and they will go in if they want. Another option is to build a shelter. There are MANY very inexpensive ways to build a feral cat shelter and about a zillion websites showing how. They can be purchased already made as well. I made one out of 2 sheets of rigid insulation. The pink stuff called " FOAMULAR Tongue and Groove Insulating Sheathing." I just cut them (super easy) into a total of 6 pieces, glued 5 of them together into a rectangular box with a bottom, leaving the 6th piece loose for the lid, which I hold on with a couple of pieces of firewood, a brick, whatever. I cut a small doorway opening into both the front and back, lined the inside walls with Mylar emergency blankets (the silver ones), and then filled the inside with about a foot of straw which they bury into the stay warm. I put it up against the house so it gets some heat, in a sheltered place out of the wind but which gets some sunshine. It's been a huge success and if I can build it, anyone can! I didn't even have to pound a nail! A knife, some glue, and a brick. Can't get much easier than that. If you do construct something out of something (a plastic storage bin will work!) remember that feral cats particularly like to have an emergency exit, so 2 doorways is best.
What do cats do with their dead kittens?
It's hard to know exactly what your cat was doing, from the way you describe it she may have been confused and trying to revive it by licking it. They do lick the kittens to clean them and stimulate them to start breathing. But yes, she may have been about to eat it. Often they just push a dead kitten away from the others, but sometimes they do eat them. They are not thinking of the dead kitten as their "child". If they eat it, it's to get nutrition so she can survive and feed the other kittens (which is also why they often eat the placentas) . or because, as Jordana said, the body would rot and the smell would attract predators , plus a decomposing body would have a lot of bacteria that could be dangerous to the other kittens. If a cat in the wild has a dead kitten and eats it, that could save her other kittens since that extra protein would give her more time before she would need to leave the kittens to hunt. And if she did not eat it, it will lie there and decompose, so she would have to either move it off somewhere or move the living kittens one at a time,.....but usually when a cat has just given birth, even if she is not already very tired, she usually does not want to leave the living newborn kittens. So the easiest solution for her would be to eat a stillborn kitten. Even though your cat I'm sure is getting fed by you, domestic cats may still have the same instinct from their ancestors. . The mama should be eating a high protein food, either kitten food or an "all life stages" food. and at least half should be canned food. Cats already tend to have a low thirst drive, they did not develop to eat food with so little moisture. Plus nursing can make a cat dehydrated. It is best to keep the kittens together with their mother and littermates until about 12 weeks. 8 wks is absolute minimum but a few more weeks is better for their mental & social development. it's not just about whether they can eat solid food. ( and in any case, eating doesn't mean they suddenly totally stop nursing) .
I found a stray cat & her new kittens in my attic. The kittens don't have their eyes open.What can I do?
POOR LITTLE MAMA FOUND A SAFE SPOT IN YOUR ATTIC. LEAVE HER BE TO CARE FOR HER BABIES. LEAVE HER PLENTY OF FOOD AND WATER AS SHE REQUIRES MUCH MORE WHILE NURSING AND FOOD IS SCARCE ON THE STREETS FOR HER TO FIND. MAYBE IN 3-4 WEEKS YOU MIGHT LEAVE CHICKEN FOR HER TO EAT AD TAKE BACK TO ALSO FEED HER BABIES WITH AS THEY WILL START TO EAT SOLIDS AND IT BECOMES HARDER FOR MAMA TO SUPPLY FOOD FOR THEM. IF THE BABIES EYES ARE STILL SHUT THEY ARE PROBABLY WITH IN A COUPLE DAYS OLD OR WEEK OR SO OLD. EYES SHOULD START TO OPEN AROUND 1 1/2 TO 2 WEEKS OLD. AS LONG AS MAMA IS WELL FED SHE WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER LITTLE ONES. YOU MIGHT WANT TO THINK ABOUT CATCHING HER AFTER THE BABIES ARE ABOUT 6-8 WEEKS OLD AND GETTING MAMA SPAYED. THERE ARE LOTS OF ANIMAL CHARITES THAT PROVIDE SOME KIND OF COUPON FOR FREE OR LOW COST SPAYING. CALL LOCAL SHELTER FOR INFO, IF MAMA IS REALLY FERAL PLEASE DO NOT TAKE HER IN TO THE POUND OR ASPCA AS THEY WILL PUT HER TO SLEEP. THEY WILL HOWEVER FIND HOMES FOR THE BABIES. FERALS THEY FEEL TAKE TOO MUCH WORK AND TIME TO TAME. I KNOW ABOUT THIS AS I FEED FERALS AND TRY WHEN I CAN TO GET THE BABIES. I HAVE A FEW FERALS AS HOME AND EVEN AFTER 3-4 YEARS THEY STILL REFUSE TO BE TOUCHED. AT LEAST SPAY HER AND LET HER LOOSE IF SHE IS FERAL SO SHE WILL NOT HAVE THE ADDED BURDEN OF CARING FOR BABIES 3-4 TIMES A YEAR ALONG WITH THE HARDSHIP OF LIVING ON THE STREETS. YOU ALSO MIGHT CONSIDER CONTINUING TO LEAVE FOOD OUT FOR HER IN THE ATTIC AS A KINDNESS TO HER AND TO MAKE HER LIFE EASIER. I FEEL IF I CANT TAKE ALL THE FERALS IN TO MY HOME I CAN AT LEAST MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE EASIER WITH FULL TUMMIES. THANK YOU FOR CARING FOR THIS LONELY LITTLE MAMA AND HER BABIES. YOU ARE A SWEETHEART!