Kitten afraid of me?

Three months ago I started feeding a stray outdoor cat with two newborn kittens who were a month or so old.  After a week or so of feeding them on my porch I started opening my door and putting the food inside the door and they would come in and eat, and I closed the door and made them indoor cats.  The momma cat was still nursing the kittens at first, but a month or so after coming to live with me she stopped nursing the cats and soon after got out and took off and never returned, leaving me with the two kittens to raise.

One of the kittens is very friendly and lets me pet her and hold her and comes up to me.  The other one is very aloof and seems to be afraid of me.  She won't let me get near her to pet her, even though she watches me pet the other kitten.  The closest this kitten will get to me is if I stick my finger out near her she might sniff my finger and move on.  If she is near me and her back is turned to me and I try to pet her, as soon as I touch her she runs off.  I need to get these kittens to the vet to get them examined and get their immunization records started, but there is no way this one kitten will let me get her into a carrier box so I can take her to the vet.  Any suggestions on how to get her to be friendly with me?

A few days prior to the vet visit put the carrier where you normally keep their food and put the food inside the carrier. Let them get comfortable being in there and when the time comes you should be able to close the door.

I second this advice.  Dont wait for the last moment, set it up several hours before. Let her wait in the carrier...

Yes, the sisters can differ... One sweaty paj, easy to foster, the other very shy...   So can be even with home born cats,  a memory from my childhood comes up.... With ferale born cats it is of course more common.  Cats are individuals.  

You can try with Feliway.  It gives a nice,friendly and safe atmosfere for the cats.

If you can got Felifriend it is a variation, which is used by vets when they shall handle the cat.

Good luck!   *vibes*

ps  Welcome to the TCS-site and Forums!

Welcome to TCS and thank you SO much for taking in these cat's. Sorry the mom cat got away because she will probably be having another litter of kittens soon.... . BUT you have the two kitten's and this behavior is very, very common and normal. Just spend as much time in the room with the kitten's as you can. Agree with the above as well, set up a cat carrier with the door propped open somehow.and start to feed in the carrier. Sit in the room too when they go into the carrier to eat just so they are used to your presence there while they eat. Start this today and then after a week or two they will be comfortable going in the crate to eat with you in the room and then you can shut the crate door on vet day. Actually, by then you might have made progress with the skittish kitten :cross: Much luck and keep us posted