How to best help a tame, stray pregnant cat?
September 15, 2013 10:52 AM   Subscribe

An adorable stray pregnant cat has been hanging around my house for the last week or two. She seems to be quite young, and is friendly and tame - definitely not feral. I don't believe she has an owner, as I see her wandering the streets constantly, especially at night. She looks relatively healthy, though very skinny. I had suspected she was pregnant, but last night was the first time I could really confirm it. I have no idea how far along she is. I fed her last night, so I'm sure she'll be back. I love cats, but I have an older female cat who does not get along with other animals, so taking her in is not an option. When she comes back, what would be the next best step? Catch her and call a cat rescue? Catch her and take her to a vet? And when I do catch her, I wouldn't bring her in the house, so could I keep her in an enclosed area in the garage until I find a place to take her in? We live in Southern CA, so it does not get cold (and where we are, it doesn't get too hot either).
posted by emily37 to Pets & Animals (6 answers total)
 
The best thing to do is to create a safe place for her, such as a box or crate someplace out of the way where she can hole up. Something waterproof with two exits, off the ground, away from the main walkway.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:57 AM on September 15, 2013


Agree. You can go two ways: let her do it natural and just provide her a nice place (or two, so she can decide which she likes better) in which to give birth and raise her kittens. Or get her right to a shelter so she can get care and the new kittens can possibly get spayed/neutered and adopted to new homes.

Have you tried introducing the older cat to the younger one? Sometimes animals will surprise you. Maybe your cat will want to be helpful? Worth a shot.
posted by gjc at 11:13 AM on September 15, 2013


As a heads up about the shelter idea: when I worked at a (reputable, good shelter), if people brought in pregnant kitties, they would be pretty much immediately spayed and the pregnancy would be terminated. Mostly because there are already so many kittens in the world, and the resources to get those kittens to adoptable age would take a lot of resources away from other cats. I'm not saying it's not the right thing to do, and your shelter might put her in a foster home until she has the kittens and they're old enough to be adoptable, but you should definitely know the facts either way!

I think your best bet would be to find someone to foster the momma cat on her own until the kittens are adoptable. They could make sure she gets to the vet, has a nice place for the kittens to be born, and that the kittens have proper medical attention once they're in the world.
posted by itsamermaid at 11:33 AM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


when I worked at a (reputable, good shelter), if people brought in pregnant kitties, they would be pretty much immediately spayed and the pregnancy would be terminated.

A shelter in my area has a feral cat program (catch, spay/neuter, release) and they will terminate pregnancies. If you can catch and bring her in, problem solved. Then maybe try to rehome her since she's so tame? If that doesn't sit right with you, provide her with a nesting box or corral her in your garage/feed her during her pregnancy until the kittens are born or someone can take the whole family. In any case, momma cat and all babies should be spayed/neutered, which does not have to cost you anything if your area shelters have programs like this.

I would also not introduce your current cat to this cat unless you plan on getting momma cat fully vetted first (doesn't sound like you think your cat would even be open to this anyway). You have no idea what parasites/diseases that cat is carrying, if any.
posted by rawralphadawg at 1:18 PM on September 15, 2013 [2 favorites]


If you go to Alley Cat Allies they can help you find a local rescue group who can help with trapping and re-homing. Here is the request for assistance page. If you explain the cat is pregnant any decent rescue organization will be falling over themselves to help you catch her. The best thing in this situation is to capture the cat and terminate the pregnancy--many rescue-affiliated vets will do this up until the day before birth. It seems cruel but it's crueler to bring extra cats into a world that is already short on homes for cats--and if this girl is young giving birth could be quite hard on her.
posted by Anonymous at 5:23 PM on September 15, 2013


We did this with a pregnant feral. She bounced right back and didn't seem to realize she'd been about to have kittens. She's a house cat now. Call your local TNR people and they'll loan you a trap to catch her in.
posted by bink at 8:08 PM on September 15, 2013


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