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Kittens!

Kitten Fostering and Rehoming​

Trapping Kittens

If you find a litter of kittens and they are 6 to 8 weeks old, they are old enough to separate from their mother and surrender to a shelter. If you need help determining a rough age for kittens check out this image and link from Alley Cat Alleys.

Kitten Age Progression

  1. Generally the cats will be wandering around a bit during the day while their mom hunts.

    • You may be able to just pick up the kittens if they're friendly enough, but often with outside cats you'll need to trap them.
    • If you have multiple traps you can often trap an entire litter in one evening if you pick up the trapped kittens and move them somewhere safe.
    • You'll often have the best luck trapping closest to the den they stay in during the day. Move the filled traps away, if you have multiple, and replace it with an empty one.
    • Often, once you have success trapping a mom will move them away for a little while and bring them back in a few days or even weeks. It can take persistence to catching an entire litter.

  2. Upon capture, know that the cats are a transmission vector for both disease and parasites.

    • Keep them separate from your other animals during this initial period.
    • If you can, you would do well to give each a kitten size dose of a wormer and flea/tick medication. Revolution will solve both issues.
    • If you can't get that, each kitten should at least get a bath in warm water and dish soap, and then a brush with a flea comb.
      • Give this bath in a bathroom with a closed door. They will likely want to escape given the chance.
    • Keep them in traps, cat carriers, a cage, or a large cardboard box and make sure to provide them food and water.

  3. Once you capture them all you or someone you know needs to foster them.

    • The kittens may not trust humans immediately, so set them up in an isolated room in your house.
    • If you're interested in doing this often, for a shelter, you can get a multi-level cage to keep them in when you aren't actively socializing with them, cleaning, or feeding them.
    • Kittens, when fostered, quickly become fun to be around but the transition isn't instant. If you keep at it, the kittens will grow to enjoy humans.
    • Play with them as much as possible, feed them regularly, and keep them clean and healthy.
    • If there seems to be an issue, get them to a vet.

  4. Begin working with a shelter to surrender them or foster them for adoption. This step can be done at any time, really, but priority here is on trapping because socializing the kittens with humans as early as possible is key.

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