Urgent kitten taming question

[Kittynapper]

There's a mother cat with four kittens behind my house. They are all feral. I want to tame the kittens so the can be adopted.

I reckoned the kittens were about 8 weeks old so ok to separate from the mother so I brought three of them in. They nearly took my hands off, vicious little things. When I was catching them I heard the mother cat hiss at me and now I'm worried that they are too young to leave their mum.

Here are some photos. Are they old enough?

[Kittynapper]

Can someone reassure me that I'm doing the right thing? There are four feral cats outside, including the mum. There are the four kittens now and my own two cats. That's too many cats to have hanging around outside. My neighbours want nothing to do with it. I just can't have the four strays turning into eight. I want to get loving homes for these kittens when they are tame.
I feel shit enough and overwhelmed without getting messages like RedCowboyBoots'. It is upsetting me terribly but I think I'm doing the right thing.

[AnnaMagnani]

If you want to TNR yourself the traps aren't that expensive on Amazon.

We have several strays that visit regularly and got our own trap ready for their next visit - obvs they know we have done this as they have buggered off as soon as we got it and haven't been seen since. But there are at least 4 and 2 my neighbour feeds fairly regularly.

[EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall]

Kittens don’t stay with their mums forever, redcowboy is being ridiculous. Anything could happen to them living outside.

Not to mention next year you could have another however many mums and kittens in your garden

[Lucafritz]

The tri colour one on the far right in the first pic looks to have a nasty eye infection contact a rescue charity and see if they can help you also set a trap for the mother cat and kitten outside as they'll need to be reunited and they'll all require some level of veterinary care before been rehomed. how can some posters be saying let them back outside or they deserve to be wild Winter is fast approaching and they could be killed by other predators if that doesn't kill them not to mention the mother cat will continue to have litter after litter and possibly end up with cancer from not been spayed how can any animal lover want that for these animals! The cat population is out of control as it is they need spaying and rehoming so they are safe and well cared for not to be left to fend for themselves against the elements riddled with fleas worms and infections till they die a slow painful death or get hit by a car. Imbecciles

[justasking111]

We had a feral kitten six months old arrived I had thrown out the ice from the freezer she was eating frozen carrots. Started feeding her outdoors. Then she vanished turned up weeks later with a kitten. Had trouble catching the kitten it was so vicious I wore welding gauntlets. Put it in the conservatory mother came like a lamb to find it. Left them both in the conservatory for a couple of weeks. Found kitten a new home. Kept mum had her speyed. Seven years and one house later she is pretty tame but a good mouser.

It is doable but patience is needed and a quiet place for them.

[sweetkitty]

I’m that case if there’s only one rescue I would try and trap mum and the resining kitten, get mum to the vet get her spayed, maybe they’ll do a discount always worth asking. Get the wee kittens into one room give them somewhere to hide and a litter tray, they’ll probably all be starving Mum too if she’s been feeding 4 kittens too. The kittens will soon associate you with food hopefully you’ll be able to tame them and find them good homes better than letting them be over a harsh winter, all inbreeding you’ll could have about 20 in the Spring. They’ll need deflead and wormed too you probably know that having cats yourself. I think your doing an amazing thing OP.

[justasking111]

I should say the cats protection league in my area arranged all the vets fees to be paid by them, just could not house them because they were inundated at that time.

[poolblack]

I would seriously put them back if it were me. It seems very unfair and they are wild animals- just because they can be domesticated doesn't mean they need to be.

[NotMaryWhitehouse]

You're doing no the right thing! It's a horrible, short life for feral cats - if you can get mum and the other kitten, do try.

As a PP mentioned, Kitten Lady has many resources.... www.kittenlady.org/

[NotMaryWhitehouse]

Sorry! You are doing the right thing, that should have said! 🙄

[GigiIdid]

You’re doing a wonderful thing. I hope you are able to find forever homes for the kittens. It might be worth checking if there are anyone in your area that fosters kittens for advice too.

[GigiIdid]

Video by the aforementioned kitten lady that might be useful

[ALadyofLetters]

My mum had a feral cat that had four litters of kittens in and around her garage. All of the kittens were caught and domesticated. With one set she brought them down into the yard one by one and left them there. Clearly she’d had enough!

Eventually the mum was caught and neutered. She lived out her days in the garden, well fed but still feral.

It takes only days for kittens to learn to trust the source of food. All the kittens seemed to instinctively know how to use a litter tray too. I’ve still got one of the kittens, he’s an old man now!

[Hawkmoth]

They aren't wild animals. They cause huge damage to native wildlife.

Feral cats have miserable short lives.

You are doing the right thing OP.

[Vinorosso74]

At the very least they all need to be neutered. It may not be too late for the kittens to be socialised but it will take time at this age. Perhaps somewhere where they can choose between outdoors with shelter and humans are around but the door is open to them.
With the mum and other kitten perhaps TNR is the kindest option.
Do get in touch with CP or another charity that can help you. Catchat website can help with other local charities. As @viccat
says it is a busy time of year so they may not be able to offer immediate help.
Are you willing to give a rough location so other posters may be able to point you in the right direction?

[Kittynapper]

Here's the mother cat the other day with some of her kittens and a photobomb at the bottom by another stray.

Thanks so much for your advice and support. I'm feeling very out of my depth here. I saw the mother cat in the garden wrapped around her remaining kitten. When she heard me she ran to the back door and stared in the cat flap at me 😿 My heart was breaking for her.

I've looked at the traps online and I'm ordering one from Amazon. I don't mind investing my time but I'm not in a position to spend a lot of money.

I can't catch the mother until I get a proper trap. I can bring in the last kitten tomorrow if I can harden my heart. I'll bring the little one with the eye infection to the vet as soon as I can catch her. They're all hiding way in behind the sofa but when I left the room they came out and ate the food.

The Kitten Lady looks like a great resource. It sounds like I should be able to touch the kittens within a few days. The litter tray isn't too far from the food so I hope they use it.

I'm in Ireland and I'm in touch with the only local cat charity. I'm on a waiting list for TNR traps and I'm going to contact them again and ask for money for the desexing etc.

[Vinorosso74]

Ah... I don't think the same level of charity support is there in Ireland-I assume you mean Republic rather than Northern Ireland?
Are any vets able to support you?

[Kittynapper]

I've had the same vet for 20 years and they are great but they won't spay and neuter without payment in full. I'll have a chat with them on Monday anyway and see if they'll come to an arrangement.

[EachandEveryone]

Have you got a litter tray?

[viccat]

A lot of people in this thread are attaching human emotions to cats... Most mother cats are actually quite fed up of their kittens by the time they get bigger - around the 7-10 week mark. She will not think of you as someone who took away her kittens, she is just running away because she's not used to humans by the sounds of it. If you left them all in the garden as some posters are suggesting, you'd soon have dozens of cats and kittens around when they all breed.

OP, if you can get a large dog crate to put the kittens in, that will really help with socialising them. Perhaps you can find one second hand?

[HuggedTheRedwoods]

I can't really add more advice than the good stuff above (well, mainly helpful input...) but just want to say good on you for trying to help. I'm in a similar position at the moment and getting rescue help is incredibly difficult (yes, I understand why).

You're amazing OP for not looking the other way and for actively trying to help.

[justasking111]

I put the kitten we had on fb she was still wild, e-mailed everyone I could think of. A teacher at DS school took her, she is now the daftest cat in the world. I always ask after her when I see the teacher. So I would be putting out feelers to family and friends that you are over run with kittens, get them out there while they are still tiny and cute.

[Kittynapper]

Thanks for the advice. The kittens are more relaxed and explored for a while today. They won't let me touch them yet. They used the litter tray! Reminded me why I love cats so much
I haven't had a chance to catch the last one. viccat I know you're right about the mum, she'll soon want to see them gone, so I'm trying not to feel too bad.
They are all curled up together hidden at the bottom of the bookcase. Here's some pics from earlier.

[justasking111]

They are adorable. Spread the word, colleagues, friends, family, they are eating food so send them on their way to enjoy their lives.

[EachandEveryone]

Gorgeous