my sister found a wild kitten.

so, ok. my sister just brought a kitten over. it's probably about 2 1/2 months old, wild and extremely scared. she's absolutely beautiful thought. she's falling asleep on my lap right now. my sister works at eckard drug and they're building a new building right now. so right now they're running out of a trailer set up behind the construction site. and i guess the mother decided to have her 3 babies under their trailer. my sister finally decided that someone needed to take atleast one of the kittens. so she choose the beautiful little calico girl. (there's a grey little boy and black little girl, and than the momma's grey too). i feel bad for the other 2 and the momma. i'm trying to find homes for them, i have a girl that's willing to take in the two kittens, but they've been impossible to catch. hopefully we can catch them while she's still interested. I still need to find a home for the momma kitty.

she's very scared of my sister. when i was holding her and my sister would walk by or walk up to us, she'd recoil away from her. but she loves me. she's hanging out on my lap right now and i don't even have ahold of her. she slept with me earlier. she was curled up right next to my face. but my sister is the one that's going to keep her...but she's really scared of her. it's probably bad for her to be getting attached to me right now, isn't it?

she seems to be very healthy. i'm guessing she has worms but i'm going to fix that tomorrow when i take her to the vet. but she doesn't seem to have fleas or ticks or ear mites or anything. she hasn't gone to the bathroom at all yet. i don't know if that might have anything to do with her having worms (reason i say i think she has worms is cause she's got a really large, hard belly).

it's seriously very wild. she's insane i think. but she's very sweet and very nice when you can get ahold of her.

first off i wanted to know if anyone has any advice on raising a wild kitty.

and second, here are some pictures of the crazy little girl. if you notice she likes tight dark places. she also really likes being held...it's just the inbetween thing of "being caught" that she doesn't like.
http://rachael.fotopic.net/show_collection.php?id=58154 (lots of photos)


and just when i was planning on asking how to get her to eat and drink, she did. only alittle but she did. but eating and drinking made her go nuts. suddenly she was running around and rolling on the carpet and playing with stuff. she hadn't done that yet...just hidden. she even started to play with the water. She's meowing A LOT...she wants me to chase her. she acts like she's all scared, but really she just likes being chased. the only time she stops meowing is when i'm chasing her trying to catch her. she get's right up near me and as soon as i reach for her she bolts.

here are the pics i took of her once she had a little bit of food and water and started acting nuts

http://rachael.fotopic.net/show_collection.php?id=58155


any advice on wild kittens would be really appreciated. will she ever be "normal"?




i also have another cat, stinky, that was an inside/outside cat. but now he's just going to be an inside cat. he's been at the vet since thursay. i'm hopefully going to be able to bring him home tomorrow. we don't know exactly what happened, but whatever it was, it resulted in the base of his tail being injured/broken. they're keeping him there now cuase he's in a lot of pain, it was swollen and he had a horrible fever. i haven't talked to anyone since yesterday morning. they said they might have to amputate his tail. he's no longer going to be allowed to go outside. i also have a doggy that's stinky's best buddy. they play a lot. you can see pictures of them here:

http://rachael.fotopic.net/show_collection.php?id=48579

thanks in advance for any help. i'm now going to go check out some of the articles that i passed on my way in.

Welcome to the site! You've come to the right place for advice on socializing a feral kitten. I'm going to move this to the Feral Colonies Forum where our real feral experts can help you through this.

For the other three cats, have you looked into renting a trap? It would be much less traumatic for Mom and Kittens than being chased and caught by hand, and much less risky for you and your sister since you won't run the risk of being bitten or scratched. Check with your local SPCA or Humane Society - many will let you rent a trap with a deposit. Your vet may also have a trap. One word of caution, don't just call the local shelter and have them trap the cats. You will give up all claim and if they deem the cat and kittens as too wild they will be put down.

I'll check back later with you with advice for socializing the beautiful kitten you have now. (Unfortunately, I just got into work and have to at least *look* like I'm working first thing in the morning ). In the meantime, please look at Handling Feral Cats an excellent article by our foremost feral expert who goes by Hissy on the forums, and if you have time read through Socializing a Feral: The Story of Lucky which is a VERY long thread but well worth the read. It follows the story of Lucky, another beautiful torti, from trapping to being fully integrated into the household and being a loving little housecat.

Yes, your kitten can grow up to be as "normal" as any other cat! Patience and kindness will do it. Your kitten acts scared of your sister because seeing a person approaching and looming over them does scare feral kittens. To them, everything is a predator until they learn they will not be harmed.

If the kitten is already sleeping in your lap, that is a very good sign! With my own feral kittens, it took over a week before I was allowed to even touch them.
Just keep talking to her, holding her and giving her treats and she'll be fine.

She's not insane, she just sounds like a normal and very playful kitten. I'm so glad she found someone to care for her, but the other two and the mother really need to be caught. As suggested, you can get humane traps from the HS, or you can rent them.

Good luck!!

I cant see the pics

Is it posible tha you could keep her, and maybe find your sister another kitten that will not be afraid of her? It looks like kitty hs made up her mind who she loves. I love your hair color! It's great.

thank you all so much. so i guess she's a tortie and not a calico? i'm not even going to pretend like i know the difference.

i'm about to take her to the vet right now to get checked out. i would love to keep her, but i already have one kitty and a doggie and they're more than what i can handle.

i'm going to talk to my vet about a trap and/or getting the momma spade.

i'll definitly read more about feral cats.

thank you all again.

(p.s. i don't know what to tell you if you can't see the pics. except to maybe try back later)

Oh I see the pics now! What a sweetie! And LOL @ kitty on crack She looks like a Calico to me.

Your little wild girl is indeed a calico, sorry for the confusion. A torti or tortishell is a black/tan/red combination in no true "pattern", whereas a calico is blotches of black/tan/red with white, generally white belly, chest and legs. Actually, I think your little one is a torti with white, but since she isn't purebred she can be either - whatever you prefer to call her.