I just found this site surfing the internet for more information on taming feral kittens, and I must say I'm impressed.
I'm a seasoned message board user; have been active on a couple of diabetic cat message boards, Las Vegas boards, and one all about Playa del Carmen, Mexico (a favorite vacation destination of ours).
My brood currently consists of two older female cats (one 15, whom I adopted as a kitten from a shelter; the other 8-ish who had kittens in my window well 7 years ago - found them at 3 weeks of age; "tamed" them, which was easy-peasy at that age; found homes for them and kept the mama, who wasn't at all feral and is the sweetest, friendliest cat!) as well as one dog, an 80lb. male Collie mix (Not Border Collie. Think Lassie.) And then there are the feral kittens...
About 7 weeks ago, I was in my kitchen making coffee when I saw a little siamese kitten on my deck. My first thought was, "What idiot neighbor let a little kitten outside??" Then it scooted off, but later on there were TWO kittens playing on my deck - the siamese and a gray and white one. I put food out that evening, and a gray and white mama cat showed up to eat with them. Then all three jumped down into the bushes and I started to realize - they were living under my deck.
It took me a few days to make some calls, but I eventually borrowed traps. The day before we were going to trap, a THIRD kitten showed up; this one a solid gray fluffball. Anyway, the first night I caught said fluffball but the trap scared the other two and mama away. The next night my boyfriend, who is probably a bit more patient than I, caught the other two kittens. Mama is still at large; we've tried a couple of times and will be trying again Sunday night; we've been training her to eat in the unset trap.
So we kittyproofed a small room and put said kitties in there. Because it took more than one night to trap, I decided to delay the spay/neuter/shots until they were tamed up a bit. I'm guessing they're now about 14 weeks old. They are at various stages of socialization (and actually, a friend took the siamese to help tame, as I was overwhelmed with three) but all are going in this coming Monday for spay/neuter. THAT should be interesting, LOL.
Anyway, that's my story and how I found this place. It looks like an awesome site so I hope to be able to contribute. I've been through a lot with my kitties (past and present) through the years and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.
I'm a seasoned message board user; have been active on a couple of diabetic cat message boards, Las Vegas boards, and one all about Playa del Carmen, Mexico (a favorite vacation destination of ours).
My brood currently consists of two older female cats (one 15, whom I adopted as a kitten from a shelter; the other 8-ish who had kittens in my window well 7 years ago - found them at 3 weeks of age; "tamed" them, which was easy-peasy at that age; found homes for them and kept the mama, who wasn't at all feral and is the sweetest, friendliest cat!) as well as one dog, an 80lb. male Collie mix (Not Border Collie. Think Lassie.) And then there are the feral kittens...
About 7 weeks ago, I was in my kitchen making coffee when I saw a little siamese kitten on my deck. My first thought was, "What idiot neighbor let a little kitten outside??" Then it scooted off, but later on there were TWO kittens playing on my deck - the siamese and a gray and white one. I put food out that evening, and a gray and white mama cat showed up to eat with them. Then all three jumped down into the bushes and I started to realize - they were living under my deck.
It took me a few days to make some calls, but I eventually borrowed traps. The day before we were going to trap, a THIRD kitten showed up; this one a solid gray fluffball. Anyway, the first night I caught said fluffball but the trap scared the other two and mama away. The next night my boyfriend, who is probably a bit more patient than I, caught the other two kittens. Mama is still at large; we've tried a couple of times and will be trying again Sunday night; we've been training her to eat in the unset trap.
So we kittyproofed a small room and put said kitties in there. Because it took more than one night to trap, I decided to delay the spay/neuter/shots until they were tamed up a bit. I'm guessing they're now about 14 weeks old. They are at various stages of socialization (and actually, a friend took the siamese to help tame, as I was overwhelmed with three) but all are going in this coming Monday for spay/neuter. THAT should be interesting, LOL.
Anyway, that's my story and how I found this place. It looks like an awesome site so I hope to be able to contribute. I've been through a lot with my kitties (past and present) through the years and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.
