The tiniest kittens that I rescue take the biggest effort to save.

Most times, I trap mama and gather up her kittens.  Mama is then kept with the kittens until they are weaned.

Depending on how I trap the feral mamas, if I had no idea they had kittens and are lactating, they go in and get spayed and then I look for the kittens.  Or, it might be an emergency type situation that we need to get the babies scooped up before mama moves them.  So I trap mama and she stays with the kittens until they are weaned and then will go in and get spayed, ear tipped and returned to their original site.

However, sometimes, mama never came back to the litter.  She could have been killed by a coyote, hit by a car or many other horrors from living on the streets.

The kittens usually stay in their nest, waiting for mama to return.  But after a few days, if she hasn’t returned, they start crying because they’re so hungry.  That’s when people call because they’ve heard the kittens crying, they find the kittens and there has been no mama sightings.

Sometimes because of medical issues, nature says leave the unhealthy kitten(s) and save the rest.  That’s when people call that they’ve found a lone kitten.  Or maybe mama dropped the kitten in the process of moving them to a safer location.

But orphaned kittens who are too young to eat on their own, face the biggest obstacles to survive due to the intense care they need. 

They are often found when they are just days old, before they are able to eat on their own or have developed an immune system.

These delicate kittens need round the clock feedings to survive and they need to be stimulated to go potty since their mama usually does all of that.

Although bottle feeding isn’t hard to do, it does take dedication, constant hands on and sleep deprivation. 

Every now and then, I have a mama who isn’t too wild and crazy, maybe it’s not a safe place to return mama to or I want to take a chance on her.  She sometimes has already been ear tipped, ready to be returned and my gut says to give her a chance.  I haven’t regretted any of the mamas I have kept!   If they have an ear tip, they wear it as a badge of honor that they made it through the feral program!  But these mamas who were once living on the streets and raising their kittens are now adopted and in fabulous, loving homes!