Tips for Semi-Feral Litter?

Hi!

I just picked up a litter of 6-week old orphan foster kittens from the SPCA and it turns out they're hardly socialized with people at all, and don't seem to quite get the litter box idea yet. One kitten is a very shy but almost social, and another just hisses and scratches constantly.

I've read a lot about socialization and about litterbox training and I get the gist, but since I've never done it before I'm hoping people might be able to give me some tips? I know you're supposed to put the kittens in the litter box and see if them go, or if you see them trying to go somewhere else plop them in the litterbox, but a) they're terrified of people and really hard to catch and b) I'm not necessarily able to be in their room for every single potty time, do they still get the idea and start using the box if you're only there to reinforce some of the time?

Thanks!

The best thing to do is get Dr Elsey's Kitten Attract litter - its fantastic at helping kittens work out where they should go. Additionally, have the kittens in a small space whilst they're learning, and have many boxes out for them. Its all about making it easy to get to a box - the more boxes  there  are, the better their chances of getting it right. Once they've got the hang of it, you can gradually reduce the number of boxes to a more normal level.

Columbine is right - the less space they have while they learn to go the better. I put orphans into either a large cage that has room for a small litter tray or the shower cubicle in my spare bathroom, which makes cleaning easy! Once they have learned to use the litter tray then I open the door of the shower and let them explore the bathroom, but with the litter tray within easy reach. Kittens get so involved in play and in learning about the world that they often forget they need to go until it is too late, so only give them the extra space gradually.

Thank you both!!! They're in a tiny room, but I added another litter box and I've seen 2/3 go and use the box on their own when they need to (yay!!,) and I haven't seen the 3rd go at all in the litter box but I'm hoping he's just doing it when I'm not in there.

Now I'm hoping they're just still adjusting and not sick, though. They're 6-7 weeks old but they seem to basically be bottle babies and they don't come out of wherever they're hiding to eat on their own unless I spoon feed them and give them syringes of water, all 3 have diarrhea, and one threw up way more than I thought his tiny stomach could even hold last night (though maybe that's why he threw up.)

they most likely have worms and maybe coccidia you'll need to get their stool tested. coccidia is very contagious and hard to get rid of..

The diarrhoea is concerning - especially in such young kittens. They'll dehydrate really quickly from it if you're not careful.

It's very possible that they have some sort of parasite load - worms, protazoa or even both. I think veterinary advice is called for. It's always better to catch these things as early as possible.

Other than that, you're doing great with them, and they're very lucky to have found you.

They were vetted at the SPCA yesterday and I feel like they should have noticed any major parasites, but it's hard to say what they had time/money to test for. I emailed the foster coordinator about them so hopefully she'll get back to me soon. and hopefully it's nothing super contagious- I'm extremely careful about spreading germs from the kitten room to the rest of the house, but I have two adults that I'd rather not catch anything!

One of the kittens, the biggest, had a normal stool today though, so that's a good sign. They could be reacting to the food I've been feeding them, I have no idea what they got at the shelter or before they were abandoned so they could be adjusting to the different brand. 

They never really seem to drink on their own so I've been giving them water in syringes every few hours to keep them from getting dehydrated. They're on wet food too, how much water should I be giving them?

I just know that its pretty common for cats from shelters to have a parasite load of some sort - and its an even higher risk factor with kittens. It never hurts to introduce them to your vet and get them checked over. You might find this article interesting:-
[article="29716"]Identifying Common Ailments In Cats Adopted From Animal Shelters And Rescue Groups  [/article]

The SPCA thinks that they just have diarrhea because they were dewormed the other day- mystery hopefully solved! If it doesn't go away in a day or so I'll take them back in, which I probably have to do anyway since they've gotten sneezy and might need some clavamox.

Columbine- they're foster cats not my own and I can't really afford to take them to my vet unfortunately, unless it's an emergency and the SPCA would pay for it, so I'm just working with their vet techs through the SPCA currently. Thanks for the article link!!

And update, health issues aside, all three kittens are using the litter box almost every time and are making huge progress with their socialization!  

JennaNiccole said:

 
The SPCA thinks that they just have diarrhea because they were dewormed the other day- mystery hopefully solved! If it doesn't go away in a day or so I'll take them back in, which I probably have to do anyway since they've gotten sneezy and might need some clavamox.

Columbine- they're foster cats not my own and I can't really afford to take them to my vet unfortunately, unless it's an emergency and the SPCA would pay for it, so I'm just working with their vet techs through the SPCA currently. Thanks for the article link!!

And update, health issues aside, all three kittens are using the litter box almost every time and are making huge progress with their socialization!  

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Yes, its quite probable.  Also, moving to a new place is stressing, and this may cause some diarrhea too...

Lets hope its so, as they seems to be better and better, both with the litter issues and with their overall behavior.

Keep us reported, and keep coming with questions!

It's fantastic that you're fostering these babies. I quite understand that you don't have the money for veterinary care for them all - I'm sure the SPCA would step in if treatment was needed. I hope the kittens continue to improve and thrive

I hope they do, too! One of the kittens hasn't been very active for about 24 hours and I'm getting a bit worried about him, but they are all drinking and are eating much more so at least that's a good sign. They've all become comfortable enough with me to sit on my lap and purr, which is definitely a step in the right direction! 

And of course since I don't know what/if anything is wrong with the kittens medically I'm being overly paranoid every time one of my adults shows any symptoms, blah. One adult has diarrhea, though that's normal for my older cat, but I'm not entirely sure which had diarrhea because they share litter boxes and I've seen them both have normal stools too. Then there's been a lot of vomiting, but it's hard to tell which cat did that too if I don't see it happen. Hopefully I'm just being an overly worried kitty mom, but I think I'll give our vet a call tomorrow.

I wanted to mention, its never wrong with some nice probiotic, esp with uregulated stomach.

There are many brands, even some of the plain youghurts may be useful.

But the brand of BeneBac by PetAg was made especially for kittens.  At 6 weeks they are outside the most critical zone, but it may still be useful...

And yes, I understand you are a worrying mom.  If not you, so whom??

JennaNiccole said:

 
I hope they do, too! One of the kittens hasn't been very active for about 24 hours and I'm getting a bit worried about him, but they are all drinking and are eating much more so at least that's a good sign. They've all become comfortable enough with me to sit on my lap and purr, which is definitely a step in the right direction! 

And of course since I don't know what/if anything is wrong with the kittens medically I'm being overly paranoid every time one of my adults shows any symptoms, blah. One adult has diarrhea, though that's normal for my older cat, but I'm not entirely sure which had diarrhea because they share litter boxes and I've seen them both have normal stools too. Then there's been a lot of vomiting, but it's hard to tell which cat did that too if I don't see it happen. Hopefully I'm just being an overly worried kitty mom, but I think I'll give our vet a call tomorrow.

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Probiotics sound like they'd be a good idea, thank you! Especially with the kittens being put on antibiotics today, and the shelter says coccidia is going around the area so that could be what's happening. Poor babies, but they're on dewormer, coccidia meds, and antibiotics now. And sensitive stomach food in case that's what's bothering them. I don't know if that's why they've been having GI upset at all, but they love the food anyway!

Here's to hoping my older cats have some coccidia immunity since I've read it's super hard to kill if you get any on something that leaves the kitten room (anti-bacterial and alcohol cleaners don't always work, apparently.) And I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow so hopefully my dad is up for following my kitten care instructions when I can't. busy stuff!

So true, we have to be the worried parent for our kitties, they can't tell us what's wrong and those who don't live with them have way more trouble figuring stuff out than we do!