My adoptive Feral kitten

Ok, let's start from the beginning, I adopted a feral kitten on Saturday and she is 10 weeks old, I thought she was my little girl because she scratch the latter at the adoption center and when I grab her she just cuddled in my arms (or hand I should say). I then brought her home and I closed all doors in my bed room and thought there was no where she could hide beside under the bed, in which I would have been ok with, so I pet her a little and sat her on the bed and he jumped down but when I when to the other side of the bed she was gone? I search the entire room and finally I realize that behind my night stand there is a 2" or maybe 3" space behind my night stand and I know she is under there. She does come out to eat, drink and use the litter box either when I'm sleep or not home. My question is should I go up under there and get her and then place everything in the bathroom with something for her to sleep on sense sitting on the floor reading won't help because she won't be able to see me or try and entice her to come out with a string or toy or just wait it out and see if hopefully she will come out? Any suggestions? I do keep all of my other doors close but I have a pretty large bed room and I do move her food and water around the room so that at night or when I'm home she can move for around for her food and learn her way around but any suggestions would be awesome.  

How old is your new kitten?  And when you say feral, has she received any socialization at all?  The way she cuddled with you at the adoption center suggests that she may only be semi-feral and thus will come to trust you sooner in her new home.  What is her name?

It's only been two days so it's not unexpected that she is still hiding. The average time I've had a cat hide is about 5 days, but some cats hide much longer.   It's a good sign that she's coming out for her food, water and litter box. Each time she does so safely, it is adding to her sense of security.   In terms of reading to her, it's not necessary that she see you, only that she hears your voice.  And certainly try to tempt her out with a toy (like a string) and/or treats.  However, I would not push her at this point.  Let her come to you.    

About moving her to the bathroom:  if she is a fairly young and small kitten, that might be a good idea.  Otherwise, as long as you're sure your room is safe, I would leave her there.   

Congratulations on your new kitten, btw, and welcome to TCS!    When you can get pictures of her, we'd love to see them!  

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Yes, she is feral, I was informed by the adoption center that someone capture her in the woods and she is only 10 weeks old. Her name is Starkiss and of course I'm going to change that lol, but I have to wait to see how she act because that is how I like to name my pets. No there is nothing in the room that could hurt her in the area but I keep moving her food around the room each day and she somehow locates it and eat and drink, so I'm guessing she is not to afraid to explore but I will start to talk to her and cross my fingers that she will come out soon and I won't force her out just yet.

Once she comes out I will post a picture of her.

So she is considered a semi-feral, she was obviously not socialized at a very young age, and by the time a kitten is 8 weeks old, the feral streak is pretty much there to stay, throughout her life.

That is, with anything new and strange when it comes to humans. New home, new person, etc.

In time she will start showing herself to you more and more, but she must gain trust that she is safe first.

It helps if she could see you, then you cold get down to her level and coax her with treats and toys.

But for now I would let her take her time and get familiar with her new surroundings.

Eventually, she will act like a regular cat with you, but that streak I mentioned? That will show up the minute someone new comes by the house, and always will be like that.

She will become tame to you but always feral to anyone else.

Wow, thank you catwoman707  for the advise, I pulled my night stand out just a little bit last night so that she could see my face and I spoke softly to her and I tried to coax her out with a little bouncing toy and some treats but she just kept looking at me and wouldn't move but I will continue to do that. When I went to bed last night I finally heard her come out I guess to eat and use the litter box and she meow a little bit but, I was thinking if she don't come out in a few more day would it be best to take her out and place her in the bath room where there is no where for her to hide and that was I can come in there  each day and talk to her and try and play with her to make her feel more comfortable or just play the waiting game?

Tonythetiger said:

 
Wow, thank you catwoman707  for the advise, I pulled my night stand out just a little bit last night so that she could see my face and I spoke softly to her and I tried to coax her out with a little bouncing toy and some treats but she just kept looking at me and wouldn't move but I will continue to do that. When I went to bed last night I finally heard her come out I guess to eat and use the litter box and she meow a little bit but, I was thinking if she don't come out in a few more day would it be best to take her out and place her in the bath room where there is no where for her to hide and that was I can come in there  each day and talk to her and try and play with her to make her feel more comfortable or just play the waiting game?

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You can do it either way, bathroom and visit her often and down on her level rather than towering over her which is intimidating.

Or you can leave her there and do the same, get down to her level laying on the floor, and talking to her, she will gain trust with doing this.

Then again you can always just pick her up out of there, and spend time holding her, this will speed up the process too, of getting comfortable and acquainted with you.

As she starts coming out and checking the house out you will likely see a crouched, creeping kitty, not standing tall with straightened legs, if you've ever seen a feral cat outdoors, notice how they are low to the ground and sort of scurry their way rather than a normal walk upright?

She's young and will adapt just fine to you.

If it were me? I'd be impatient and wanting to show her that she is safe, and would hold her often

Any way you choose works.

Hi! 

I had a similar situation a few months ago - adopted 2 semi-feral kittens from the shelter (a little older than yours), they hid under the sofa in the spare room for about 4 days, coming out to eat / use litter tray only when I was out or asleep.

The shelter advised me to buy some meat-flavoured Gerber's baby food ( not sure if you're in the US, but I found it easily in my local grocery store - if you can't find it some kind of 100% meat pate should work). I put a bit on my fingers and initially put my hand under the sofa they were hiding under. They couldn't resist it, and after a few go's I was getting them to stick their heads out from under the sofa to lick the food. It took a day or two more for them to come out fully, and sometimes they'd still hide there for a while.

I personally wouldn't go into the space and get her out, but try and coax her with food and patience.

hope this helps!

Thank you for the advice, but last night I grab her from under the bed and I placed all of the things I had gotten her like her food and water bowls and her litter box along with her toys and placed her in the bathroom. Later that day I was able to pick her up and hold her and she just purred and rub her face against my chin. I'm just so happy now because I think since Saturday she now have my scent and know my voice from talking to her from either under the bed or when she was hiding under my night stand. But now I have a chance to hold her everyday and hopefully that will stop her from hiding. I now have to read up on how to get her acclimated to my room and my house and make her not be afraid of other people. Any ideas? 

Tonythetiger said:

 
Thank you for the advice, but last night I grab her from under the bed and I placed all of the things I had gotten her like her food and water bowls and her litter box along with her toys and placed her in the bathroom. Later that day I was able to pick her up and hold her and she just purred and rub her face against my chin. I'm just so happy now because I think since Saturday she now have my scent and know my voice from talking to her from either under the bed or when she was hiding under my night stand. But now I have a chance to hold her everyday and hopefully that will stop her from hiding. I now have to read up on how to get her acclimated to my room and my house and make her not be afraid of other people. Any ideas? 

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Good, that will speed things up now.

Yes, it's easy to acclimate and adapt, just give her only a small amt of space more at a time, the hiding is simply from being overwhelmed that causes the fear and hiding.

One space at a time extra.

When she is comfortable with 1 room, add 1 room, when that is good then try the whole house unless it is big, then try half at a time.

As she acclimates to the space she is also gaining trust with you.

So, let's talk about my update from my last post. I've given my 10 week old feral the name of Candy because of her color and because she is very sweet, I have been getting on the floor and feeding her while sitting on the floor and placing her food dish between my legs and my foot up against the wall so that she can't easily run away, and she let's me pet her while she is eating and she even comes to me and eat out of my hands and then she stretch all the way out and let me rub her belly. She still don't really like for me to hold her close but this weekend I'm going to wrap a towel around her and walk with her around the house and sit with her while I watch some tv or just when I'm doing things in the house for the day but not all day. I will be posting a picture of her soon but any advise anyone can give me that I haven't already read would be most helpful.

Thank all of you that have responded with your great advise and I truly do appreciate it kindly.     

While you want to get her to accept being held, I would not do it in a sudden forceful way.  Try picking her up just a little while you are on the floor with her, and then put her down again right away.  You can do this any number of times until she get used to the feeling of being slightly out of control when you lift her feet off the ground, but she is never so high up as to be scared as she will probably be if you bundle her in a towel and walk around the house.  It sounds like you are off to a great start with her, but you can probably achieve what you want by going at it more slowly and indirectly.  Forcing anything with a feral can often impede progress and make them backslide in the trust that they have given you. 

Being held close makes her feel trapped, and while one does have to use the towel wrap for necessary things like vet trips, weekly claw clipping and the like, I wouldn't personally advise it right now.   She is starting to trust you, but if you start playing King Kong to her Fay Wray, that isn't going to be helpful.  Try lying down and see if she will climb on you.  Tease with a fun toy, like the feather on a stick or the little bird on a string that chirps.  You can even bring a soft baby blanket down and play hide & seek with her in it, sliding your hand under and playing pounce out from under.  Love and patience will win you more brownie points than showing her that yes, you can capture her and immobilize her and carry her around but hey, you didn't eat her.  Once she starts using your prone body as a jungle gym, you are on the right track.

Well, I haven't wrap her in a blanket and she do now come to me at times without food and she lays on the bed with me and she falls asleep and last night I felt her climb up on my hip and she felled asleep again until I turned over. So now I have left the bathroom door open and she knows how to walk around the room, under the bed and she jumps up on the bench at the foot of my bed then she jumps on the bed and roll around or just lay there and she like to watch tv believe it or now, lol. She will not leave the bed room and explore the rest of the house. She came to me the other morning and let me pick her up so I walked slowly downstairs and placed her softly on the couch and once I let her go she jump down off the couch and some how knew how to run back up stairs into the bed room. I was wondering if I should have kept all the doors closed up stairs but then I thought to just wait it out and let her take her time on getting to know the rest of the house.

It sounds like everything is going very well.  Candy is bonding with you very nicely and is gaining more courage every day.  You seem to have a good sense of what she can handle.  Letting her get to know the rest of the house on her schedule is a good idea.  And even though she ran back to her safe room, she will probably have some curiosity about her big adventure so she might be interested in more exploring before you know it!  

Things seem to be progressing really well with Candy. To have her sleeping with you and not afraid of you is great, and I'm sure with enough time and patience she will summon up the bravery to explore more of her home.