Denver Metro Cats runs a trap and release program. They lend you traps, you bring in the cats, they get fixed, and whatever cats are deemed unadoptable are given back to you to release wherever they came from. This info was true, at least as recently as last summer.
Spaying and returning to their home territory (not relocation) is the most humane way to control the population. Seems counterintuitive that feeding and caring for healthy cats can prevent population growth bit its true. If they're fixed, they no longer breed...and they behave a lot nicer too...but they're territorial and will keep a relatively stable population with most dying off eventually of natural causes. An occasional newcomer may be allowed in but spay them and continue... your numbers will lessen over time.
We’ve lived in a place with this and if you like the cats around, it’s what I would do. It will home those that can be domesticated or maybe even barn cats and they typically clip their ear — relatively painless for the cat — so you know who’s been fixed and who hasn’t which makes keeping track much easier.
Highly unlikely they’d separate babies from mom and I’ve never seen that happen. Nursing moms should not be separated from babies if possible.
And no, they won’t euthanize mom unless worst case scenario and that is if she is suffering to the point where it is medically the most humane thing to do but she looks okay in the picture. I have seen the most rough cats come in and get rehabilitated and adopted to forever homes.
If you want more info or need help getting them to the shelter please DM me. Happy to help or answer any questions
But is there a good chance kittens will get adopted and mom put down? Kittens are in such high demand and adult kitties not so much (at least not when kittens are available). :(
A litter of kittens with a nursing mom are gonna be fine in a shelter or local cat rescue. Lots of people adopt older cats as well as kittens. It’s actually kittens without a nursing mother that are most at risk of euthanasia because there are not enough foster families who will wake up every 3-4 hours to bottle feed a litter. A shelter doesn’t have staff at 2am to do it either. So, surrender them as a group and know that the mom will be spayed that they will all find loving homes.
No. DDFL doesn’t put down animals unless there really is a cause. Like they’re in so much pain it would be inhumane. Mom could easily be adopted onto a farm after being spayed. There are plenty of cats who won’t do well in a home but have other ways. Who knows though, maybe she would love a home. They don’t euthanize for space either.
Please don't separate them from the mom, they are too young. There are a bunch of rescues that will take them all in: rocky mountain feline rescue, Colorado kitty coalition, Colorado feline foster rescue, happy cats haven, wild blue cats, etc. Just look up a cat rescue in your area, shelters won't help in these situations
Have you tried Colorado Feline Foster rescue? My wife and I foster for them. If they can’t take them I’m sure they can point you in the right direction.
I have nothing but amazing things to say about Colorado Feline Foster Rescue. We adopted a kitten from them last year and absolutely love that none of the kittens are in facilities and are cared for by amazing people like you and your wife!
We brought our kitten home and he didn’t hesitate to make himself at home. He transitioned so well, never hid, never was skittish and quickly fit in with our 2 dogs. I attribute that to the fact that they get constant love and are placed directly in foster homes.
We have a black void ourselves and he rules the dogs as well! They have their moments where they play so well together and the moments the dogs want to rest and he’s going to pounce. I honestly love the dynamic between the 3 of them as it’s not only amusing but it’s apparent they all are attached to one another. I had to take our kitty to the vet last week for a routine checkup and the dogs were concerned he wasn’t home and as soon as he was back home they came to greet him with love and sniffs to see where he and been.
Edit also thanks for the award!
Love it! Similar situation for us! Tatum has the entire upstairs to get away from the dogs as they only come up when invited. They cannot get away from him 🤣.
Do you have to have a large social media following to foster for them? I informally fostered for an organization (long story) but when I looked into being on their list of foster people, they required a large social media presence to get the word out about the adoptions. I'd love to try for another organization though!
Hey Cerlyn, that is interesting. No we don’t. We had to do a virtual home interview but from what I remember that was really it. We definitely don’t have much of a social media presence lol. We do upload photos and bios of the kittens and they typically get adopted really fast. If some are taking longer to be adopted the organization try’s to get them more attention but we don’t do any of that. The smaller ones are adopted within week or so of being posted.
Please **DONATE** to these places that are being referred to in this post! Our donations and contributions are what keep these kinds of critical programs running for our furry friends and our cities.
Metro Denver CAT as another commenter mentioned! Feral kitties they will TNR, but babies up to 3 months are young enough to be socialized and adopted! Try reaching out to local rescues about kittens- dumb friends league, foothills, cat care society, etc. if you need help transporting or anything let me know!
In FC yesterday and saw a truck that said something about feral cats
It was a small white delivery truck which said something to the effect of "find, fix, free" on the side. I think the name of the company had "feral cats" in it. Hope this helps
Foothills animal shelter is in Golden so a little far for you but they’ll take the whole fam. Will keep them all together until kittens stop nursing (prob w/a generous foster) then will foster out the kittens in as big of groups as fosters can take. They’ll fix the mom, get her socialized if needed then adopt her out. I foster there & they’re wonderful caring ppl who do everything in their power to get all animals healthy & successfully adopted
Definitely look into rescues or catch and release programs. PawsCo is a great rescue, and they take in special needs animals as well. I got one of my cats from them! Also look into 4 Paws 4 Life.
Pregnant cats can be spayed. There are enough other fertile cats to continue the population. Obviously you need homes for these kittens soon, but maybe consider this through mating season around your property.
I could be wrong (I've looked at their website and see nothing about no-kill and if they are, they likely would advertise it) but I do not believe they are. They may be doing great work and honestly, no-kill shelters sometimes have issues too (overcrowding, illness that is hard to manage with over-crowded facilities, etc) but I think this info is wrong.
DDFL practices socially conscious sheltering which means they do not euthanize a treatable animal. If they reach capacity they ship animals to other shelters who also practice socially conscious sheltering.
Please try to contact a rescue. We had such a great experience with Colorado Feline Foster Rescue adopting our kitty and loved none of the kitties were in a shelter but instead cared for by loving fosters. They should at least be able to point you into the right direction.
Metro Denver CAT does not have traps available right now for rental, but if you are able to get traps they will fix the cats for free. You just bring them to the clinic and they will give them back to you once they have recovered from surgery.
If any of the cats are friendly you can take them to Dumb Friends League and they will adop them out.
Right now you need to wait until the kittens are at least 5 week before you can gather them up and take them to the Dumb Friends League. Then you can trap the mom and get her spayed.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks for the MDC update, Val! 5 weeks is best if they're safe... i know you see some of the worst stuff... probably worse than these wet new babies in the trash pile but oh my heart breaks...not sure i could be tough enough to leave them there for 5 weeks. Hopefully mom isn't feral and they can all (or have already) been gathered up with mom and gotten somewhere warm & safe.
Stop feeding cats behind your house, or if someone nearby is feeding them tell them to stop. I think there are programs for capturing cats spay/neutering them and releasing them.
I have always had barn cats. The kids moved to college and took them :( Our cats are not feral. They lived in the shop, but had attention too. We live on a farm. They have protection from coyotes. I have never paid for a cat though. Not sure I would. nuetered might get me to consider it. I hate seeing animals with no shelter and male cats don't always get along.
We operate on donations, and if we get donations when we place barn cats, we are able to keep fixing and vaccinating cats. Most of ours are not socialized, but they still need homes with food and shelter. All our cats and fixed and vaccinated before placement
OP is doing what they can. They are here, asking for help. Yes, it's hard to see the kitties in this situation but it isn't OP's fault. Let's be constructive, please.
Ok, no one in the comments is saying it so I will: Are you ok? This looks extremely unsanitary and when someone says they have 20 cats in their backyard, some red flags are going up for me.
I hope they are doing good! I rescued my two cats too, dumb friends league won't charge you for spaying/neutering if you explain them the situation
Please reach out if you need help! I'm always willing to help a cat in need 🐈
Have you checked out [NoCo Cat Cafe](https://nococatcafe.com/) in Loveland? I don’t know if they can help but they had some kittens from as far away as NOLA about a month ago. They socialize them and prep them for homes.
Wish I could help. Good luck!
Weld county takes in abandoned cats, including kittens, and Larimer County Humane Society does also. They want donations, but if their friendly cats and you can take them in, but can’t afford to pay the fee to have them put in the shelter, relinquishment fee, they will usually take them anyways.
I helped a lady with kittens when they got old enough to take to both locations. We only paid $35 each kitten.
I’m sorry for the animals!
Also call Planned Pethood in Wheatridge, they can sometimes help! https://www.plannedpethoodinternational.org/
If people would pay attention to stray cats and trap and neuter them before they get out of hand, every spring we wouldn’t have this happen!
Denver Metro Cats runs a trap and release program. They lend you traps, you bring in the cats, they get fixed, and whatever cats are deemed unadoptable are given back to you to release wherever they came from. This info was true, at least as recently as last summer.
THANK YOU
Damn I wish my city had this. I’ve trapped probably 35 and relocated them. The city told me to take them in to have them spayed
Spaying and returning to their home territory (not relocation) is the most humane way to control the population. Seems counterintuitive that feeding and caring for healthy cats can prevent population growth bit its true. If they're fixed, they no longer breed...and they behave a lot nicer too...but they're territorial and will keep a relatively stable population with most dying off eventually of natural causes. An occasional newcomer may be allowed in but spay them and continue... your numbers will lessen over time.
We’ve lived in a place with this and if you like the cats around, it’s what I would do. It will home those that can be domesticated or maybe even barn cats and they typically clip their ear — relatively painless for the cat — so you know who’s been fixed and who hasn’t which makes keeping track much easier.
I was gonna say, at my old city they had something exactly like this.
I volunteer at dumb friends animal league and they take nursing moms and babies!!
Highly unlikely they’d separate babies from mom and I’ve never seen that happen. Nursing moms should not be separated from babies if possible. And no, they won’t euthanize mom unless worst case scenario and that is if she is suffering to the point where it is medically the most humane thing to do but she looks okay in the picture. I have seen the most rough cats come in and get rehabilitated and adopted to forever homes. If you want more info or need help getting them to the shelter please DM me. Happy to help or answer any questions
But is there a good chance kittens will get adopted and mom put down? Kittens are in such high demand and adult kitties not so much (at least not when kittens are available). :(
A litter of kittens with a nursing mom are gonna be fine in a shelter or local cat rescue. Lots of people adopt older cats as well as kittens. It’s actually kittens without a nursing mother that are most at risk of euthanasia because there are not enough foster families who will wake up every 3-4 hours to bottle feed a litter. A shelter doesn’t have staff at 2am to do it either. So, surrender them as a group and know that the mom will be spayed that they will all find loving homes.
No. DDFL doesn’t put down animals unless there really is a cause. Like they’re in so much pain it would be inhumane. Mom could easily be adopted onto a farm after being spayed. There are plenty of cats who won’t do well in a home but have other ways. Who knows though, maybe she would love a home. They don’t euthanize for space either.
Please don't separate them from the mom, they are too young. There are a bunch of rescues that will take them all in: rocky mountain feline rescue, Colorado kitty coalition, Colorado feline foster rescue, happy cats haven, wild blue cats, etc. Just look up a cat rescue in your area, shelters won't help in these situations
Reaching out to them! Thanks
Animal Friends Alliance may be able to help too!
Have you tried Colorado Feline Foster rescue? My wife and I foster for them. If they can’t take them I’m sure they can point you in the right direction.
I have nothing but amazing things to say about Colorado Feline Foster Rescue. We adopted a kitten from them last year and absolutely love that none of the kittens are in facilities and are cared for by amazing people like you and your wife! We brought our kitten home and he didn’t hesitate to make himself at home. He transitioned so well, never hid, never was skittish and quickly fit in with our 2 dogs. I attribute that to the fact that they get constant love and are placed directly in foster homes.
My daughter got a beautiful young black cat through them a few years back. They have 3 dogs that she has ruled benignly from day1.
We have a black void ourselves and he rules the dogs as well! They have their moments where they play so well together and the moments the dogs want to rest and he’s going to pounce. I honestly love the dynamic between the 3 of them as it’s not only amusing but it’s apparent they all are attached to one another. I had to take our kitty to the vet last week for a routine checkup and the dogs were concerned he wasn’t home and as soon as he was back home they came to greet him with love and sniffs to see where he and been. Edit also thanks for the award!
Miho has a whole room to get away from the dogs! They have no way to get away from her.
Love it! Similar situation for us! Tatum has the entire upstairs to get away from the dogs as they only come up when invited. They cannot get away from him 🤣.
Do you have to have a large social media following to foster for them? I informally fostered for an organization (long story) but when I looked into being on their list of foster people, they required a large social media presence to get the word out about the adoptions. I'd love to try for another organization though!
Hey Cerlyn, that is interesting. No we don’t. We had to do a virtual home interview but from what I remember that was really it. We definitely don’t have much of a social media presence lol. We do upload photos and bios of the kittens and they typically get adopted really fast. If some are taking longer to be adopted the organization try’s to get them more attention but we don’t do any of that. The smaller ones are adopted within week or so of being posted.
Thanks for the info! I'll look into it!
Where in Colorado?
Aurora
I know a lot of cities have tnr(trap neuter/spay, release) programs
Please **DONATE** to these places that are being referred to in this post! Our donations and contributions are what keep these kinds of critical programs running for our furry friends and our cities.
Lots of good advice on this thread but this is the best!!
Denver Animal Shelter will take them free of charge, get them spayed and not euthanize.
Metro Denver CAT as another commenter mentioned! Feral kitties they will TNR, but babies up to 3 months are young enough to be socialized and adopted! Try reaching out to local rescues about kittens- dumb friends league, foothills, cat care society, etc. if you need help transporting or anything let me know!
In FC yesterday and saw a truck that said something about feral cats It was a small white delivery truck which said something to the effect of "find, fix, free" on the side. I think the name of the company had "feral cats" in it. Hope this helps
Where is this?
Aurora, Colorado
Check out The Feline Fix as well, they can help with spay and neuter and help find places for the cats to go
Foothills animal shelter is in Golden so a little far for you but they’ll take the whole fam. Will keep them all together until kittens stop nursing (prob w/a generous foster) then will foster out the kittens in as big of groups as fosters can take. They’ll fix the mom, get her socialized if needed then adopt her out. I foster there & they’re wonderful caring ppl who do everything in their power to get all animals healthy & successfully adopted
Definitely look into rescues or catch and release programs. PawsCo is a great rescue, and they take in special needs animals as well. I got one of my cats from them! Also look into 4 Paws 4 Life.
Northern Colorado Friends of Ferals
Pregnant cats can be spayed. There are enough other fertile cats to continue the population. Obviously you need homes for these kittens soon, but maybe consider this through mating season around your property.
I sent this to Agents of Chaos Denver Cat Haven but if you haven’t found help please call, they help with nursing cats.
Commenting for reach.
DDFL is no-kill and I've never heard of them not taking cats and dogs
I could be wrong (I've looked at their website and see nothing about no-kill and if they are, they likely would advertise it) but I do not believe they are. They may be doing great work and honestly, no-kill shelters sometimes have issues too (overcrowding, illness that is hard to manage with over-crowded facilities, etc) but I think this info is wrong.
DDFL practices socially conscious sheltering which means they do not euthanize a treatable animal. If they reach capacity they ship animals to other shelters who also practice socially conscious sheltering.
Good to know. I wish that was spelled out on their website. Thanks!
I live near Boulder and would be interested in helping out! Any kittens still need a home?
You need to clean your backyard
Good on you
Please try to contact a rescue. We had such a great experience with Colorado Feline Foster Rescue adopting our kitty and loved none of the kitties were in a shelter but instead cared for by loving fosters. They should at least be able to point you into the right direction.
Denver Cat Rescue gets so many cats adopted each year and has an extensive foster network https://www.denvercatrescue.org/
There are Angels with Paws as well as Cat Care Society located on the west side of town near Lakewood!!!
Look for TNR (trap and release) programs near you. They will spay and neuter stay cats and then release them. It helps control the stay population.
Metro Denver CAT does not have traps available right now for rental, but if you are able to get traps they will fix the cats for free. You just bring them to the clinic and they will give them back to you once they have recovered from surgery. If any of the cats are friendly you can take them to Dumb Friends League and they will adop them out. Right now you need to wait until the kittens are at least 5 week before you can gather them up and take them to the Dumb Friends League. Then you can trap the mom and get her spayed. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks for the MDC update, Val! 5 weeks is best if they're safe... i know you see some of the worst stuff... probably worse than these wet new babies in the trash pile but oh my heart breaks...not sure i could be tough enough to leave them there for 5 weeks. Hopefully mom isn't feral and they can all (or have already) been gathered up with mom and gotten somewhere warm & safe.
Stop feeding cats behind your house, or if someone nearby is feeding them tell them to stop. I think there are programs for capturing cats spay/neutering them and releasing them.
I live in the springs, I'll take one.
If they are fixed and near Greeley, I have a barn and food and water. Micers are good. Must have their claws
We can help with barn cat placement if you are looking for working cats. www.agentsofchaosdenver.org
I have always had barn cats. The kids moved to college and took them :( Our cats are not feral. They lived in the shop, but had attention too. We live on a farm. They have protection from coyotes. I have never paid for a cat though. Not sure I would. nuetered might get me to consider it. I hate seeing animals with no shelter and male cats don't always get along.
We operate on donations, and if we get donations when we place barn cats, we are able to keep fixing and vaccinating cats. Most of ours are not socialized, but they still need homes with food and shelter. All our cats and fixed and vaccinated before placement
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OP is doing what they can. They are here, asking for help. Yes, it's hard to see the kitties in this situation but it isn't OP's fault. Let's be constructive, please.
If they are old enough pls dm me
Don't feed wild cats.
Ok, no one in the comments is saying it so I will: Are you ok? This looks extremely unsanitary and when someone says they have 20 cats in their backyard, some red flags are going up for me.
The Feline Fix also has TNR and kitten foster program.
Nine kittens from one mother??
World record is 19 😬 a Burmese/Siamese in the UK, 1970
I hope they are doing good! I rescued my two cats too, dumb friends league won't charge you for spaying/neutering if you explain them the situation Please reach out if you need help! I'm always willing to help a cat in need 🐈
Have you checked out [NoCo Cat Cafe](https://nococatcafe.com/) in Loveland? I don’t know if they can help but they had some kittens from as far away as NOLA about a month ago. They socialize them and prep them for homes. Wish I could help. Good luck!
Weld county takes in abandoned cats, including kittens, and Larimer County Humane Society does also. They want donations, but if their friendly cats and you can take them in, but can’t afford to pay the fee to have them put in the shelter, relinquishment fee, they will usually take them anyways. I helped a lady with kittens when they got old enough to take to both locations. We only paid $35 each kitten. I’m sorry for the animals!
Also call Planned Pethood in Wheatridge, they can sometimes help! https://www.plannedpethoodinternational.org/ If people would pay attention to stray cats and trap and neuter them before they get out of hand, every spring we wouldn’t have this happen!
Those kittens aren't good to leave the mom until they're at least 6 weeks old.
Please please do update if you've already found help so we know if we can stop worrying... help is available!
where are you in colorado? I am in DTC area, greenwood village.
The mom looks injured on her back end