Stray Kitty at work missing kittens? ?

Question

There is a stray that showed up at my work today ( I work at walmart) it was in the fenced in area of the garden center. She must have given birth since she is still producing milk. She is very skinny so she may have worms or is very malnourished. I fed her a little bit and pet her for a while but soon had to go back to work.

On my lunch hour I searched for her and her kittens and made sure they were not in the trucking dock or trash compactor, searched the woods and all the pallets for my hour. I did not find anything. During that time she was in another store getting food from my roommate who found her as well, so she obviously didn't use the hour to feed her kittens.

I really want to take her to the shelter or vet to have her checked over to make sure she is alright and probably adopt her but I do not want to leave her kittens (if they are still alive) defenseless without their mother. I also know that most mother cats will not "show" you where there kittens are.

How long should I wait before taking her?

Is it normal for a mother cat to leave her kittens for such a long time? it was over 5 hours.

She also has bald spots behind her ears, they do not look raw or painful just bald. What could this be?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

First advice... Be careful when dealing with stray cats.  They do have the ability to turn hostile if they feel threatened and you want to make sure they don't have any mites you could be bringing home to your pets.  I suggest taking the mother in asap.  Her condition sounds bad.  She could be malnourished and it sounds like she has mites (those balding spots on her ears).  As far as the kittens, if they are close you would hear their mews.  It is possible they didn't survive if the mother is straying for long periods of time.  Take the mother in.  Then listen for (and hopefully find) the kittens.  Even if you don't find them your conscious will be clear knowing you saved one of the bunch!  

Answer 2

It could take a while but soon if she has kittens they will

start to walk and they will probably follow their mother

and you will eventually see her kittens and then you

take them all to the vet and she can figure out if they are

able to leave their mother.The bald spots are probably

from her kittens or a disease and leaving her kittens for

five hours is usually not normal unless she is a first time

mother and is not good at it. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I would wait a while,as cats are very good at hiding their kittens.Just keep feeding her and try to see where she goes when she leaves. Ask all of your co - workers to look for the kittens when you aren't there and to let you know if they find them - then you can take both mom and kittens to the vet. The bald spots are probably from the cat scratching herself - she probably has fleas.