How do I drive a mother cat and her kittens away?

This is a question on the quora.com website and I think it was set by a computer (an algorithm) and not by a person because it doesn't make sense. It's too heartless for somebody to ask such a question and if somebody did then the people who moderate the website missed it. So, the question should not be asked in the first place but as it has, I will answer it.

Mother cat and kittens. The photo is for illustrative purposes only. Photo: Pixabay.

You don't drive a mother cat and her kittens away. You take them in and you help them to survive until they can be rehomed or you might even home one or two of them yourself depending upon your circumstances. You would take them to a veterinarian to be checked out. You would make sure that the mother had been spayed and vaccinated. You would check for a microchip.

You would check the kittens' health and depending upon their age you would have them vaccinated and spayed and neutered as well. Yes, it would be an expense in time and money but you have no option. You would do some research about how to raise kittens because it is quite complicated. It is quite a demanding job and you might ask your veterinarian while they are doing the above for some tips. And you might seek help such as from Cats Protection in the UK or an American equivalent.

You might try and rehome them yourself once the kittens were at an age where they could be rehomed. You might take them to a cat rescue centre for them to do it for you as mentioned. There are numerous options but everything you do is designed to ensure that they survive and live as good a life as possible. Nothing you will do will drive them away as asked in the question. Unless of course you are heartless and have psychopathic tendencies.

One minor point comes to mind; there was a story not long ago of a person who mistook the kittens of a bobcat for those of a feral or domestic cat. She took the kittens in and in doing so she probably, inadvertently, took the mother's cubs from her because she might have been out looking for food when the person in question stumbled upon the kittens. Domestic kittens look quite different to bobcat cubs.

The reason why there was a mother cat and kittens in and around your home is because somebody failed to discharge their responsibilities as a cat owner. All stray cats and feral cats are the result of a failure in the human-to-cat relationship. This is another reason why you should not drive away a mother cat and her kittens. It is not their fault that they are there around or on your property. It is the fault of a person, probably a neighbour. So don't blame the cat and drive them away.

You might in fact ask around because you might be able to find the person responsible. We don't know if the cat is a feral or a domestic cat. There will be a big difference in how they are dealt with. Feral cats will be difficult to manage for obvious reasons. You will soon find out.

On an associated topic, if your neighbour's cat is coming onto your property and you don't like it which might be understandable then I would recommend a couple of methods to keep them away which I have written about on a page which you can read by clicking this link.

A lot of people don't like cats on their property. You just have to be sensitive and decent when you deal with them. There should be no poisoning, nothing inhumane should be done to get rid of them. There are numerous reasons for this one of which is that it is illegal to harm a cat even if they are "trespassing" (cats can't trespass legally).