Day 40 on feral kitten - not very much hope left

For him to clean himself while on your lap is huge.

Also, agreed, if a cat still hisses at all, if let out of the cage will simply hide and slow the progress of taming greatly.

Great job! 

Listen to what Stephan says.  Our one year old feral was definitely helped along by our older cat who helped her to feel more comfortable.  She is so much better now.  She does not site on our lap, but she spends a lot of time with us and will lie down next to me for pets.  Your little guy may need some other kitty buddies no matter how kind you are.

I do agree with another kitten or two.  They kind of feed off one another and if you get some friendly kittens,  he is sure to pick up on their actions.  I currently have 2 sets of kittens that I am fostering.  One litter, born inside,  very friendly and affectionate.  The other litter, totally feral.  No human contact at all.  I have them set up in cages beside one another,  the friendly kittens come out of the cage all day long and play and interact with my cats.  The feral kittens I put into a small room so I can socialize them.  They have come leaps and bounds and I believe it is watching the friendly kittens.  Now that I can pick them up and hold them,  next week they will be able to play with the friendly kittens and really get more social.  

The isolation is very good at the beginning, but if possible,  interacting with other kittens is just good for them.

Hello 

The kitten made a lot of progress this week. Since I cannot close the cage while I am socializing him (I am working on building a cage that I can eventually) he walked out. But he was very calm about it. He searched around the two rooms, however he did hide behind a box once I walked toward him. I guess the big thing is that HE chose to walk out of the cage into the open rather than hide in the corner which would be considered more of a safer spot than the room. He hasn't hissed in the last month so that is good news. Is it a bad thing he went straight to hiding?

I am going to start schedule feeding all my cats at the same time to get him out of hiding in the next few days and work from there. He is good on being pet now, but his handling needs to be improved. I figure that is actually something that CAN be worked with outside of a cage. The main part is being able to touch him!

Next few days I am off from work early so I am hoping to make some progress outside the cage.

-Zach

No it's not a bad thing for him to go hide right after, it's expected. The room is so big compared to a cage, his small safe spot, but him walking out on his own, is great, especially that he didn't bolt out. He is coming along very nicely.

I'm going to try to offer him some canned food in a couple of hours and see if he will come out to eat. Might be a day of adjusting to the new rooms before he wants to eat. Both rooms together is about 800 Sq feet total which is not too big, but not too small. How long should I expect him to hide?

Well, 800 square feet is a good size for him.

I think your best bet is with the canned food, after giving him some hiding time, and make sure you are on the floor with him when you offer it, it's so much less intimidating.

I doubt it will be long, give him a few hours to gain a good apetite, fastest way to get to them is through their hunger!

That's wonderful news! I read somewhere that normally, a cat needs 500 square feet of his own. I used that to calculate if we could take in our last cat. It was close, so I added a bunch of cat trees and that worked. If there are perches and hiding spots for him, he'll be fine. What a lucky kitty!

Kitten came out today before I went to work. He let me pet him while he ate his canned food. He did however hide after I left and hasn't came back out yet (of course if I probably throw out more food he will). He was playing this morning with butterball. Butterball is the best cat to help with ferals.


This is how friendly butter ball is! (Taken at the shelter before I adopted him).



This is his grooming and walking a bit this morning before work.



This was the first day he came in. I had to move him into a cage with a glove at first so I could give him vaccinations. I figure I would handle the hard part on the first day so it could only get better from that day on.



This was the second day he was at my house after being at the shelter for a while and I saw that socilization was not working there (too stressful). 



This was the first time I fed him baby food and got him use to me.

Zach!!!!! I want to drop in here and pass on a THANK YOU for the work you are doing for feral kittens. You are what we need more of in this world!! I commend you. I honestly believe that there is always HOPE, and one must never, ever give up. I never label feral kittens as impossible to socialize after a certain age. So not true!!! Each cat, feral or not, has it's own innate personality that takes much time on our part to allow it to grow and flourish. Will they ever become lap cats.... never say never. I have known many a feral cat turn lap cat years after living with their guardian. There are even hand-reared kitties that never become lap cats. Just wanted to offer my support on what you are accomplishing. It is truly wonderful.

There is no way to estimate "how" long he will hide in the new space. Honestly, a smaller space is always best than a large space. 800 sq. ft. is plenty big. :nod: You don't want them to be able to hide from your sight. You want them to be able to see you no matter how frightened they are. Still allowing many places to hide but where you can sit near and offer food. Leave the food near his favorite hiding spot. But don't keep moving the food around to wherever he is hiding. Have one or two placemats set up near hideouts for food/water and leave them permanent until he is much more comfortable.

I wanted to agree with something you said in an earlier post and this is so important and has worked for me time and time again. I never let a feral kitten/cat out of the large cage until I can pet them. Once I am able to pet them without hissing/growling, etc. Then I keep that up for another week. After that is when I will allow them access to their "new space" - small space. I usually have the large enclosure in the safe room. That way I can open the door to the cage and let them come out when I am not around to investigate the new space. I only take the cage away when they are no longer going inside the cage to hide and once they have found a safe hiding place in the room away from their original "home", the cage.

It is always SO helpful to have a friendly cat helper when socializing as well. Feral cats DO watch, intently, how we interact with friendlies. It is so foreign to them and they can't believe the friendlies are allowing these human monsters to touch them. :lol3: Cats do learn from watching others. So GOOD JOB, Zach. :bigthumb: and good job to Butterball. :rub: whom looks like my Pipsqueak, btw.

Bless you!    What you are doing is wonderful.

Hi Zach,

Does the feral cat have a bag or enclosure in which to hide himself? I've read that some experts have success by creating a tunnel of open-ended grocery bags (only paper, of course, never plastic) leading to their food and toilet areas. This feral might be fearful of feeling exposed, and need the experience of safety to get him to come out of his cage without hiding. This could be an interesting way to try feeding him, through the tunnel bag system. Also, remember that when you look at him head-on, that's a challenge to a cat. So that might be why you were getting the "nasty look" in the past. He's a guy, you're a guy. He knows that, too. 

Thank you for the advice! I do have several crinkle tunnels laying around that are pretty big. I'll try that! Here is a picture of the kitten today! He walked all the way from his hiding spot to my room to eat. And he then fell asleep on my bed! Still doesn't like me moving toward him but likes petting.


On another note... here is two Siamese kittens I am also fostering now. 

Zatteberry said:

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• zatteberry
• Jun 4, 2013

On another note... here is two Siamese kittens I am also fostering now. 

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• zatteberry
• Jun 4, 2013

Click to expand...

Be still my heart.... :heart3: On both pictures! Your doing great, Zach! Be careful with those crinkle tunnels with feral kittens. I am a big FAN of those crinkle tunnels but the sound may really startle the little one. But give it a try, who knows, it may bring out the kitten in him. Another cheap thrill and hideaway are cardboard boxes turned upside down with a small door cut out. I get them all the time from Costco for my cats. They love to play in those, nap in them or just chill on top of them waiting to ambush whoever is inside.

AND.......... what adorable Siamese mix kittens. I will take the white one!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bigwink: :winkblue:

Bless your heart, Zach!

Kitten is starting to sleep in other places and not hiding much anymore. The only problem is with approaching him and picking him up, he still wants to run. But we are getting there - little by little. 

Thanks for the update.  Remember, he may never be pick-up friendly but he is definitely getting used to the idea of being a housecat.