Taming Feral Kittens...

About 2 weeks ago I started working on trapping a mom and 4 kittens that are part of a feral colony that I have trapped some cats from before. It took me awhile, I finally got all 5 of them as of a few days ago. Mom is now spayed, vaccinated, ear tipped, and recovering (crated) in our home for a few days till she will be released.

The kittens... well, up until about 4 hours ago, I really thought there would be no hope for them. There are 4, and 2 of them I have had for 5 days, 1 for 4 days, and one for 3 days. I am estimating they are between 8-10 weeks old. Every time I entered the room I got hissing, spitting, and general terror. The one time I tried to take one out of the cage to check it out, it got loose and was practically flying around the room till it finally was still long enough for me to get it back in the cage... They are in a double ferret nation, which is a pretty huge cage. 

One has extremely long hair.... and I noticed yesterday that he had some poop & litter stuck in his hair around his back end. By this afternoon he still had not cleaned himself up, so I figured I was going to have to take him out and give him a bath. Well, I got him out (wearing 3 pairs of gloves and a sweater...) he was going wild of course, and as soon as I got him in warm water in the sink, he was totally fine. I mean, no struggling, no hissing, no scratching.... just chilling out and letting me clean him! He let me dry him off and brush his hair out too. I was amazed!

Of course, as soon as I got him back in the cage he was hissing at me again. Now, these kittens have a cat bed, scratching posts, and tons of toys in this cage, but all they ever did was squish into the corner and look horrified. Well. I went up and checked on them a little bit ago and one was playing with a toy! I stood there and watched him and then.... he started purring! I could not believe it! Within 5 minutes THREE of the kittens were purring! 2 had moved over to the cat bed (where they had yet to lay) and the whole room was full of little kitten purrs. I was so happy i almost cried! Up until now, I have never heard a feral cat purr, but then again, these are the first kittens I have worked with so I guess it is a little different. Hopefully this means that they really will be able to be socialized and rehomed as pets instead of fixed and released. They will all be fixed and vaccinated at 4 mos old, and hopefully they will be totally tame by then so they will be able to find great homes.

If anyone has any tips or idea, feel free to let me know! This is the first time I have worked with kittens, and up until tonight I was starting to think they were harder than feral adults!

Here are some cute pictures.... I have not sexed any of them except the long haired kitten, who is male. There is 2 short hair kitties and 1 has sort of a medium length hair and a bushy little tail. They are pretty much the cutest thing ever!

They are adorable!!!    You never forget the moment when they first "flip".   Try combing them with a flea comb - the narrow teeth really mimics the grooming sensation for them and they just love it, even if there are no fleas.   Good luck, you are on your way!

So cute!  When I first got Stella I had her in a cardboard box, and she cowered and hissed at me whenever I came near the box.  I was not comfortable having a random feral kitten in my apartment without checking for fleas, but being scared of her I scooped her up while wearing a thick oven mitt.  She was very displeased with her situation, but once I put her in the wet sink to wash her she became the most docile and pathetic looking thing ever.  I held her in a towel for a little while to dry her off and that was her "turning point".  I guess bathing can be a bonding point for feral kitties!  That said, Stella was only about 6 weeks old when captured, and from capture to "turning point" was about 4 hours...  Guess you have to get em' while they're young!
 

Also, which one is the bushy tailed, medium hair kitty?  Stella is the same way (has a fluffy tail, and longer than short hair, but not long) and I am wondering how she will turn out.  I am assuming short because I have never seen a feral long haired in the area, but I suppose a crop up of a recessive gene or a long haired intruder is possible!

DuckDodgers said:

Also, which one is the bushy tailed, medium hair kitty?  Stella is the same way (has a fluffy tail, and longer than short hair, but not long) and I am wondering how she will turn out.  I am assuming short because I have never seen a feral long haired in the area, but I suppose a crop up of a recessive gene or a long haired intruder is possible!

Click to expand...

The medium haired one is the one hiding behind the other 2 in the 1st picture... with the squinting eyes. It was the last one I caught, right before I got mom, so I guess it is still the most scared. It's funny because the ferals here are ALL orange/white cats with short hair.... and somehow this mom cat ended up with a long haired baby and a medium haired baby... No long haired cats here at all that I have seen. Mom looks just like the short haired kittens, with a little white on her face and I have no idea who dad is because I *thought* I got all the males, but apparently not!

Mom is really smart though, I had not seen her in weeks until one day about 3 weeks ago she popped up at their feeding spot with these 4 kittens. They were still nursing then. I got the traps 2 weeks ago but they all disappeared for a week and then as soon as they showed back up I started trapping!

I am torn as to what to do with mom, I hate to release her, as it isn't exactly safe outside here, but she has been surviving here and she is incredibly feral, so I don't really feel right trying to tame her. I already have one adult male from this colony inside who I have been working with since July. And while he has made great progress (currently sleeping behind me on his cat tree) I still can't touch him... the main reason I decided to keep him inside is that he was injured.

I know it will break my heart if I find her in the road at some point, but at the same time, she has been crated inside for over 36 hours now since I picked her up from the vet and she has barely touched her food, so I know she isn't happy.

Oleander said:

The medium haired one is the one hiding behind the other 2 in the 1st picture... with the squinting eyes. It was the last one I caught, right before I got mom, so I guess it is still the most scared. It's funny because the ferals here are ALL orange/white cats with short hair.... and somehow this mom cat ended up with a long haired baby and a medium haired baby... No long haired cats here at all that I have seen. Mom looks just like the short haired kittens, with a little white on her face and I have no idea who dad is because I *thought* I got all the males, but apparently not!

Mom is really smart though, I had not seen her in weeks until one day about 3 weeks ago she popped up at their feeding spot with these 4 kittens. They were still nursing then. I got the traps 2 weeks ago but they all disappeared for a week and then as soon as they showed back up I started trapping!

I am torn as to what to do with mom, I hate to release her, as it isn't exactly safe outside here, but she has been surviving here and she is incredibly feral, so I don't really feel right trying to tame her. I already have one adult male from this colony inside who I have been working with since July. And while he has made great progress (currently sleeping behind me on his cat tree) I still can't touch him... the main reason I decided to keep him inside is that he was injured.

I know it will break my heart if I find her in the road at some point, but at the same time, she has been crated inside for over 36 hours now since I picked her up from the vet and she has barely touched her food, so I know she isn't happy.

Click to expand...

Strange- I guess it's possible that someone's long haired male mated with your female to produce the long haired kittens?  I figure that the cats where Stella came from have to be at least somewhat inbred, I also figure that the recessive traits will show themselves once in awhile.  Other strange things about these cats- I have seen at least a few tortie kittens, but never any orange tabbies.  If the red gene is present, how come we haven't happened to have any red males?  I guess since Stella's now in my care we'll find out her adult coat length soon enough.  I do recall one guy on the campus talking about "the kitten with the fluffy tail" about a year ago, so I guess there are more out there. 

While it would be awful to find her on the road one day, some cats just aren't meant to be indoors.  Some may think differently and think that all cats can be tamed, but cats that are born and raised outdoors are very similar to wild animals.  I am not involved with capturing feral cats (Stella's story was a strange exception) so I do not know at what point a cat is deemed non-tameable, but if she would be miserable indoors then outside life may be the best for her.  Make sure she can't reproduce, and focus your attention on the kittens

DuckDodgers said:

Strange- I guess it's possible that someone's long haired male mated with your female to produce the long haired kittens?  I figure that the cats where Stella came from have to be at least somewhat inbred, I also figure that the recessive traits will show themselves once in awhile.  Other strange things about these cats- I have seen at least a few tortie kittens, but never any orange tabbies.  If the red gene is present, how come we haven't happened to have any red males?  I guess since Stella's now in my care we'll find out her adult coat length soon enough.  I do recall one guy on the campus talking about "the kitten with the fluffy tail" about a year ago, so I guess there are more out there. 

While it would be awful to find her on the road one day, some cats just aren't meant to be indoors.  Some may think differently and think that all cats can be tamed, but cats that are born and raised outdoors are very similar to wild animals.  I am not involved with capturing feral cats (Stella's story was a strange exception) so I do not know at what point a cat is deemed non-tameable, but if she would be miserable indoors then outside life may be the best for her.  Make sure she can't reproduce, and focus your attention on the kittens

Click to expand...

I know releasing her is what is best for her- she is just so very feral, and as much as I would love to work with her, that would take time away from the kittens and that wouldn't be fair to her, the kittens, or my cats who keep wondering why i disappear into the spare bedroom and come out smelling like kittens, lol! Plus this is her territory and hopefully keeping her here, spayed, and well fed will keep other cats from moving into the area and reproducing. There is still apparently a male cat out there that I need to get as well!  I think it's just my nature to want to keep and take care of her, but I don't think it's what she needs or wants. I have never seen an animal so miserable in a crate. She did get loose from me while transferring her from the carrier I picked her up from the vet in to the crate- it took 3 hours to get her back in the carrier (mostly I just left her alone till she calmed down) and then I just took the door off the carrier and put it in the crate. The first minute or two she was loose she was going nuts- hanging from the ceiling and climbing walls like nothing I have seen before. Luckily she calmed down and hid in a corner and didn't mess up her stitches.