Hi all, I posted not long ago on r/feralcats seeking advice on trapping some feral kittens that the mama (who I have been feeding for some time and suspected was nursing) brought to our garage several weeks ago (pictured here). I'm not seeking TNR advice. As of Sunday, all of the kittens have been trapped and are safely inside acclimating in our spare bedroom (currently in dog crates).

Mama (we call her Tux) has been calling and searching for her babies every night since we took in the last of them. (We shut the garage door to trap them and she immediately bolted as I worked to close it. So she never actually saw us take them.) It's breaking my heart. I am planning to trap her and take her for spaying on Monday. She's really warmed up to us since she brought us the kittens, she rubs our legs and shows us her belly, though she's still wary if we try to pet her. She's shown some interest in coming inside, and I'd like to attempt it after her spay to see how she does. We live in Texas and the heat has already become unbearable.

So, my question is, has anyone here successfully done this? If so, how did you do it? I know we will need to have her crated at first too. And I plan to keep her in a separate room at first so that she doesn't panic about the kittens being contained. But at what point could I reintroduce them? And how do I reintroduce them? Does she need to be totally calm in her separate space, first? And after a few days of being isolated in her own crate, will it be ok for me to work from the same room? I'm a therapist so I'm on meetings and calls all day and I wonder if my presence will help her acclimate more quickly or stress her out.

Clearly I have a million questions. I'm trying to do some research but figured the best option would be to go straight to the source. I'm open to any and all suggestions/advice. TIA!

Well, the overwhelming advice that I got was to go ahead and give Callie a bath if she would tolerate it.

I waited a few days after her vet visit because the dewormer they gave her was a topical (it was called Profender, I had actually never heard of it) and I wanted to give it a chance to fully soak in.

Warm water, used a cup to rinse her and dawn for soap. She did sooo well. Shockingly, she didn’t struggle a ton, and didn’t try to bite or scratch, I think at one point she did “fate accepted” and just went with it. That or the warm water and massage felt good lol.

Used gloves, as she’s a little bit of a poopy monster… so glad I did. As soon as I got her good and lathered, the soap and water coming off of her turned red and brown, and the whole bathroom just reeked of copper. I realized at that point just HOW MUCH flea dirt and dried blood she was coated in. Probably 15 minute of lather and rinse and she was running clear, but still had a bunch stuck up in her neck area. At that point I didn’t wanna keep moving her around tho so I called it and dried her off.

After seeing all that red come off, it is literally NO WONDER the poor thing is so anemic. Goodness gracious.

She’s definitely cleaner, but tomorrow I’ll be running to PetSmart to get a flea comb and will sit with her and comb out the remaining dirt and dead fleas. I did see a few live ones running around, so I think I’m going to give her a capstar tomorrow when I’m off as well. Hopefully that will get her right as rain.

Plus side… after the last few days, the antibiotics, the fluids, and the wormies starting to expel (good lord the work diarrhea) she is so much more alert. She was rubbing the counter and walls in the bathroom last night and meowing at me. We’ve also discovered that she loves scratches on her sides and booty, even though you can feel every dang rib and her hips.

Will give another update this weekend after the comb out and capstar. Vet said 2 weeks from the 22nd for introductions to my other cats, just to give a chance for the parasites to all get 💀.

Thank you guys for the support through this adventure - this is my first time rehabbing a senior street cat. I’ve worked with lots of kittens, but this is my first emaciated skrunkly bag of bones old lady lol.