A feral tortoise shell calico cat took up residence in one of our sheds several months ago and we began to feed her. We soon discovered that she had four kittens who were a few months old. The kittens would come out to eat, but only when we were at a safe distance. In fact, I didn't realize that there were four kittens for several weeks as the shyest kitten only came out when she thought we were gone. We trapped all of these kittens -- we adopted two and a friend adopted two. But it is still a slow process of socializing them into domestic life.
Then we set our sights on the mama who was much more leery of the trap. It took some real stealth to entice her into the trap. We had to cover the trap with towels and layer the floor of it with newspaper so that she couldn't see the wire. We put another layer of newspaper in front of the trap and dropped oily tuna fish in a trail into the trap. Voila! That did the trick and we brought her to our vet to be spayed and get her shots. She will continue to live in our shed as long as she wants and we will continue to feed her.
The big surprise came when the vet asked if the first kittens were still nursing. When we responded that the kittens had been away for at least a month, the vet stated that we should go looking for more kittens because the mama was still lactating! A search of the shed revealed five little kittens! So, we have become the surrogate parents for these little kittens. We have been bottlefeeding them with replacer formula, cleaning them up, and teaching them to eat kitty gruel from a bowl. It is pretty exhausting!
They are five weeks old now and little bundles of energy! Three of the kittens must have had a Siamese daddy because they have the classic coloring of a Siamese. Their mother is a dark tortoise shell calico and they don't look a bit like her. The fourth is an orange tabby kitten with a white belly and the pinkest nose I have ever seen! The fifth, and the smallest of the litter, is a black "tuxedo" cat -- black with a white belly, bib, and feet. She also has white whiskers, a white star between her eyes, and a stripe of white hair inside each ear. We have named her Badger and she will be a permanent part of our kitty family. The three Siamese have adoptive families waiting for them. Only the little orange ginger cat is unspoken for. If we can't find a good adoptive family, he will stay with us, too.
