Discussions

About 4 weeks ago after a big storm we found a female cat at our door. Checked her ears and no tattoo so I am assuming she's a stray, she was in horrible condition. As such we started feeding her.  
Over the course of the next few days she started bringing her kittens to our yard. We now have the mother and 4 kittens taking up temporary residency at our home. The cats are living outside as I am not a cat person...  
I am going to guess that the kittens are 6 weeks old or so, they are eating solids, using litter box (sometimes)and still occasionally feeding on momma's teets...  
So here's the question, what should I be doing with these cats? I really don't want to adopt them as I am a responsible pet owner, and as such would have the cats fixed and there is a cost associated with that.  
DO I take these to the local pound? I guess I could try to find new families for them but as the cats are outdoors we are only able to socialize with a couple of them so I am doubting that there are people looking for "wild" cats..  
Hate to just turn my back on them as that doesn't resolve anything, and will just result in more strays running the neighborhood.  
Just looking for some suggestions. Any assistance will be appreciated.

What about re locating to a farm as mousers?  
 
In reality. If you stop feeding them, they will move on to better opertunities

The pound euthanizes cats - so try Humane society Funds for Furry Friends, Strays that can't pay  
 
All are good people and will initiate socializing and rehoming the cats

Contact the Brandon Area Lost Animals. They may be looking for that cat and her kittens because not every family pet has a tattoo. Search facebook or try this link:  
 
https://www.facebook.com/manitobabala/  
 
They will help you find homes for the animals, either by fostering or through their Fund For Furry Friends program.  
 
Thanks for looking after them.

I applaud you for looking after this poor mom cat and her kittens. Seems like a sad situation - I think there are quite a few homeless/stray cats in Brandon because not everyone spays/neuters their pets.

Prizzy said "I applaud you for looking after this poor mom cat and her kittens. Seems like a sad situation - I think there are quite a few homeless/stray cats in Brandon because not everyone spays/neuters their pets. "

Another contributing factor is that there is a bylaw limiting the number of cats per house to only two. Mine are spayed and neutered and well looked after, but I am not allowed to have any more than two. I can have two dogs as well but not four cats.

We just went through almost the same thing ourselves over the past three weeks. I followed a cat across our acreage and as she got to a pile of old lumber, a kitten came out to greet her. It turned out there were three kittens. We started putting some food out there for them, but something happened to the mother and after about 4 days she totally disappeared. Although the kittens may have survived with us simply feeding them, we knew that without homes, they were not likely to survive the winter. So we trapped them and brought them in to our home.  
 
They were not keen on our plan initially, but within a day were purring and now a week later have run of the house. They get along fine with our dog, but at the end of the day we are not keeping 3 cats. My wife, despite my objections, fell in love with one of them, but we still have a black male and a grey female to give away. We ran them through the vet's, they are fine and have their first shots. Someone somewhere must want one or two of them.  
 
If you google "feral cats" there is one website in particular that talks about trapping and taming them. The longer you wait the more work it will be, but at the same time if all is well with the mother then perhaps it is best to leave it for now. As others have said, you could just leave them alone, but you are sentencing them to a long cold winter and almost certain death.

katwalk1909 said "    Prizzy said "I applaud you for looking after this poor mom cat and her kittens. Seems like a sad situation - I think there are quite a few homeless/stray cats in Brandon because not everyone spays/neuters their pets. " Another contributing factor is that there is a bylaw limiting the number of cats per house to only two. Mine are spayed and neutered and well looked after, but I am not allowed to have any more than two. I can have two dogs as well but not four cats. "

our neighbors have four cats, which is fine according to the by-law, as they moved here from another town. You cannot have more than two if you live her and get kittens. You can have more than two if you come from somewhere else with them. I have looked at the by-law as all four of the neighbors cats are in my yard half the time.  
 
To the OP, I see on the classified's a couple of people wanting kittens.

katwalk1909 said "    Prizzy said "I applaud you for looking after this poor mom cat and her kittens. Seems like a sad situation - I think there are quite a few homeless/stray cats in Brandon because not everyone spays/neuters their pets. " Another contributing factor is that there is a bylaw limiting the number of cats per house to only two. Mine are spayed and neutered and well looked after, but I am not allowed to have any more than two. I can have two dogs as well but not four cats. "

It's not like the city goes door to door checking how many cats you own. I've known plenty of people with more than two. As long as they're indoor cats and well cared for I fail to see the issue.