4 ferals kittens and their mom!

I am new to this site and would like to start learning more about the ferals that I am caring for. Here's my story so far...

My husband and I are cat lovers, we have 4 of our own, so when I found a mother cat and 4 of her kittens near a dumpster at my work I knew I had to save them. I work in a bad area of the city so they lived in disgusting conditions. There were trash bags that people left outside, glass, and plenty of nails that they could get hurt on. I knew the mom was a stray that was abandoned because she was very friendly and once I started to feed her and we got a routine down she started bringing me her kittens. One weekend I met a man near my job that said he saved them from an abandoned house and started feeding them as well. Why would someone leave their cats to die?

After feeding them for a few weeks I started to catch them. The first two were easy. I caught them by tying a string to a cat carrier and put tuna in the back of the crate. Once they walked in I would pull the string. About 1 week later I caught another kitten in a Havahart trap. The day after that my husband picked up the mom and put her in the crate and brought her directly to our local rescue league. She was named Liberty and has already been adopted!! Since our rescue league knew that these were feral kittens they asked if I would foster them until they were socialized. After devoting a ton of time and love to these kittens I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I caught the last kitten out there alone. I felt horrible leaving her out there but we had the opportunity to catch Liberty and we had to take it...thank God we did...she was dehydrated by the time she got to the Rescue League. Two weeks went by and everyday I thought about the kitten outside. I continued to put dry food and water outside and set the Havahart trap while at work but only saw the kitten once in a two week span. I was getting worried. The kittens I had already caught were 3 months old and by this time the last kitten would be close to 15-16 weeks. If I didn't catch her soon she would be feral for life. I was starting to get discouraged and was about to give up. FINALLY last Monday she walked into the trap I have never been so relieved. She has been with us 1 week now and today was the first day I got close enough to pet her and to my surprise she loved it! She closed her eyes and fell asleep. The poor thing is a lot smaller than her happily fed chubby littermates. Last week while I was in the room with them she vomited up leaves, twigs, and a piece of plastic. I felt so bad for her and the life that she was living. This week she is much better. She is eating regularly and the vet said she is healthy.

So now I am fostering 4 ferals, 2 girls and 2 boys. They are named Murray, Lil Buddah (named after one of our cats that looks exactly like her), Smokey, and Zoey. The first 3 have already been spayed and neutered. They all have a clean bill of health. We love being with them. They are a ton of work and took a lot of patience but they have come so far from the first days we caught them all. They all have different personalities and have taken different amounts of time to become more socialized but I am pretty confident that they will be great cats someday. They enjoy being petted (some more than others), they purr like crazy,  and I have held them all so far. The male kitten, Murray loves human attention. He has very little fear. We have been picking him up since the first day he came to our house and he loves to be held, kissed, and to play.

Some questions I have: How can we start integrating them into larger spaces of our house other than our bathroom? Should we integrate them to our house before introducing them to the other 4 cats or should we do both simultaneously? How can I continue their progress and get the more skittish kittens to enjoy being petted and held more? Do these kittens sound like they are making good progress for their age? I've heard that any feral kitten over the age of 8 weeks of age is very hard to tame but I seem to be making good progress in my opinon Will these kittens always be afraid of new sounds, new people, and be jumpy?

Thanks for your help!

Wow, it sounds to me like you've made great progress with these guys!  I couldn't just leave that last kitten out there either -- I'm so glad you were finally able to trap it.    I've heard that you can tame ferals who are already adults, it just takes a lot longer and lots of patience which it sounds like you & your husband have.  I think they will adjust in time.  The more skittish ones may not be as cuddly as you'd like.   I've had cats who never liked to be petted or held who were not feral, so that's hard to say.  Others on this board have lots more experience than me.  I just wanted to say that I think you've done a great job and that they are very lucky to have you & your husband!

Fabulous news that the mom was already adopted - Liberty!!!! And so happy to hear you were able to trap the last kitten. Thank goodness. You are doing a fantastic job. All seems to be going very well. Are you planning on keeping any of the kittens? If not, I would not bother introducing them to your other four cats. Best to keep them separated and confined to a small room for their time with you until the rescue can take them. Great that you have such a nice rescue to help you.

Feral kittens can easily be socialized even older :nod: I have done it and honestly it depends on the underlying personality of the feral cat. They are all different just like our home raised kittens. :nod: My goodness, eight weeks is not the cut-off by any stretch. It just takes lots and lots of patience. Get them used to being handled every day. You can use a towel to swaddle them if one if more skittish. Wrap them snuggle with only the head popping out. :lol3: And gently pet and talk to the kitten. You will see in the days to come that they will come around quickly. Hopefully they all have outgoing personalities and are willing and wanting that human connection. :cross:

Oh here is a great article written by one of our long time members here on TCS with expert info. on socializing. http://www.catnipchronicles.com/may2012/laurie.htm

Thanks for your feedback. I have second guessed myself a lot during this process. I know for sure now that they are happy and they seem to love us as much as we love them. I just was upstairs for an hour with one of them on my lap being super affectionate. It amazes me how much they can accept human love. Each day they get better and better, I haven't been hissed at in over a week.

We honestly are thinking of keeping them but are worried about many things. Can we take care of 8 cas? 4 being babies,3 being elderly and 1 with urinary crystals that requires special food. Ahh Then eventually we want children and would want a clean environment for them. Just worried about the what ifs. We just are REALLY attached to them. I think because I caught them all myself and basically devote my free time to them. No one else would be good enough for my babies hahaha...I'm nuts!

Nope, not nuts!!  I have a similar situation, and I'm agonizing over keeping my TWO feral kittens (a third one is already adopted out, thank goodness).  I don't have to worry about future children, but I have two of my own cats, one who is elderly and not in good health, plus a big dog.  But you do get sooo attached! 

Sounds like you have done an awesome job; good luck whatever you decide!

I think you should keep the 2 ferals!! 4 cats...no big deal haha.
 

:lol3: It is impossible NOT to love them all. I tell myself that I am just a "stepping stone" for their next chapter in life. You have done a wonderful thing taking them in. And either way, you keeping them forever OR they go to the rescue and fine their forever homes, you have saved them and given them a new lease on life!!!! Good luck and they DO sound so sweet.