Yeah, I have a 15 year old neutered tom that was everyone’s “mom”. One of the cats that I hand-raised and is about 5 years old now is always rubbing on him and laying down next to him and kneading on his belly or back. A couple of the others still do this from time to time as well. He’s gotten a little more grumpy with age though and after a couple licking attempts that just got him pounced on he would have nothing to do with my last kitten, then again most of the other cats will have nothing to do with the last kitten - he’s a hellion.
Hand-raised kittens or kittens taken away from their mother/litter too soon can fail to learn some important social skills, and they may end up with inappropriate behavior towards people.
I feed the strays around my place. It’s mostly one female and two of her younger ones from the last litter a few months ago, plus a couple of toms. The female is sweet and friendly, and has been out there for close to two years now. I think she used to belong, sort of, to the losers across the street.
Anyway, she just had another litter on my back porch, about three days ago. It’s a closed in, roofed porch, and she found a place in a wooden cabinet with an open door, that I once actually planned as winter shelter for another stray. I just can’t bring myself to off the kittens, so I’ll look for homes for them. I’d take her, or one of them, except I already serve two other feline overlords inside.
I should bump this thread in about six weeks, with a free kitten offer.
I know I’m creating a zombie thread here, but I was the OP, and it’s a follow-up to the original story, so I hope this is okay.
Mama feral cat is back in my backyard, although sadly with only 2 of the 4 original kittens. I’ve taken to calling the kittens Thing 1 and Thing 2, and of course, the momma cat is now The Cat in the Hat.
Thanks to all the advice I got in this thread originally, I had already made contact with a local cat rescue organization. One of the women who works particularly with feral rescue has been in touch with me. They have a trap-and-release program for strays and ferals that gets them spayed/neutered and fully vaccinated for $35. My hub and I agreed that this is the best thing to do to avoid future Things being left on our back deck. She couldn’t arrange an appointment for us for the Cat until the 22nd, so we’ll be picking up a trap from her this coming weekend. Things 1 and 2 will have to wait a bit, because they are still quite small. If it all works as expected, we should be able to trap the Cat in the morning before work, have her vetted during the day, and have her back with her Things by evening.
I’m feeding them twice a day but they are all still extremely skittish and run like hell whenever the back door opens.
Thank you for deciding to do this. Even feral, The Cat in the Hat will live a much healthier life if she’s not having two or three litters a year. In addition to my thanks, you get Karma points!
I’ve taken to calling the kittens Thing 1 and Thing 2, and of course, the momma cat is now The Cat in the Hat.