jadedmoon
Boca Raton, FL
age: 39
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PART 1-
 Everybody.
I just wanted to share this story with everyone that is interested and also seek advice from other cat lovers.
I have three indoor cats which I adore!
About seven months ago, a feral cat dropped off two kittens at my house, they were approximately five months old. One boy and one girl. I began to feed them as they would always show up at the feeding time for my indoor cats. Once in the morning and then again at dust.
I began to work with both cats trying to give them human contact. The boy which we named Coconut came around to my affections much quicker than the female cat, BlackOut. We named her that because she is solid black. Unfortunately, BlackOut went into heat before she made contact with me. She became pregnant. At this point, she began warming up to me and would approach more than arms length.
It was always my intention to gain their trust so that I could capture them and take them to have them properly neutered and appropriate shots. Then I would release them as they were too wild to make anyone a really good pet.
BlackOut had her kittens not far from my house just over three weeks ago. On my patio I have a little cat house which my youngest son made. The cat house is there for the cats in case of inclement weather conditions ect. Plus they like to lounge and relax on my patio. 
Earlier this week, BlackOut decided to move all four of her adorable kittens into the little cat house. She left them there for a day and a half but, my patio gets the late afternoon sun and the house is tiny so she had a difficult time nursing. She moved them again. 
My family and I had a discussion about how we could rescue the kittens to make sure they would receive good homes and not end up feral like their mother. Both my boys volunteered to help with this endeavor. I am a single mom and I also am a CEO for a small business so I work some pretty long hours. There was no way with my schedule that I could accomplish this feat on my own. My boys agreed to help with everything from changing the litter box daily to playin with all the kittens getting them used to human contact.
BlackOut continued coming for the regular feeding. I decided to follow her after she ate as she does trust me to some extent. So, she led me right to the kittens. 
I bought a large size dog crate (like for a German Shepard) earlier in the week. I put the little cat house inside the crate along with bedding. We took the kittens from the nest and I enticed her to follow me back to my patio where the crate was all set up. I placed the kittens in the house, just as she had done earlier in the week. She went right inside the crate and checked on the kittens like a good mother. I shut the door behind her. She became extremely stressed as she has never been confined before. She is also very skinny because of nursing. So, I gave her some dry food and wet can food. She also had never used a litter box before. We left her on the patio overnite. By the next morning, she had completely made a mess inside the crate lookin for a way out. Fecal matter and piss everywhere, except for inside the house. She didn't use the litter box but instead dug all the litter out of the box trying to escape. She did eat the food I gave her and she did nurse the kittens regularly.
This was all done in the late evening hours. So, none of them were exposed to the hot afternoon sun.
This is only part one, so stay tuned becos I will continue with part two later. Plus I will post some CUTE CUTE CUTE pictures of kittens that are 3 weeks and 2 days old. 
More to come...........
[Edited 6/8/2008 8:59:50 PM]
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honeyhoney4
Benton, IL
age: 71
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Wow, you have your hands full.
Years back we had a cat and we took him with us when we moved.
I was on the road working at the time. My sons tried to take him with us,
but had to keep dragging him back to the new home. I called home one day
and was told he was almost tearing the back door off. So my reply was to let him go.
I suppose he went back to the old place where he felt at home, as we never saw him
very often after that.
Good luck on keeping her inside the cage, it will be a challenge.
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jadedmoon
Boca Raton, FL
age: 39
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[Edited 6/8/2008 8:12:44 PM]
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fallnstars
Miami, FL
age: 48
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Hey Jade, those pic r precious I wish I could hold them...
You are a very special person with a HUGE ...
I have 2 cats and live in a apt..I wish I could have more pets
But I can't right now.... Girl, I want Those angels 
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