It could be worse, but it's bad enough as it is

We honestly don't know what we were thinking, or perhaps fantasizing is a better term. The idea that we could catch 4 nearly-feral kittens at all is, in retrospect, utterly unrealistic. And to bring kids into the mix . . .

I mentioned Wraith in a previous post. Sometime after I was in the boot, she brought her four kittens over to live in our driveway. Mike and I had no idea what to do about the situation. We could not let them starve, but we also could not let them live in our suburban driveway. At the same time, I could not drive. I contacted every animal rescue organization in Baton Rouge and got the same answer -- they are all volunteer organizations who would lend us humane traps, but we would have to come and get the traps. That, of course, was not possible, as I could not drive.

Our options were Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) or try to socialize the kittens as indoor cats and use their venues to try to find homes for them or take them to the animal shelter to be euthanized, or simply stop feeding them and wait for them to go away.

TNR is not an option. We cannot have a cat colony living in our suburban front yard, neutered or not. They were already using the flowerbed mulch as a litter box, and the food had attracted at least one other adult cat. The kittens had taken up residence in the undercarriage of our RAV4 and our neighbor's SUV that is parked in our driveway, so we were also extremely concerned about them being killed or injured when the vehicles were started up and driven. We could not just let them starve, especially as the mother was sitting on the doorstep every morning waiting to be fed.

So, we decided on the animal shelter as at least more humane than starving them or leaving them prey to the dogs and feral toms that roam this neighborhood, but after two days, realized that we would not be able to live with ourselves if we didn't at least try to socialize them, especially as we would have to catch them anyway, using supplied traps. The betrayal felt too great. Wraith was responding well to Mike, and a couple of the kittens seemed to be slowly losing their fear of him.

Again, the animal rescue organizations were not terribly encouraging; they could even be said to be discouraging. I suppose that they want to make sure that people understand what they are getting themselves into. They emphasized the difficulties in trapping the kittens and in socializing them. They really lean toward TNR. However, not only can we not have a feral cat colony living and growing in our front yard, TNR was devised for established feral colonies with established territories. It's not effective with just a single mother and her few kittens, all of whom are accustomed to being fed by humans.

And then the neighbors started asking what we were going to do about "those cats." That put a lot of pressure on us, and may be one of the reasons that we came up with our idiotic plan. We felt that we needed to act quickly; also, the kittens were just getting older and harder to socialize. We ordered a cat playpen, set it up in the tiled entry way by the front door, and asked friends to bring their three sons over to help us catch the kittens. Another friend donated additional animal carriers. Before they arrived, Mike was able to pick the mother up and put her in a carrier. His plan was to put the kittens in with their mother as we caught them.

I can't even go into everything that went wrong, partly because I don't know. It was utter pandemonium. The kittens moved like lightning. We were fools to think that they could be caught. Two of them ran into the neighbors' yard, while the dogs, two Golden labs, were out. They ran behind some tables that were stacked against the house, so Mike was able to get the black one, but the marmalade ran out and was attacked by the older of the two dogs. I'm not sure how I was able to finally pull it off, but I was able to rescue the kitten. It has a broken leg, which we'll have to deal with soon.

Our neighbor, the one who suggested poisoning them, just sat and watched as we tried to deal with his dogs. Even when we finally got him to get up and do something, he wouldn't take the dogs into the house.

Putting the kittens in with the mother was simply not possible. We ended up putting each one in a separate carrier, as the black kitten attacked the carrier door as soon as Mike approached.

The other two have disappeared. One might be hiding somewhere in our backyard. I saw it run in there, but have not been able to find it. There are a lot of hiding places. According to the boys, the other ran down the street through the front yards. We're going to get humane traps tomorrow and hope that they come back here. That is what we should have done in the first place. Please, if anyone ever says they are going to try to catch cats or kittens, tell them to use humane traps. It may take longer, but no one will be hurt or killed.

Speaking of hurt, Mike was bitten very badly on his right index finger by a terrified kitten. I was scratched just a little, as the kitten I had was utterly traumatized. We got them into the playpen with their mother by more or less tipping them into the cage, then left for Urgent Care. We both were given tetanus boosters and Mike's finger was cleaned and dressed, as was my scratch. I also asked them to give Mike a tranquilizer of some sort, as he was so terribly agitated. They gave him a single Valium, which did calm him. He also has a prescription for an antibiotic.

Neither one of us slept much last night, although Mike is sleeping now. The cats are quiet, for the most part. The marmalade cries occasionally, I think when she moves. The mother growls at me now when I come near, but the kittens just stare. I don't know whether the black kitten has moved at all. The canned food we gave them last night has gone, and some of the dry food was eaten. The mother has been lapping at the milk. They are all sleeping now. 

Miller and Bud are a little confused, but not particularly agitated. They still have their own spaces and I've put a large box against the side of the cage so that the cats are out of their line of sight -- and vice versa. Obviously they can smell and hear each other, but no one is challenging anyone. 

One reason I'm writing this is so that I can look back in a month or six weeks and remember what these first days were like and how hopeless we both feel.