A Kitten Conundrum
Woman in the Middle | June 23, 2015We should have known our fate was sealed a few days ago when Hubby and I got out of our car in the driveway and heard the distinctive “mew” of a small kitten somewhere in the neighborhood. Hubby and I looked at each other and then made a run for the house.
Two days ago, I was getting something out of the shed in our side yard when I heard some weird noises and scuffling. I couldn’t see anything, though, and I went on watering my plants.
Last night I told hubby that we either had a small animal or an alien in the side yard. He ignored me.
Then, about 9 :30 tonight Hubby came in from his shop and said, “We have a problem.” After a very long pause I yelled “What is our problem?” and he said, “A kitten.”
Oh no. We have coyotes. We couldn’t leave a kitten out in the wild to face that. But we had an even bigger problem. The kitten ran into the side yard when Hubby spotted it. The side yard where Honey takes her constitutionals. And, to be honest, Honey is a wonderful dog in many ways but she doesn’t cotton to small animals and the kitten wasn’t any safer with Honey than the coyotes.
We put food and water out for the poor thing and went inside. Hubby went out again a little while later and found the food bowl licked clean and not one but TWO tiny kittens huddled together. Double OH NO!
Our efforts to cath then were unsuccessful as they ran behind the shed or under things. We went back inside and got more food for them.
A half hour later, which was 10:30 by this point, we went out again. But this time they heard us coming and all we saw was the tail of one as it disappeared behind the shed.
It just so happens that the previous owners had left two pieces of plastic pipe behind the shed, big enough for a kitten to crawl into. As I shined the light behind the shed I saw the one kitten go into the top piece of pipe. Well, we decided at least that was one we could catch. Hubby tilted and pulled the pipe out. It was just short enough that he could put a hand on either end to cover the holes. Since he could feel fur on both hands he knew he had both kittens. Yay!
He carefully maneuvered the pipe into the garage and shook the kittens down to one end of the pipe, which was inserted into a cat carrier. I reached in and carefully pulled first one and then the other kitten out into the carrier. We took the carrier out to the shop, where the kittens and us wouldn’t have to worry about Blackie and Honey. We had already fed them twice so we just put a bowl of water into the carrier and turned off the light and left them be.
Unfortunately the kittens are feral, but from what we read on-line we should be able to socialize them, they are so young. A friend let me borrow a larger cat carrier so they can have a bit more room between them and the litter box. We hope to make them into good little pet kitties in the next few weeks so we can find them good homes.
Just what I needed, kittens!
Sorry I don’t have a photo to show you the cute black kitten and orange tiger stripe kitten, but I figured they had enough on their plate. They didn’t need a camera flashing in their eyes while they huddled in the back of the carrier.
Several years ago, a feral female gave birth to a litter of kittens in some bushes in my yard. I did not know she had done it until she started to wean the kittens and they ventured out of the bushes for some food. My son and daughter-in-law came over and helped me catch the kittens.
I knew that feral kittens can be domesticated if they’re handled frequently. I put them in a large, wire cage and made sure that I held and cuddled each kitten two or three times/day. I then had all the kittens spayed/neutered (I had more income then.), trapped the mama and had her spayed, too. I then released all the cats into my yard.
The mamma ran off as soon as she was released, never to be seen by me again. The babies hung around for a few weeks, except for one that was adopted by my son and daughter-in-law.
After that adventure, I stopped feeding my own cats outside.
We have no idea where these two came from. We haven’t seen the mother at all. I don’t think they are a neighbor’s since they obviously have never dealt with humans before. Sigh. Whatever happens, this is going to cost money…
Well at least you didn’t just leave them out to fend for themselves
I am sure everyone think So Cal is an urban place, but where I live there is a lot of wildlife. Given how small these kittens are, I am surprise they lasted as long as they did.
I’m sure you’ll find both kittens a good home.
You must go to the same tattoo parlor I did. The one that puts “sucker” on your forehead. You did the right thing. You wouldn’t be happy with yourself if you did anything different. Keep handling them so they get used to humans. Maybe eventually Blackie can help (?). My one cat Mollie always helps new pets adjust in our home. We have coyotes here in eastern PA. Only my old cat ventures outside and not far. At this point I wouldn’t even consider an indoor/outdoor cat. Too much worry. Good luck with finding them homes. They sound adorable and maybe in a week or two you can post a picture.