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cage and close the cage door. Observe how she reacts. If she appears calm, open theden’s side door with a broomstick handle. Again, closely observe her behavior. If shegrowls at the kittens or appears at all aggressive, shut the side door of the den and reevaluate,perhaps trying again a little later.You can do the same kind of assessment in a trap. Transfer mom into a trap, thensection her off on one end with trap dividers. Introduce the kittens through the oppositeend. They will naturally move toward their mother. Observe her reactions. If all appearscalm, remove the divider and see how mom interacts with her kittens. If there’s any signof trouble, insert the divider again and separate her from the kittens.• Trapping the familyIf you decide to trap the wholefamily, it’s best to catch the kittensbefore the mother. That way, ifyou miss any, they won’t be leftalone without their mom. If you doget the mother before the entirelitter, then keep trapping until youhave them all, only taking a longbreak if absolutely necessary.Assuming you do get all thekittens first, if you’re then havingtrouble catching the mom, you cantry using the kittens as bait. Put thekittens in a small carrier, then placethe carrier behind a trap, its frontphoto: Meredith Weissdoor right up against the trap’s reardoor. Drape a sheet over the carrier and both sides of the trap, leaving only the front ofthe trap uncovered. Set the trap. To reach her kittens, mom will have to enter the trapand walk towards the back, hopefully tripping the trap on the way. When using thistechnique, never leave the little ones unattended and don’t use this method for more thanan hour at a time to avoid fatiguing the kittens.4. Pregnant catsGestation for a cat averages 63 days. During the early part of a pregnancy, there is noway to tell visually that a cat is carrying kittens. Towards the later stages, the female’sbelly is usually noticeably round and protruding below her. In the last one to two weeksof pregnancy, the nipples become distended and lactating actually begins shortly beforebirth.If a cat is known to be pregnant, there are three options: (1) trap and spay her andabort the pregnancy, (2) trap her and let her give birth in a cage or other confined spacewhere she can then raise the kittens or (3) don’t trap her and allow her to give birthoutdoors, trapping her and any surviving kittens at a future date.87