Socializing my feral mom and her kittens

I need some advice on the socialization process. I trapped a mom and her two babies that were living in a condo complex with other free roaming cats not a feral colony. The residents are not allowed to feed them or help them in any way otherwise they will be fined. My friend's mother-in law called for help with the mom's babies that were living underneath her neighbors deck. The mom was caring for them and at that time they were about 6-8wks old. It took me one night to trap the mom and a wk to finally trap the kittens. I put them in my basement with babies in one crate and mom in another. I had a hard time with them crated as far as socilaizing and just decided to let them have free roam of the basement. This didn't work much either the kittens seemed to remain close to mom and mom was always protecting them, although she never was aggressive with me at all. I had mom spayed and 2 weeks later had both kittens spayed. All tested negative too. I decided to keep mom and my other foster mom has the two kittens together in her small bath. As the days go on the mom seems depressed w/o her babies, not eating her wet food that she devoured before and sleeping more than usual. Is it possible moms get depressed being away from their babies? I know it's going to take awhile for her to come around and I'm struggling if this was the right thing to do for them. The kittens are still acting feral hissing, hiding and sometimes spitting. I think it depends on the personality more than the age of the cat/kitten. I socialized a feral who was almost a year old and she is a sweetheart and can't believe it's the same shy and scared girl that I took in. I was told anything after 6wks should remain feral and outdoors. Well where am I going to take them??? I can't get any help or answers and just want what's best for the mom and kittens. Please help!

Thanks for coming to TCS and I hope we can offer you at least some support here . You are doing the right thing!! Mom needs to be separated from her kittens. You don't want mom to influence the kittens anymore than she already has against you. Of course, she will be upset and down in the bathroom. It is a new environment than the basement. Are your intentions to socialize her and keep her? She doesn't sound to fierce and this is the way to do it. Spend as much time as you possibly can in that bathroom with her. Just reading, talking quietly. Best not to look directly at her either. Just glances back and forth slowly, with some slow blinking. You can play some classical, soft music when you are gone. Once she settles down in the bathroom and feels safe, she wills start eating again. Make sure she has a hiding place in there (not just behind the toilet a favorite spot). Maybe a small cat carrier without the door and keep a comfy bed inside for her and a couple of mouse toys/treats.

Are the kittens with another "foster mom" cat you have? Not sure I understood about that. If the foster cat is friendly, then this will help move those kittens along to being socialized quickly. They will look up to this older friendly female. It is best that the kittens not have a hiding place where you cannot reach and pick them up and pet them. They need daily handling, regardless of the hissing/spitting. In a few days time, they will come to realize you are their new caretaker and will start to trust you. It is NOT true that if they are over six weeks that they cannot be socialized . Even older ferals can be socialized, it just takes ALOT more time than kittens. You just have to work with them everyday, loving on them, bringing them their food, playing with wand toys with them (don't leave the wand toys in with them though). Where are the kittens being kept at the moment? They really need to be confined somewhere where you can easily interact with them.

Thanks for caring for this family of cats. We need lots of people such as yourself in this world

Jumping in just to say Hello and Welcome to the Forums!

Nodding agreement with what Feralw said.



Good luck!

Hi and thanks for getting back with me Feralvr! I have the mom who I named Sadie in my basement family room and she's coming along alot faster than I ever expected! She is already purring, immediately coming to me when I enter the room, and she let me pet her for the very first time last night. It makes all my hard work worth it! I also have another feral I socialized in a separate room in the basement and will try to introduce them this weekend. I asked this question on another thread not sure if it was you who replied but I'm following the advice you or they suggested. Sadies babies Shadow and Sparrow are with a friend that fosters cats/kittens. They're in her bathroom and showing very slow progress unlike their mom Sadie who I thought would be the tougher one. They do come out for food and only let us pet them when they're eating. Shadow is more shy with me, and Sparrow will come much quicker with the baby food I give them. It's actually the opposite with my friend when she feeds them. Shadow comes to her more quickly where Sparrow hisses at her and runs away. Today I thought they should be separated to increase our success socializing them, so I placed Sparrow in another room with 2 other social kittens, and brought a very social kitten in the bathroom with Shadow. Is this a good plan? Sparrow hid under the bed after she ran out of the carrier, and Shadow was hiding under the blanket when I checked on her after bringing the social kitten in, but I immediately took the blanket away. Shadow and Sparrow when together most of the time hide under the blanket and my friend would pet them and talk to them but I told her not to do this because it could encourage them to hide even more.

There are surely several different ways to socialize shy semiferales.

One of them is to use friendly socialized cat(s).

They should have somewhere to get away. But is should be somewhere you can get hold of them, and you can have still some contact, even if they are aside. A cat igloo, a side turned cardboard box, something like that...
They are lesser stressed, and feel a little more comfortable...


Good luck!

As far as the handling goes should I handle them eventhough they hiss, spit, and try to fight to get away? I'm a little afraid to do this since I've never done it before, but just wondering if that includes all situations with handling ferals. Should I try to attempt it while they're hiding under a blanket? I did buy some good gloves. I tried to handle Shadow because I had to place her in a carrier to get her fixed and it didn't go well and felt I put her under more stress and maybe became more distrustful. I will do whatever it takes to bring these two around though!

Yes, try to handle/pet them as much as possible. It is a very good idea to put the most fearful kitten with more social kittens and let the fearful one watch you love on the social kittens. Believe me, they do watch, everything. You don't ever want to chase the kitten. This is why I like the large cat enclosures/cages in the initial stages. That way you can reach in with a closed fist, slowly and start to pet under the chin and side of face. With the cage socialization, the kittens cannot run away from you and they won't get as frightened because they can't run and hide. Don't reach over their head in the beginning, that will frighten them. Put a small cat carrier in the bathroom (without the door) and the frightened kitten might run in that carrier. You can then reach in slowly and pet the kitten for a minute then retreat. Do this often. Also, spend some time using the wand toys playing with the kittens, this will bring the playful side out of the timid kitten too. Don't always worry about handling/petting ALL the time. This will cause the kitten too much stress. Just a few short sessions every other day will be fine. The kitten WILL come around on it's own schedule. It took my feral kitten, Magilla, a whole six weeks before she started coming to me. Then, she was all over me in no time, and just was hungry for attention. But all cats are not lap cats, feral or not. Just depends on the personality of each individual kitty as to how affectionate they will become in the long run. My Perkins, who was a barn born cat and a bit feral, does not like to be pet or touched. So we butt heads as a way to show affection to eachother. That is another thing you can try as time goes on, head to head rubs, cats go crazy-silly for those. .

You are doing a great job!!!! Sadie sounds just like a doll and obviously not a feral cat, just a lost stray/pet, poor girl. And, really, if her kittens could see her being affectionate to you, then that would help her kittens come around to you quicker also. More luck to you

I just needed some more advice and wanted to update you on the progress of Sadie and her kittens. So Sadie and my other feral cat Liley are doing great and becoming friends. My problem is I now have Sadie's 2 kittens in my bathroom basement. Shadow is coming along really well, she purrs w/o me touching her and comes to me. It's her sister Sparrow that's not doing so good. She still hisses, but does let me pet her and purrs, but is still very scared and mistrustful. She seems very protective of Shadow and I really want to separate them so I can work w/Sparrow one on one. I would like to place Shadow in the living room basement where Sadie and Liley reside. Do you think Sadie will remember her baby and still be sweet and loving like she is now, or will she becaome protective of her and shy away from me again? Liley mainly stays in the room next door and comes out to play w/Sadie at night. I have no door where Liley is just a makeshift one and it's very difficult to keep putting it back up and taking it down again. I guess it would just make it easier on me if I can have Sadie, Shadow and Liley all together but only if there's no conflict and they don't regress,otherwise it may take alot longer for Sparrow to come around w/Shadow being in the same room. I would really appreciate any advice and what you think is best for everyone!

You are really doing everything you can with the space you have. I would think moving Shadow in with the other two girls must be done if you have no other space or room. You have to make due with what you have . This way Sparrow will have to become closer to you and she will. Honestly, if she allows you to pet and is purring during those moments, you are on the right path. It took one of my female feral kittens many weeks to stop the hissing. The hissing is just fear, that's all. Of course, there will be a bit of disrupt in the beginning when you put Shadow in with the two other girls. But, again, you have no other choice. I would do the crate thing again . I have a large Midwest cat cage (tall) that works so well in these situations. If you plan to do more rescue work , you might order one on Amazon. They are about $100.00. This way Shadow could be in that cage comfortably for quite a few days before letting her out with Lilly and Sadie. I am sure Sadie will remember Shadow, no doubt about it as it has only been a few weeks apart. I don't think Sadie will become so protective of Shadow. Sadie trusts you now and relies on you for food, comfort and love. I do not think that will be an issue. It would be worth trying anyway. Much luck and glad to see your update and that the girls are doing well.