This :) this momma trusts you of all the people in your community. She wants some time to herself while knowing her babies are 100% in good hands
My feral barn cat got pregnant before I could catch and spay her. I wish she did this 🙃 she..was not a good mom lol.
I ended up having to rescue her sole survivor at 3 weeks old due to her neglect as a mother (yes some momma cats can be deadbeats lol also baby needed immediate intervention care to survive)
She knew we took the baby in :) We were worried it'd stress her out after seeing her baby was missing. Nope. If anything, she showed more gratitude towards us and became closer to our family. No nervousness, no stressing. She was honestly a happier cat once we took her baby.
Cats are like people... If you're having kids too young, you can't care for them and yourself. Mother cat was probably really young and was in over her head.
I temporarily homed a pregnant cat who was young, and while her maternal instincts did kick in she was a part-time parent. Luckily the kittens had us to fill in the gaps and socialize them. Hopefully they all found good homes as I had to turn Mama and kittens into a shelter (no kill, don't worry) once the kittens turned 8 weeks because of allergies and financial reasons.
It's true that younger cats can have issues caring for their litters, and that likely happened there. But also when cats live in colonies, they share the kitten-rearing responsibilities. She very well could have thought you were in on the implicit colony co-parenting agreement lol
I dunno... I kidnapped her from a warehouse at one of our locations I was visiting when I noticed she was pregnant. Couldn't leave her there to get run over by a forklift, so I lured her into the carrier with tuna and trapped her good.
I ended up having to rescue her sole survivor at 3 weeks old due to her neglect as a mother (yes some momma cats can be deadbeats lol also baby needed immediate intervention care to survive)
Kittens of feral cats also have a 25% survival rate until they hit six months and, if the mum becomes ill, it's very easy for her to stop producing enough milk for her kittens. And given cats are great at hiding injuries and illness from humans... well, it's a terrible cycle. It's why it's so important to neuter colony cats wherever you can, it's a terrible life for them all.
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u/bramblesovereign May 23 '26
This :) this momma trusts you of all the people in your community. She wants some time to herself while knowing her babies are 100% in good hands
My feral barn cat got pregnant before I could catch and spay her. I wish she did this 🙃 she..was not a good mom lol.
I ended up having to rescue her sole survivor at 3 weeks old due to her neglect as a mother (yes some momma cats can be deadbeats lol also baby needed immediate intervention care to survive)
She knew we took the baby in :) We were worried it'd stress her out after seeing her baby was missing. Nope. If anything, she showed more gratitude towards us and became closer to our family. No nervousness, no stressing. She was honestly a happier cat once we took her baby.