I've been feeding this stray cat for about a year, and she was getting kind of chubby, one day I noticed that she was very slim. About 4 monthes later she comes with 3 adolecent kittens following her. Not knowing what to do, I fed them also, working up to them eating from my hand, and one of them lets me pet her/him. Now one of the kittens has gotten a little bit chubby, and I believe she is pregnant. I dont know what to do! I would like to catch her, but I doubt any of the kittens/cats would go into a trap! Any suggestions?

I have been trapping for 2 years. I have trapped atleast 22. From Kittens to adults. You must get a hav-a-hart. Set it and put sardines or tuna in the trap. Also I put a little bathroom rug in it for them to sit on. After the cat(s) is/are in cover the trap with a sheet, they get frightened. Bring them to a low cost spay clinic. You must get them fixed or you will continue to have this problem.
Cats go in heat from about March to October depending on the weather. One unspayed cat can give you a minimum of 12 cats per year and those cats will have sex, and those cats will have sex...and so on.

thanks for the help! Should I get a special trap, or could I use my cats old carring case?

I suggest checking out this web site:

http://www.alleycat.org/

It's all about trapping feral cats for spaying/neutering and shots and keeping a healthy population of cats outside.

I also suggest that in the future, if you can ever catch kittens before they've gone feral to take them. You can then contact your local cat advocacy group for them to be adopted out. Kittens tend to go wild when they're about 2 months old. Before that, they can normally be handled. If any of your feral cats let you catch them, certainly take them to the vet for altering and shots. They may not be happy but it could save their lives.

I've taken in three female stray cats in my life. The first had kittens. The other two were already spayed. None were truly feral. A feral cat may rip you to shreds if you pick it up. It took me months to get those strays to trust me. If your cats aren't truly feral but are strays (used to be taken care of by people), you can get them used to you in time. The first time I grabbed my last stray, Elvisina, to take her to the vet, she bit, I let go, and she was off. I later realized she did that because she's deaf and didn't know what was going on. She's now living inside. If she were still outside, she would have died a long time ago because she has almost a dozen medical problems, some of which would have certainly killed her without treatment. I regret that I used to feed a feral tom cat who actually let me pet him but my parents wouldn't let me take him to the vet. A year later, I had to pick up his body off the road.

Thanks for helping cats!

Elvisina...Robyn, perhaps she is a sibling to two that I trapped, Lisa Marie and Priscilla? LOL

The kittens were 3-6 monthes old when I found them. I fed them right away, and have been feeding them for the past 4 monthes. One of my friends brought up that they might not be able to find food if I stop feeding them, is that true? I just worry because I go on pretty long vacations, and I don't want them to starve.

At a vets office near by there's free neuter/spaying until the end of October, and I am planning on taking them there. But what about the pregnant cat? Would they wait until she gives birth?

When I was growing up I had neighbors up the street that used to catch 'loose' cats. Living next to woods there were some actual strays, but most I'd say were just let loose while the family was out. When they'd dissappear for a few weeks, then show up healthy and happy no knew the wiser.My nieghbors would trap them, have them checked out, and spayed/neutered claiming they were strays. They did keep the actual strays. Never knew they were that sneaky. lol
AnimalLove, feed them dry and put it in a sheltered area...get the kittens used it.

They would give her an abortion. That happened to me once with a teenage kitten.
I hire a petsitter to put out dry food when I am on vacation. Or you can get a firend to do it for some cash or something.

If you catch the pregnant cat, I would confine her to have her kittens so the kittens can be adopted out. She may become tame in that time as mother cats tend to be more affectionate (at least the ones I've spent time with were). Our stray cat, Kisty, who had 4 kittens in 1987, was spayed while still nursing her kittens. My parents wouldn't let them live in the house so they were in the garage. Since Kisty was still going outside, they wanted to have her "fixed" before she got re-pregnant. I was devastated and mad when my mother gave away the last two kittens without telling me (they were almost half a year old so I was attached) while I was away in Colorado on a family trip. I never got to say good-bye to Roly Poly and Wilbur (you guessed it; he was a runt). The family that took them were making them outdoor (intact) cats! Here is a photo of "my" babies from 6/28/87 when they were 5 weeks old. Top to bottom - Je t'aime, Wilbur, Roly Poly, and Cuddles.