Advice on taming feral kitten

Update: Major break through with Baby!

This am he sat on the floor in the middle of room, and WATCHED me through the baby gates when I left the room! Yayyyy!! He's less fearful. Before the minute I moved he ran back under the bed. But not today, he sat and looked out at me!!!



Its slow going, but I think soon I will be able to touch. I have put chicken grease on my fingers (roasted chicken) and scented w/ Feliway. He is now
so close I almost breath on him when he comes by!!

But I've held off on touching him. I want him to come to me. He has turned on his purr motor while playing with me, no longer hisses or runs
immediately I move. I think he's discovered I = play & food!

This process would be greatly speeded up if I had a friendly kitten to borrow, LOL. Alas, will have to do the hard way. Soon as he has his vetting he will be allowed to roam the house, observe the other cats and play with us..

Yayy. meantime my adorable feral Siamese that tamed down has BEEN ADOPTED. I am SO HAPPY. The lady fell in love when she met him, LOL.
And she drove a long way to see him, 2 hours. She definitely wanted HIM.

So happy today!!

Wow - just good news all around!

Congrats on the adoption!

And... he watched you leave! What a coup!

I don't think it'll be too long before that first headbump. I know how frustrating it is - but he's purring while playing! I'm just busting for him and you!

Laurie

Laurie:

You have so much experience. I am a bit new to this. My other ferals from the colony *knew* me - and tamed well. Although Ms. Laphrogie is not at all tame to any other than me. She is very standoffish w/ bf too.
(But she WILL sleep with/on him, LOL at night!)

And my siamese rescue TT (now named Vinne short for Vincent Van Gogh!)
tamed almost immediately due in large part to having a fearless foster kitten Dewey with him. Dewey taught him to be more outgoing. Though I think TT would have gotten to it in time...

Baby is a bit of a challenge. I got him round I figure 12wks or maybe younger - hard to say. But not the 8 wks age.
He does seem more comfortable round cats -
but coming from a colony yeah, he would, wouldn't he??

He is afraid of BF, and we are going to start working
on that soonest I can pursuade the BF. to spend time with him, LOL.

Of course, I have an English Bulldog I want him to adopt too ...
(Sadly someone abandoned or it wandered. Microchipped to a place
in MN and the breeder seems OUT of biz now. ... ) Imagine a MN
dog in WVa! Anyway the co worker who found, is looking for good
adopter.. My BF is dogs best home, and I am cats best home, LOL!

Anyway, its hard to judge it, but Baby seems to limit himself to the door
of kitten room, he's not quite ready to roam the house yet. And he
needs his vetting first. But before that, I want to be able to touch him.

It can't be too long now, the purr motor being on, and so forth gives me REAL hope he is looking round and deciding about being loved / touched.
He has watched the big guys getting pets through the petgate and seems very interested. Definitely observing it. Also today he saw my oldster
Diablo (17 yrs) a giant black cat, give me his usual tail up straight and
quivering greeting. And get pets, and not run. I think he was WAY interested. He also observed Frogie give me her trills and mews and get
pets.

But he does have to be drawn out from under the bed - where he hides when he hears noises he doesn't "know".

I really don't know how to proceed to touching. Short of throwing a towel on him and letting him get burritoed. Not the method I htink would work on him.

But alt leat he's in a clean room, using the litter box perfectly
and eating now, at the edge NOT under the bed. I move the bowl a bit
each day out to the room, so he has to stick his head out, etc etc...

I think 2 more wks we may have head butts. If there are no set backs.
Please send me vibes for Baby *loving* Mommy and Baby *getting pets*

Update on Baby - Baby appears to be a Maine Coon, however there
seems to be something a bit SHORT about his leg height to body ratio.

I can't swear to it, but I suspect he may be a munchkin cat/kitten. Has anyone ever heard of this breed? Is it a common mutation?

I guess its possible he is just in an awkward growing stage, but the body
does seem over long for the leg height! Tail length seem to be in proportion to body however.

He scoots and climbs just fine, dispite that ... it just sometimes looks odd to me?

Anyway, exciting thing was this afternoon (home sck) I touched HIS TAIL.
Yayy. Then he turned round an put his wee paw on my hand! Claws were not "out" ... Yayyy!! Baby's getting bolder!

Wheee... so happy. off now to care for my cold. Shower, soup and
lots of hot strong tea.

Send vibes for RAPID taming from here on in. This wee one needs to do what my lovely Flame point feral did - tame to such a level you would never know wehre he come from!!

I'll send vibes for rapid comfort and ease to Baby...

....but that said, I KNOW how exciting it is, and I KNOW how frustrating it is - but you really just have to turn off any thoughts of "a clock." Cats love routine - but they don't work on schedules.

Lazlo we rescued at about 10 weeks old just after 4th of July 2002. Shelly we rescued a week later. Of the five in the litter, we have four - the fifth was successfully adopted out. Spooky we brought inside in November of that year. Tuxedo we brought inside in March of 2003. Spooky and Tuxie were tame to us - Spooky from when we adopted her out and rescued her back, and Tuxedo was tame to us, though outside, from sometime in December (what a nasty little cat he was initially!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Lazlo's purr motor turned on the first day we brought him inside. He was playing and comfortable within the first week. But..... he STILL bolts at a loud noise. A cough, a dropped pan, a new person. This is to say - a lot of it has to do with the cat's personality.

He doesn't need to be drawn out from under the bed. He will come when he's ready.

He comes out to play with wand toys? He comes out for chicken baby food or something on a spoon? He's doing great!

I don't know how large a space you live in. If it's an apartment and not a large house, maybe take the gate down while you're in there for 1/2 an hour or an hour so the other kitties can come in. Play with or pet them in there. If there's no hissing and they're OK with each other - maybe just take the gate down. He may come out at night to explore while you're sleeping.

Also, if his separation room isn't a guest bedroom, maybe grab a sleeping bag or something and sleep on the floor in there! I don't know if you read the sticky about socializing Lucky at the top of this forum - but Lucky used to sleep on the bed when she thought they were asleep - but wouldn't really interact otherwise. Being asleep is a TOTALLY non-threatening situation.

For now, he's comfortable in his territory.

Laurie

Laurie today he crawled OVER my hand sniffed and poked head under it, all while i played dead, LOL! He's getting better. He still doesn't stay out in the room when I am watching from outside, but sometimes he does for a short time. He is really getting there.

My pictures will be posted to flickr soon. I will send link soon. He is totally Maine Coon faced! The pics show that adorable snout the Coon's have. And the ruff and britches, not to mention ear tufting!!

I think now he younger than his size would suggest - I think he is simply big!

I am still wondering over the body and leg configuration. He may just be
awkward. and growing into a larger body.

In any case he is totally delightful once he gets over the shyness. I
am SO hoping he learns to come out soon!

I left his baby gate open, and he still won't venture out... but if I do it
tonight and let him travel he may do so... Wouldn't that be terrific??

Course I would prefer it if I could corral and pick him up when he
does that. Frogie girl is not so tame herself, just to me. And
even then I sometimes have to work on the "picking me up"
angles.

Okay off to play some more. His room is 12/20 feet, so he has room and sunny windows to look out too. I can definitely spend a night in there
next week. Right now neck is out, so I'm in pain and not doing it.

But I will SOOON!

Just wanted to tell you the good news. A sniff! under my hand!! He is curious, and getting there... he just needs to learn more from the others...

Originally Posted by opilot

Laurie today he crawled OVER my hand sniffed and poked head under it, all while i played dead, LOL! He's getting better. He still doesn't stay out in the room when I am watching from outside, but sometimes he does for a short time. He is really getting there.

Click to expand...

WHAT a brave boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's coming along so fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laurie

Update to Baby:

He allowed me to PET him while eating Babyfood yesterday evening!!! Yayyyy.
I did 4 or 5 strokes of his back, no moving away from food, growling or anything, just fixed lapping up of yummy babyfood!

Hee hee! I tossed him some turkey bits after dinner too

He also comes right up to my lap when playing now. Still bolts if
he SEES my hand coming at him, but is more comfy now than
before. Let me watch him use his BOX today.

He MUST be feeling comfy now... I think he's getting ready to venture
out of his room. I have a spay neuter for him next weekend, so after
that he's clear to roam the house, with supervision...

AT night I will have to shut the pet door so he doesn't go out, and the
others all STAY inside...

Could be v. interesting. Would hope they all get to playing gently/nicely...
Baby does want to make friends and play!

Using feliway again, to help him relax round me....

Hope that he soon comes tame to touching... slow progress but
I rather feel that the room method has advantages over the
other more harsh and stressful cage containment method...

What do you think Laurie? Is cage faster but harder, and more
prone to slippage or does hand/home rearing in the house
provide a better rounded more relaxed cat?

I took in 3 feral cats yesterday after immediately getting them spayed/neutered and fully vetted. The mother is only a few years old (background unknown) and her 2 kittens are approx 3-4 months. I had to get them out of the traps, so I put all 3 in one of my smaller bathrooms. They've been taking turns hiding behind the toilet, in a little cat bed, and on the countertop in the corner. My vet told me to touch them as much as possible, so I was sitting on the floor with them on my lap and petting them for 5-10 minutes at a time. But they just sit there transfixed and carefully watching me... they're completely scared and won't move. The kittens won't hiss, bite, or scratch... I pet them and they won't move a muscle. Finally, this morning I brought a dish of wet food in, and after putting one of the kittens on my lap and showing him the food, he very carefully moved as little as he possibly could to get to the dish. The mother is surprisingly docile, and was even good at the vet... she'll hiss a little, but if I move slowly enough, she won't hiss when I pet her, although its obviously she's very scared. So now, after reading people's posts, my plan is to spend some time in the bathroom with them reading a book and let them come to me. Should I touch them at all? Any suggestions on what I should do? Thanks!

Sunny I am not sure I'm best to advise, but from what I've seen (4 tamed now) the cats like to have your voice, scent and being near them. BUT
they DO hide - you have to draw them out slowly, with string toys. Use Feliway (pheremone that smells good to cat) and you have to play
soft music or low radio when you are away. Sleep with them in the room if you can. Always bring treats and toss under to them.

Even with all this, it will take the cat time to come out. Some are faster and some are slower but they ALL come round eventually. Very few remain completely feral. See the story of "Jimmy's breakthroughs" on this forum.

Jimmy took 1 year to come out of his shell, and he had a HUGE lot of
cat friends to help him along the way!!

Patience, no expectations and steadiness. Also consistency. Cats like their routines, LOL.

And of course food bribes, toys, catnip and Feliway are also useful!!!

Evenutally, your cat will slowly come out to you. Just keep doing what you are doing - patiently. One day he'll be watching you, the next interacting with you and one day, it will be like a bulb went off in his head

"oh yeah, she's food, pets, toys.. my slave!!" LOL

PS. I forgot to mention - you can use a babygate to keep the cats in the room, but allow them to hear the sounds of the house. Also, since yours will LET you pet, try scenting your fingers with catnip and spraying w/ Feliway before you try petting. Also bring treats and feed them while you pet.

And of course don't forget to NOT stare directly at them, ignoring them sometimes is the best. Then they want YOU to be near them

Cats can be contrary!!

Opilot, you know what I'm thinking - especially after this thread? That the crate method is best for really old kitties or really young kittens. Young kittens because they don't need the space, and older ferals, because maybe it makes sense to force contact. But we don't have and didn't have the heart to contain kitties, so we always use the room method - but then we're never in any hurry.

I can't believe your petting him! I told you food is your best friend!

BTW - are you still just fostering this kitty?

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Laurie

Yeah, Laurie I am foster by default! Orginally I was sent to trap kittens because I was close by. I got one before Xmas, then left for break, came
home and immediately went to try for other kittens. I got Baby.

But then The lady who was to take him, the tamer, had to leave town on a trip. So, naturally he couldn't go to her right away.

Then, he escaped cage and she never followed up asking me to give to her. So long short, I told them I would keep and tame him.

They say the crate works for kittens, but he was about 12 wks at the time,
and too large. 8 wks would have fit the crate, but his size is big because he is part (very obviously I might add) Maine coon. (I used to live in MA so I am familar with the Coon breed and the mixes - this is NOT a long hair, a persian or angora type. Definitely a Coon in the mix.)

So now Baby is mine to tame! this morning we had more breakthroughs!
I went to get up and the baby gate had been knocked down by one of the kitties! LOL. Baby after I got up and went down stairs (leave door open)
moved OUT of his room, into the hall, into my bedroom and back to the kittey room!

Then we ate baby food - and I got to stroke! Now at least once a day, I feed the baby food and I pet him while eating. I have to manuever VERY carefully, from behind - he still is very very shy of hands to body movement.

But if he doesn't see me, LOL he lets me pet AND purrs and purrs!!

Yayyy! I am so glad I rescued. The rescue folks say a crated kitten can be handled by one week - but his one has taken 2.5 - HOWEVER - he is confident around me, and NOT scared. GRINNING.

If as i believe he is a sweetie pie (Coons usually are very people oriented and quite fearless) then this trend to taming should accelerate.


Meantime, I will keep at it slow and steady. I just want him to be tamed and socialized ASAP ahead of kitten season, so he gets a good home.

I've contacted the Coon Breed rescue folks to help me, as well as other groups to cross post him. He has SUCH potential!!

You can see it when he sits and watches me come in the room. And last night he didn't run when I came in he was actually SITTING ONTOP of the massage table pillows!!! Yayyy!!

I guess, he will come along nicely, and if I had a friendly kitten to put in
with him, he'd be competing like made for affection, LOL. I really really think
the room way is best, if you want a happy cat and they are older than 12 wks when you get em....

So far, all mine have been 4-6 months and they responded beautifully to room taming, plus my other "tame" cats..

And god how this little guy races around leaps, jumps, climbs and rolls LOL. He is a real acrobat! Its the Coon hunter in him
Oh gota go. My day off and one of my OTHER feral kitties (now a permanent cat) has spay surgery today - plus Goose my other feral kitty now permanent has a sore paw and is upset I am not allowing out. HE has VET apt this afternoon too. I'm runing cat express here, LOL

I was asking about the fostering - because you were starting to sound like maybe he wasn't going anywhere.

I'm so glad things are going so well! I am really unfamiliar with the crate method, and it may work great. I just agree with you - he seemed SO miserable in there. I think you've done the right thing and are doing great!

Please just be cautious with Maine Coon Rescue. Make sure whether or not THEY are using adoption papers or whether you need to use your own. We adopted a kitty out - we THOUGHT - through Maine Coon Rescue, and it turned out they were "just making introductions to potential adopters." Long story short - no adoption papers, no recourse when we were concerned about the adoption. We adopted our Coon mix rescue to one of THEIR fosters - and she turned out to have serious problems, and they wouldn't help us. It was a horrible situation. So just letting you know up front - make sure you know where your kitty stands if you find a "taker" through them.

Laurie

Laurie thanks. That is SO GOOD to know! I don't know much about them at all. There is a group at our Petsmart and they are active in our VA area - because Coons are breed here quite a bit.

But again, I don't know how that would work. I have a second rescue group too, that might help, and I know they are excellent.

Siamese Rescue was terrific with T.T aka Vinnie. The foster mom sent me email and pics on him, and told me about his placement. I felt really good about it - very secure in knowing his future was okay.

Baby deserves the best - he's playing right now with his toys, he
actually was being difficult about letting me pet him while he ate his yummmy AD cat food, but finally got some petting in, then HE DIDN"T RUN right away when my hand was near his head!! Yayyyy!!!

No picking up yet, but this is just so huge. I think by next weekend (his spay time) I will have made enormous progress.

Just got my 2 cats back from vet. Frogie is very high strung nervous and
not wanting alone, and Goose is very upset. He peed him self on the way home *sigh*

They gave buperol to both, he has a torn out claw that is inflamed/infected
so he is on Baytril, the other Frogie is standard spay, with buperol for pain.

Makes em kind of loopy, LOL. Sleepy too.

I got both of them chipped while I was at it. No loosing these two
without some way of tracking!!!

I can't tell you how marvelous it is to see Baby progressing. I happen to think he is making HUGE progress in 2.5 weeks. I know the crate method he'd be tame to handle by now, but it seems too stressful to me. I rather they
"come to" themselves and learn to trust people at their own pace, rather than forcing.

Update on Baby -

Well I fear I set things back. For a while, baby let me pet while he gobbled baby food. Then after 5 days of this, he got scared or something, and started to not let me pet!

so today I sort of chased and caught him, he struggled I immediately let him go... I was trying to pull into my lap to cuddle/pet. The darling boy didn't even put a scratch on me SO HE WAS NOT USING CLAWS OR TEETH on me!

I think he was just not wanting to be held. But I was so amazed he didn't bite or try to hurt me? He didn't seem paralyzed by fear either.

He has seen repeatedly that I pet my Frogie and pick HER up, so he must
know that I will not hurt him?

anyway, I think its a set back, but it my fault. Sigh. Hang head in shame. I should have known better...

I just wanted to pet him!

Yeah - it's so often the case. Two steps forward, one step back. It can be so hard not to reach out to comfort or cuddle..... but you've learned the result. That's why it just can't be said enough - patience is the key.

Don't worry! He's fine - and he didn't completely freak!



Laurie

Yeah Laurie, its such slow going. Frustrating!! Grrr.

He came right out today and played for me, so I KNOW he's not permanently frightened. Also I let the gates down last night, locked the pet door and stood back - he dEFINATELy wandered the house, with big guys watching.

Frogie seems to chase him and be jealous of him. Bummer. I had hoped
they would play together or at least Baby not be afraid of her. Sigh.

Anyway, he seems better today, so we will work on it tonight again.

Slow n steady. He just needs a bit of confidence. And I just hope he gets it soon. I thought when I get him neutered I may take the advantage and put him into the bathroom to recover, then He will be closer to me, and not run n hide automatically. Or I could put him in my bed room, and sleep with him, keep the other guys out of the bed room... On step at a time!

I just don't know when he will decide to come out and wander the house
and / or get loving. He is still quite a young one, so it should mean he is MORE likely to be loving than not. I know he liked pets when eating, he PURRRed after all while eating.

Baby thrilled me! Today he ran round the upstairs, chased by Ms. Frogie!
But it was clear she wasn't hurting him or hissing, she was PLAYING!

YES!! Then HE CAME DOWNSTAIRS in the MORNING! And played with Frogie and me!!

Then just before I had to leave for work, Ms. Frogie chased him back upstairs!! YES!!!

Progress. Of course we still don't touch him, but less shying from hands now, and more play time with me, less hiding and running from my feet. Its slowly coming together. A few more weeks and I might turn him to a foster home for more socializing...

I still think he has a good chance to be tame to other people. My BF needs to start working on himl.... I'll post Baby's pics to flickr soon!

Oh that is too sweet!

Are you working with a rescue group with Baby? Because it might make more sense to adopt him out directly. ????? Moving him to a new territory might set him back a few steps - taking him out of a place he's just gotten comfortable. It would take less time, but to a certain degree it'd be an issue of starting all over given that the comfort is so related to the territory. I'm just thinking that if his new family is understanding to the fact that it may take a few weeks for him to get comfortable, if they're given tips to help him and are willing to do so - it'd be easier on Baby.

Just a thought......

Laurie