u/Wide-Bit-5817

Hi! So, feral cat had babies in my backyard. Question: is there a point in keeping mama around if all she does is growl and doesn’t interact with babies when they’re out of their crate? Looks as if she’s trying to run away but, when they’re in their crate, she will sit next to them and whine the whole time while staring at them. She is becoming aggressive with me & it’s making it difficult for me to take care of the kittens.

Back story, I definitely took her babies from her too early, 3 were taken at ~3 weeks, 1 at ~4 weeks. Yes, now I know I f’d up. Never have been a cat person so all this is new to me. She was moving them and I had an appointment for TNR for mama so I had to take the babies. I live on a busy street & didn’t want them to get hurt. She’s already tried moving them before but luckily, I found all of them in the front yard. It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve taken the babies. The three I took early are suckling so I’ve been trying this whole time to reunite them in the shed, where the babies stay in. They’re 6-7 weeks now, completely weaned. So far, I’ve tried twice to keep her with them and she ignores them when they’re free roaming. I even left & watched on the camera what she would do and she just sat & growled the whole time! Im so confused!!

I’ve been feeding her since Feb so I know she is less than a year old herself. Is she just a crappy mother? Should I give up trying to reunite them? I’m definitely not letting the kittens go, they’re completely socialized.

I feel so awful. A feral cat had five baby kittens in my backyard. One suddenly went missing last week. I looked all over but it was just gone. This morning, went to feed them and ANOTHER one went missing! I’ve been crying all morning.

I usually leave food out for the other nursing cats but, I didn’t last night because I have an appointment for TNR tomorrow. I was trying to capture one of the community cats to get them fixed but now I know, that was a big mistake. I didn’t think the kittens would get hurt.

I heard noises and mama cat growling so I went to check on them. I heard scurrying but thought, it was just an opossum, they won’t hurt the cats. WRONG! It turns out, they do eat kittens!! So now I’m thinking either an opossum or a raccoon took them. I just feel so awful for the mother!! She’s still young herself. I wish I did more to protect them sooner. It’s my first time helping a nursing cat and kittens. I honestly used to be scared of cats but now I know, they’re just misunderstood. I wish I could turn back time and help them out more and the babies would still be here. They must have been so scared!! 😭💔