Cat Colony status

Despite my attempt to avoid more ferals in the area, three litters were born in the summer of 2018. Bozzy, Sally and Miko all got pregnant before I managed to TNR (trap-neuter-return) them. This is the story about the first big kitten that got TNR'ed.

Bozzy's Babies

I call one of the litters "Bozzy's Babies". It consists of three kittens; one tuxedo cat with a tiny white moustache and two almost identical black/white ones. One has a spot on its chin and on the back of it legs, but in certain angles they look exactly alike. One of these black and white twins were first to investigate the trap. Here she is.

 

Maggie

A curious girl

It wasn't surprising that the first kitty to investigate the trap was also the first one to get caught once I activated it. She didn't seem as nervous as most of the cats I have had in the trap. As long as I kept still she would sit and look at me, rather than hide behind the blanket. She even gave me a slow blink at one point. She was however very busy trying to get out. She had pulled the blanket half way into the trap and made big holes in the it.

Caught in time

The vet told me that Maggie was a healthy girl born somewhere around May. It wouldn't have been long before Maggie was mature enough to make little babies herself. Most female cats can get pregnant when they reach the age of 6-10 months, but some can become pregnant already at the age of 4 months! She looks just like a kitten herself, so it's crazy to think she could have kittens. But I often see it at the shelter I volunteer at, where young cats come in with babies. Young cats are not always the best mothers and might not know how to take care of their kittens. But that wont happen to Maggie who has been neutered, vaccinated and ear tattooed (you can read about ear tattoos in our FAQ).

In Denmark we usually desex cats at the age of 5 months. But it's a different story with feral cats as they might go into heat before that and you can't keep them from each other.

Returned to the wild

Once let loose, Maggie ran directly back to her family. Here's a video of Maggie in the trap and being returned.

Maggie is now a feral farmcat who can live a life in peace with the rest of her big family. I call Maggie and her siblings Bozzy'z babies as I saw them with Bozzy a lot in the beginning. You can also see Maggie rub up against Bozzy in the first video in this post. However I have since discovered that Bozzy seems to hang around all the different colored litters. So apparently she is a great nanny to all the young ones and I can't be to sure that the black and white litter is actually hers. But what I thought was a male cat turned out to be a wonderful mother.

The walking kitty

Maggie is named after a character from the TV show "The Walking Dead", who is a resourceful young lady and a true survivor. I hope my Maggie is a survivor too.

 

Mila

Mila is Maggies sister and she is the most feisty cat I ever had in the trap. She was hissing at me and put great effort into escaping. The vet agreed that Mila is the most aggressive cat she ever got from me, but we knew it was just because she was scared. Poor kiddo. After her operation she calmed down a lot and was soon released again.
I named her after Mila Jovovich who often plays fierce women who puts up a fight. Kitty Mila certainly doesn't take crap from anyone!

Mila was also kitten no. 5 to be TNR'ed this fall so she is the fifth element. She was one of the youngsters who visited the feeding station most often and she still is after her little adventur to the vet.

 

Maito

Maito was the last of Bozzy's babies to let herself get trapped. Maito is Finnish for "milk" and I gave her this name because she has a tiny milk moustache. I think she went to town in the milk bar as a baby and it stuck. Maito is a currious little girl and she loves catnip! Check her out.

 

Her vet visit went well and here you can see her get returned.

All three ladies still come around the feeding station every day and are doing well.