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Back a few months ago, I captured a little stray kitten along the road. When I first saw her, I also saw her mom, a small black cat, and another little kitten, black, running up the road. By the time I caught the first little one, the other two were gone. I brought that one home to keep her, but continued to watch for the mom and the other kitten.

And then came a note on my door. The neighbor who told me that the mom was wild left word that there was not just the mom and a black kitten, but there were four(!!) kittens that were wild and living under their deck. As they were getting ready to move away, did I want to come and rescue the kittens? Umm..... Duhh.... Of course!! It's not that I *need* more kittens, or *wanted* more kittens (ok, strike that... I always want more kittens), but that there were four kittens and a mother out in the wild is completely unacceptable. Must rescue. Must make safe.

So I went up there immediately and took my cages and a live trap that we've used on raccoons and foxes. I set the trap with some food and waited. Didn't have to wait too long. Soon, the four kittens came up. I reached out and grabbed the little black one that I had seen before. He gouged me pretty good, so even though I caught him and he was now in a cage inside, I decided to let the live trap do the scary work.

At dusk, the remaining three came up for some of the stinky food I put in the trap. All three headed into it at once and SNAP!! One backed out just in time, but I'd caught the other two. The final one was caught the following morning. Never did see the mother, but all the kittens are now safe, fed, and growing up loved and together. And wow, are they beautiful!!

When I brought them home, they were held in the bathroom for a few days to see how wild and healthy or not they were. They decided the toilet was best to hide behind.

After a bit, just later the same day, they were all comfortable enough to stay together on the towel when I came in. They adapted to us so quickly! 

 After a few days, they were able to explore the bedroom and living room a little. Since they still wanted to hide, I kept them only in the living room during the day so they could get accustomed to our sounds and us. They chose to stay in the bottom of the kitty castle scratching post. The original kitten, Winky, used these days to re-acquaint herself with them. She was afraid at first, but quickly learned or remembered them.

Within a week, the formerly wild feral kittens were all back together and snuggling with me on the couch. You wouldn't know they were feral at all. They are so sweet, smart and strikingly beautiful! Along with the original, Winky, we named them Blinky, Zot, Carbon and Silicon. There are four little girls and one boy (Carbon). 

  Tags: bengal, cats, feral, home, kittens, love, stray, wild
  Short URL for this post: //spherical.org/s/40

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