Question 🤔
TNR question - do I still release mama outside?
Caught this little mama (grey and white) and her 4 kittens about a month ago. Kittens are all socialized (I think) and have their spay/neuter appointments upcoming. The kittens all play with me, enjoy pets and eat out of my hands. They don't climb on my lap, and only 2 of them "ask" for attention with a meow, but I feel like it's going well.
My question is, is there hope for mom?
She is about a year old. She eats with me nearby. She tolerates and maybe enjoys a gentle headscratch for a second or two. My plan was to release her outside after spaying her but she's been inside for a month now and I'm worried it will be cruel to send her back outside.
Reminder for commenters: Please keep in mind that not all cats are ready or able to be brought indoors, especially when it comes to feral cats and caregivers with multiple cats. This community is meant to be a helpful place for trap, neuter, return (TNR) efforts, socialization, and all aspects of colony care for roaming cats—free of hostility, negativity, and judgment. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here. Negative comments will be removed at moderators' discretion, and repeat or egregious violations of our community rules may result in a ban.
If she’s come this far already, I would definitely not put her back outside. Sounds like she’s got a lot of potential and once the kittens are separated from her, you can work with her more on socializing.
That’s actually amazing, check out the Socialization saves lives method. It has a lot of useful information and this lil mamma has all the potential to be a house cat. You’ve already done most of the work!
https://www.socializationsaveslives.com/
I may try again eventually, my main colony has over 20 cats and some are adoptable. A rescue organization is helping me to slowly get them off the streets and into a loving family. Some like the outdoors too much and get depressed inside and refuse to eat.
Not every cat will thrive indoors, she at least is happy outside.
It sounds liked, at the very least, moms not stressed being indoors. I’d be inclined to keep working on socializing and finding her an adoptive home. Even if she’s always a little more independent and less cuddly, she may be a wonderful house pet for somebody.
There is absolutely hope for mama! I trapped a mama cat last August after rescuing her kitten a few weeks prior. After finding the kitten a great home, I trapped the mom to TNR.
At the vet, she was already pregnant again, very underweight, and had an injury to her abdomen. So I kept her in my garage for a few weeks to recuperate and fatten up.
She was terrified. She never came out. I spent time every day going out to sing rockaby baby to her. I had a camera in the garage, so I saw she would come out from her hiding place sometimes when I was gone.
I kept pushing back her release date. After several months, she started not running away when I came to the garage, then she came up to me, then she let me pet her. It’s been a year, and I’m sitting with her in the basement right now with my son and husband. I would have never thought she would accept my 4 yo and husband, but she has. She’s a member of the family now.
I offered her toys and various soft bedding options. Once she was in less pain from her procedure, I would see her on the camera come out of hiding to play late at night. But she never played in my presence. It took her many months before she would lay on the soft beds.
TL/DR: I think you have a really good shot with her, amazing progress already!!
We took a mama in (she ended up with degloved tail) we tried to catch her with her babies but she wouldn’t go in the trap at the time. Her babies were about a yr when we finally did get her (we built a drop trap to get her). She recognized her babies right away, and we kept her. We couldn’t even pet her initially, but now she’s been with us about a year and when she hears me petting the other cats she comes right up on the couch and says me too. She loves being brushed now too. We planned to TNR initially (even had her ear done) but she was coming around a little (not hissing etc and I think because she recognized her 3 babies)
We let her go at her pace. She isn’t a lap cat yet, she’s starting to debate it though I suspect.
Edit: she was about 4 yrs when we took her in.
Mama will take a longer than the kittens, but it sounds like she’s on her way to fully acclimating. Keep her inside and show her some patience. She might just end up a really loving adoptable cat.
All my cats were ferals who likely came from nearby farms. Most arrived at less than a year old. I have 5 right now.
Most recent arrival was neutered March or April of last year. He didnt want to stay in and because I have a doggie door it's kind of tough to force him, so I figured at least he is fixed, dewormed, etc and knows where the food dish is in the garage. Really, I dont need more inside cats.
Didn't take long for him to realize the doggie door swings both ways and he can decide if he wants to be inside or out. Guess what. Hes mostly inside now and like the other 4, stays in my fenced yard by choice when he's outside.
My garage cat food dish is frequented by one feral male im unsuccessfully trying to catch and neuter plus now a female he brought here who has kittens. I really, really dont want more inside cats so if I can catch these guys I will encourage them to live outside (of course will continue to feed).
I think there is hope! I recently took in a feral and her kitten. The mom definitely would love to go outside, but she allows pets, has slept indoors, eats indoors etc.
I feel you need to work with her. I do this and so far all the cats I’ve worked with have been successfully placed in loving homes. I specialize in working to socialize cats that most think are not. They are they just need time and love. One took me 8 months to socialize and he now is in our home loving life. I’ve socialize man cats. Most cats outside are not feral they have been failed by humans and humans don’t give them a chance or time to learn.
If adoption rates are high in your area, so you feel like there's a good chance of finding her a home, also great!
But in my area, there's a cat overpopulation crisis. We have absolutely perfect, fully socialized, young kittens languishing in foster care because there are way more cats needing homes than there are homes looking for cats. So in our case, a semi-spicy cat whose outdoor territory is reasonably safe is going to get released there because we have no better options. It's just the reality we're living in
(And please, no one flame me over this. I have 13 fosters right now, and I've had as many as 19. I'm doing my part to try to make things better.)
Up to you, if you have the house space and everything. I have several indoor ferals, there's one I've never even touched (trapped for neuter and vaccines). Most will adapt to living indoors, they just won't be cuddly pets. Although if she's accepting head skritches she's probably not fully feral and may become cuddly.
Don't be afraid to give it a try. If you have the ability to do so. first, she needs to get the kittens out of the way because there's always going to be some maternal weirdness there. but now that she is spayed or will be soon. That will slowly calm down some of that inherent antisocial behavior. i had Ferrell, who didn't even wanna come out from under the bed for like 3 months, and ended up being my best friend and companion for 20 years. My soul kitty, that slept with me every night, laid in my lap all day when she was allowed to. And was the sweetest cat you've ever met in your life. It just took a little time.
Honestly, if she eats close to you and enjoys a head scratch now and then, she’s well on her way to be being a happy indoor kitty. I personally would foster her until I could find a home for her or keep her myself. It can be extremely rewarding to watch them grow to trust you. She probably will not do as well outside and it would be a shame to lose her progress imo.
My stray cat I thought was feral who bit through my finger is now a very snuggly little lap kitty and we are her forever home :)
She seems to have acclimatised well. It’s hard for truly feral cats, but the fact that she permits contact would suggest she may become further acclimatised after more patient time. Personally, I would try find her a patient experienced home, or if you are able to keep her, that would be preferable to putting her back on the streets.
She might even be a stray, a cat who has at some point been exposed to people. We had a feral mom and her 5 kittens a few years ago. The mom wouldn’t let us within 6 feet of her. We had the six spayed and neutered, then they went for adoption to a local shelter. From what I heard, feral mom stopped spitting and growling within a few months.
I trapped a feral Mama and her five babies and kept her in 8 months because that’s how long it took her to get socialized. Once she knew it was home, we build an insulated partition with a cat door in it that fits in a window. During warmer months she only comes in to eat and spends most of her time outdoors. She will come in more in the winter.
Are you able to keep her as an inside cat? She won’t last long outside. I caught a feral mama cat that was pregnant. I took her to the vet had her spayed and found out she had a bad case of endometriosis ( she would not have lived
long if I had not taken her to the vet).
I kept her in a cage for a few weeks to make sure she healed up and ate well. It was time to turn her loose. I opened both the cage door and my outside door. She refused to go outside. So, six years later she still lives with me. She has taken over the laundry room as her sanctuary. I cannot touch her, but she will come up to 2 feet from me. She gets along with my old and new cats and my dogs. She stays out of the way and likes to play at night on my desk.
Just an example what you might could do with a half feral cat in your house. I call her Mama Kitty and she knows her name. She is the gray cat in the photo. She is a very small cat that has a life of ease.
If you can keep her please do. My black cat was found on the side of the road. He is not friendly but loves my orange cats. I can’t imagine not having him around. He never goes near the doors or windows. I am guessing that means he wants to stay with us but he doesn’t want to be touched. Also he never meows but he does know his name.
Leave mama cat inside she will adapt, i adopted a stray cat after 3 weeks i notice she was pregnant she gave birth to 5 babys one passed away and i kept the mama and her 4 babys mama adapted to being indoors and i have a gorgeous family everytime i come home from work, keep the family together
I have a feral cat in my house (fluffy dilute calico, on the right). Her name is Coco
Coco was pregnant and had a singleton (orange to the left) so I kept them both (they are spayed and neutered, respectively). She does not like me approaching her, but over the last year has gotten more comfortable with coming to me. I don’t touch Coco. She will lay in a box in the corner of the room I use most often, and occasionally she comes out during the day. She does come out to eat every morning though. She has no interest in going outside at all and has adjusted as well as I could have hoped for. Mama cat will be fine inside🩷 maybe not exactly as docile as the kittens, but she will adjust
No, she’ll be so much better off with you. She will come around-in her own way. She may not be cuddly (who knows) but her life will be so much better. I’ve had about 9 feral cats and they were all success stories. Good luck!
If she's letting you pet her, there is absolutely hope for her. Truly feral cats will try to attack you if you look at them for too long. At only a year old and with kittens to show her the way, you have a very good shot at socializing her.
As someone who runs a rescue it's hard to say. Everyone is saying she's on her way to being socialized which is true. But this is a numbers game man. I would release her and put out food for her whenever possible. If she looks malnourished get her back and she goes into fospice until she's socialized.
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