Furrball has the couch on lock down. Didn't mention it, but she was in a near death state... again, a few weeks ago. She's on the road to kidney/liver/pancreas failure due to age, so it's nothing out of the ordinary.
--Sadness warning--
The 2 feral kittens returned, for anyone who wanted to know the result. They only lost about 10-14% of their ear length wise, not so bad. The place said they were absolute sweet hearts and couldn't believe how well they behaved. Which only makes the current situation make us feel worse.
The mother is hissing and smacking them in the face repeatedly, even though they seem to recognize her and try to be friendly. Hopefully it's just some sort of disciplinary action as she's not directly aggressive/attacking them otherwise, just seems to have either forgotten they're hers after 1 day due to scents or decided she's done with them.
The bigger fluffy one seems to have already mostly recovered in terms of behavior, she's socializing and playing with the other 2 as if nothing's wrong. The female tabby that was meant to go was grooming her as if sensing her sister was hurt.
The smaller tabby is literally pushing me towards cry town. She's the smallest and most lethargic so you already feel pity. Then considering the fact she got scooped up and placed in a strange container twice, then sent to get cut up. Comes back to get seemingly disowned by her mother and littermates, left to curl up into a sad little ball all alone and confused what she did wrong. She's had a rough 1.5 days.
I just sat next to her and just stroked her head/back for a while on seperate occasions. She lifts her head towards the incoming petting and seems to really appreciate it. Haven't actually seen her for about 5-6 hours now, so hopefully she's just resting/asleep.
Edit: She's ok, opened the door to scare off a raccoon that's determined to get them. All 5 cats were suddenly present and close, looking up at me. :| I'm gonna have to stay up all night in basically silence so I can listen to and check on them.
Aww thanks for the update.. do you think mother is pregnant again? Might be why she was a bit cold towards them. I'd say the other kitten just needs time, they all seem to vary in how quickly they get back to normal after being fixed.