Community Chat

[daisy4]

I have two indoor cats. They never go outside so I don't really know about outside cats. I live in the northeast and we had a really terrible winter. I would throw bread out my window for the birds and squirrels. One day I noticed a little cat eating the bread so I started giving her some cat food every day. She would not let me anywhere near her, but she came everyday for food. One day I noticed she had gotten fat, but didn't really think anything about it. She would still leave everyday after I put food out for her. Then one day she was skinny, but still coming for food and then leaving. Yesterday I looked outside and she was sitting under my pine tree ( which she had never done before) with three little kittens jumping all over her. They looked to be at least a couple of months old but this was the first time I saw them. At first I thought it was adorable, but then the worry started. If I keep feeding them ( which I am) they will live in my backyard. I worry that the mother cat (who probably isn't even a year old herself) will keep having kittens, and her kittens will have kittens. I thought about taking the kittens to the animal shelter, but that raises two problems. One I am an older woman and could not catch them, and 2 the shelter would put them down if no one took them. I also don't really know how old they are and if they can leave their mother yet. My husband says let them live in the backyard, but can they survive another harsh winter? I don't know what to do. Any advice would be welcomed. (Sorry this post is so long!)