Cat Blog 8c

Taming feral kittens

The best time to tame feral kittens is before the age of 6 weeks, while they’re still suckling (see https://iamcat.blog/helping-feral-cat-families/). If you come across feral kittens that are older than 6 weeks, you may not be able to tame them all completely. Or some may become socialised and others not. If you would still like to try to tame them, these tips may be useful. Also see the wonderful video ‘From Wild to Mild’ referred to below.

Keep the kittens in a smallish space, such as a small bathroom. Better yet, use a smallish cage with two of its sides covered or pushed up in a corner. This will give them a feeling of safety. Place a ‘cat cave’ or sleeping pod in the cage, as well as food and water. Also provide a litter box removed as far as possible from their food, and toys to play with.

• When taming feral kittens, don’t try to touch them at first. What is important, is to spend as much time with them as possible. You might simply sit and read aloud in or next to their cage. Speak to them often, looking at them while slowly blinking at them so they’ll know you’re no threat to them.
• If they’re in a larger room, they will probably hide under a bed or other piece of furniture. Ensure that their food, water and litter box are close enough to the bed that they needn’t venture into the room to reach them. If they have to venture too far out, they may go without food and water. Several times a day, lie down flat on the floor next to the bed and talk to them gently while slowly blinking at them.
• On around the 3rd day, use meal times to begin touching and stroking them lightly. If possible, use a long feather such as a peacock feather. Stroke the feather gently over their little bodies while they’re eating. They won’t be as spooked by the feather as they would be by your hand.
• Continue in this manner for a few days until you see that they’re beginning to relax.
• Then start stroking them gently with your hand while they’re eating. Slowly but surely, they will come around.
• Once they’re tame enough for you to catch them by hand, begin bringing them into your family room for an hour or so at a time. This will give them the opportunity to be in a room containing a TV, telephone, chatting people etc. If you have other animals, keep them outside at first. Small, noisy children will also spook them, so try to keep children from rushing or grabbing at them.

Cat quote of the week

A kitten is in the animal world what a rosebud is in the garden.

Robert Southey

Cat story 13

Do you live anywhere near Sandton in Johannesburg, South Africa? If you do, how would you feel about topping up 3 feral cat feeding stations in an office park 3 times a week? The food will be provided, so you’ll be donating your petrol money and, more importantly, your time. But it shouldn’t take you more than half an hour.

You’re probably wondering who you’ll be feeding. There is a little band of community cats at the Inanda Green Business Park in Sandton – very near Sandton City mall. Their regular caregiver will be leaving town soon to take up a job elsewhere. So they wll have no one to feed them as from the beginning of the new year.

This pic was taken a few months ago, before the little colony was provided with feeding stations. Feeding them now simply entails topping up the bowls in 3 different feeding stations within walking distance of one another.

If you think you might like to give this a go, won’t you please contact me? My e-mail addy is anneke@ncat.co.za. I will meet you at the Park and show you the ropes. And introduce you to some of the kitties, of course!

Cat Blog 8b

Fostering a feral family

Perhaps you’ve decided to foster a feral family you’ve discovered (see https://iamcat.blog/helping-feral-cat-families/) yourself, but you have no idea how to go about it. Hopefully the guidelines below will set your mind at ease!

• Begin by preparing a safe spare room or a large, secure cage for the little feline family beforehand. It is crucial that the mommy cat must not be able to escape from the room or enclosure. If she does, she may try to make her way back to her original home, facing untold dangers along the way. She may also develop painful and sometimes deadly mastitis. So close all windows tightly, except perhaps if they are very high up and the mom won’t be able to reach them. But don’t underestimate a cat’s climbing ability! (If you need to leave any windows open, cover them securely with mesh to prevent the mommy cat from getting out.)
• The next step in fostering a feral family is providing a large box (the size of a small dog kennel) in which the mommy will feel safe. Tape the box closed to form a cube. Then place it on its side and cut a square opening (about 20 cm by 20 cm) in it as an entrance to the box. The opening must not be so small that the mommy may feel claustrophobic, and it must end about 3 cm off the floor. This is to prevent the kittens from crawling out while they are very small.
• Feed the mommy good quality kitten food (which she needs while lactating) and fresh water. When she begins to wean the babies, she will teach them to eat the same food. Also provide a litter box. At first add a layer of real soil from the garden on top, as the mom won’t recognise commercial cat litter.
• Give the family a day or so to settle. Then begin to approach the kittens carefully and slowly. The mommy may hiss at you initially, but will then probably seek refuge in the box.
• Sit next to the kittens and begin to handle them carefully and gently. Speak softly and reassuringly to the mommy and blink at her slowly to show her you are not a threat. Do this for a few minutes only the first time. Repeat the process later the same day. From day two, begin to lengthen your play sessions. Continue until the kittens are completely used to being handled and are climbing onto you of their own accord.
• Don’t change the bedding the entire time the kittens are being suckled. They do best with their own, familiar smell, and the mommy will do all the cleaning that is necessary. Once the kittens begin to eat solids themselves, provide them with a flat litter box. If they make droppings anywhere else, move the droppings to the litter box. They will soon get the message!
• When the kittens have been weaned, at around 7-8 weeks, begin advertising for homes. You could also contact welfare groups and shelters in your area. Ensure that you screen new homes carefully beforehand (see a later Cat Blog for tips), and deliver each kitten to his or her new home yourself. Don’t hesitate to take the kitten back with you if you find that the home is not suitable!
• Arrange for the mom to be sterilised and return her to her own territory, provided there are reliable food sources there.

Cat quote of the week

I have felt cats rubbing their faces against mine and touching my cheek with claws carefully sheathed. These things, to me, are expressions of love.

James Herriot

Cat story 12

Another cat heroine: Pearl Smith, Port Alfred

This week I’m using some wonderful info and pics very kindly shared with me by my highly regarded NCat colleague from the Eastern Cape, Adri Moller. She’s told me much about a remarkable lady she’s come to know, who is making a real difference in the lives of the community cats in the area: Pearl Smith.

Pearl is unemployed and spends all her time caring for community cats by means of feeding and sterilisation.

To quote Adri: ‘Another of our heroines is Pearl Smith, who lives in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, where she has dedicated her life to helping feral cats.’

This wonderful video says it all!

As one can imagine, funds are a huge stumbling block. The donor who has been supporting Pearl with food and donations is not able to help any longer due to illness. Pearl is therefore now working on her own with Adri’s assistance and guidance.

It would be absolutely amazing if you could support Pearl by donating towards her TNR efforts in Port Alfred! Contributions can be made directly to:

Kowie Veterinary Clinic cc
FNB cheque account Port Alfred
Acc no 62851053224
Branch code 210717
Reference FeralPearl

Cat Blog 8a

This is the first in a series of three blogs about helping feral families.

Helping feral families

This week I received an urgent request for advice from someone who had discovered a feral mom and her babies in her garden. The kind person wanted to help them but didn’t know how.

Making decisions about feral kittens can be tricky, so it’s important to know as much as possible about them.

Most shelters, if they have space, will only take kittens that are completely tame and young enough to be adopted. This usually means that the kittens shouldn’t be much older than 7 weeks. Some welfare organisations do indeed tame feral kittens, but they tend to take kittens younger than about 5 weeks. The reason for this is that one’s chances of taming kittens are reduced after 5 weeks. We’ve found that, at 6 weeks and older, not all feral kittens tame sufficiently to compete with tame kittens for good homes. If we place them in an adoption cage with tame kittens, they try to hide when prospective adoptive parents come to visit. We could therefore risk subjecting them to enormous stress without them finding homes.

Some older kittens can be tamed. However, the members of welfare organisations are often dealing with large numbers of cats and kittens in need. So they tend to spend their time, energy and funds on kittens that have the best chance of adoption.

We therefore tend to leave feral or semi-tame older kittens in their own environment. This is where they feel at home – even though it may not seem like an ideal environment to us. We then make sure as best we can that the kittens are fed and sterilised. (See Cat Blog 2a and 2b at https://iamcat.blog/feral-cats-and-how-to-help-them/.)

If the kittens are younger than 5 weeks, however, you might handle the situation differently. If someone could ‘foster’ the kittens with their mom until the kittens are weaned, they would have a much better chance of adoption. (More about this in the next Cat Blog.) NB: It is not a good idea to separate unweaned kittens from their mom. This is not only for their sake but also because the mom will look for them for days. She could also develop painful and potentially fatal mastitis.

Once the kittens have been weaned, the mom will need to be sterilised. You should then return her to her own area. If she was in good condition before going to the foster, she will not need additional feeding. If not, perhaps consider leaving food and water for her whenever you are in the area. Or you could arrange for someone to feed her more regularly. (See Cat Blog 2a and 2b for detailed info on helping feral families.)

If you realse that the kittens would be better off being left in their own environment, try to arrange for the entire family to be sterilised. The best time would be when the kittens are around 3 months old. This is the ‘magic window’ when the kittens will be old enough to be ‘done’ and the mom will not have had her next litter.(More about trapping in Cat Blog 4a at https://iamcat.blog/how-do-i-trap-community-cats-part-1/)

How do I judge feral kittens’ age?

In order to help feral families, we need to know how old the kittens are:

• If they’re not walking yet, they’re younger than 4 weeks.
• If they are beginning to walk in a wobbly way, they’re about 4 weeks old.
• If they’re running and climbing quite strongly but not really eating solids yet and are smaller than the kittens in pet shops and on chocolate boxes, they are about 5 weeks old.
• If they’re eating solids independently and are about the size of kittens in pet shops, they’re around 6 weeks old.

Cat quote of the week

Just watching my cats can make me happy.

Paula Cole

Did you know?

Cat Story 11

Revisiting the Waterfall Office Park colony

You might remember the very first story in the very first I am Cat Blog entitled ‘A colony in trouble’. The story was all about one of the groups of community cats in the Waterfall Office Park in Midrand, South Africa. The regular food sponsor could no longer donate food for the cats, and the caregivers were very concerned about their future wellbeing.

Well, today I have brilliant news. The truly remarkable Management and Directorate of this exceptional Office Park have taken over the feeding of the community cats themselves!

Yes, they will be supplying all the food for this colony in future, and their own employees will be doing the feeding! In fact, they had already begun feeding most of the community cats in the Park before we approached them about this particular group. They had also supplied wonderful bottom feeders of their own accord!

And there’s more. Not only is this one of the most attractive office parks I’ve ever seen – the well-maintained buildings interspersed with tranquil ponds – but they’re also environmentally friendly. They’ve been planting indigenous shrubs and trees, and even enticing bees to the Park. They also feed and protect the local population of Egyptian Geese – traffic signs reminding motorists to be mindful of the ducks.

In the years I’ve been involved with community cats, I’ve dealt with numerous centre managements. The Waterfall Office Park stands head and shoulders above all the rest.

Management and Directorate of the Waterfall Office Park, hats off to you!

Find out more about them at http://waterfallofficepark.co.za/.