Dumped cat had kittens at our plant, she moved them and now we can't find them. Help?

Question

I work at a chemical plant, about 80000 sqft of indoor space and maybe 1/3 of an acre in fenced area.

Thursday, someone came to my desk and told me there was a litter of kittens under a metal loading plate. They were there alright, 4 kittens that were maybe a week old (eyes closed, barely crawling).

Mom was "around" apparently and had disappeared when the dock plate was being used.

The next morning, I came to check on them and mom had moved them. Problem is, we have no idea where. Our plant is fenced in, but there's a "raccoon hole" as we call it at one point in the fence where critters come and go as they please. Mom has been seen using said hole.

I put some dry food out on Friday after unsuccessfully looking for the kittens. Food has been eaten as of this evening.

Rained yesterday and I hoped that would bring mom and babies back into the plant and into a dry hiding spot outside somewhere, but my search this evening was in vain.

Before I get a bunch of flak:

* Our county has a "free roaming" law and refuses to pick up cats.

* My goal is to capture mom and kittens at the same time, but mom is freaked out and that's unlikely. I have secured a bottle baby home through a rescue that I am currently fostering for if I'm able to find kittens.

Where should I look? These guys are not safe out here by any means. Trucks, coyotes, cars, chemicals, a pool of chemical water that a rabbit drowned in like 2 months ago...

I need them found, socialized, and fixed. Help!

heart o&#39; gold · Answer

A cat friendly dog might be able to help.

Mystique · Answer

Just because the food was eaten doesn't necessarily mean it was eaten by the mom....with a hole in the fence, it could have been any hungry animal.

If the plant is staffed around the clock, have someone check the grounds occasionally.

Put up flyers at work (get the owner's or your boss's permission) about the cat...other animal lovers will care enough to help.

Buy a notebook and keep putting out food.  Keep the notebook in a central locations so anyone willing to help with the search can write down the time they checked on the food and when it disappeared.  Animals are creatures of habit.  Since the mama is a bit skittish, the notebook will help narrow it down to around the time she usually comes (IF it's actually her eating the food) and you can better pinpoint when someone should be out watching for her (either those on break or even those who care enough to come "to work" just to look for her).  Stay far enough away to watch without freaking her out, but close enough you can see her clearly.  Once you (or someone else) see(s) her, make note of which direction she goes off in.  Start your search in that direction.  Listen carefully for the meows.   4 kittens should be able to be heard - if they're not sleeping, of course - from around 50 to 100 feet away.

Ask your boss/the owner if it's okay if you arrange a "search party" - OFF the clock! - to look for them.   Go in early or stay late to so do.  Start in one direction and make a full "sweep" of the property.  The more willing to help, the less time it will take.  Again, make sure everyone is quiet enough to listen for the kittens.

Other than this...I really don't know what else could be done with such a large area to search.

Laura · Answer

Most animal control won't come and pick up cats.  Most animal control also allows the renting of live animal traps for situations like this.  Get a live animal trap, stock it with an awesome wet food or even tuna, and put it near where you put the dry food.  Check every 30 mins.  This way if mom or babies are trapped, you can pick them up and reset the trap.  
If you do catch a baby, and not mom, you will have to care for them until you get mom.
Once you have them, you can take them to a shelter and the shelter will care for them until the kittens can be adopted out.

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Dumped cat had kittens at our plant, she moved them and now we can't find them. Help?

3 Answers