Feral mother cat in mourning for her kittens - how long will it last? I manage a feral cat colony in my backyard. Last year I caught and fixed three kittens and a not-related to them female cat. I could not catch their mother. Fast forward to this year; everyone is happy and hanging out mostly in my backyard and then a few days ago MomCat shows up with a new litter of 5 kittens. I make plans with Fix Nation to borrow traps and bring them in for neutering in a few weeks.
A couple of days ago the kittens start eating solid food and are looking good. Yesterday morning I went out to feed everyone and found two of them dead. It was horrible. The other three are missing, although I found no evidence that they were killed. I haven't seen raccoons around here in several years, but I don't know what else would have done that kind of damage. In the past when we've had raccoons, they've helped themselves to the cat food and there has been none of that. I suppose it might have been an intact male cat - but my gut tells me otherwise.
All the older cats are looking very skittish and staying away more than normal. The MomCat has just this afternoon started calling and calling and calling. I'm wondering how long I can expect her to be looking for them/calling. I know I shouldn't assign human emotions to her, but it's breaking my heart.
A couple of days ago the kittens start eating solid food and are looking good. Yesterday morning I went out to feed everyone and found two of them dead. It was horrible. The other three are missing, although I found no evidence that they were killed. I haven't seen raccoons around here in several years, but I don't know what else would have done that kind of damage. In the past when we've had raccoons, they've helped themselves to the cat food and there has been none of that. I suppose it might have been an intact male cat - but my gut tells me otherwise.
All the older cats are looking very skittish and staying away more than normal. The MomCat has just this afternoon started calling and calling and calling. I'm wondering how long I can expect her to be looking for them/calling. I know I shouldn't assign human emotions to her, but it's breaking my heart.