Stray Cats

1. Contact local rescue organizations to see if a foster home can be found. Unfortunately, during the spring and summer months most rescues and fosters are completely full and must turn away kittens due to lack of resources. If you are able to foster or make a donation to a rescue, mention this when you contact the rescue. 

2. If no foster home can be found, consider taking the family to a local municipal shelter. Most shelters will try to transfer mothers with nursing kittens to a rescue.

3. If no shelter or rescue is available and you cannot foster the mother and kittens, consider feeding the mother and interacting with the kittens to socialize them while they continue living outside. Mother and kittens can be neutered and adopted out once they are of age.

1. The ideal scenario is to humanely trap the mother and find a foster home or rescue to take the mother and kittens so the kittens can be socialized. Once the kittens are weaned, the mother can be spayed and returned to her outdoor home and the kittens adopted to indoor homes.

2. If no shelter or rescue is available and you cannot foster the mother and kittens, consider feeding the mother and interacting with the kittens to socialize them while they continue living outside. Once the kittens are weaned and eating on their own, they can be adopted out. The mother must be spayed, after which she can be returned to her outdoor home. Consider contacting a feral cat group for assistance with spay/neuter.

3. Feral cats that have been altered might have their left ear tipped.  Any feral cat that does not have an ear tip should be trapped and scheduled at a clinic or veterinarian to be altered.

1. Leave the kittens where they are if they appear safe.
2. Check back periodically from a distance.
3. Only remove them if the mother has not returned after 3+ hours or the kittens are sick, injured, or in danger.
4. Clean, sleepy kittens likely have a mother who is taking care of them. Dirty, crying kittens MAY have been abandoned and need rescue.
5. If the mother does not return, you must decide whether you are willing to bottle-feed the kittens if they are under four weeks. Neonatal kittens require a lot of care and few rescues and shelters have the resources to give this care.
6. Consider whether or not the kittens are friendly or feral (unsocialized to people). If the kittens are feral, contact rescues that handle feral cats.

1. Make sure the cat or kittens do not belong to anyone before you try to re-home them.
2. If you are sure the kittens do not have an owner, check local rescue organizations to see if a foster home can be found. Unfortunately, during the spring and summer months, most rescues and fosters are completely full and must turn away kittens due to lack of resources. If you are able to foster or make a donation to a rescue, mention this when you contact the rescue, which will increase chances of a successful rehoming.
3. If no foster home can be found, consider taking the kittens to a local municipal shelter. If the kittens are healthy, shelters are usually able to find homes for them or transfer them to a rescue.

1. If the kittens are between five and eight weeks, it is possible to socialize them and adopt them out.
2. It becomes very difficult to socialize feral kittens after eight weeks. Once a kitten reaches this age, the best option is to humanely trap the kitten, spay or neuter, and return them to their outdoor home. See contact information for feral cat groups.

• Mother cats often leave kittens temporarily to find food. They usually return within 3 hours.
• Sometimes the mother cat is moving their kittens and you might happen upon a kitten in that process.
• Newborn kittens have the best chance of survival with their mother.
• Kittens under 4 weeks old require around-the-clock bottle feeding and intensive care. Most shelters and rescues do not have the resources for newborn kittens.

If you cannot stay with the kittens to watch for the mother, scatter a ring of flour around the kittens. If the mother returns, you will see her paw prints in the flour.

• Contact your local animal control office to report the found pet and leave a detailed description. You are required to do this within 48 hours by VA code. Pet owners will often report a missing pet to a municipal animal control office and the pet can be reunited.
• All Virginia localities have a waiting period that must be met in order to find the owners pet.  VA stray hold period is a minimum of 5 days if the animal has no ID. If the animal has an ID such as a collar, the stray hold period is usually a minimum of 10 days.
• Have the feline checked for a microchip with a local veterinarian or Animal Shelter.  This is free and taps into a national microchip database.

• Check with neighbors and place flyers around your neighborhood.
• Post information on your neighborhood website/blog/Facebook Group
• Check lost and found pet websites such as Petco Lost Love , pawboost.com, craigslist.com, https://www.facebook.com/Va.Lost.Found.Cats, petamberalert.com, and https://www.rva.gov/animal-care-control/lost-found-animals, Lost and Found Pets in Chesterfield  and RVA
• Your veterinarian or local animal control office can scan the cat for a microchip.  If the pet needs emergency veterinary attention, please take him to the nearest veterinary clinic or after hours to an 24 hour emergency veterinarian.
• If you are unable to locate the pet’s owner and are considering keeping the pet, you can do so after reporting the pet to Animal Control and holding him for a requisite stray period to give the owner an opportunity to claim him. Stray periods are usually around 10 days, but vary by locality. If you are unable to keep the pet, you may also contact your local animal control office or a pet rescue organization. Always ask about any organization’s euthanasia policies.