Possible litter of ferral kittens?

[DeathMetalMum]

Heard some mewing earlier today and found a very cute kitten in the back garden. Noticed that our neighbours were also looking around outside in the front they could also hear mewing and had seen some kittens. I have now just noticed who I think is mum and we now have another two kittens in our back garden. The first kitten is now gone, we tried to catch it as we hadn't seen mum in a while and was worried about the cold weather. What should we do? Is mum trying to move the kittens? Should we just leave them be? I think they are ferral but I'm not 100% certain. Asked a couple of neighbours and cat doesnt belong to anyone nearby.

Definitely don't try to catch the kittens. Put food out for the mum and, if possible, put some sort of shelter in your garden. Then you urgently need the help of a charity to catch them all. Can you tell us where you are?

@thecatneuterer is our resident expert on this sort of thing so what she said.
The kittens can be socialised then homed but if mum is truly feral a charity will at least neuter her.

Aww... can you make a bed for them out of a box with a blanket inside, some food and place it near your house or in the bushes for shelter.

Hay is really warm and insulating in a box on its side as you can make a nest of it right over the top of where the family would sit inside the box Or a box inside a box with hay between the two layers. It won’t last in the wet though. Hope mum finds all her kittens ok. Poor things.

They all disappeared yesterday. Then today just before I left for work I noticed mum coming back over with six kittens and she's disappeared again. There are now five in a very sheltered area of the garden, we've left the back door open most of the evening since I came back from work in case they wandered in from the cold but they haven't. We also put a small amount of food out. I feel terrible that they are outside but thery are keeping dry and huddled together. I didnt want to frighten them somewhere that wasnt sheltered either.

We're Chester/North Wales area I do have a number of a local charity that I'm going to ring tomorrow, unless anyone has any other suggestions.

Can you.put more food out? Why only a small amount?

Freshfields rescue is in north Wales and they're very good at trapping and rescue. I don't know if you would be in there catchment area but they are certainly worth trying.

Can you put more food out and some water.

Are the kittens tiny?
Can you bring them and mum in and put them in a toilet or bathroom or somewhere enclosed?

You really need to phone a rescue. They all need to be caught

October's advice is good but only if the mum cat is friendly. If she's feral then you shouldn't do anything apart from feed and provide some shelter if possible (a plastic box with a hole cut in the side for example) until a rescue can come to trap.

I only have biscuits and the kittens seemed to eat them but I wasn't sure how suitable they were? I have also put a bowl in another area of the garden where I created another shelter. I plan to get some proper food tomorrow morning. They're currently in a recess where the brickwork on our house finishes which has a bike with a tarp/cover over it so very dry.

I've googled and I'll give them a call in the morning. I think we're just on the edge of their area.

I don't think she's fully ferral. She's very aloof and had been coming in our garden to poo in our flowebeds for a couple of months and a few times rubbed against my legs when I'm hanging the washing out, but then attacked if I tried to stroke her back. We always have had cats visiting our garden so I didn't think she was homeless, but I've also asked around though and no one seems to be missing a cat.

I have found the info for freshfields and they are bit far away. I've rang North Clwyd Rescue and they have said they are full, but might be able to make space but asked to get in touch with somewhere more local. I have also spoke to Chester kitty cat rescue which is more local but they are full. Were on Wales/Chester boarder. Any other rescues I could contact?

Is there a cats protection?

This is quite a comprehensive list by area, hopefully you'll find some local rescues on there: www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-rescue-centres-uk-ireland

Speak to Freshfields anyway. They may travel.

Just thought I'd update. We managed to get in touch with cats protection on Sunday, after ringing round many other rescues in the area. All seemed to be full. They came yesterday but all but one of the cats ran off, we left a trap out and they seemed all but gone when she returned this morning couldn't see or hear them anywhere, somehow they had escaped from the garden. This afternoon we have managed to catch all four remaining kittens and they have gone off to the vets with the lady from cats protection. Who will check they are all okay and get them micro-chipped and neutered etc when the time comes.

Still haven't seen mum but we have the trap in the garden in case she decides to make an appearance over the next couple of days.

Well done!

I have just seen this by the way - - it suggests a shift from talking about 'feral cats' to 'homeless cats'. I think I'll do this from now on.