Feral kitten crying for hours

My neighbor and I trapped the 3rd and remaining feral kitten in a litter of 3 last Wednesday nite and I have been taking care of "Harry" in a spare room he has to himself. His littermates  were trapped 6 weeks ago and adopted by a neighbor. Harry is about 14-16 weeks but looks younger to me. His father is a tom cat I love and have been taking care of for 2 years (but who will not come into my house). The first 30 hours inside, Harry cried almost non-stop and wouldn't eat or use the litter box. Then, at dawn, in despair, he allowed me to pet him, pick him up, and cuddle him. He is now very affectionate with me, eats, uses litter box, and plays. However, he really misses his parents and wants desperately to be outside, and starts crying at pre-dawn and continues crying and jumping up on the windows frantically until around 1-2pm. Then he sleeps until 9pm, I play with him, he seems fine, andhe sleeps until dawn. His parents hear him crying thru the closed window and air conditioner, and roam around my house outside looking for him. His dad always comes to my porch at dawn to be fed, and appears to be unhappy with me because he knows I have his kitten. I know it's only been 4 days that I've had Harry, but I'm feeling stressed out and wondering if he will ever calm down and stop the crying. This morning I played with the wand with him for an hour and a half and he seemed happy--but then at 5:45am, he immediately started crying and scaling the windows again. I have 2 other cats, one of whom has tried to interact with him, but Harry just hisses. I put him in the carrier and take him to other rooms in the house to get him out of the one room, but when he sense a window nearby, he gets upset. I know that it's harder to socialize a feral over 12 weeks old and I'm wondering if after I get him neutered I should just release him back outside to his parents. Does anyone know if this crying will ever stop? I know 4 days isn't a long time, but he really seems heartbroken over losing his family and freedom.

He may be less heartbroken than frightened.  All he's known has changed.  If he allowed you to pet him, he is not a true feral cat.  A true feral would have hidden, hissed, swatted and fought in that order.

He will stop eventually but you have a decision to make.  If you want to keep him inside, he will adjust.  It will take time and patience but it seems he's already ahead of the curve with socialization.

Keep in mind that if you decide to neuter him and release him outside, he may be chased off by his dad, who probably sees your yard as his territory and will chase off any "intruders."  And Harry will most likely be considered an intruder because he's been gone for the time it takes to have him neutered and recuperate.  I would venture to say that his parents are less aware of him as their kitten than as a new cat in their territory.  After all, have they ever seen a cat yowling at them from your windows?  That's something new to them, too, and I am not sure if they really recognize him.

I would strongly suggest you keep him inside and spay mommy and neuter daddy.  That way, you won't have to go through this again!

Thanks for helping him.

Thanks for your reply.

First let me say that Harry is indeed a true feral. He was born of two ferals in the woods behind my block. His dad, Muffin, is a 3 year old feral that I've socialized for 2 years to the point that I can sit next to him and approach him and he's not afraid of a number of people on my block who like and feed him (and yes, he is a true feral as well--born of a litter from ferals on my block 3 years ago). He will not let me touch or pet him. Harry's mom, Cali, is a more typical feral who will not let any of us approach her even though we've been feeding her for several months. After the 3 kittens were born, Muffin brought them to my porch (as he had another kitten from a previous litter) for food. Muffin was teaching them to trust me. However, Cali taught her kittens to fear humans, so the kittens never came to my porch again and would run and hide with their mom when we approached. My neighbors and I had to trap the kittens with a humane trap.

Muffin is not a typical tom cat (and I wish he were). He is very protective of his kittens, and the first time Harry went into a trap, Muffin came to the side, stuck his paw through the hole, and poked Harry out of it.He does indeed remember and care for his kittens. The last kitten he had, he brought her to my porch for food when she was already 4 months old. We trapped and spayed her, and a neighbor took her in. He stood in front of her house for days.

I did in fact trap Muffin a year ago, after feeding him for 9 months. Unfortunately, I was unaware of how ferals are, and thought I could just take him into my house and socialize him and then neuter him. It did not work out. He was so distraught, and I could not get him back into cage or carrier to get him to vet. Mobile vet came and climbed up a ladder to give him rabies vaccine (he was clinging to my plant hanger). AFter 72 hours, I released him. He is very close to me, but he will not go into a trap. I've tried to get him into my house several different ways, but I believe the only way he will get into my house is when he decides he wants to come in. My neighbors and I have been trying to trap Cali (the mom cat) but so far have not been successful. I know all about responsibility and trapping and neutering cats now, my neighbor and I have in fact trapped and cared for 4 ferals and are doing the best we can, and I don't want to be made to feel badly because I made a mistake with Muffin 2 years ago.

Back to my original problem. Harry is now comfortable in two rooms of my house. He plays well and has bonded with me. Yesterday afternoon, he sat in the screened, open window for hours without crying. I thought we made great profess. Still, at dawn this morning, he cried and cried. I put him into his pet carrier with a blanket over it and he seemed to calm down. At dawn he is used to joining up with Muffin and Cali and playing in the woods, and that's when he misses his old life the most.

My question again: if anyone's had this experience, how long does it take for the kitten to stop crying in the morning? Will he ever adjust? I am also thinking of adopting him out because I think he would do well away from this block and with a family with kids who could give him lots of attention.

This type of thing is just my situation. It's just what's happening to me. Problem is, he/she showed up at our garden day before yesterday. Yesterday he/she was climbing a wall and at some high point he caught at it and fell into the pond at the bottom, full of muddy water. And till evening he shouted. I looked up over the wall but at the second time did not see him/her. Now cats can swim, I have one that swam, but this feral kitten is just 3-4 weeks old, he cannot even run properly. I understand how you feel, it's terrible to keep up with the mewing, but you have to. As for our newfound feral, I think he already died bc we can't get him out of the pond they use as a rubbish dump. I already have a pet one, a black Bombay breed.
P.S: This isn't an answer, just about MY situation, I hope you understand.

Yes, I know I need to be patient. I just want to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel with the crying :}

I don't know why my previous post listed twice. Anyone know how I can delete the second one?

I should explain that the reason Harry allowed me to pet him after the 30 hours of hissing is because he is used to my voice since I've fed him and his family breakfast from the time they were about 6 weeks old. Also, for the 6 mornings prior to his capture, after I would feed Muffin on my porch, Muffin  and I would go down to Harry's feeding area together. At this time Cali (mama ) was no longer hovering over Harry and was waiting until after I left to come out and eat. Harry saw that his dad wasn't afraid of me, and that I serve delicious chicken breast, and started to eat out of the bowl placed about 6 inches from me. He had an opportunity to become familiar with me before trapping. 

I have two indoor cats that are elderly and have health issues and I take care of Muffin and Cali, so I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed with Harry right now. I already love the kitten, but I wish the crying would stop so I could get some sleep.

I would get  Feliway plug in adaptor.  It will help to calm him.  You can also purchase composure treats for felines.  I used them when the stray I brought inside cried for hours each night.  You can order them online or some pet stores carry them.  Try playing calming music for him.  Cats enjoy classical soft music.  Rescue remedy in his wet food or water helps too.  If you can touch him, you can put a few drops on your hands and rub it on him.

Thank you for rescuing this kitten.  I do hope you will consider trapping the mother and father of this kittens or you will continue to have a massive cat problem.  You can begin my placing food inside a trap that is not set.  This will allow the cats to get used to the trap.  If you catch one, immediately cover it with a sheet and place it somewhere quiet until you can get to the vet. 

Shadows, I guess you didn't read my rather long entry (and I don't understand why my responses are appearing twice), but I did trap Muffin (the father cat) a year ago and consequently he will NOT enter a trap again, and all other efforts to get him into my house have thus failed (this is explained in my previous post). I also explained that my neighbors and I have already trapped and are caring for 4 feral cats, and we have been trying to trap Harry's mom but so far have been unsuccessful. It's frustrating that folks are telling me I need to trap them when I've already explained that I know this and I have been trying. You guys are preaching to the choir. I guess it's just an automatic response you give to new posters.

I've been using Feliway spray in the AM on Harry's blanket, but it hasn't helped much, and I've had the radio on for him, too. I haven't heard of composure pills or rescue remedy, I will check that out, thanks.

This AM actually went a lot better. Harry cried for a few hours. I put the other 2 cats in a room and allowed Harry the run of the house to explore. He was a bit scared but also seemed to enjoy it. Then he went to sleep with me on my bed for a nap and  is quiet in my bedroom now. So we are making progress. It just takes a lot of patience. As someone pointed out, it's only day 5, and I'm already ahead on the socialization curve.  I just need patience when the distressed crying begins at dawn.  

Shadows, I guess you didn't read my rather long entry (and I don't understand why my responses are appearing twice), but I did trap Muffin (the father cat) a year ago and consequently he will NOT enter a trap again, and all other efforts to get him into my house have thus failed (this is explained in my previous post). I also explained that my neighbors and I have already trapped and are caring for 4 feral cats, and we have been trying to trap Harry's mom but so far have been unsuccessful. It's frustrating that folks are telling me I need to trap them when I've already explained that I know this and I have been trying. You guys are preaching to the choir. I guess it's just an automatic response you give to new posters.

I've been using Feliway spray in the AM on Harry's blanket, but it hasn't helped much, and I've had the radio on for him, too. I haven't heard of composure pills or rescue remedy, I will check that out, thanks.

This AM actually went a lot better. Harry cried for a few hours. I put the other 2 cats in a room and allowed Harry the run of the house to explore. He was a bit scared but also seemed to enjoy it. Then he went to sleep with me on my bed for a nap and  is quiet in my bedroom now. So we are making progress. It just takes a lot of patience. As someone pointed out, it's only day 5, and I'm already ahead on the socialization curve.  I just need patience when the distressed crying begins at dawn.  

Thank you for taking care of the ferals and trying to socialize/TNR them.  And yes at 5 days, you're way ahead of the curve.  Sleeping on your bed is wonderful.

Try Feliway plug ins, they seem to work better than the sprays.

I would get Harry neutered as soon as possible; I think some of his meowing/crying may be due to him approaching sexual maturity.  Once that happens, he'll want to escape, looking for loving.

You might also try borrowing or buying a drop trap.  It works when cats are trap savvy, like Muffin.  If there is a rescue group near you, they may have one you can borrow.  They may also help with tips and info.

Even though you are solving part of the problem by helping the kittens, Ritz is correct.  Unless you get the mom and dad fixed, you're going to have more kittens.

I just wanted to provide an update on Harry so if anyone else in the future googles "feral kitten crying" they can get at least one person's experience to offer hope. I had googled that and found a similar thread on this site, but the OP didin't give an update, so I never knew if their kitten ever stopped crying.

It's the 6th morning, and Harry started to cry at daybreak. I put him in his pet carrier for 45 minutes and he calmed down immediately. After I let him out, he sat in the windows and meowed for about 15 minutes, then stopped altogether and got about the business of playing and tearing up the box springs beneath my bed. So things are much better now. I haven't seen his mother cat looking around for him the past two mornings, and his dad, Muffin, seems to have accepted the loss, though he still looks for Harry at the end of the block after he eats breakfast on my porch.

I think what really helped was that for weeks prior to finally trapping Harry, I would talk a lot while putting the food out so that the cats learned to recognize my voice and associate it with getting fed. The week prior to trapping Harry, Harry saw me sit next to Muffin, his dad, and feed him, and ventured out to eat out of the bowl with Muffin 6 inches in front of me. It made the whole experience a bit less traumatic for him because he knew his dad thought I was "safe".

Now the next challenge will be getting him socialized to my two senior, indoor cats.    

Thanks for the update.  It does show how a little time and patience can help.

I'm glad I came across this thread. I was starting to wonder if I was doing something wrong. My other two cat never cried like my little is now. Thanks for posting.

Update: Crying stopped completely after 2 weeks. Harry's been with me now 6 weeks and is very happy in his new home and never cries at all!

What A handsome little fellow!!!!!  He reminds me of my Frankie !! Best of luck with him. I was wondering how Harry was doing with your other two cats?

A picture paints a thousand words. I took in another feral kitty a week ago after she had bad reaction to anesthesia and almost died (and it turned out she'd been shot a few months ago and has a bullet in her leg). Harry is a wee bit jealous of her now.

A picture paints a thousand words. I took in another feral kitty a week ago after she had bad reaction to anesthesia and almost died (and it turned out she'd been shot a few months ago and has a bullet in her leg). Harry is a wee bit jealous of her now.

That is truly an adorable picture !!!!!  Simple things like that give me so much joy !!!! Thanks for posting the picture.

Dear MsAimee,

Thank you so much for your updates.

Just this morning, I rescued the remaining kitten from a litter of four. The first three disappeared over the last few days. My neighbour and I have been feeding the mother and her litter for about 4 weeks. But when the first three went missing, we figured it was time to catch the last one and hopefully find it a home. I'm not sure whether it is a boy or a girl. It is about 8 weeks old.

Anyway, I placed the kitty in a separate room, and he/she has been hiding under the couch for the last 3 hours, crying intermittently. He/she did eat when I first let him/her out of the cat carrier, but now he/she won't come out from under the couch.

Your posts are encouraging. Hopefully, he/she will warm up to me within the next few days.

I'm late to this thread, but looks like it worked out exactly like it did for me (many decades ago when I was a youth). When a caught a feral because I wanted a cat (I was young, immature - and didn't know anything about them) - took her about two weeks to stop crying.