A female cat that I’ve since named “Zee” gave birth to a litter of four kittens roughly a month ago, using my 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee five-speed as shelter. Now I’ve got four high-energy kittens running around the inside my prized Jeep, and they’re having a great time. Here, I’ll show you.
Last week I wrote the article “Three Kittens Were Born In A Huge Pile Of Car Parts Shoved Into My Project Car.” Hyperlinked above the article included the very moment I discovered the cute kittens in my one-of-1400-ever-built Jeep:
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The article ended with me saying I’d follow ASPCA guidelines, which suggest feeding the mother cat so she can nurse her kittens, then — when the kitties are five-ish weeks old — I can foster them. Well, I’m not entirely sure that the cats are over four weeks old, so I wanted to make sure the kittens remain with the mother so she can nurse them. At the same time, I don’t want the kittens to wander out on their own, or to get so old that they’d be hard to socialize later and thus hard to adopt out. So my friend and I went out to try to trap Zee, the mother. Then we’d easily grab the kittens, and foster the lot, getting them vaccinated/fixed prior to adopting them out. Maybe we’d keep Zee or try to adopt her out, or maybe we’d just spay her and let her go.
We arrived late at night, when the weather had cooled from its peak of 105 degrees down to about 75. Upon arrival, we found Zee hanging out below the car, as usual, but this time the kittens weren’t hiding in the pile of parts — they were going berserk in the back window!
Here you can see a kitten on the right side sitting atop an air filter box, and on the left there’s one sitting on the back of a seat, playing with a wire dangling from the ceiling (I think that’s the rear cargo area lamp wire):
As my previous headline suggests, I initially thought there were only three kittens, but as these photos show, four of them emerged from the pile of parts to play on the surface that night, batting and chewing each others’ tails, tackling one another, hopping all over the Jeep — it was a huge party, and one that this little kitty worried might cause predators to notice. So it decided to be the lookout:
The lookout quickly scurried off as I approached the Jeep, but others remained at the surface as I took photos, though they were clearly a bit scared:
Here are some video clips of all the mayhem:
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It quickly became clear that capturing the kittens wouldn’t be too difficult. Some hissed, but overall the kitties seem friendly:
We picked one kitten up, but since we were unable to capture Zee, we returned it (Zee is likely still nursing the kitties). Zee did go part-way into the cat-carrier you see above to eat some food we’d set in there, but we had no way to trap her, so we managed to snag a trap from one of my friends’ colleague (my friend volunteers at a cat shelter). Here’s me setting that trap up:
Unfortunately, Zee refused to enter the cage. She’d eat food outside on the pavement, and she’d sniff the food inside the cage from the outside (she even tried clawing at it), but entering the cage was never an option for her. Smart cat.
Eventually, Zee hopped into the Jeep to be with her kittens, and then looked at me with a face that I cannot quite describe. She looked deeply sad, possibly frightened:
I approached Zee (here’s a short clip of me approaching), and she let me come within about two feet. Her face looked the same as above; scared and sad. She never hissed, she never showed any aggression — she just had huge pupils, she opened her mouth a little bit, and she just seemed beside herself. I felt bad for her. Maybe she felt sad because she was uncertain about this huge creature getting near her kittens; in any case, she pranced away when I got too close with the piece of chicken I was trying to feed her. I threw the chicken on the hood, and she grabbed it and made it disappear. You can see Zee here as I approach through the rear right side door:
Anyway, the kittens seem to be healthy and in good spirits. Momma Zee is remaining well-fed (she digs chicken), so things seem OK. Ideally, I’d still like to help these cats find homes so they don’t have to spend their lives wandering the mean streets of LA, but we’ll see what the situation is like when I return to LA in two weeks from my trip to Germany. If the kitties are still in my ZJ, I may try again at capturing Zee, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll just take the kittens, since they’ll either have already been weaned off Zee, or they’d soon be weaned off her. I figure getting these kittens off the streets and into loving homes is a best-case. Worst case is getting them spayed and neutered and returning them to the colony. We’ll see.
All I know is, they’re cute, and they’re having a great time in my Holy Grail. I’m glad someone is; I really need to get off my arse and turn this thing into the ultimate budget overlanding Jeep.
Cats and cars.
Cars and cats.
Soon they’ll be driving.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fvsItXYgzk
Man it’s a good thing I don’t live in LA or I’d have 5 more cats.
How much for that kitty in the window? No not that window, I want the kitty in the window of the jeep.
I just love Catopian content! Could some of the Autopian staff adopt at least some of the kittens? Or give them away to readers if someone near is interested?
Those kitten are huge! I’ve fed tinier kitten with food.
Bit late for the suggestion but if you locked all kitten content behind rich Corinthian leather tier you’d have been funded by mid-afternoon.
“She looked deeply sad, possibly frightened”
You don’t have to be a cat person to understand that look.
I was once a feral teenager. I’ve seen that look on my mother’s face more times than I care to remember.
We can laugh about most of my shenanigans now but I still harbor some guilt about certain things.
One of which is that she used to put spare change and bills in the storage bin on the left hand side of her Camrys steering wheel.
She needed it for gas money.
I used to steal it.
I try to make up for it to this day, beyond just apologizing. Sometimes that doesn’t cut it.
I sneak money into her new Camry now.
Same old stash spot eh mom.
That is a hard look to get over. Be it on a human or cat.
My mom always tries to pay me for the little things I get her. Pick up groceries at the store, a gadget for the house etc. I stopped fighting her. I take the money when she offers, then hide it in the silverware drawer or on the drivers seat or wherever when she isn’t looking. Restaurants are another thing. I usually have to sneak away from the table to pay the bill in secret before she has a chance to do the same.
KITTIES! Oh my gosh, they’re so cute. Folks are checking in on them while you’re gone, right?
It’s only fitting that a 4.0 liter ZJ is currently housing a 4-litter Zee.
Dad jokes aside, I do hope that you can find them a good home. I’d offer, but I’m too far away and already full-up on cats.
Keep these coming, it’s the only way I can get my girlfriend to look at automotive articles.
I just love the great people that rescue our furry friends! You folks all are Soo Awesome!
I have two cats already and taking on a 3rd would be a dumb idea. I will take one Jeep Kitten please.
I missed it on the original article, but how did Zee manage to make her way into the Jeep to give birth to her kittens in the first place?
I know that it never rains in southern California, but do you people really just leave your car windows open for cats or hobos to sneak in? Or are the tolerances on Chrysler products so poor that semi-wild animals can make their way through the panel gaps?
I believe there is at least the hole for stick on the floor. Cats can sneak through surprisingly tiny holes, but I don’t believe even Jeep has such big panel gaps.
The hole in the floor for the shifter is relatively open in the Jeep’s current state, and that was the best guess as to how Zee got in. The windows were rolled down once the kittens were discovered so that they didn’t have to live in an oven, but the weather does make it possible to do so without worrying too much about rain getting in.
There was a Cadillac in the apartment complex that my girlfriend’s family lives in that had the windows down intentionally for the purpose of cats living in it though. It didn’t run, the tires were flat, the person either didn’t need to drive it or couldn’t afford to fix it, so it became a stray cat hotel. A Cat-illac, as it were. I think when new management took over, they weren’t happy about its existence, and it was removed.
Rusted floors?
The kittens look older than advertised. I’m pretty sure they are ready or past the age to be weaned. Try offering them some soft food.
I find for cat recovery, tuna, flaked light, canned packed in water from the supermarket is the best.
There is something about it that most cats find irresistible despite it not being on the wild cat diet.
agreed they look 5 weeks or longer already, time to foster!
I have two kittens in my house right now, we took in a stray and took too long getting an appointment to have her fixed. Then she got out and now kittens. They are cute. But if you take them home and they decide they love you be prepared for furballs jumping on you while you try to sleep or sleeping on your head. One tries to ride around on my shoulder. Cats are strange. And they don’t even have the excuse other domesticated animals have! Clearly turning a wolf into a Chihuahua is going to give an animal issues. But cats aren’t much changed from their wild ancestors. They’re weird by nature alone.
Awwwwwwwww!
The orangest/most chaotic kitten needs to be named Torch Junior.
Yep. Zee’s domestic. She’s domestic and terrified. If she was feral, you would not have gotten anywhere near her. She would have run immediately. Watch the ears. She’s going back and forth because of the person filming. They never go flat. They never snap. So she does not see you as a threat. She sees you as a human she doesn’t know which is scary. But her tail isn’t lashing, she isn’t crouching.
That mouth opening? Cats smell better through their mouths. Food helps, but food absolutely is not enough for a feral. They will still bolt or react with aggression. Likely she was getting your scent or picking up the kittens on you.
Shelter seeking in a car was hint one for me. Ferals don’t usually do that. Two, she didn’t bolt from you with or without food. And three, she’s reacting with caution not fear. Tail is straight out. Plus she knew exactly what a carrier was. If you fail to trap a feral with food, it’s only because you used the wrong food. Get a bigger trap, put it under the Jeep if you can, and do not leave it unattended! She very well may hurt herself panicking in a trap.
Please, please get the folks at Galpin to trap Zee humanely and reunite her with her kittens ASAP. She does not belong with the colony. She has to be someone’s lost cat.
I thought the same thing, she’s not feral, way too calm for a feral, we get them at my house passing through and you barely see them before they see you and take off. You’ve got her physical actions down pat, she’s scared, but the more you feed, the more she is comfortable.
Our current cat, who showed up a year ago ( it appears to be a Maine Coon, a definite domestic that got lost, wouldn’t let us within 10-15 feet at first, but you could tell it wanted help. We’d put out food each day, make eye contact so he knew where it came from, and leave him alone to eat. Then after several days, we set out a chair about 10 feet from where we put the food, then just sat there until it would eat in front of us. We kept putting the food closer and closer to the chair until it was right by us.
You have to talk to them the whole time so they get used to your voice, talk constantly, recite engine numbers, whatever. After some time, we moved the food to where he had to come in the garage to eat, and that was that.
I know you want to foster them and have them adopted, but how could you deprive us of having car related car/cat content?!
In the meantime you can be content with running a small cathouse. 🙂
I’m glad to see the process is underway. Those kitties are just too cute!
Oh good one!
Smart man, not disturbing the kittens too much at this point. But two weeks may be too long – they look like they’re a few weeks at this point, and may be gone by the time you get back. You might out to ask whoever you’ve got feeding & watering them while you’re gone to see if they can’t capture them in a week or so. Besides, we’re going to need updates sooner than two weeks from now. They are mighty adorable.
Two things-
This is even more exciting than that spare tire carrier you found.
And, if you continue, these posts will soon result in offers of marriage.
Are you saying that these cats are true Holy Grails? lol
We’re not not saying it.
Just like we’re not not saying cats are good luck charms.
Don’t know about holy, but it’s got to mean something if David graduates from mice in his heaps to cats!
Loves cats, handy with cars? Definitely husband material. We just have to work on stuff like running transmission cases through the dishwasher.
Did you read that thing on the old site when he “cooked dinner “ for (I think) Kristen Lee ? Baked the chicken in a valve cover? You can see I haven’t fact-checked this.
Maybe he’ll find someone who’s ok w/ shower spaghetti
Oh god that poor Jeep. David you need to get her back on the road ASAP.
Try some Squeeze-Ups cat treats. Salmon & Shrimp flavor. Squeeze one of the tubes out into a drink lid so she learns the taste. Then try to get her to eat from a tube that you’re holding as you squeeze it out for her. Then if you can get her doing that, try the trap again with a dish of Squeeze-Up in it.
You may need to not let her eat in the hours before you try the trap again, so she’s hungry.
Churu brand > everything
This would go viral on TicTok.
I forgot to mention this on the original post, but you might need it.
If the kittens did pee-J all up in that ZJ (I’M HILARIOUS) then use this product on all surfaces, carpets, fabric, seats, carpet, etc… it is the only product that works to get rid of cat piss smell and prevent cats from wanting to come back and pee there again. It can also be used on clothes/blankets in the laundry as a last resort.
We used this extensively when we had a very old cat that was going downhill fast, works for dog pee too:
https://www.amazon.com/Rocco-Roxie-Supply-Co-Professional/dp/B00CKFL93K/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_2/143-9044647-0454935?pd_rd_w=UmiTl&content-id=amzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_p=116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_r=FRZMEKK3JVATK9EBJQXY&pd_rd_wg=j66XO&pd_rd_r=a9443677-3195-44c8-a412-c165d03c7b7d&pd_rd_i=B00CKFL93K&psc=1
And don’t use chlorine/bleach… you’d be suprised how many cats are in LOVE with the smell of bleach….
Cat waste probably smells better than the jeep I suspect
Aww!
Ok, so there’s definitely going to be more than 100 comments on this one. I’ll go with 143 in 72 hours(but I wouldn’t be surprised if it hits 200 as people suggest ways to catch momma kitty)