Stray & Kittens

[BonnBon]

So we have recieved a bit of a shock tonight, we've found a cat and her 3 newborn kittens under our car.

Mother is very skinny and I can't quite see how the kittens are. Two are wriggling but not sure of the third. Obviously, I've not touched them or gotten too close.

We live in a very hot country and have no local animal rescue that can help. Is there anything I can do to help or do I just leave them all be?

I have put a shallow dish of water out for the mother as its so warm tonight.

I'd try and get them out from under your car as soon as possible...at least in a box somewhere safe where mum can feed them in peace. She will need plenty of wet food, too, as well as water.

Normally I'd say leave them alone and monitor from a distance, but they aren't in a safe spot and getting them in one should be top priority.

Hi @noirchatsdeux

How do I move them without the mother rejecting them? Do you know?

How friendly is Mum?
Nursing queens are often more chilled (not sure if they have oxytocin like humans through breast feeding!) So if you can pick her up and move to a safe place, plus kittens she may not reject them..
If you're willing to feed them until you can find a rescue, she will need quite a lot of extra calories and water.
There's a very helpful Mumsnetter with lots of experience with cats, I think it's @thecatneuterer

You can just pick them up and move them - mum shouldn't mind too much as long as she can see them and get to them.

I would ring a vet first thing tomorrow.

Ok. I will try and move them in the morning. We have a large box from our microwave that we could put them in?

That sounds good, put a couple of towels on the bottom so the mother and kittens are comfortable. Sides of the box need to be high enough the kittens can't get out, but Mum can.

First time poster but thought I might be able to help here as I've fostered lots of mums and kittens for my local shelter. Sorry for the v long post - trying to cover quite a lot!!

To see whether mum is friendly, I'd get some tinned fish (e.g. tuna/sardines) or cooked white fish/chicken if that isn't available, or a smelly wet cat food and see if you can get her to approach and be touched. If she is friendly, I would put her and kittens in a box together with minimal handling. You could use a blanket to pick them up if you're worried.

Then I'd move them if possible into a room in your house without much traffic, but otherwise into the quietest room possible. Keep windows closed so mum can't get out. A bed can be as simple as a cardboard box with a blanket (fleecy types better than wool as the little claws can get caught, or even a folded up bedsheet would do). Mum will keep the kittens clean and stimulate them to pee/poop if they are under 4 weeks old. She'll provide all their food until they're 5-6 weeks. Mum should be fed a kitten food (so any wet and dry cat food which says suitable for cats <12 months) as she needs the extra nutrients. Probably about 3 pouches a day (3 80-100g meals) of wet food and dry food available on demand. Water also needs to be available for her at all times. If you still have the kittens at 5-6 weeks they'll start picking at mum's food too and will also need to be fed kitten food in smaller amounts.

You'll want to treat the mum cat for fleas and worms asap and the kittens will also need treatment as they get older, if you decide to hold onto them. If you aren't able to have them in your house for the next 2-3 months, I'd try contacting local vets or even look for people who are willing to foster in your local area facebook groups if there aren't any local shelters at all.

If mum is very unfriendly, e.g. seems feral, you would probably be better to set up a sheltered spot outside that she can use to try and persuade her out from under the car. I'd put food out for mum still in the same quantities as above if you can manage it. Once the kittens are 5-6 weeks, to prevent them also growing up to be feral, they should be brought into a home or shelter and handled by humans. If there's any way you can get mum to the vet for a spay this would stop the cycle repeating (the kittens will also need spay/neuter when they're old enough).

My guess is that food will win mum over quickly.

. hopefully to see pics !!

What a day!

So mum is friendly-ish. She took some food and came close to me but was very nervous.

Moved the kittens to a box very carefully with minimal handling. Can't bring her inside as DH is worried about fleas and we rent not own our villa.

Went inside, peeked out the window and saw mum moving the kittens back under the car 🤦🏼‍♀️ Went to have a look and she put the in the engine section the car out of reach!!!

After about an hour of faff in 41C heat, we managed to get mum to move the kittens to another box nearby!

I'll keep giving food and water. From the looks of it the kittens aren't actually newborns they're eyes are open and they're moving quite a bit!

Thanks for your advice so far!

That sounds great, mums will move their kittens around a lot... Under the car obviously isn't ideal but sounds like she wants some shade from the heat (and probably to hide from humans too) so if you can put the box somewhere with those things she may be more likely to use it. If their eyes are open they're around 2 weeks already and if they can stand and toddle around closer to 4-5. This is good as means mum has already got them through the riskiest part now. Handling the kittens will be good for them to get used to humans if mum lets you once they are over 3 weeks or so.

We need pictures, weanhhhhhhhh !!