Expert: Jessica - 8/23/2010

Question
There is a Cat that has taken up residence in my back yard and gave birth to three kittens two days ago. Mom cat is not feral however, is wild and will not come near people.  I am concerned about the kittens and want to raise them to be given to good homes and get shots/spayed/neutered.  I can get near enough to give mom cat food, water and milk.  Is it safe to take the kittens indoors, away from their mom, and hand raise to adjust to home life with people.  If so, how young?  I know once they open their eyes they will learn all of moms paranoid behaviors.  Well before then actually, but will not remove from their mom prior to then.  I am very concerned for their safety being outdoors with the Arizona heat.  Please help!

Answer
Hi Cyndie,

It would be fantastic if we could allow mom to raise the babies all along.  It's best for the babies to be handled from birth, but they're usually okay if you intervene by the age of 3 weeks.  The unfortunate part is that outdoors, most moms move the babies about every 48 hours.  I have known people with the best of intentions who have refused to let me take the babies from their property young, only to have mom move the babies the very next day, and they never see the babies again.  For this reason, I have to advise that kittens be taken for bottle raising as soon as they're found.  

I always strongly recommend that property owners then try to trap mom as well, preparing her a cage to stay in with the litter until she's finished nursing them and can be spayed.  The spaying part is very important, as she will become pregnant again shortly after he babies are removed.  However, I understand that not all people are physically or emotionally equipped to keep a wild cat in their homes for a couple of months.  Still, the spaying part is important, so if possible, see if there are any trap-neuter-return organizations in your area that could help you trap her and get her spayed.  Vets usually work clinics in conjunction with them, so call around to local vets and see if they know of any.

If you can't bear to take the babies away now, be prepared for the fact that mom may move them, and you may not see them again.  There is also the possibility that she could move them, and she may bring them back around when they're old enough to eat on their own, around 5-6 weeks old.  The kittens will be quite skiddish at this age, and you'll have a hard time catching them without a trap.  A local shelter might be able to lend you one.  If you catch them while their eyes are still blue, you may still be able to tame them down and place them in homes.  After this, it becomes considerably difficult to make them into pets.  It is possible that mom may never move the kittens, or you could follow mom to her nest, though, and keep contact with the kittens all along.  Try to take the kittens by two weeks of age in any case.  At two weeks, they start to wander from the nest.  They become easy targets from predators such as hawks, owls, badgers, raccoons and even hungry crows and skunks at this age.  They will need bottle feeding until at least six weeks of age.  Even once my kittens are on solid foods, I feed them a bottle a day until they're 10-12 weeks old, since normally they'd be weaned this slowly by mom.

Best of luck!

Jessica