The law of unintended consequences at work. Even worse, yesterday I found out that non-essential surgeries in this area will be put off until next year. One case is a lady (from church) in extreme back pain - this is cruel.

Put an ad on Craigslist...FREE KITTENS! Then call another vet, pay to have the momma fixed. Your a kind and caring person to be feeding a cat family of 5. Thank you for being you! :0)

“ Even worse, yesterday I found out that non-essential surgeries in this area will be put off until next year. One case is a lady (from church) in extreme back pain ”

What state is this? Non-essential surgeries are being allowed to resume here (Florida) starting next week.

My SIL is in TN, her back pain was so bad, the doctors classified it as “essential” so was allowed to happen.

sorry, no advice about the cats.

Nicole,The cost is not an issue. They are gonna get fixed, period. I wouldn't want to give an unaltered cat away,with no guarantee that the person taking it will have it fixed. The trouble is finding a vet that is open for doing it. :(

Even the non profit will be getting a donation from us in the amount we normally would pay to have them fixed at the vet. 125 for the females, 85 for the males. Hopefully by the time they get mama in, the kittens will be old enough to meet their requirements, or a regular vet will be open to do them.

Dang I wish I could upload this video. So cute!

Double dang, amylou. I hope you figure out how to upload the video. I want to see kittens.

ELECTIVE surgeries are allowed in FL on May 4. BIG difference between elective and non-essential.

OMG! Cute, cute, cute, cute cute!!!

Amylou, I admire the care you give to that feral cat and her family. Good luck finding homes for them :-)

OK.....now I have kitten envy! Love those little babies Amy!

wow! so adorable.

i would keep calling and find someone to spay her. i think the momma is most important. i commend you for "I wouldn't want to give an unaltered cat away,with no guarantee that the person taking it will have it fixed" Good for You!! that's the only way to stop the overpopulation!!

many blessings to you for taking care of this brood!!

I'm in sort of the same boat. Several years ago I got four cats spayed/neutered for an old lady who lived down the bayou from me. I get free dog and cat food, so I helped her out with food when I had extra.

She died and I continued to feed the cats. Then we decided to sell our place and move to east Texas.

At the same time, the old lady's boyfriend moved and left the cats.

Meanwhile I am moving all my belongings, including cats, dogs and horses.. I kept feeding her cats. Once I moved, I paid someone to feed them and furnished food, while I was getting my own animals settled in. But, a stray cat had been dumped out at the old lady' s house and had 4 kittens. I had told the boyfriend I could find homes for them but he told me he found homes...then he moved off and left them all. So that made 9 cats I was feeding, and by the time I moved, mama cat was big pregnant again. So I went ahead and brought her here. She is white and had 5 white kittens. I was still trying to get her other cats moved. I brought the 4 fixed ones here and they live in the office of the barn. Made several trips to get her first 4 kittens, which ended up being 3 because one disappeared. They were all wild now. I finally got the remaining 3 but the 2 females were pregnant by then and have a total of 7 kittens. So those 4 cats that I had spayed/neutered has now become 20 cats. The original 4 + the mama cat's extended family of 16. I have sources to get them fixed, but it is at the coast. Having cats at the spay clinic by 7 ia.m. is difficult when I am 200 miles away. But I have got to do something as soon as I can make arrangements somewhere. The kittens are beautiful, a blue one, several whites and even a Siamese-looking one. I will be looking for homes for them. Anyone want a kitten?

.

Finding them homes isnt really urgent. Like I said, they are welcome to hang around here. BUT they need to be fixed and they need to get out from under my house. That's why I kinda wanted all of them to go at once,so i know that I can safely close it back up again. There are plenty of places for them to shelter on our property. I can hear them banging around and I can only imagine what they are tearing up. See? This is why I didn't want a house with a crawlspace. I wanted a house on a slab.....but WHAT DO I KNOW?!?!?

Amylou, thank you for being you and doing what you can for those cats and kittens. I hope a vet opens up soon who can help you. Those kittens are adorable.

Marilyn, thank you also for being you and all you do for "all" animals.

First set mama up for the spay in June so that she has an appointment. Secondly if you have not already done so look at the kittens and decide which are male/female. Females are most important to have spayed. The males can wait longer. Females can have their first kittens at about four months of age. The kittens in the photo look about two months old so time is ticking.

Crawl space. You can hire someone with a camera to check to see what if anything is under there but it does need to be closed.

Those kittens are so cute!

In the screenshot of the mama cat, she's carrying something in her mouth. Is it a new baby kitten, or a mouse (or other small creature)?

It's not a baby. It's some sort of small creature that became lunch.

Amylou that is wonderful what you are doing! I agree with Maifleur! To me the best is to get them spayed and when possible neutered ASAP. Cats do a very good job of multiplying to say the least. Good luck!

Marilyn double goes for you in the wonderful category! I think the best both of you can do is as soon as possible get them started on this spaying and neutering route which you are both trying to do.

Those are very lucky cats!

Marilyn I would take a cat in a heartbeat but my son is insisting upon a calico. Not surprising as my Calico Juliette has our hearts all wrapped up and he still hankers for something along those colours to remain close to her memory.

I wish there were a vet truck that drove around and did spaying and neutering door to door. Rural places seem to need something like that particularly.

You're a good cat mom! I'd entice them all out with food some distance away from the opening, so when you approach it, they don't skitter back in. You can keep feeding them farther and farther from the opening, until you can get there without spooking them. Then close up the space, because the cats getting in there are the least of your problems, if skunks or rats or raccoons or possums decide to take up residency!

If you aren't sure they are all out, just keep checking for meows. A trapped one will be fine for a while until you can let it out.

Chi...I got my cat FREE on CL. Even the Humane Society has free cats. There are bad people....and good people...everywhere.

Chi, I would be extremely reluctant to just give these kittens to just anyone. I will either get the vet to help me find homes or through people I know. I want them to be inside cats and I don't want them to go to homes with small children, because some children lack supervision to teach them how to handle pets.

Nicole, I'm not saying everyone who takes a free kitten is bad. But it's a lot easier for bad people to get kittens on Craigslist than through a rescue organization, as they tend to do more thorough screening.

I stopped using a dog groomer at a pet shop because the idiot took a call in front of me. The shop also sold snakes of all sizes.

The window for taming ferals is fairly short. It would be problematic to tame these kittens already. While mom is feral now she might have been socialized in a former life though. She is a beauty. My vet who would help home foundlings considered four weeks to be around the successful limit for true ferals. Barn cats is about what you hope for.

I would do as Olychick said-feed away from the opening and put the cover back in place.

I wonder if soaking some rags with a repellent scent and tossing them into the space (tied to a string so you can pull them out later) would keep them out until you can fix the opening. Can you make a temporary shelter for them instead?

Or, yes, find someone with a strong light and camera to make sure they are all out, then fix it.

My DD thinks I have little signs around my yard that say "leave kittens here". About 6 years ago a feral kitten showed up in my yard. I fed it. The next spring she had kittens. We managed to catch her and the kittens. I got mama fixed. She became my house cat. We got the kittens fixed and they went to live with DD. Last August my dog found another kitten in my yard (only 4 to 5 weeks old). We fed it and watched for a few days hoping mama would come back for it. She didn't. I now have 2 house cats. The latest got fixed too of course.

Amy contact some local pet rescues. You can probably find out their names thru FB lost/ found type pet pages in your area. The pet rescues get discounted rates for spays at vets and you may be able to work with them to get it done with their help. Pet rescues here have done that they know which vets offer discounts for situations like yours plus they will know who is doing surgeries at this time. Start working on that right away so you don’t end up with an army like Marilyn. Wow! Marilyn the same type of rescues could assist you with spay options closer to home. Both of you check with your county animal shelter as well. Ours spays for free with TNR. They actually give people traps, you call when a cat is in there, they come and get them and return them the next day spayed. All for free! I don’t know if they are doing it during lockdowns but I’m sure you could get info. It might be on their websites.

I don't think I've ever disagreed with Nicole, but please don't ever offer an animal for free to strangers. Dog fighting groups troll Craigslist and other sites for free puppies and dogs (for fighting) and cats and kittens (for bait). Horrible but true. They show up with children in tow to give the impression the animal will have a good home with a loving family. In my state illegal dog fighting is big business, and I'm sure it's everywhere.

Thank you for taking care of them and best of luck finding someone to perform the spay/neutering.

The mother cat is gorgeous and the kittens adorable!

100% agree with Alisande. Very horrifying things happen to those free Craigslist animals. We've now progressed to people stealing unattended pets out of people's yards.

I'm generally a very nonviolent person, but could pull the switch on people who torture animals or any similarly unable to fight back/ helpless human.

I am already on the list for june. They will call me to come pick up a trap the day before she is scheduled to go in. The tricky thing is that I cannot actually take her. I have a severe cat allergy and cant be in a car with one. My eyes swell shut and my throat itches and burns. My sister always takes them for me, so I hope she is available, otherwise I will have to take one of SOs pickup trucks and put her in the bed. I dont wanna do that.

Again, finding them homes isnt an issue. If someone at the vet or the place that is going to fix them wants them,they can have them. If not, they can hang around here. No biggie. I am not going to attempt to tame them,as I have no intention of petting them or bringing them in the house. There are lots of places for them to shelter on our land. I feed them in SOs shop, which is far away from my crawlspace. Only mama takes advantage of that right now. She hunts for the kittens. I imagine that soon she will lead them over there where the cat food is though. I look forward to all of them being fixed so I dont have to worry about it anymore. Its just a headache.

It's a shame you're so allergic and can't get some cat love back. But good for you for being so responsible and considerate of them.

I am allergic to my dogs as well, but it manifests itself differently. While the cat dander tries to blind and suffocate me, the dog allergy only makes me break out in a rash wherever they touch me with their tongue or nose. I have to wash the area with very cold water for a long time for it to go away. But at least they can hang out with me in the house!

You're a good person, Amylou. :)