I found a few furry intruders in my wall
It isn’t that unusual of a story – people stumble across abandoned or lost kittens all the time. But what makes this story a little different is that I found these kittens in the wall.
I was at my desk in our house one day when I noticed a scratching sound from above. The roof above me is shaded by a tree, and it's not uncommon for squirrels to scamper across it, but this sounded a little closer. It only lasted a little while, but I began to notice the sound recurring over the next few days. Then one morning, the sound changed from scratching to very distinct tiny, high-pitched meows. I wasn't the only one who noticed – my cat, who usually sleeps on the corner of my desk while I'm at home, sat up, looked at the ceiling for a minute, and then looked at me as if to say, “Is there something you want to tell me?”
The logistics of this are a little unbelievable
but here's how the cat got into the house in the first place. Our roof has an overhang or soffit, and on the bottom, it has ventilation holes the size of a book, spaced evenly to let the heat out. Covering these holes is a screen like you would have on a window, and as luck would have it, one of these holes is located near a gutter drain. And in case you were thinking that a cat can’t climb a metal drain spout like I did, you would be wrong. So that’s how the momma cat got into the house – which technically isn’t really in the house because you can’t access the void in the soffits from the attic (believe me, I tried). The way the roof is designed, you can only access the area where the momma cat had her kittens from the ventilation holes under the overhang.
I hoped that the mom would move the kittens to a better location as soon as they were old enough and I could try and patch the hole before my soffit turned into a nursery for feral cats.
That was the plan until about 10 days after I first heard them
One morning, I noticed that the meows were not from above but from right behind my desk. These kittens had somehow fallen down the inside of the wall and were about 2 feet away from the floor, inside a wall with no escape. I knew I had to get them out. Fortunately, I had done some drywall patches recently in the house after a water leak, so I had a multitool ready to go. A drywall saw or even a utility knife would have worked if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. The trick is to go slow and know the thickness of the drywall, usually ¾ inch.
I opened the hole a little below where I could hear the kittens, and once I had pulled out the insulation, I was able to reach up and pull out two very cranky kittens.
Of course, they were adorable
and I’m an animal lover, but our house already has a cat and two dogs that don’t get along, and the last thing we need is more drama. Adopting them myself wasn't going to be an option, but now I was left with the very real problem of what to do with these two kittens who clearly still needed their mother.
Kittens at this age need a lot of attention – not only do they need to be on a heating pad to keep them warm, but they need to be fed every 2 to 3 hours, including overnight. Kittens also need their mother's help to go to the bathroom (and I don't mean holding their paw and showing them where the litter box is!). This is something you can mimic with some practice and expertise, but after all I went through to pull these kittens out of the wall, I wanted them to have the best chance at a happy life.
So, what do you do with a couple of newborn kittens?
Well, this is where everybody's options are going to be different depending on where they live. The first step should be to try and find a no-kill shelter or an organization that knows how to handle newborn kittens and can care for them. Fortunately, I was able to find my county’s “no-kill” shelter, and they had some space so I could surrender them.
No-kill shelters aim to save at least 90% of the animals that enter their facility. This means they do not euthanize animals unless they are terminally ill or pose a danger to themselves or others. This policy ensures that most animals can be adopted or live out their lives in the shelter if necessary.
I immediately took the kittens in as I wasn’t sure when they were last fed. They were welcomed by the staff, but what surprised me was that they wanted to know if I had the mother cat. Although I had seen a cat that I thought was the mother, she was feral, and I had no idea how I would catch her. The shelter had an answer for that: they were willing to loan me a trap if I agreed to be financially responsible for it. A quick lesson was all it took, and off I went with a live animal trapping cage under my arm. 
The option of "renting" a trap might not be available in your area, but they are not that expensive and are available at sporting goods stores and online for purchase. Prices can vary, but the trap I used can be purchased for under Fifty dollars.
Once back home, I placed the trap right next to the drainpipe
that the mother cat had been using to gain access to the house and baited it with a can of open cat food. Having absolutely zero experience in the animal trapping trade, I was doubtful that I would succeed. However, when I peered into the trap the next morning, I was met with a very angry set of yellow eyes looking back at me – success!
Black cats are hard to photograph (it’s called Black Cat Syndrome), but I did my best to get a picture of this young mother. Surprisingly, she never made a sound, not even when I drove her in the car to be reunited with her babies.
I was at the shelter waiting for them to open the front door less than 24 hours after I dropped off the kittens. They took her in, but unfortunately, I was not allowed to witness the reunion. I realize that they can’t let just anyone into their facility, but I was a little disappointed. I asked what was going to happen next.
After the kittens have been weaned from their mom
they would be spayed or neutered and adopted out. The shelter would attempt to find a home for the mom cat (perhaps as a barn cat), but because she was feral, it might be too late to get her comfortable with humans. If that was the case, they would have her spayed, she would receive any medical attention needed and get her rabies vaccination. Then they would “tip” her ear. Ear-tipping is performed under anesthesia during the spay/neuter surgery, so the cat does not experience pain. With the left ear tipped, everyone would know the cat has been trapped, neutered, vaccinated, and returned to its original location. This process is called TNR (trap, neuter, return). Ear-tipping provides a visual marker that helps prevent the cat from being trapped and subjected to the process again.
While returning her to the wild might seem cruel
there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the TNR protocol. The Harris County Community Cats program states:
“Removing cats from an area or relocating them is not only inhumane – it’s ineffective. Scientific evidence indicates that removing community cat populations only opens the habitat for more cats to move in, either from neighboring territories or born from survivors. Each time cats are removed, the population will rebound through a natural phenomenon known as the 'vacuum effect,' drawing the community into a costly, endless cycle of trapping.”
A few months have passed
since the kitten invasion in my home. I patched all the holes in the soffits with wire so there is no chance for any more kitty squatters to move in rent-free. I do still need to make a permanent fix to the drywall hole I made in the wall, but it’s covered by my desk so there is no hurry. A few nights ago, right around dusk, I saw a black cat lying on the front porch of the house across the street. I was too far away to make a positive ID or see if its left ear was clipped, so I tried to move closer. I only made it to my mailbox before the cat scurried away. If it was the momma cat, I suppose I wouldn’t want to get close to me either. Wherever she winds up, I hope she has a long life of adventures and naps ahead of her. And I hope her kittens find a home with an owner who lets them sleep on their desk while they work.
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