Should a stray kitten be returned to it's mother?

[VaiRaiChu]

Hi all.
A mother cat abandoned her 3 weeks old kitten on my terrace in cold weather and didn't return for two days... And since it was very cold we got her into our house.

Now the kitten is 7 weeks old. (name: skitty) The mother cat and her other children I have found coming everyday to my neighbours house. We are not in a position to permanently keep Skitty with us.

So is it wise to return it to its mother now?

I am from a small town in India and as such finding another home for her is quite difficult as there is hardly a culture of having cats as pet here. There are also no rescue shelters or anything around me. So that is not an option either.

[Mollycat]

My guess is it's unlikely the mother would accept the kitten back now, but you can try and see when the other cat comes to your neighbours if she reacts to her kitten. But it might not be a friendly reaction.

Unfortunately at 7 weeks old the kitten doesn't have a very good chance of surviving on the streets without its mother. You say stray rather than feral, do these cats usually hunt their own food or do they rely on food put out by people? Hunting is instinctive but killing their prey is usually taught by the mother cat and not all cats can figure it out for themselves. In any case at 7 weeks the kitten would not be capable of hunting to feed itself.

[VaiRaiChu]

Hi!
I'm not exactly sure if they're feral or stray, but I'd be inclined to say they are stray since a lot of by neighbours often keep food out for street dogs and cats.
Not a lot of scope for hunting here... But these stray dogs and cats may definitely depend on hunting(squirrels and birds maybe? Maybe mice. Nothing else is there) every now and then as food kept out by humans isn't enough.

Also, are stray dogs dangerous to stray cats? My colony has a lot of stray dogs who permanently live here.

I did think of taking my kitten to the mother to gauge her reaction... But I'm afraid of any hostile reactions from her or even... If not hostile then she may pick up the kitten and take her away. I'm afraid of both the reactions. What do you think?

[Mollycat]

I don't know India but from what I hear of North Africa dogs can certainly be a danger to cats, in both cases stray or pet. Cats living on the street would be more savvy though and should mostly keep out of danger, once they have learned the lessons, usually from mother. Probably a big factor in the very high mortality rate in feral cats under a year old, as well as kitten death. I don't mean to frighten you but the reality is a street cat's life is not a gentle one.

It's a good thing in one way if the cats are more dependent on human kindness for food, as that's one skill you can't teach but maybe your kitten won't need so much.

Interesting that you're afraid of the mother picking up her kitten and taking her back, it sounds like you are quite attached to this little one. Are you sure you can't keep her? Even if she doesn't live in your house, can you give her a shelter outside and feed her and keep interacting with her? Then she has free choice to leave if she wants to or stay near you. When she is a little older though, maybe?

And if the mother cat rejects her again as long as she has enough distance she would probably hiss and spit to make the kitten go away. Unlikely to attack faster than you can pick up the kitten again and take her away safely.

[Ruth B]

While I'm certainly no expert, I have to agree that the dogs, not to mention other wildlife that might be around, would prove dangerous to the kitten. A colony of cats, and even a lone mother cat might be able to drive off a dog or two, but a young kitten certainly wouldn't be able to alone. I am also not sure that the mother cat would take it back after this long, like Mollycat says, it might be a hostile reaction unfortunately as she is concentrating on protecting the kittens she kept with her.

If you can't keep the kitten permanently, could you keep it for a few more weeks, the longer you can keep it the bigger it will be and the better its chance of survival. Also if you could perhaps provide some type of shelter for it off the ground to help protect it from the dogs would help its survival a lot. It wouldn't need to be anything fancy, just somewhere the cat has to jump to reach would mean the dogs couldn't get to it.

I also want to say, thank you for taking the kitten in and trying your best to help it.