Feral cats dont leave their kittens, they just dont have the energy to care for them. Its not that they dont care, its that they have no motivation to do so. They dont want to have to deal with the responsibility of caring for a litter of kittens, so they just leave them alone. If you were to catch a feral cat and put it in a foster home, it would be very unlikely that it would leave her kittens, but its not impossible.
Will a feral cat abandon her kittens if you touch them?
Feral cats will not abandon their kittens if you touch them. Feral cats are not domesticated cats.
They do not allow themselves to be handled or touched by humans, and back away or run when they are able to do so. If you were to touch a feral cat, it would not abandon her kittens, but it would be very unlikely that she would be able to care for them.
Cats are social animals, and if they are not social, they will not care for their kittens.
When do feral cats abandon their kittens?
- Feral cats dont ‘abandon’ their kittens, they just dont have the energy to care for them
- Its not that they dont care, its that they simply dont want to deal with the responsibility of caring for a litter of kittens
- So they just leave them to fend for themselves
- If youre interested in learning more about feral cats, I highly recommend the book ‘Feral Cats: The Rise and Fall of a Wild Animal Kingdom’
- Its a fascinating read
Do feral mother cats move their kittens? Feral mother cats do not move their kittens.
They tend to stay in the same place for the first few weeks of their life, and then move to a new place when they are old enough to fend for themselves. Its not uncommon for a mother cat to leave her kittens alone for a week or two, then come back and pick them up and bring them back to the same spot where they were when they were born.
If the mother cat doesnt come back to pick up her kittens, then the kittens will be left alone for the rest of their lives.
Do feral cats remember their kittens
Feral cats dont remember their kittens, but they do remember their parents.
Its called ‘socialization’ and its the process by which feral cats are socialized. It takes a lot of time and effort to socialize a feral cat, but once its socialized, its pretty much the same as any other cat.
If youre interested in learning more about socialization, I highly recommend reading up on it.
How do feral cats care for their kittens?
- Feral cats dont care for their kittens as much as they care for themselves
- They dont have a lot of food, so they have to rely on scavengers for food
- They also dont get as much exercise as a domesticated cat, which means they dont spend as much time grooming themselves as a domestic cat does
- Theyre also less likely to have a litter of kittens when theyre older, because theyre more likely to die of old age before theyre old enough to have kittens
Will a mother cat abandon her kittens if you touch them
It depends on what you mean by abandon.
A mother cat will not abandon her kittens if you touch them. This is instinctive to kittens and adults, and is presumably derived from the action used to stimulate milk let-down from the mother during nursing.
If you touch the kitten, the kitten will not let go of the mother, and the mother will continue to feed the kitten until the kitten is ready to leave the mother.
Where do feral cats hide their kittens outside
- Feral cats dont hide their kittens outside
- They hide them in the fur of their mothers, or in their fur of other cats
- They dont leave their kittens in the wild, they leave them in a cat colony
- Feral cats tend to be solitary, so they dont have a lot of room for hiding their kittens
- They also tend to hide in places where they cant get away from people, such as barns, sheds, outbuildings, and other places where there isnt much room for them to hide
Can you touch a feral cats kittens
Yes, you can touch a feral cats kittens.
However, its not a good idea to do so. Cats are social animals, and they dont like to be touched.
They will hiss, growl, bare their teeth, or strike out if you touch them. They dont want you to touch them because they know youre going to hurt them.
If you do touch them, they wont let you pet them, and will run away if you try to pet them. The best way to get a kitten to socialize is to hold it in your hands for a long time, and then slowly let it go.
Is it bad to touch feral kittens
Its not bad to touch feral kittens, but its not a good idea to touch a feral cat. Feral cats tend to be aggressive and aggressive towards humans, so its best not to touch them.
Its also important to keep in mind that most feral cats are feral because they dont want to be domesticated. They want to live in the wild.
If you touch them, they will hiss, growl, bare their teeth, or strike out. They dont like you touching them, so you should avoid touching them.
A mother cat can abandon her litter of kittens if the litter is oversized
It depends on the size of the litter. If the litter is too large, the mother cat will not be able to care for it.
If it is too small, she will try to feed it, but it will be too heavy for her to carry and she will abandon it. This is why it is so important to spay and neuter a cat.
If a cat has too many kittens, she cant carry them all, so she will have to give them up. If she has too few kittens, then she will give them all up.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_cat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap%E2%80%93neuter%E2%80%93return
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_communication