Are we ready to spay? Building trust in a feral kitten.

We have had Glinda for four weeks now. For those of you who haven't read her story, I adopted a feral kitten at 8.5 weeks or so. I really didn't know what I was getting into.

This is a picture from yesterday. She isn't actively attacking me. Twice recently she has been startled while I was holding her. I have tried clipping her nails, but only got to the front. Pretty sure the big scratch came from a back claw.

I made an appointment to have her spayed Thursday morning. They will clip her nails, give her her booster and microchip her at the same time.

I will pick her up Friday morning. I have Friday through Monday off of work.

Overall socialization is going well. She has the run of the living room most of the time. Mornings are weird. She fell asleep in my daughter' s lap last night and walked up to me to get petted for a second then freaked out and ran. But we can almost always pick her up from her tree or crate, or coax her to us with treats.

Every morning she acts like she has no idea who we are and freaks out completely. Hides mostly. I know mornings are very active, with all three of us running all over the house.

Is this behavior normal?

Should I spay her this week or wait?

She needs to go to the vet for her booster anyway, and a nail clip, as I am not clipping enough off and need to see what they should look like.

Any advice for how I should handle her when she comes home? We have kept the large dog crate in the house, which she still uses to sleep or escape to. Less so now that she has a tree.

My biggest concern is that since she was born outside to a feral mom and it is summer, she might come into heat early. I really want her spayed before that happens.

First, thank you for taking on a fera kitten. Ritz was semi-feral when trapped (in front of my condo building).
Personally, I would proceed with spaying; it may make her calmer too. She has lots of hormones flowing through her body.
Regarding how to handle post spay: if she has a safe place like the dog crate, you can put her in there to rest and relax.
Regarding her behavior in the morning, I'm not sure, but I think it kind of is, seeing how she was feral to begin with. If she lived in the streets for any length of time, morning is prime time for hunting and needing to be alert to keep from being hunted. Have you tried ignoring her in the mornings, leaving her alone, until she initiates contact?

I was actively playing with her in the mornings and I feed her some wet food. This morning I had to get to work early, so no time for play.

I usually coaxed her out to hold and pet her for awhile.

She is usually pretty friendly in the afternoons and evenings. I will see if letting her go about her business this morning if she is still as friendly when we come home.

Personally, I see no urgency in spaying her. She is approx 12 wks old, correct? Hormones at this age do not play a big part in her overall demeanor (if she were 5+ months, I would say differently.)

Know that she will need to be fully crated for a few days post spay. No running/jumping/climbing. (Our vets recommend at least 5 days of low activity.)

Also, I personally would not have a cat vaccinated the same day of surgery (unless it's a TNR cat.) Anesthesia lowers their immune system as it is...adding vaccines on top of that can be too much for them (and make them feel a lot worse post-op.)

I would proceed with getting her next round of vaccines. It takes about 2 wks for their bodies to gain as much immunity from the vac as it can. If she was vaccinated prior to 8 wks of age, it is quite possible that she gained no benefit from the booster (if she still had some of the mother's immune system in her, it nulls the vaccine.)

Thanks CatPack.

The other concern I have is the fact that I am not going to have a job soon. I should find something quick, but if I do, I doubt time off will be easy to come by at first. This seemed like the only time we could be with her for a few days straight.

She was definitely over 8 weeks when she had her first vaccination.