Help with feral kitten

I know you hear this a lot catwoman707, but you were so right. I let my husband talk me in to letting her out tonight. What a nightmare.

She attacked me for the first time. I grabbed her and put her in a burrito, she calmed down, but I felt horrible.

She is back in her crate now.

I have been taking her out three times a day. Do I just keep this up? She still only gets wet food and baby food directly from us, but it isn't as convincing as it used to be.

I guess I have a hard time with patience. I felt like we were getting somewhere, but this is harder than I thought. I haven't seen the big leaps and bound changes like before. If anything she has regressed a bit.

Datagrrl said:

Sorry, maybe I wasn't Clear. She isn't swiping or hissing when I go to pick her up. I can reach in the crate and get her. It just stinks because she runs back to the far corner.

I have taken to showing her I am not scared of her and that has stopped the hissing when I open the crate, but she still runs.

My problem is that after I handle her and put her back she will hiss at ne as I am trying to stand up or if I pick up something near her crate.

In those situations should I try To pick her up again?

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I have a feral and I think I have said this before. If you are standing up or going near there cage they get scared. To them you are a big alien. I never went near the cage because it would hiss and scare it to death. If I wanted to look at it I would sit on the floor so you are at its level. This could take lots of time and patience and believe me you have to have it. I couldn't believe how long it has taken me to get my feral to where she is.  My feral was much older than yours. If I can find this sight that I had read I will post it. It really helped me alot. But the more you scare it the more it will be afraid of you. I would open the cage and puts it food right outside of the cage and let it come out on its own, if it will do that while you are sitting there, then play with it. See  how that goes.

Datagrrl said:

Sorry, maybe I wasn't Clear. She isn't swiping or hissing when I go to pick her up. I can reach in the crate and get her. It just stinks because she runs back to the far corner.

I have taken to showing her I am not scared of her and that has stopped the hissing when I open the crate, but she still runs.

My problem is that after I handle her and put her back she will hiss at ne as I am trying to stand up or if I pick up something near her crate.

In those situations should I try To pick her up again?

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Another thing I just thought of. Do you have a towel or blanket over the cage so she feels safe? This way they don't know you are around the cage only from the front. 

Datagrrl said:

I know you hear this a lot catwoman707, but you were so right. I let my husband talk me in to letting her out tonight. What a nightmare.

She attacked me for the first time. I grabbed her and put her in a burrito, she calmed down, but I felt horrible.

She is back in her crate now.

I have been taking her out three times a day. Do I just keep this up? She still only gets wet food and baby food directly from us, but it isn't as convincing as it used to be.

I guess I have a hard time with patience. I felt like we were getting somewhere, but this is harder than I thought. I haven't seen the big leaps and bound changes like before. If anything she has regressed a bit.

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     I hear it now and again

For one, her crate is setting on the floor, she will be intimidated by anyone near her as you tower over her like a giant in her mind.

It helps a great deal to have her up on a table or something, where she will see well and not feel so overwhelmed.

This is why she hisses when you put her in and stand up, or bend over to get something.

I think the progression is slower from you being scared of her somewhat. It seems she really needs alot more time being held and hanging out with you rather than caged, but not out on her own, she is def. not ready for that.

It is not a good idea to cover her cage, she needs all the social exposure she can possibly get.

Covering the cage enforces her fear and will prolong her taming.

Ok,

I will work on being less scared. I am doing a bit better.

Will play with her more.

I moved her crate and put it on a container today. She could reach the curtains, so I pulled them back.

Is it okay for her to see out the window?

She was good with my daughter this morning. Of course she got away and I had to get her. Wore gloves this time but she didn't fight as much.

Moving her crate sent her into a hissy fit. I wanted to do it while my daughter was holding her, but that didn't work out.

Remember, and maybe show your daughter too, that when holding/handling her, if you keep a gentle scruff on her while holding, she will be much more submissive. Then if she tries to escape your hold, tighten up on the scruff hold and she won't be squirming out of your arms.

The gloves help, just in case, but mostly will help you feel more confident handling her

I know you probably don't want daily updates, but if don't think letting her out made her regress as badly as I thought at first.

Still not ready to let her out. But she has progressed.

If she is at the front of her crate she has stopped running to the corner when I approach to open it. As long as I don't show fear she is usually okay with my picking her up. The staying and not running feels like a huge step. Getting her to approach when I open the crate seems a way off.

Put the crate up about a foot and a half. She still seems to hiss when we walk by sometimes.

She is okay out of the crate for awhile, but gets restless and wants to explore. Playing with her but holding her so she can't run is hard. She is still great at cuddling, but is pretty curious. I can tell she is gaining confidence. You can see it in the way she carries herself.

I really need to clean out the bottom of the crate today. It is a mess. I have to clean the house today, which I am avoiding. Would much rather catch up on catsite.

Not sure if anyone else has done this, but I leash trained my last feral kitten as soon as I could get my hands on him without a fight.

He has been a project (a product of *very* feral parents.) While he is no longer aggressive, he still retains his skittishness and is scared of large spaces (does fine in his bedroom.) So, when he comes out of his room for visits, his leash/harness go on so that he can explore, but I am able to keep him from getting "stuck" under furniture.

Might be worth a try with your kitten in a week or so if she acts like she wants to explore. Petco and PetSmart both carry harnesses for kittens.

Funny. My husband texted me that he bought the cat a leash yesterday. I asked really? He said, no you can't put a leash on a cat. Sounds like an idea to me.

Well you can actually leash/harness train a cat, and think it can be really great, but if you have no intentions of taking her outside, and her being in the process of being tamed, I would probably not attempt that, it will add more stress on her and you.

See? When you don't show fear means her hissing and all that is getting her nowhere, and will def help her progress.

Is there any way possible you can get her cage higher, say like a table height?

Cleaning her cage should not be hard, just scruff her, pull her out and stick her butt in a carrier or something escape proof though.

Are you still only feeding her from your hand or does she have food in her cage?

She has kitten food in her crate all of the time. She only gets canned food or baby food from us.

This morning my daughter read to her. She comes right up to the front of the crate to be petted for her. She still runs to the corner for me.

She has really become attached to my daughter. She tries to get her attention and has positive interactions with her. Mine are mostly positive.

I am starting to worry that she isn't always peeing in the litterbox. She dumps her water a lot, so we assumed the towels we were taking out had water on them. But today's towel was wet and she never spilled her water. I thought the smell was because I was using bad litter, but mabe she isn't using the box. How can I tell for sure, and what can I do to encourage her?

Spilling the water is often because they can't see where the water level is so they will paw at it to make the water move to see.

If you use a heavier dish, like a crock, or one that attaches to the cage side, this will stop the spilling, then you will know for sure if she is peeing or not.

If you are only seeing wetness on the bottom of the cage and not in her bed, chances are it isn't pee at all but water.

If she were peeing outside the box it is normally going to be in her bed, not randomly on the floor

I bet your daughter is not afraid of her......  That's a great thing, just need to get you there as well!!

The hissing has kind of stopped in the last two days. She has started talking now. She will meow when we do stuff like stand up, or walk up to her crate, but the hissing isn't really happening. For awhile she was meowing without sound, so I think I thought the hissing went on longer than it did.

My daughter definitely has no fear of her. I am getting there. Today's pic.

Adorable, don't you just love the hammocks???

She looks right at 3 months now.

That's great, you are making so much progress. Meowing is a really positive sign. It means she wants something from you, which means she knows you are the one providing the food and treats and love. She's such a pretty girl, you're really lucky to have found each other.

I made the hammock. She loves it. It gives her a perch. Her favorite thing to do is hang in it stalk her tail from underneath. This provides entertainment for all of us.

Adorable!!

Major setback today.

Long story short, she got out into the living room. My husband really wanted me to leave her alone. I was really concerned about whether she would use the litter box. This morning she was in her crate eating and I closed the door. Now she feels trapped I think.

Do I just go back to what we have been doing? We are not to a point where she would come to any of us outside the crate. She will play, but if we try and touch her she thinks we want to put her away.

If I trusted her to use the litter box I might be okay with letting her out more. She will interact with us, and doesn't only hide. She just thinks we are trying to catch her. Not that she hates her crate, she is just pretty curious. I was hoping to keep her crate there for awhile with her litter food and water. Now I worry that she will see it as a trap and not her place.

Am I expecting too much? Is her outside behavior normal cat behavior? I worry a lot because I can tell she is still scared of a lot.

It was totally my fault she got out. But now I am not letting my daughter play at the door because she wants out so bad.

My biggest fear is that she will get outside the house.

I have ordered some Composure drops. I have the treats, which I fed her one yesterday. I think that was some of the amazing change I saw yesterday. I got one in her today and it seems to have taken the edge off her stress. She is playing normally. She is hissing more. But still fine with petting, picking up.

I don't see this as a setback at all. It gives her short periods to explore. Her cage is not looked at like a trap, and actually is her safe spot.

She is a kitten and thinks like one, ooo, things to see! So her getting out here and there is fine. But a little at a time.

Plus, she is not avoiding being touched because she doesn't want to be put back, she is shy of you all still.

Remember when she is out, it is huge to her, as far as new/scary, and you don't want her to hide either.

If there is one room she can be allowed out in daily, where she is not able to hide and you are able to interact with her, then great.

But out and about in the entire house is still a bit too much just yet.

You need to form a trust bond a little more before she is ready for that.

As long as her box is in the same room, and she doesn't have to get close to you to use it, she will use it fine. She's older and will prefer that to the floor.