TNR Handbook - Neighborhood Cats

The Neighborhood Cats TNR Handbook
If the fact that the cat is nursing is not discovered until after the spay/neuter is
performed, then release her 24 hours after the surgery, assuming she appears alert and
well. Spayed females can still nurse.
Litters of known age, but unknown location
A caretaker may have observed one of her cats was pregnant and noted the
approximate time of birth, but not know the location of the litter. Knowing the age of the
kittens takes the guesswork out of deciding what to do. Ideally, the trapping of the
mother is delayed until the kittens are old enough to start coming around the feeding
station themselves and can also be caught. It might not possible, however, to either delay
the whole project for that long or keep the mother out of a trap if the project proceeds. If
the trapping of the colony cannot wait, at least try to delay it until the kittens are three
weeks old to enhance their chances of survival for a day without their mother’s milk. In
addition, make arrangements ahead of time for the mother to be spayed right away if you
do end up trapping her.
If you know the kittens are less than two weeks old and the mother is trapped despite
your efforts, you should release her right away. It’s one thing if you really don’t know
whether kittens may die if you hold onto a nursing mother, but another when you know
it’s likely. The compassionate choice, in our view, is to let the kittens live and try to
catch the family at another time. The sooner you let the mom out of the trap, the less
traumatic the experience for her and the better your chance of trapping her again later.
Litters of known age and known location
Knowing both the kittens’ age and location gives you more options. The first thing
you need to decide is whether you’re going to try to socialize and adopt out the kittens.
Taking friendly cats and young kittens off the streets and placing them in good homes is
always preferable, but resources do not always allow. Determine if foster resources are
available before you trap, so you’ll know what to do when the time comes.
(a) No foster resources available
If there is no one to foster the kittens, then try to wait to trap them and their mother
until the kittens are old enough to be neutered. The general rule of thumb for early age
spay/neuter is 2 months or 2 lbs., though this early of an age does require a veterinarian
with experience in these types of surgeries. Waiting until 10 to 12 weeks of age will
make for less difficult of a procedure. Once the kittens have been altered, they can be
released along with their mother or the rest of the colony.
If you end up trapping the mother before the kittens are old enough to get fixed, then
you need to care for the kittens in the mother’s absence. If they have not been weaned
(usually less than five weeks old), they will need to be brought inside, kept in a warm
place, bottlefed and possibly stimulated to pass urine and feces (by gently rubbing their
genital areas). If the kittens are weaned and eating on their own, you’ll need to feed them
and try to keep them in as safe a location as possible, preferably somewhere they can’t go
wandering off on their own.
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