When we trapped Taco, we already knew that there was virtually no chance that she could be rehabilitated into a housecat and that doing the right thing for her was to allow her to have her kittens in safety and then get her spayed and rereleased back into the colony. She also holds a special place in our heart because we’re fairly certain she’s mom of the two tortoise shells that we adopted as our own, Cookie and Phoebe.
In the fall, we trapped and rehomed four of Taco’s kittens (Tiny, Sabrina, Spicy, and Jalapeño). Taco herself was very trap aware and we had no chance of catching her at the time. She even seemed to know that the trap was a good thing for her kittens. A few days after we caught the first three, we were back on campus trying to catch the fourth. The last one was a bit more skittish and less willing to venture very far from her mom. As we watched Taco and Tiny inspect the trap for a way to get at the food within, we actually saw her seemingly encourage Tiny to go into the trap while she waited. It worked and we were able to get that entire litter but Taco was just too clever to fall for the trap herself.
Unfortunately, like so many of the feral queens, as soon as we had her kittens she went back into heat. A few weeks later, the volunteers who feed the cats sent us a picture and it was undeniable that she was not only pregnant again but that the kittens would be there soon. This happened at the hardest time of year for this colony. Winters aren’t especially cold here in northern California but they do bring rains and changes to behaviors. Favored sleeping spots are innundated and dry food left uncovered quickly becomes inedible.
These challenging circumstances and the impending birth made Taco let her guard down. She wad hungry and in need of support so she ventured into a trap shortly after it was set. Because she was so far along, we opted to let the kittens come and let her raise them until weaned. We put her in one of the kitten fostering crates and made sure that she had constant access to fresh food and water. A week after she was trapped she gave birth. We had no idea it was happening, we just heard the first tiny mews while sitting on the couch one evening. By the end of the next day, she had five neonates happily nursing on her. We couldn’t get anywhere close but we could see that they were all moving around and nursing.
Sadly, within three weeks two of her five kittens had passed away, a sign of the challenges stacked against here from poor environmental conditions early in her pregnancy to the stress of too many pregnancies and likely also some inbreeding. The remaining kittens were well out of the woods and within what seemed like no time they began to venture out of the safety of their birthing bed.
As the kittens grew we were able to handle them (using tongs and gloves to avoid Taco’s wrath) and were able to raise them as well adapted cats. At such a young age, it’s easy to normalize human contact as well as interactions with other pets. Bean, Olive, and Ramen have grown to be some of the best kittens we’ve every had through our house and are now in loving homes. Look for success stories about them soon!
As soon as the kittens were adopted out, we got Taco spayed and vaccinated. We let her recuperate at our house for a few days and rereleased her on campus. We often see her out and about in her old stomping grounds.
We debated whether Taco should be regarded as a success story. Through our efforts nine of her kittens are now happy healthy house cats who never have to worry about predators or finding food and shelter. In the end, Taco was never going to be happy living with people. She had too many years of mistrust and at least disregard if not occasional aggression to shape her opinions of us. But it’s important to realize that she’s back among familiar feline neighbors, safe from the risks of diseases or more pregnancies, and she gets to live a life far better than many ferals get.
At the end of the story, she has made a lot of people very happy and we like to think that she’s happy too.
