Community Corner

Feral Kittens in Desperate Race to Find Foster Homes

Three little kittens need a foster home to be socialized before they can be put up for adoption or they'll be released back into the wilds of Oak Lawn on Friday.

Nobody ever plans to get a cat, they just happen, as in the case of Noel and Julie Roberts who live near 96th Street and Menard Avenue.

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As Patch reported last month, Being animal lovers, Noel and Julie started leaving food out for the petite miss. It turned out that she wasn’t alone and “Mama” began bringing her three kittens by as well.

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“Mama is a very friendly cat,” Julie said. “When you sit on the sette outside, she will come sit next to you.”

On Wednesday, Julie was outside in her pajamas at 6 a.m. trapping the kittens and Mama so they could be brought to Chicago's Anti-Cruelty Society to be neutered and returned to the outdoors.

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Catching Mama was easy, since she lets the Roberts pick her up and pet her. The kittens were another matter. Julie got out their dog, Dylan’s, puppy crate. The kittens fell for the food-in-the-puppy-crate trick right away, but when Julie went to lock it, the kittens all ran out.

“I can’t outrun a kitten,” she said.

Eventually the kittens were recaptured in a raccoon trap loaned to the Roberts by a friend. It turned out that the kittens also fell for the old food-in-the-raccoon-trap trick.

After a long day at the Anti-Cruelty Society in Buck Town on Wednesday, Mama and her babies had their surgeries. Mama was also discovered to be a week pregnant and the pregnancy was terminated.

Mama and her babies are now recovering from their operations in the Roberts’ dining room. While at the vet, the Roberts learned some more about their little wanderers.

While Mama is socialized and would make a fabulous pet for somebody, neither the Anti-Cruelty Society nor Tree House, another no-kill cat shelter on the city’s North Side, the kittens are considered feral and not yet suitable for forever homes.

“We’re looking for foster homes for the kittens so they can be socialized,” Julie said. “Once they are socialized, we can take them back to Anti-Cruelty Society or Tree House to be put up for adoption.”

The perfect foster parent would be someone who really knows cats and is willing to take the time, love and patience to get them used to people. Naturally, the Roberts have named Mama’s babies—Graceland, Itty Bit and Kit Cat.

“If there is somebody out there who can keep them in a small room because they’re fast and work with them slowly,” Julie said. “Perhaps a second bathroom or spare bedroom without windows or with high windows who can socialize them over a matter of time—a real cat lover.”

Mama and the kittens have been vetted and tested negative for feline leukemia and the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV or feline AIDS).

“They’ve been spayed, fixed, given vaccinations,” Julie said. "We'll even spring for the food."

The Roberts would like to find a home for Mama who they describe as an “amazingly wonderful cat.” They'd take her themselves, but they already have a dog and recently acquired Julie's mom's cat after her mom was placed in a nursing home.

The vets at the Anti-Cruelty Society estimate Mama to be about one year old.

They’ll continue letting the kittens recover from their surgeries in their dining room, but if foster homes cannot be found by Friday, they’ll be released back into the wilds of Oak Lawn. The kittens are micro-chipped to Julie and have had their ears tagged indicating they been fixed and released.

“I learned more today about cats than in my 20-odd years of being a cat owner,” Julie said. “It’s not the worst thing in the world if we can’t find homes for [the kittens] and we have to release them. We’ll feed them, make a shelter in the winter and tell the neighbors.”

“They can keep them after they’ve been socialized, or give them back to us and we’ll take them to Tree House or Anti-Cruelty,” Julie said.

Since moving to the neighborhood 16 years ago, Julie commented that she’s seen more feral cats in Oak Lawn than ever.

“I never saw as many cats as I have lately,” she said. “Someone is letting out cats, but here are four that won’t be reproducing.”

Interested in fostering the feral kittens or giving Mama a good home? Contact Julie and Noel Roberts at 708-229-9150 or by email at noelsroberts@hotmail.com.

You can also contact Lorraine at lorraine.swanson@patch.com and she can put you touch with the Roberts.

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