For the past two and a half months, we've been visited by two different cats. The first cat, who we call Sweetie, is a black & white tuxedo girl with white "socks" on her back legs and white "mittens" on her front paws. She'd been coming around and my daughter & I had been feeding her. About amonth ago, she stopped coming by. I was getting worried because the last time I had seen her, she looked pregnant. Well the other day, my daughter saw her and my suspiscions were confirmed. Sweetie has a kitten. He's about 4-5 weeks old and Lauren & I have named him Oreo. He is black & white like his mama, but he doesn't have the tuxie pattern like his mama. Sweetie & Oreo *may* have an owner, but I'm not quite sure.
The second cat that's been coming around is a medium haired brown tabby with the cutest ear tufts you've ever seen. We call her Brownie and we think she may be pregnant, too. The problem is that she's probably feral. She won't let us get any closer than 3 feet.
My husband is having a royal cow because I've been feeding Sweetie & Brownie. He's threatened to lock up the wet food if I don't stop feeding Brownie. He even chased her away last night!
I'm really worried about Sweetie & Oreo, but right now I'm more concerned with Brownie. When I saw her this morning, she was walking funny and I also noticed a semi-bloody, slightly goopy looking wound just under her left eye.
I really want to help, but I don't know what to do.
BTW, Crystal...I'll be sending you a PM.
I USED to trap feral cats for an organization that would then take the cats, spade / neuter them, give them all their shots and then re-release them back into the wild. I felt sorry for the cats because they were out in the elements come hell or high water but they were so wild there was nothing you could do for them. Your situation is similar HOWEVER you are doing the cats NO GOOD by FEEDING THEM and giving them a FALSE SENSE of a steady FOOD SUPPLY! When cats find a steady food source THEY BREED and while your intentions may be good the results is MORE CATS that then DEPEND ON YOU for their meal ticket.
While this may sound harsh, the BEST THING you can do IS STOP FEEDING THEM!! If you don't you'll end up with HUNDREDS OF CATS!! Look online for a pet rescue shelter or organization in your area that will trap the cats and spade / neuter them and then re-release them back into the wild. In doing this you won't be bringing anymore mouths to feed into the world.
If you tell me what area you are in I might be able to find you a place to help you out.
Clint
Renee, I think your best bet would be to find an organization that will do TNR (trap/neuter/release) and ask them to help, like Clint said. Especially considering your husband's position on this. :(
An update...of sorts:
My daughter has discovered that Sweetie actually has a total of 4 kittens: Oreo (black & white boy), two tortie/calico girls that we've named Rocky & Bullwinkle (Winkie for short), & a black & white tuxie who looks like his/her daddy, Butch. They're so adorable! I've only been able to get pictures of Oreo, tho. The others have been in hiding when I've come around.
We're still not sure if Sweetie has an owner, but considering how thin she I highly doubt it.
Brownie is still coming by, but I don't think she'll coming much longer as it looks like she's about give birth any day.
Most importantly, I've continued to feed Sweetie & Brownie. I've been giving them dry food instead of the wet stuff which seems to be okay with my hubby.