Getting a feral used to humans

As the topic says I would like to get a feral cat used to humans.

[font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]First for the story till now. My father [/font][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]caught six kittens(the vet said the kittens where about 2-3 months old) near his workplace. Five of them where given to a vet who put them up for adoption, but we decided to keep the last one. For the first 2 weeks the kitten stayed in a room at the workplace to get it somewhat used to humans. And to do the litter box training which for some reason wasn't necessary because it went to the litter box from the get go.[/font]Now we finally took it home but all it does is hide under the bed and only comes out for food, toilet and some nighttime strolling. Before at the workplace it also stayed in one place and only moved for food and toilet.

[font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]The kitten has only been at home for 2 days so I don't expect it to walk around or come up to me by itself, but it would be nice if the kitten at least didn't crawl [/font][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]under the bed at every chance it gets.[/font][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif] [/font][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]Would be nice to hear some suggestions on how to get it out from under the bed and keep the kitten out from there without physically blocking the hole.[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]For some additional info the kitten likes to be petted and doesn't run away as long as it's being petted, but the moment you stop it's away and under the bed.[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]Thanks in advanced for any info.[/font]

Reiten, the best tip I can give you is:  Patience.    I actually think the kitten is doing well, he is at least exploring at night time.  Some feral/stray cats are too scared to do even that.  And feral cats would never let you pet them.

I would simply spend time in the same room as the kitten (does he/she have a name?).  Talk to him, get him use to your smell, voice.  Feed him at regular times, spend time with him then too.  All for the goal of building trust.

You didn't indicate where he is--if he is in a large room, I'd try moving him to a smaller room, so it is not so overwhelming to him.  Don't pull the kitten from under the bed; let him come to you.  Play music (radio) when you are gone.  Leave some smelly clothes in the same room, near the food too.

You can block three holes, but always leave an opening where the kitten can escape through.  You don't want him to feel cornered--NOT a way to win trust.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Kittens love to play.  Use kitty balls on a string.  But don't leave the string down when not in the room.  He/she might choke.  Entice the kitten to play. 

Pull the balls along the bottom edge of the bed while the kitten is underneath the bed.  Stay on the bed so it can't see you.  That way the kitten in only focused on the movement and sound of the ball.  It really might work wonders.  It might take a few times before it gets the hang up it, but all kittens love to play. 

After a few day, slowly pull the ball up the side of the bed.  Entice the kitten.  Slowly the kitten will get the fact that you are playing with him/her.
 

Thanks for the responses. Since most of my experience in raising animals comes from taking care of cows and chickens any info is useful.

To answer some of Ritzs questions the kitten(a she, calling her Kika since Mouse would be a bad idea in the long term) is staying in the larger room of the flat. We have 2 rooms + kitchen and bathroom. And sadly the bigger of the 2 rooms and the kitchen are the only places where she can stay without at least a minimal supervision.

Had some progress and regress already today. After eating in the evening the cat didn't go right back under the bed, but decided to go exploring for a bit. The bad side of it is that during the exploration it decided to pee on the carpet in my room. Not sure why that happened though. Since before eating Kika was in the litter box and even took a **** there. And there where no problems while staying in my fathers workplace.

And then 2 other questions:

1) Is it better to have food available all the time or feed her at set times? If set times how often would be good?

2) Since I'm working from home at the moment spending time in the same room with Kika is no big problem. But since I need to be at my PC and it's in the other room I was wondering if it's a good idea to bring her to my room and close the door so she can't run back under the bed she is using?

Sorry for the wall of text.

Reiten, kittens need a fair amount of food, so I would free feed, the best quality you can afford.  I'll let other posters chime in with more specifics (I feed Raw).

Where are you feeding her?  Can you move the food to a central location, maybe in the kitten, so she has to move out of her hiding hole in order to eat.  And you'd be surprised where kittens can hide.  I think just spend time with her, regardless of the location, and she'll learn to trust you and come out of her comfort zone.

And playing with her is an excellent idea, get something with a string attached, so she has to move a lot, out from under the bed or where ever she hides.  (Ritz favorite toy is a shoe string attached to a red feather I got at a craft store. Cost me about $1.)

I got an old toy mouse and attached a string to it and it works wonders getting at least her head out from under the bed. The only problem is that she is demolishing it at an extremely fast rate.

And it looks like the main reason that she is staying under the bed isn't because she is scared, but because she is nocturnal. Comes out after 8 or so in the evening by herself. I understand that cats are nocturnal animals and they will walk around during the night, but how do I train her not to be so nocturnal and spend most of the night sleeping and not wandering around?

As for the feeding I was hoping to have it as a way to get her out from under the bed and to use the litter box more. Since she doesn't come out during the day neither for food nor the litter box(and no she doesn't make a mess under the bed). Not sure if it's a good idea for a cat not to use the litter box for 12 or so hours. For now we decided to get her out from under the bed twice during the day to eat and use the litter box. If that's a bad idea correct me please.

Now for the bad part. Now that Kika is wandering around she has started to go to places we don't like her to be(windowsills with plant pots, the kitchen table and some other places). So how do I teach her not to go to those places? A friend of mine recommended spraying her with water when she goes to those places, is it a good idea?

There is one other thing I'm curious about. During the petting sessions Kika has the habit of licking my fingers and hand. Does that have a deeper meaning or is it just a show of affection.

I am going to post a great article that might will offer you some advice and suggestions. Also, it sounds like Kika has the run of the rest of the flat now? I think this might be a bit too soon for her, but that is totally up to you. I would not recommend spraying her with water or any other form of discipline at this point. She is trying to learn to trust you and know you are trustworthy. Spraying her to get her off of the counter, etc. will make her more afraid of humans. Personally, I would keep her in the safe room until she is allowing you to pet her and she completely trusts you. Also, has confirmed litter box habits as well.

I usually suggest people putting the mattress and box spring on the floor so the kitten/cats cannot hide from you under the bed. It is also traumatic for them if you try to get under the bed trying to get them out. Offer other hiding places such as kitty cubes and tents that she can hide in but you can still reach her if needed, easily. I would also recommend getting an enzymatic urine cleaner for that pee accident in the other room. OR she might continue to use that spot. The following link will also help you with how to remove cat urine.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-remove-cat-urine
http://www.catnipchronicles.com/may2012/laurie.htm

Reiten said:

Now for the bad part. Now that Kika is wandering around she has started to go to places we don't like her to be(windowsills with plant pots, the kitchen table and some other places). So how do I teach her not to go to those places? A friend of mine recommended spraying her with water when she goes to those places, is it a good idea?

There is one other thing I'm curious about. During the petting sessions Kika has the habit of licking my fingers and hand. Does that have a deeper meaning or is it just a show of affection.

Click to expand...

Totally agree with Feralvr, you want to build trust and not become the scary discipline person for the kitten.   There are things you can do like put orange peel around the plants that will discourage her - most cats hate the smell of citrus or two sided sticky tape on the surfaces you don't want her to walk on though that could be dicey if the tape gets stuck to her.   You get the idea.   The licking is great that means she has accepted you as a weirdly shaped cat!

I also have a new feral. She too found some hiding places in the room that she is in that I was not fond of. So I re-aranged some furniture and blocked them off (you can use boxes and stuff under the bed so she can't hide there). HOWEVER, BE FAIR. If you take away her hiding spot, give her an alternative one. My feral has a cat tree with a cube in it where she can hide. However, she doesn't like it, for whatever reason. So I went to our local Post Office and got some of the free shipping boxes they provide and built a new cardboard cube at the base of the cat tree. Low and behold, she loves it! I put stairs (which I made) by the tree so she can get to the top and then up to her window seat without using the cube. Today is the first day she went into the cube. I think she has lost her fear of it. A cardboard box with a cutout in it weighted down makes a safe place for the kitty also. As for the licking, all my cats (except for the new feral) have licked me. One of them gave me "baths" constantly, even if I didn't need them! I believe they lick you like they would lick their kittens if they are female. If the cat is male, I have no answer for that. It could be a sign of affection. I'd be flattered if my feral licked me. Right now she likes to bite me. Hard. Lots of blood. But hopefully she will get over that soon. A head butt is a definite sign of affection, she/he is not attacking you if she/he suddenly butts you with their head. It's a kitty kiss.

It's a good idea to keep her with you when you work. I am on my comuter a lot, which is why I chose my office room to keep the feral in. This way the cat gets used to your being around. Try talking to her when you work. It doesn't matter what you say, just let the little one hear your voice constantly. If you can, try to play some soothing, classical music on your CD drive for the kitty while you are working (if it does not distract you.) Also, please use sticky tape or citrus to discourage unwanted landing places. Spraying with water will frighten the kitty, probably give it a fear of water, and will make it distrust you. I never sprayed water at my cats and the outcome was they would get in the tub with me and take bubble baths!

My shy kitty Christy likes to have hideaways all over the house--places where she's enclosed and feels safe. That way, she can hide anywhere and still be part of the activity of the household. Perhaps your kitten would like some hideaways like that. Even full ferals will take an interest in you, just because you're in their environment--they'll sit quietly and watch you. Christy sits in her hideaways and watches me; that's how she spends time with people. It's just her style. I don't know if your feral will be more outgoing once she realizes you're a friend to be trusted; but I can tell you that even if she stays as shy as Christy is, she will still consider you a friend. Christy certainly does.

Yeah, spraying water is no good. I could use it for a cat who wasn't skittish, but not for one that was shy or prone to phobias. At one point, Christy actually acquired a fear of soda cans, because I lost hold of one while she was in my lap, and spilled some Mountain Dew on her! I had to teach her over again that soda cans weren't scary, so she wouldn't run from me if I was holding one.

Tiny, now--he wouldn't be scared of the water spray no matter what you did, because he knows it's water and water's not scary. I could shoot him in the butt with a water pistol as much as I wanted, and it wouldn't do anything more than my saying his name in a warning tone--i.e., it'd be a notice to him that he's annoying me and he'd better stop it. So why bother with the water pistol? I can just tell him he's being a brat. Tiny knows the rules quite well, and when he breaks them, he has his reasons. The only one he doesn't listen to me about totally is the "Don't chase Christy" rule... which he conveniently forgets about, but remembers when she hisses at him. Christy doesn't like rough-and-tumble play. At one point I did use a water pistol (one of those tiny ones that just squirts a few drops at a time) to get him to stop chasing her, but he knows I'm the one with the pistol, so it's effectively the same thing as telling him verbally.

First of all thanks for all the info.

Next for a little status update: Kika has been doing fine. She still hides under the bed most of the time, but unlike the first days she now isn't in the far corner but just so far away from the opening that we can't reach her. Sometimes she comes near enough to pet her. And on some rear ocasions se comes out and walks one lap around the room during the day. As for the night she has become even more active. She has even climbed the fridge and some other high places. We're feeding Kika 4 times a day. For the morning and evening feeding she even comes herself. For the 2 daytime feedings I still have to take her out from under the bed myself, but it looks like she is caching on. She was already at the opening and sticking her head out today. As for the litter box no problems there using it as she should. No idea why she peed in my room – hasn't happened since, but just in case I keep my room closed at night. Is it odd that she only goes to the litter box at night?

Now for the question: I know cats are nocturnal and Kika will walk around at night, but sooner or later we will have to limit her nighttime strolling. So the question is how and when should we do something? We were thinking of putting her in the transport box for the night – good or bad idea?

In my experience, cats tend to be most active at dawn and dusk; in the deep night, they are sleepy. My approach to it has just been to make it clear to them that they are allowed to explore the house when I'm asleep, but they're not allowed to jump up on the bed and wake me up until it's morning. They're smart enough to learn, and so far it's worked. Well, sometimes Tiny settles down to sleep beside me when he realizes I'm still asleep, but I'm okay with that, just so long as he isn't head-bumping me or otherwise waking me up. It also helps to give them plenty of interesting things to do during the day so that they will realize that nights are more boring and better times to sleep. Cats will never have the long sleep-wake cycle that we have, but they can learn that humans are boring and sleepy at night and shouldn't be disturbed.

I wonder if Kika peed in your room because she lost her way and couldn't find the box? Kittens have small bladders and sometimes get turned around in a new environment, so it's certainly a possibility. If you've got a house big enough for her to get lost in even once she's grown, perhaps it would help to have a box in either end of it so she can always reach one.

Cats are the most active at dusk and dawn; that is when they hunt food in the wild.  It's kind of ingrained in them.  To confine them during this time would be kind of like taking the stripes out of a zebra.

Play as much as you can with Kika, especially right before you go to bed.  Then give kitty a small snack--it simulates the hunt/pounce/eat role they play in the wild.  (Same reason cats -- even truly feral cats -- quickly learn how to use the litter box in a house.)  And like the other posters suggested, leave out interactive play toys (toys she can enjoy herself without a human being present).  The Turbo Scratcher is one idea.  Climbing is actually good exercise, assuming nothing is dangerous.  Cats feel more secure the higher they are, they can look down on their kingdom

If you don't want Kika in your bed, simply put her down when she jumps up.  And/or provide her own cat bed next to yours or some place where she can't disturb you.  She will learn, though it takes consistency.  (Ritz use to wake me every two hours and I got up and played or fed her.  After a year of this, I realized this was not a good idea.  Four nights of NOT doing this, she no longer wakes me up.)

I live alone so can pretty much cat proof as much as I want to, plus I'm a minimalist--more so now that I have Ritz.  I don't put anything on the kitchen table or counter top that I don't want Ritz to get into.  If she shows interest in something, I monitor her sniffing; once her curiosity is satisfied, she often ignores it.  If I am working on the kitchen counter top fixing her food (I fed raw), she can get up on the counter top, but not near the knives or food.  Once done, then she gets a piece of the food.  Not until.

First off a little status update: Still stays under the bed during the day, but comes out to eat and use the litter box. Unlike the beginning getting her out from under the bed is extremely easy using the toy. During feeding times she comes out herself when she hears that something is happening in the kitchen and when we are eating she comes begging for food and sometimes even jumps up and try’s to eat from our plates(put her down at those times). During the night she isn't sleeping under the bed anymore but most of the time uses a chair. And a bit after 5 am she gets in bed and starts to prod my mother to wake up and give her food. When that doesn't happen she either goes on a stroll or sleeps there on the bed till my mother wakes up. [font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]And her licking habit has gotten a [/font][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]nibbling[/font][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif] and scratching component[/font] to it.

Another thing that happened during the weekend. We had to go to my grandparents for 2 nights and couldn't find anybody to take care of Kika during that time so we decided to take her with us. She didn't exactly like the transport box, but also didn't try hard to get out. Though she did complain it looked like it was more about the bumps on the road rather then being in the box. At my grandparents she managed to get herself stuck behind a wardrobe. After the incident she was initially scared and didn't eat anything, but in the evening she was back to normal.

And now for some questions:

1) It looks like we will be going to my grandparents quite often for a while and there aren't that many people in the vicinity that I would trust with a key to our flat. So I was wondering how to get Kika somewhat used to the transport box?

2) While Kika is fine being out from under the bed she is extremely jumpy when someone moves. Aside from time and patience any idea how to make her less jumpy?

Reiten, it is going to take some serious time and patience and it's great that you are working from home. I agree with the posts here, and Feralvr really knows her stuff, she gave me great information. 

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Are you able to close the door to the BR where she gets under the bed? If you are working from a laptop with wifi, you can sit in the same room with her and quietly do your work. She needs to see that you are not her enemy, she is not your prey. Feralvr told me about harp music for cats. I am going to use it to sooth the semi-feral I intend to take with me when I move. Right now, there is s gut rehab going on upstairs from me that is driving us all bats***t, and I used YouTube to find some harp music for my inside guys. Worked like a charm! It soothed my guys and they went to sleep. Maybe have some playing in the background on your laptop so she calms down. There is also a Feliway diffuser you can get at PetSmart, it's like a Glad plug-in air freshener but it fills the room with cat pheromones. Those pheromones mean happiness to a cat. Although some are immune,  but I think that's rare. That will help make a comforting environment. [/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Once she gets used to you just hanging out and not threatening her, she will relax. She will likely come to you, but it's all on her terms, her rules. Hang in there, and best to you! Thank you for taking this little lady in and caring for her![/font]

This is excellent progress! It's a long, slow road. You might want to spray some Feliway on her blanket before you put her in the box. I sound like a spokesperson but I'm not :O) I just have seen firsthand how well it works. 

It's too bad you have to travel with her, but you have to. I think this will show her that she is a member of the family. 

They are going to be jumpy for a while. Their moms train them incredibly well, even if it's just for a short time. Overcoming that is hard. Do you have a laser light you can use to entice her from under the bed? Jumping  up to eat off of your plates definitely shows some comfort with you - that's huge, as much as a bad habit as it could possibly turn into. Keep getting her off the table. 

Please keep us posted! This information helps everyone in this situation so a type of  "diary" of your progress is a wonderful learning tool!

First the usual status update: Kika has been doing good. She comes out on her own during the day. She has discovered that she can watch the outside through the window and likes to do that and that it's nice and warm near the heater so she sleeps near it. She comes out to play with a toy mouse we got her and twice last week she even came to me to be petted(at least I think so since she stopped mewing when I started petting her).

During the night she usually sleeps on one of the chairs in my parents room. Still has the habit of waking up my mother sometime between 5 and 6 am.

As for general behavior. She is fine as long as there is only one person in the room though she has her times when she runs from anybody(not sure why).

Now I have a few questions regarding Kikas education:

1) She seems to have started associating being picked up with being put in the transport box. I would like to have her like being picked up or rather not hate it and struggle to get away.

2) Kinda similar to the previous question. I want to start teaching her to sit on my lap. It's nice that she comes to be petted, but it's a bit annoying to have to bow down to pet her all the time. If she would sit on my lap I could pet her a long time since often times I'm only reading something and thus need only one hand to work.

3) I asked this before but it's time to start teaching her that there are things she can't do and places she shouldn't go to. She has started to scratch the walls even though we got her a pole with rope to scratch. And while citrus fruit peels work on small places I can't cover my desk and other places in my room with it. So how should I teach her not to do somethings and not go to some places.

Hi. I'm so glad, as I'm sure she is, you decided to care for this cat. Would LOVE to see some pics!

You can try to warm her up to being picked up by

A) Hit and run - just pick her up give her a kiss and put her right back where she was.

B) Give her a treat

Lure her on to your lap with

A) Treats - Start by placing the treats next to you then on your lap, shoulders and head.

B) Play the mousie-under-the-blanket game - The first time my shy cat sat on my lap was after chasing my hand that I was moving around under a blanket while laying on the sofa. She got tired of chasing and realized that was a nice warm spot.

Scratching where you want her to:

A) Make sure you have a bunch of places for her to scratch. Scratching posts should be SOLID ( not wobbly or easy to tip over) and long enough to fully stretch their bodies.

B) This part takes time/patience. Every time she starts scratching someplace bad, pick her up and bring her to the good place to scratch. Imitate scratching on the approved surface.

Give her treats and praise when she scratches the approved surface.

Status update: Kika has improved tremendously. She isn't scared of me or my parents and doesn't go under the bed unless she is scared(or sometimes to sleep during the day) and that doesn't happen unless we have guests. She has also gotten some habits I don't like, but I'll ask about those in the question part. And as aeevr asked here is a picture.


And now the questions:

1) Kika has started to sometimes take food out from her bowl with her paw. She wither hooks it on a nail and eat it or gets it out on the floor and then eats it. Any idea why this is happening and how to stop it.

2) She sometimes try’s to take stuff from her litter box and play with it. It's a rather rare event, but I thought I would rather ask about it?

3) Not much of a problem, but she sometimes chews and eats paper she has gotten from newspapers. As it only pertains to newspapers that are on the couch it doesn't trouble us much, but I'm not sure if I should try to stop it or not?

4) Kika sometimes runs around rather wildly(can think of a better word). At those times she doesn't let me touch her and runs to the other room if I try. Sometimes I think she wants attention when she does it, but most of the time even playing or petting(if she lets me) doesn't stop her. Any ideas as to why the running happens and how to stop it?

5) Do cats growl like dogs do or do they only purr? And is the purr always a sign of satisfication?