Semi Feral kittens - 13 weeks

Hi all,

I volunteer and foster with a rescue that recently took in 3 semi-feral kittens.  We don't normally work with ferals but this was a favor to a business that donates generously so we couldn't really say no....  Kittens are about 13 weeks old, so unfortunately a bit old for easy taming.  I've got them in foster care and need some advice.

I have them in separate cages with food, litter and a small hide. Have feliway and composure is on order.  They have been here for 3 days now, so settled in with just me around and talking but not doing anything with them other than changing litter and feeding.  Two should be able to be tamed as they aren't aggressibe just very scared.  I handled them with a towel today and they were very scared but didn't try to bite and one took food after.  They allow me to touch them without biting, so I'm hopeful that with patience they will come around. 

I'm concerned about the 3rd kitten - from the person who trapped them and then the vet I heard that this was the aggressive one and the one to look out for.  It is in a small cage with a little hide and will attack and try to bite.  I've tried to offer a bit of tuna on a spoon so that they associate me with food but this one will strike at the spoon and it very aggressive even if I don't put it too close to it.  No response to a wand toy.  I know I need to take it very slow and be patient, I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can do?  I've read up on working with feral kittens and think I have the basics but any advice would be great.  I know that at 13 weeks there is a decent chance that it won't tame, I just want to try everything I can.

Many thanks! 

13 weeks isn't too late.  They are all making adjustments and just like people, some will take longer than others.  I would go about visiting them every day, talk to them all calmly and not push any of them.  The little aggressive one, especially, may need to be coddled a bit more than the others.  He may never be a lap cat but that doesn't mean he can't be a housecat.

Just speak to them softly, no fast moves and visit often.  See if you can get Gerber chicken baby food (just chicken and water, no onions).  Most cats can't resist it and it is an excellent bribe.

Thank you for helping them!

Tiliqua said:

 
Hi all,

I volunteer and foster with a rescue that recently took in 3 semi-feral kittens.  We don't normally work with ferals but this was a favor to a business that donates generously so we couldn't really say no....

Click to expand...

The aggressive one seems to be a tough nut. But its just to work on!     The same basic receipt.   Time, patience, a lot of friendly words and sounds.   Dont bother him too much, let him observe, cool down, and let him mature into wise ideas by himself.

Ie, here you can use the friendlier ones as your ambassadeurs.   Work with them.  You will quite soon get a thoroughbreak, and begin to play and cuddle with them...   And let him see you being friendly with them!

If you do have a friendly resident, it may be an idea they see you interact with this resident.   They do learn from examples.   Preferably from seeing friends, but even others may do as good examples.

Also, you know the basics of  body language?  Dont look in the eyes, look a little aside, or above...  Blink slowly with eyes.   Yawn!   Standing on all fours, strech yourself forward or backwards -  this with yawning and streching isnt so well known, but if you think after, its so friendly cats do to each other, and to their favorite people.  So they seldom yawn because they are sleepy or lazy - most often its friendship gestures...

I want to comment what you wrote.  So this generous donator business, they wished you do help three semiferale kittens?   Wow, so swell!   And perhaps not the most usual.  Perhaps something you can develop in the future?

Please tell more about this background!     Both the fact they DO donate generously, and the fact here, they wanted to help these three kittens.

Good luck!

It's definitely not too late to socialize them.  Follow the tips from above.  I also will post a link to a series of videos on socializing feral kittens.  It is a 3 part series that starts with the rescue of the kittens and continues to their socialization. I learned a lot of great tips from watching this video.

http://www.urbancatleague.org/TamingVideo

StefanZ said:

I want to comment what you wrote.  So this generous donator business, they wished you do help three semiferale kittens?   Wow, so swell!   And perhaps not the most usual.  Perhaps something you can develop in the future?

Please tell more about this background!     Both the fact they DO donate generously, and the fact here, they wanted to help these three kittens.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

The rescue I work with deals with strays and takes in a lot of cats that would be euthanized at the pound due to lack of space, so we focus on the cats that are adoptable but facing euthanasia.  We don't really work with ferals at all due to lack of resources. This business donates quite generously, so we took these kittens in as a favor although we generally won't take in feral or semi-feral as there are so many others in need of help that are much more adoptable. 

I usually foster the very timid / shy cats or ones with behavioral problems as my four cats are great with other cats and so I seem to have good success with timid / scared fosters.  I'm just not used to ones wanting to bite!

I also take in quarrantine cats in my garage until we can place them in either a pet store or a foster home, which is why I have caging set up in the garage. Thanks again for the suggestions and links to the videos.    Any other tips are appreciated.  

Hi all,

Just a quick update.  I've moved them to a spare bathroom out of my quarrantine cages.  This way I can sit on the floor with them and be at their level and I'm never reaching into their space; they have to come to me.  I was told to keep them separate as the more feral ones will instill that fear in the others, but from reading I think that them being together is better. They more timid ones see the others eating and follow suit, plus they get to groom, snuggle and comfort each other. 

It's been going very well.  They all respond to food well and will eat next to me and let me have my hand on the dish.  The advantage to having them together is that they are kittens... once they are full they can't help but start playing or attacking someone's tail and so even with me sitting in the room they play until I move or startle them.  They are obviously gaining confidence.

I'm also bringing my boy Aries in regularly, and he'll just sit on my lap and let me pet him or he'll sniff the kittens and start to make introductions.  Progress seems very good, thank you for all the suggestions and advice and links.  

Any other ideas are always appreciated!

Good news!  Thank you so much for helping them and for this update.

I´ve fostered a lot of feral kittens and I noticed, the "aggressive" ones are the ones that come around easier, especially when it comes to being out of the cage. 

One of my tricks to bond with feral kittens: I put a little bit of the sweet nutritional paste for cats on my finger and let them lick it off. Once they find out it tastes good and learn they have to lick, not bite, it helps a great deal to see a human hand as something positive.

If you are worried about your finger, try it with a spoon or a tong depresser first.

I could use a bit more advice.  

First off, things are going well.  They are eating from a dish on my lap and from my hand and tolerate me well, especially when hungry.  Still very little touching is ok and no sudden movements, but having them on my lap and eating is great.  It's coming along well! The best thing I've done is bring my adult male Aries in quite a bit.  They seem to see him as a mother figure or something and forget about me completely when he's around, they just try to get close to him and stare adoringly and make little trilling sounds.  He is very submissive and used to new cats, so he's not entirely sure what to do with the attention but is very good about it!

Here is a pic of them watching him. 


Now here is where I need more help!

I've just found out that a 4th kitten is out there that didn't get trapped originally.  They thought that they got all of them, but one sibling has been out in -20 weather for a week on it's own.  Poor thing.  The rescue director is very hesitant to take it in thinking it may be too feral to tame, but I said that I'd take it and work with it.  The director also was the one who thought they should be left separate and in cages to tame, but from what I've read and seen this method is working much better.

For those with more experience - how would you handle this new 4th kitten once it has been to the vet?  Should I introduce it with the other 3 right away?  I know that after a week or just over a week they may take time to accept the sibling again and I don't want to stress out these guys when they are doing so well but I also want the 4th kitten to have all the chances that these guys do.  Any thoughts or advice would be great.  I'm not sure what would be best for all the kittens at this point.

Many thanks!

Oh my!  They are adorable.  Their trilling tells me they are still young enough to look for an adult to guide them.

My first thought is to keep the newbie in the crate for a day or two, until you can assess his personality/how feral he still is.  If he turns out to be timid or socialize-able, you can re-introduce him slowly to his siblings.  You may want to limit everyone's interaction with Aries until things settle down a bit.

Blessings on you for helping them all.  The worst thing that can happen is kitten #4 is too feral but if so, can he can be neutered and released?  Or maybe a barn home?

No advice as the experts are giving you that.

I just wanted to say that picture made my day..

Beautiful kittens!

I had a similar situation a few years ago. I took in three female kittens and then realised about 4 days later that there was another sister still outside. These kittens were all around 16 weeks old, not too old to be socialised. I've taken in kittens at 6 months and adult cats, they may not all become lap cats but I think it's as much to do with the individual cats personality than their age.

If the fourth kitten looks OK, no goopy eyes or runny nose, I'd suggest putting him in a crate in the same room as his siblings. I'm sure they'll remember him, but it will be easier for you to keep an eye on him if he is crated. I think having him with his slightly tamer siblings is a good idea as cats learn by watching other cats. He'll see that his brothers and sisters are getting comfortable with you and it will make him more likely to trust you too.

I don't like the idea of separating the kittens either. They're happier when they have their brothers and sister to play with. Most of the kittens I've re-homed have gone to families that have other cats, so if they have spent a lot of time with other kittens they settle in better.

Thanks for the advice everyone!  I have a small cage that I use for adoption events, I could use that for the 4th kitten as I don't have an adoption event coming up until Nov 30th.  I think that's a great idea - keep it with it's siblings but in the crate until I can assess and it can get used to things.  There isn't a lot of room in the bathroom, but as they get tamer I can move them to a spare bedroom.

If the 4th kitten is too feral to be tamed, my parents can take it as a barn cat.  

These three trill a lot, especially when Aries is around.  Very cute.  

We are going to try to trap the last kitten tonight. The plan is to take it to the vet tomorrow am to get it's shots, spay / neuter, deworm etc.  Once it is released from the vet I'll take it.  Hope we can find it.

Couple more photos.    Thanks again for the advice and help!

Vibes trapping is successful

I have to post one more update...  I just fed the treat wet food, my kitties favorite.  Aries smelled it and needed to come for a bite.  I was petting him and he was eating and the kittens came up and all three let me pet them while they ate.  Aries just backed off as soon as they pushed their way in.  They are coming along so quickly!  I can't believe I could stroke them.  

Wow!!  Great progress.  Keep up the good work.  I bet petting them was such an awe inspiring moment.  Good luck trapping tonight!

That's great news, they're such lovely kittens. Love those little pink noses.

Hi all,

We went out to trap the 4th kitten last night but from what we can tell, it seems like mom is very small and that an employee must have mistaken mom for a 4th kitten.  When the kittens were originally trapped they were very unconcerned with the trap and walked right in while mom was extremely wary and very nervous.  The girl who trapped them stayed out for a couple more hours after trapping 3 kittens and only saw mom, no other kittens.  This time we sat out for several hours and only saw mom as well.  It's very unlikely that a kitten was around but not seen over those couple evenings (and that it would be well away from either its siblings or mom).  So we had to assume that if there ever was a 4th kitten, it didn't make it and the 4th kitten that was seen during the week by an employee was just mom.

Thanks for the help and comments everyone!