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 P.O. Box 1828 Morgan Hill, CA 95038-1828 Phone: (408) 779-5761 towncats@garlic.com  |
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| URGENT Town Cats needs your help!!
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| Wild Kittens | ||
| It's always best to leave all
newborn animals alone that you happen upon, even kittens of our "domestic
looking" feral cats; as wild moms of any species rarely abandon
their young ...they are usually just off hunting and may be gone for
several hours...so you should never disturb kittens unless absolutely
certain they have been abandoned. If you have any worries about abandoned or feral kittens, please call Town Cats for advice before interfering with a litter. If you feel sure a nursing queen has abandoned or met with an accident preventing her from returning to her litter, you will need advice on how to proceed with the care and attention required by prewean orphans who cannot eat solid food yet. It is always best to let baby kittens nurse with mom until weaned, keep an eye on them to make sure they are safe etc. When the kittens are approximately 4-5 weeks old (the age when they begin to eat solid food but are still young enough to be "tamed") they should safely be caught and separated from their mother, vaccinated, spayed or neutered then placed into homes when they are adoptable at the age of 8-9 weeks. Taking 4-5 week old kittens that were born outside from their mother is for the kittens' welfare to ensure their survival and also allow them to be placed into permanent homes when old enough. Kittens with no human intervention at a very young age will become "feral". After taking kittens from the mother, it is VERY important to get the mother spayed before she has another litter, there are too many kittens born every year during "kitten season". Contact Town Cats or other local rescue groups for low-cost spay/neuter information. For more information read http://www.towncats.org/articles/article7.html or contact Town Cats for more information on helping abandoned or feral cats and kittens. Note About Wild Animals It is always exciting to see our "urban" wildlife up close when we are lucky enough to see them in our backyards, local parks or surrounding foothills. However, wild animals should NEVER be interfered with by the public. These animals share our living area with us but are not to be approached or harassed in any way. Separating young animals from their mothers should only be done in the case of feral cats, who are domesticated cats that have reverted back to the wild due to no human contact. These animals are special cases…in no circumstances should any other wild animal be taken from their mother…taking any animal from the wild is not the right thing to do unless it is sick, injured or abandoned. If you do see a truly abandoned baby wild animal or find injured wildlife, please immediately contact local wildlife groups who have rehabilitation licenses and experience to care for these wild animals until they can be released back to the wild when they are old enough or recovered. Contact the following local licensed wildlife centers for assistance or more information: The Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley or Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center Our articles Is This An Orphan Kitten? How To Care For An Orphan Kitten |
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| Our home is located in a very populated community and the houses are close together. The week before Easter, my husband, Ken, went into our backyard. It was a rainy day and as he glanced into the flowerbed, he saw what he thought was a feral cat, along with her litter of four babies. We were both very excited about his discovery but became even more so when we saw that our "feral cat" was actually a bobcat! | ||
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We were shocked that this mama bobcat decided to
have her babies in our backyard. Although she and her babies only
stayed for four days, we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to observe
them up close. We never picked them up but delighted in watching
them. At the end of the fourth day, we watched the mama cat take
one baby at a time to a new location. |
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