Expert: Tina - 4/15/2007

Question
A stray cat that my father has been feeding had 5 kittens on 3/16 on my back porch in a large igloo crate.  In the last two 2 days two seemingly healthy kittens just died, one yesterday and one today.  Nothing looks wrong with them.  The mother has been moving them around lately.  First to a small carrier and now under brushes by the porch. I put them back in the large crate but she moved them again under the brushes.  Since it began to rain, I put the carrier under the brushes, and she moved them in there.  I am worried about the three remaining kittens.  Why could have caused their death.  The one was the smallest one so I assume it just wasn't strong enough but they are one month old now.  Why does she keep moving them? She is very friendly with us and comes running to eat when we open the door.  She doesn't spend as much time with them as she use to.  I am worried about them.  

Answer
HI Barb,

I'm sorry bout the dead kittens, it is very sad. Sometimes there are 1-2 kittens that are too small and weak or had something wrong with them, but sometimes a first-time mother doen't know what to do and keeps moving the kittens out of nervousness, and sometimes leaves one behind.

Right now, it's time to try and trap her and the kittens to get them all spayed and neutered and find homes for the kittens.  Leave food and water out in the same place each day to condition her to it, you might want to borrow a trap at this point and start feeding her in the open (not set) trap, or near it.

I hope you can trap them all and the mother cat to get spayed and find homes for them. Your best bet is to find a local cat rescue group to assist you with this. Look up your location in Alley Cat Ally's Feral Friends Network:

http://alleycat.org/feral_friends.html

Good luck!