Cat Has Kittens in Trap

It's all I needed Thursday morning.

I'd been out at it, at that darn Sweet Home colony.

I was after the orange tabby female, but then caught a classic torti, and then a young long hair gray, whom the husband said was a boy.  It was overcast and humid and hot in the car.  A woman on Ridgeway, the lovely road that has brought us close to 150 unfixed cats, was trying to trap her neighbor's cats, cause they keep having kittens that the older couple then want her to take on.  Her neighbors both have dementia.   She finally traps an adult cat and brings the cat over in the trap to where I'm trapping in Sweet Home.

Thursday morning, as I'm getting ready to go back to trap out there, because I had ten spay neuter reservations Friday and I wanted to catch some of the big males, I go check on the cats I've already caught, the four--three from the colony and the one brought me from Ridgeway.  The Ridgeway tabby is curled around two very wet newborns...aw shoot.

I knew she was in the process still of having kittens.  At first I frantically tried to set up another cage in the garage.  I abandoned that idea and just took her in the trap into my bathroom.  Mom cats deserve comfort having kittens, I reasoned, luxury even.  My bathroom is hardly luxurious but I wanted this poor cat to have a break for once in her life.

I had set up a larger carrier inside the bathroom quickly.  I opened the trap, not knowing how feral this cat might be, but trusted she would know I was only trying to help, and pulled out the two wet newborns.  I clipped the cord and afterbirth off one, and set them in the carrier.  She followed, exiting the trap and entering the carrier. 

I left the mom alone then, except food, water, litter box were in there of course.  And went off trapping again.  Mom cats have been having kittens for a very very long time, on their own, without human interference.

When I returned home Thursday evening, I peeked into the carrier, using a flashlight, and saw five babies and a glowing proud mom, who also gave me a low growl of warning. 

Last night, the kittens now 36 hours old, here they are....

UPDATE:  Mom and kittens are now headed to Portland with Karen, along with the latest three kittens from the Sweet Home colony.  The kittens were the two tabbies, Crocket and Dixie, caught a few days ago by the granddaughter of the caretaker, then another one they found, whom they had texted me about yesterday.  All three kittens now headed to Portland, along with the Ridgeway mom cat and her five newborns.  Sweet Home needs to get their act together and start getting the cats fixed.