I find myself in a moral quandary. A feral cat gave birth to four kittens in my 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5-speed (aka the “Holy Grail”). I have a choice to make: Do I just leave the family alone, or do I seize this opportunity to try to adopt-out the kittens while they’re young, malleable and cute? I’ve chosen to do the latter, but I’m still a little conflicted.
I feel a bit weird saying I’ve “rescued” a second kitten; there’s something a little arrogant about that expression. No, I captured another kitten because I’ve decided that it’s better for the kitten if it lives indoors with a family than in a business parking lot. I’ve decided that I know best in this situation. I feel weird about that, though I understand that logically, these doubts are silly: A cat in captivity can get healthcare, it gets consistent food, it’s protected from predators (like cars), and it’s statistically going to live much longer than an equivalent feral cat. But I’m also taking two very important things from these cats: family and freedom.
I struggled with that last night as I set down a cat-trap in the Galpin Media parking lot and watched as the remaining three kittens that once lived in my Jeep approached.
You can see all three kittens in the photo below:
The mother, Zee, lurked closeby:
It took all of 30 seconds between me setting the trap and this cute button walking right in:
The photo above shows Jaws, our first “rescue” (if you want to use that word) meeting its sibling (Jaws he hissed a bit)— tentatively named “Mango” — for the first time in weeks. Mango, it’s worth noting, knows us from a few weeks ago, when my friend picked her up (we put her back in the Jeep, since we were going on vacation, and because we didn’t want to take her from her mother, who might have still been nursing her).
Upon bringing Mango home, my friend and I placed the kitten in a bathroom; she was scared, cowering in the litterbox:
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Mango was quiet, though, and let me pet her (I wore gloves just to be safe):
Curious, Jaws snuck upstairs and sniffed around the base of the bathroom door:
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We left Mango in the bathroom all night, and awoke to find: Mango was gone! How?! The bathroom was tiny, the windows were closed — there was no way out!
Well, cats are clever; mango managed to find a tiny crevice underneath/inside the toilet. Look at this!:
Look at how small that space was under the throne:
As my arms were too large to fit back there, friend donned her skiing gloves and snagged Mango. We then immediately washed the kitten with Dawn dish soap and water.
There were fleas all over Mango — big ones right next to her eyes! My friend and I picked off as many as we could. Mango was really gentle — never tried scratching or biting. She’s a truly lovely kitten.
The water in the sink after washing her was disgusting — dark gray. No wonder that bathroom had smelled so bad when we’d walked in that morning. She was filthy and flea-covered. Poor kitten.
We just got back from the vet; Mango seems to be healthy. She might have an upper respiratory infection, or at least the beginnings of one, so we’re treating her for that. We’re taking care of the fleas, we’re going through all the vaccination stuff, etc. Sadly, we have to keep Jaws and Mango separate for a couple of weeks while the medication does its thing.
I can’t wait for them to hang out.
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I hope I’m doing the right thing, here. In my opinion, Jaws looks happy, so this feels right. Right? I’ll likely keep Jaws and one of the other kittens (maybe Mango), then adopt the other two Jeep Kittens out. Then I’ll have Zee, the mom (and other cats in the colony) fixed so as to keep the population under control. I’ve decided this is the right thing to do, though again, who am I to make such big decisions in a living being’s life?
But alas, one moves forward and does one’s best.
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“Well, cats are clever; mango managed to find a tiny crevice underneath/inside the toilet.”
I can relate.
One day many years ago my wife and I realized one of our foster kittens had disappeared! How could this have happened! Oh GOD had he somehow escaped to the outside?
Several hours ensued as we turned the house upside down looking for him. We went through every closet, the garage, food cupboards, the fireplace the bathrooms, beds, backyard, every place we could think of. His mom stood by our couch and watched us the whole time. I called our rescue group in a panic looking for advice what we might have missed. While I was on the phone my wife came in with a relieved smile on her face.
She had found him!
He had crawled up INSIDE the arm of our sofa! I had taken that sofa apart looking for him, I had even reached inside that very arm. Not far enough as it turned out. He was deep inside just out of reach taking a long nap. My wife had been by the sofa when she noticed a barely perceptible bump in the fabric. She thumped it a bit and it moved!
I managed to extract the sleepy kitten without murdering him. I then shoved the sofa arms full of old towels to ensure it would never happen again.
After a while my wife realized momma cat had been hovering by that sofa arm the whole time. Had she been trying to tell us where he was? Maybe. Had she been silently judging our parenting skills? Certainly!
Cats are amazing at hide and seek. If you’re going to enter the wonders of cat ownership, especially for a cat that goes outside I STRONGLY recommend buying an RFID based cat tracker. With this finding a hidden cat indoors is trivial, outdoors far easier than without it. My favorite by far is the Loc8tor system. Its very old but its been far more reliable than anything else I’ve used. Tiles, GPS, airtags, they all SUCK in comparison.
IMO the gold standard setup is to pair the old silver handset unit with the sliding cover with the newer airtag sized round tags. The newer black handset is too watered down, the older oval tags have half the battery life and range. Fine for keys and wallets, not so good for cats.
The round tag batteries can last up to a year. They also fit nicely into silicone airtag collar holders. Range is a reliable 300′ LOS; more in an open field and I’ve gotten up to a kilometer by placing the handset driving element onto the focal point of a 24dB gain parabolic antenna. That is under ideal conditions, correct polarization, etc. In the real world the range is good enough to walk down the sidewalk and “see” about as far as the backyard of the house you are passing. Even so its been enough. There have been a few times I’ve followed the signal, heard the tag pinging away, even been looking RIGHT AT MY CAT in a bush or under a car and did not see him.
Also whether or not you let your cat(s) outside you should put collars on them. I have heard far too many heartbreaking stories of indoor only cats that got out and vanished. If a cat is not used to the outdoors it can quickly get lost even if its a short distance from home. Don’t depend on a chip, chips fail and a neighbor won’t have a chip reader. Anyone can read a collar though.
Like others have said, if you want to keep one, keep both. Having a friend keeps them active and entertained! I don’t think cats form much of a bond with their siblings, if at all. They tend to go their own separate ways once they’re old enough to do so. But, they’re young and will likely bond just fine when they meet each other again. Those cats will have an infinitely better quality of life indoors, and can be expected to live considerably longer.
I would strongly disagree! We got Schiksa and Tommy at the same time when we adopted 2 of 4 kittens born to a shop cat. They have been our constant companions for the last 18 months. They have also bonded to the point that they are insperable one from another. When one can’t find the other, they become a bit frantic until they are reunited.
Your results may vary.
Keep or adopt is a hard choice. I am sure I am not the only one that will help give them a home once they are though the agency ,we would pay the fee.
Re-posting from a prior kitty thread:
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You’re doing the right thing. They’ll get a much safer, healthier, and longer life with you than they would otherwise. And cats generally can be ok if you need to leave to take short trips for work (with the help of automatic litter boxes, feeders, and water), particularly if you adopt two so that they can keep each other company. So not bad pets when you have a job that requires some travel (the trips out of the country may get a bit more complicated, but nothing that can’t be handled).
Flees, ah yes, the rust of the animal world. Seriously though I’ve been following the kitties on the gram. Love em.
Watching David slowly become a crazy cat dad is fun.
I’m waiting for the plot twist where David decides that the best course of action is to return them all to the Jeep, and he moves into the Jeep with them. Hijinks ensue.
The opossum being the wacky neighbor who’s always dropping in unannounced.
Of course you’re doing the right thing! Thank you so much.
I’m not sure what is more heart-warming: that David is domesticating these feral cats, or that ‘friend’ is domesticating David.
Is someone chopping onions…?
Sorry. I’m making a lasagna (for one).
“Friend” is a suspiciously pointed choice of words, which DT hsa been consistently using for a few posts now.
She’s probably a Jeep dealer though.
Leash train those kitties so they can spend time in the Jeep that was their first home.
Absolutely, start now and you can walk them on a leash later to get them outside a little.
Thank you DT. I am getting tired of seeing all these homeless cats living in tents and pushing their shopping carts as I drive to work each day. Be sure they have gotten their Covid shots though.
When I lived in an apartment with my first wife, here was a feral cat that adopted us and would hang out on our porch. When we were moving out, we were conflicted with that to do with him. We decided to take him with us. My wife just petted him like normal, then scruffed him and dropped him in cat carrier. He yowled the whole way to the new house, hid under the bed for a few days, and then was content to just live indoors. He never went outside, even when we left a door open.
The kittens will be no problem to adopt out. The mother might need a TNR if she is too scared of people, but can probably be adopted too. Outdoor cats have a hard life and kill lots of local wild life (birds in particular), so making indoor cats out of them is helping nature.
If you think outdoor cats are wantonly destructive you should see what outdoor humans are capable of!
Yeah, but it’s illegal and massively more difficult to forcibly fix and contain damn humans, so one does what they can.
That’s what war is for. Including the war on drugs.
Not very effective and, like killing coyotes, deaths from war tend to spur postwar birth increases. As for the war on drugs, nobody wants to hear my feelings on that, especially on an article about saving kittens.
It is easier to have more than 1 cats than just one, since it keeps otherwise lonesome cat company. The incremental cost is minimal.
You’re totally doing the right thing. Life in the wild is short and brutal. These are animals that have been bred to be pets for centuries, you’re not depriving a wild creature of its freedom, you’re giving a domesticated cat a home.
I’m curious as to what kind of pet you might get if you leave the windows down on your I3.
Moths.
Two cats are fine. They’ll keep each other company. But, if you find more, and it seems you will, consider getting them into a Trap-Neuter-Return program. It’s not rehab or cats anonymous. TNRs are programs, sometimes independent, sometimes sponsored by local governments, to neuter, vaccinate and chip (so they know where they live) cats and return them to the great outdoors. I’ve mentioned before that I look after a couple of TNR colonies near my place of work. The cats thrive. Some are occasionally adopted. Whatever you do David, I’m sure will work out. You’re a mensch.
The rusted kitties are cute and you are doing the right thing.
I feel sorry for the mother cat, it’s a good mom and was probably somebody’s pet.
Great work David, you’re undoubtedly making a better life for them. And you’ll be able to get your Jeep back at the end of it.
Professionals agree a feral cats life is brutal. Lack of food and care new brood twice a year, the family doesn’t bond but separates and fights each other for resources. So spay and neuter and adopt out. The kittens will thank you.
I understand your mental struggle.
It seems like there’s a fine line between having a pet and having a hostage from a different species. You go to somebody’s house, they’re like, “Close the door. He’ll get out. CLOSE THE DOOR! HE’LL GET OUT!” Okay. What kind of relationship do you have with this cat, exactly?
Do they love us or is it just Stockholm syndrome?
Even a content animal will make a break for it. Cats love hunting and killing other animals. So indoors blunt claws not removed, and careful outdoor exposure. An animal with a pea sized brain cannot reason well enuf to figure out what is best for it. Do you put a new born toddler outside and see if it wants freedom?
Yes, and apparently he did. Hope he writes someday.
New born toddler? Poor mother, I hope she’s ok.
Makes me think of a Greek vase I saw with an illustration of Athena being born from Zeus’s skull. Apparently she was born about the size of a four year old but appearing as a fully clothed miniature woman who also has a spear and shield. The crack in the sky father’s head does not seem sufficient for all that.
Sorry i was referencing a new born human baby. You cant let teenagers and younger of any animal species make life altering decisions. They arent experienced enough to make a life long decision.
One advantage of an outdoor cat is that it knows the neighborhood. When an indoor only cat finds itself outside it often panics and runs. It doesn’t have to go far before its hopelessly lost. Compounding the problem many owners don’t put collars on indoor only cats because why bother? Now its a street cat until its found by its owner, animal control, a car or a coyote.
In my experience indoor only life is NOT sufficient for most cats. Would you be happy stuck inside with no TV, radio, books or other media for the rest of your life? Especially if you were alone all day?
Cats need a lot of stimuli and play, if they don’t get it they will be bored with predictable results. Outdoor cats get much more exercise, have more social lives, get much more natural stimuli and fresh air. Of course YMMV. If you live in an area that presents a high risk to cats keep them inside, maybe taking them out for walks. Better yet a catio or at least a caged windowsill. If OTOH you live in a quiet suburban neighborhood and you have a backyard where your cat can hang out it will be much happier for it.
For anyone who complains how devastating cats are to the local fauna I will point out much that local fauna includes rats and mice. Outdoor cats help keep those at bay.
If you feel bad about the local bird population why not put up birdhouses and feeders to help boost the numbers?
Well experts disagree. But yes neighborhood wild cars know where bird people have set out feeders and as such sit and wait and kill. You think cats waiting at bird feeders is natural and actually hunting? What do you hunt cow, cats and dogs at the pet store? I believe hunting is necessary to protect wildlife but cats at a bird feeder aint hunting.
“You think cats waiting at bird feeders is natural and actually hunting?”
A duck hunter would call that a honey hole:
https://deltawaterfowl.org/make-your-own-duck-hunting-honeyhole/
So hell yes a cat that takes advantage of a bird feeder is by that metric a hunter.
If anything that cat is more of a “hunter” than the duck shooting human since that cat doesn’t have a gun or even a knife, just long fingernails and teeth against a comparatively much larger bird that can fight back.
When Bubba successfully takes down an eagle with his bare hands he can be a “hunter” too.
Outdoor cats are great for feeding the increasing coyote population. I’ve got trailcam footage from my driveway of one carrying the front half of a cat it looks like it won in a tug-of-war. Lots of “missing cat reward” posters around (small dogs, too), no shortage of coyotes. Circle of life: they kill birds and small animals, coyotes and raptors kill little Mittens and Patches. And I live in the suburbs north of Boston, not a rural area.
FWIW I think you’re doing the right thing, and thank you for it. Life is tough for outdoor kitties.
From what I’ve seen, dogs will recognize their parents and littermates but I don’t believe cats do that in a significant way – not sure if separation anxiety would be an issue.
Our former kitty got an occasional respiratory thing and the vet would give her an antibiotic shot. Apparently the one shot lasts for a long time, so you’re not making multiple stressful trips to the vet, and she always responded really well – back to her bossy self in no time. 🙂
I feed cats who stop by the house. Some show up a couple times, some show up daily for months. Right now there is an adolescent male who is quite skittish but has discovered he likes head scratches. He (and the others) come up on the deck and sit where they can be seen – very subtle. 😀 Anyway, he is making overtures like he wants to come in the house – he set both front feet inside the door this morning – and I think if he is still here when winter rolls around I’ll try to catch him and we’ll go to the vet.
You’re doing the right thing, which doesn’t always feel like the best but you gotta trust your gut. You’re good for being so invested in helping, I’m sure it’s just weird to show empathy and care to a small orange feline in place of a large orange (rusty) Jeep!
Conventional knowledge is that cats should always be adopted in pairs with the idea being that they’ll keep each other company instead of wrecking your house. In actuality this method allows them to combine their efforts and wreck your house in half the time.
Two is definitely easier than one. They sneak up and pounce on each other, instead of you. They don’t get bored and lonely while you’re at work and start destroying things because there’s no one to play with them. And twice the kittens equals twice the cute, and that’s always a good thing.
I agree with this 100%. And, if you’re gonna have two, may as well get three.
There’s no reason not to have at least as many kittens as you have Jeeps.
Yes, indeed! The overhead is basically the same: you’re going to have food, dishes, litter, toys, etc. anyway so the more the merrier. 🙂
Who knew Tracy would end up being the “Crazy cat person” at the Autopian? Will he teach said felines how to wrench on Jeeps? Stay tuned to find out…
Well we all pretty much knew the crazy part going in.
If you read closely (or listen to the podcast), you’ll note that David’s “friend” was at his place both the night Mango was brought home and the next morning.
So David may the Autopian’s crazy cat person, but perhaps not its lonely cat person.