What to do when you find a cluster of kittens
Finding baby kittens is both exciting and alarming, but before you go thinking that their mama just up and left them try doing a couple things first:
1. With the back of your hand (and NOT moving them), check their body temp. If they are cool to the touch, bring them inside and GENTLY warm them using either a warm towel (NOT hot) from dryer or a hair dryer on low. Their body temp should be at 97° and they should NOT be fed until their body temp has been increased to that or they won't be able to digest their food.
2. If they are warm, and especially if they appear healthy and fed, sprinkle bakers flour around them. The circle should be at least 6 inches wide and thick enough that if/when their mama returns her footprints will be indented in the flour. Make sure to leave the area COMPLETELY or you'll scare her away
3. Return after 2 to 3 hours and check for prints (don’t worry, they won’t starve in this time). If absolutely no sign that the mama isn’t in the immediate area just watching you, proceed to move babies to safety, getting them to warmth and food (refer to my Expecting Queens, Newborns, and Orphans guide).
If you notice paw prints in the flour laid earlier, either contact a rescue or shelter and request to have the mama trapped or borrow a trap. The trap should be set at least 100 feet away from the babies because it will have canned cat food, or something else to lure the mama inside of it. The bait will attract other predators and by placing the trap near or close to the kittens, the kittens will be in danger of being eaten. Whatever you do, do NOT use the kittens as bait.
From a distance, be sure to check the trap every hour or two. If you have trapped something other than the mama, release it and reset the trap. Give babies a quick visual check to ensure her kittens are still there and haven’t been moved. Once the mama is trapped you can then collect her kittens and reunite them in the safety of a prepared bathroom where she can tend to their needs, and you can tend to hers with food, fresh water, and a clean litter box.
The end goal is to keep the mama with her babies. She's their warmth and best source of nourishment. However, if she loses her babies, she'll go into a “mourning heat,” which doesn’t let up until she is pregnant again and will most likely have more kittens than what she did that you found and “saved”.
If it’s possible, we want to have her socialized with positive human interaction so she can be adopted to a loving home after she is vaccinated and spayed (desexed), as well as her babies once they are old enough.
Contact your local rescue or shelter and ask if they would be willing to supply the food, litter, medications, vaccinations, as well as get them spayed/neutered if you keep them under your care throughout this process. Most will.
If you have cats or foster kittens before, you know how important litter is. Our friends at Catalyst have given us a promo code for all our new followers. Add the code CRITICAL50 at checkout for a 50% discount for first time subscribers (applies to one charge only).