Railway Mum & Kittens Rescue
We are contacted a great deal to help with stray cats and kittens and we realise we should tell you more of what we do. So here is our most recent rescue.
Just the other day, we were contacted by a nice young couple who had seen a stray mother cat and kittens on waste ground near the railway line and also in the bin store of their flats. The kittens were very mobile and one of them had got stuck in the metal fence. The husband rescued it with the aid of a crow bar and they got in touch with us.
With the help of the couple we set up a regular feeding pattern so the mother would know what time to bring her family for food. On our second visit we were able to take 3 kittens. Mum cat was there that morning, but not the final kitten, and we would never leave it alone to fend for itself, so we left Mum with it. The next morning we were able to take Mum and the 4th kitten when they came for breakfast.
The kittens are about 9 weeks old and we have a fair bit of socialising to do with them before they will be ready for homing. If you know of a pregnant stray cat, then we would much rather help while she is heavily pregnant than after she has given birth and hidden her kittens somewhere. Once born we really need to take them into care before they are 4 or 5 weeks old, because in order to become pets, feral kittens need to be socialised. After 8 weeks of age they take more time and effort to be comfortable around people.
Not many people realise we have such a short window to rescue them in and they leave it sometimes until the kittens are a few months old – which in many cases is too late to socialise them properly sadly. These little ones were lucky and they will be up for homing in due course.