Advice on how to catch semi-feral kitten?

I have been looking for a kitten for the family for a while now. I have found a potentially very good candidate. It is a litter of 7 kittens who have been living on an elderly mans farm. He does not want them and said I could have one. His daughter feeds them and says that three will come out immediately for food but the others are a bit more shy. The three that comes out came out the very first day they were fed. The kittens are around 5-6 months old(approximately). I am going down there this weekend to pick one out. I have a cat carrier but no triggered cage or anything to trap them so I and the woman have to figure out how to get the kitten and put it into the carrier. My first cat was a feral cat who never let anyone touch or even come close to it except me. I got lucky with getting her because she walked right up to me and I just scooped her up very quickly and put her in the carrier before she realized what had happened. I was the only person in months she had ever come that close to. I will treat this kitten the same way I did my first cat and lock it in a small, safe room with all the things it needs and work with it in there until it becomes more sociable and friendly. The problem is I don't think I'll be as lucky with the kittens as I was with her. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get them to come close to me? I plan on using cat food as a lure but since they have never met me they might be to scared to come over for food. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

Welcome to TCS and so glad you found us. We can offer you much support and suggestions and just a place to come and talk about your new rescued kitten- to- be !!!! This could be very tricky because all of the kittens will react to you coming with a crate and feed off of each other's fear and run away. You may have to go back and forth for a few days before you catch the one you want. You could leave a crate and start feeding the kittens in a crate if at all possible, that way the kittens will get used to going in and out of a crate for a few days. But I don't know how that will help you get THE one you want. I really don't know what advice to give you in trying to catch only one particular feral kitten out of whole litter because I usually am just catching the whole litter anyway to be TNRd. I hope other's will come along with better suggestions on trying to catch just one of those kittens. I just think with my methods you will be catching more than one OR not get the one you want. Actually - I wish all the kitten's could be caught and spayed and neutered through a TNR (trap-neuter-return) organization. If you are so inclined - you could mention this to the barn owner :dk:.... Anyway - good luck and I hope you catch the kitten of your dreams. Since you already have been through this before - then you know exactly how to do it. Thanks for caring about the feral kitties. Maybe you want two kittens :lol3: :cross:

I would love to have two kitties but my husband is slightly allergic to cats so one is all he's willing to live with. Sadly, we do not have any organizations around here that do TNRs. I also have a dog who is used to playing with a cat so sadly I have to pick a specific one who will fit in best with the house. I truly would love to get more than one(I grew up in a multi-cat, multi-dog house) But I would hate to get one who would be too scared of the dog and hide whenever he's in(which is most of the time). That wouldn't be fair to cat or dog. I am contacting a few organizations to see if they would consider taking them and working with them. My friend is also thinking of getting one or two since she has had success with ferals (I always call her the cat whisperer). I have never met a cat yet that didn't instantly move toward her

If this is a truly feral cat at 6 months old you will not be able to catch it. You need a cat trap. Also there is a method to taming down a feral..and they may never tame down..so after you have brought it home and it doesn't work out there are no options for this cat. You need to think about this. I have a 6 month old feral kitten in my house. What I did at first was trap it and take it down to be checked for diseases and had it neutered. I had a big cage and inside the cage I put a cat carrier. I used a bungee to keep the cat door open..but if I needed to change it's little litter box I used a stick to close the door of the carrier and then stuck my hand in and locked the door. That way you can clean it up and so on. For two weeks it was in the cage. Then it came inside into a smaller cage. Now he runs the house and it's been so fun to watch what freaks him out. The TV, the ceiling fan, and so on. He will approach me to pet him maybe once a day but I still can't pick him up and maybe I never will be able to do that. Good luck.

valentinekitten said:

(I always call her the cat whisperer). I have never met a cat yet that didn't instantly move toward her

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This is the answer you do seek, you did said it yourself    

You choose, if you want to choose.  With a little luck a cat will choose you. This certainly happens. 

Otherwise, let your friend the cat whisperer help this kitten into your carrier.

Welcome to the Forums!

Good luck!   *vibes*

StefanZ said:

This is the answer you do seek, you did said it yourself    

You choose, if you want to choose.  With a little luck a cat will choose you. This certainly happens. 

Otherwise, let your friend the cat whisperer help this kitten into your carrier.

Welcome to the Forums!

Good luck!   *vibes*

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I think my first cat chose me since I was the only one in months she had gotten even slightly close to, much less close enough to pick up. I hope one of these kittens chooses me too. Working with it a home is no problem since I already have the room set up for the kitten. I hope one chooses me but if one doesn't the woman said the kittens(especially the bold ones) will get close enough to be picked up and they either want a quick petting or want to rub on her pants. Found two organizations who said they would be willing to take the other kittens.

If the kittens are coming up to anyone..then they are not really feral. Just unsocialized. That was the case with the little one I have now. In watching his body language..it's hard to tell sometimes. A truly feral cat will not want you anywhere near it. There are lots of tips out there to help and it's great you have a room set up already.

Iris said:

If the kittens are coming up to anyone..then they are not really feral. Just unsocialized. That was the case with the little one I have now. In watching his body language..it's hard to tell sometimes. A truly feral cat will not want you anywhere near it. There are lots of tips out there to help and it's great you have a room set up already.

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Would a feral cat not ever come near you even if it meant they didn't get the food you brought? She recommended getting the kitten used to me the same way they got used to her. She put food down close to her and after about an hour if the kittens didn't come over to eat, she'd get up and take food with her. Said it only took twice before they came close enough. She kept moving the food closer and closer until they were close enough to touch(took about a week) and then she touched them lightly. I never thought of trying that. With my old cat, Meadow, I just put the food down across the room from where I was so she felt safe to eat it and I was still in the room showing her I was safe and was going to let her eat in peace. I think that made her trust me very fast since she was bone skinny and looked like she was starving when I first got her. Then I started moving food closer to me but I never took food away if she wasn't willing to come closer. It didn't take her long to get used to me and then the urge to be petted got the best of her and she came over for petting. After that everything was easy and quick. I hope the same approach will work with kitten. If anyone has other suggestions other than what I did in past that might work I would love to hear.

Gosh I don't knolw but that sounds smart. I DO know that ferals will come over to eat if you are nearby but they have to be realllyyyy hungry. I know one kitty who would come close but after the guy trapped her it took 6 months to tame her down..but he didn't leave her in a small room. It's not a science. I am sort of figuring this out as I go along too.

Wonderful that you have found an organization that is willing to take the kittens - bless your heart!!! They really DO need to be spayed/neutered or the breeding will continue at this farm. .

MOST feral cat's/kittens, truly feral, will NOT under any circumstances come near you at all. OR will not eat in your presence. IF they have had humans around their whole life - at a distance - they are much more tolerant and willing to "try" to make that connection. These kittens fall into that second category. They will be easily socialized IMO. If you were to spend each and everyday sitting out there with these babies - feeding them and talking with them. They will start to come closer to you. I have found this very beneficial to my goal of getting them into a crate as opposed to using a humane trap. Once the kitten's are used to me being there everyday and I feed them in the carriers I bring out - then one by one - when they go in to eat, I quietly close the carrier door. Then you have your kitten . This is how I got my three cat's Perla, Perkins and Presley. They were in a little of eight kitten's at a horse barn. All feral - but not anymore .

Make sure you keep the kitten or kitten's in a small, safe room. I think you already mentioned you would do this. I would not recommend introducing the dog to the kitten right away. Wait until the kitten or kitten's have totally bonded to you, feel safe and totally trust you. Take things very, very slowly and you will be rewarded greatly. Good luck and keep us updated !!!

The kittens have been captured. Sadly, when we got there(we as in I and one of the organizations) we discovered the woman had not been feeding the kittens regularly. They were only getting fed every few days. When a kitten isn't fed in three or more days it's body starts to shut down. The intestines start to die. These kittens are in very bad shape and two are missing completely. Neither I nor the organizations suspected anything was wrong. I cannot believe that woman was only feeding them every few days. They are talking about bringing up animal cruelty charges. I hope they do. If you take on responsibility for a living creature then you have to see it through, not just whenever you feel like it. I pray the kittens recover. I am waiting to find out from the vet exactly how bad it is. Will find out in the morning.

That is so sad. I really hope the kittens that were rescued are able to recover.

I was going to say tuna, or rent a drop trap. A drop trap is a wooden frame with thick plastic netting around it, (almost like a wooden soccer net), your prop it up with a wooden stick and place food under. The wooden stick holding it up has rope tied to it, you hold the other end of the rope. When the cat goes under the trap, you pull the string and the trap drops and the cat is caught, the built in sliding door allows you to put a carrier next to it, and the cat will run in your carrier.

The vet called today and it is bad news. The kittens all have large amounts of their bowels dead and they cannot process food. They are to be put down. Everything is being documented to bring up charges against the woman. It is so sad.

OMG - I am so so so so sorry and saddened to hear this news.... I want to tell you something though, BLESS YOU SO VERY MUCH YOU saved those kittens from a terribly painful death out on that farm. If not for you, they would have suffered so awfully. OH my heart :heart3: goes out to you right now. Please know that because of you these kittens were humanely let go to fly freely to the bridge ..... OH I am just burning up inside over this nfire: I hope that farm owner gets the fullest penalty the law will allow :angry2: Again, a big huge thank you for saving them from any more suffering.

Fly freely babies - so sorry little ones

Oh my gosh..this is so terrible. I am so very sorry. There is a kitten out there with your name on it

Oh, on the advent of a beautiful story with a happy ending, it turned around to be a sheer horror...

God bless you and your co-workers for what you tried and did...

RIP little ones.