Frustrated help

mzkitty1971 · Feb 28, 2016

So I took in a kitten about 10 days old that mama abandoned in end of October. It's now almost March. In January I rescued mama and the 3 remaining kittens. All are in a back room. To vets, shots,dewormed. Can finally pet the 1 kitten I call Sassy. Boots, I've got to touch maybe 3 times now and Nugget zero. I'm getting frustrated.

The orphaned one I rescued is NOT in with mama and 3 kittens. Orphaned one, Squirt I call her was the runt. Shes been integrated into home with my 3 older cats. The hope is to get the other 3 social and integrate them into house as well

shadowsrescue · Feb 28, 2016

mzkitty1971 said:
So I took in a kitten about 10 days old that mama abandoned in end of October. It's now almost March. In January I rescued mama and the 3 remaining kittens. All are in a back room. To vets, shots,dewormed. Can finally pet the 1 kitten I call Sassy. Boots, I've got to touch maybe 3 times now and Nugget zero. I'm getting frustrated.

The orphaned one I rescued is NOT in with mama and 3 kittens. Orphaned one, Squirt I call her was the runt. Shes been integrated into home with my 3 older cats. The hope is to get the other 3 social and integrate them into house as well

So did you get mama cat spayed?

So the kittens you rescued in January are now about 5 months old, but you have been working with them since 3 months? Also have you spayed/neutered the kittens yet?

Here is a video that helps with some socialization of kittens.

http://www.urbancatleague.org/TamingVideo

ginny · Feb 28, 2016

One thing I know is the older the kittens are when first exposed to humans, the longer it takes to socialize them. Usually it's best handling them from the day they were born or at least before their eyes were opened. But it's rare that the situation would be this ideal.

But don't despair, it CAN be done! It just takes plenty of patience and good exposure time. I let my kitties warm up to me in their own sweet time which took about 4 months, but they were outside and I was feeding them on my back porch.

Here are some of the rules I followed: I was careful to talk softly, NOT make eye contact (to a cat, that's a no no) and to not make sudden noisy movements. And to be consistent. They ate in the morning and the evening about the same time every single day. Gaining a cat's trust is a big deal and it happens slowly, but it happens!

That's very kind of you to rescue this little family

mzkitty1971 · Mar 6, 2016

Thanks for advice. Mama and 3 babies, Sassy, Boots and Nugget all go for spay and neuter on March 24th. Will having them spayed and neutered help with the socialization? I found a home for mama kitty, indoors once she's spayed. How soon after she is spayed should I take her away from babies. I'm also concerned how it's going to affect them since they're a bit feral when I take her away. Help/advice please!!!

ginny · Mar 6, 2016

The spaying/neutering should help with the socialization.

I'd get others advice on how to separate mom and kittens. They are 5 months now, right? So they are old enough to be away from her, but I understand your concern over the separation. They will never see her again. It's thoughtful of you to consider their feelings. Not that cats feel like humans do, but we don't know what they feel or don't feel!

I've heard some say that on the day the mama leaves, to make sure the kittens see her being put in a carrier and going out with the person she's going home with. That way they will know, hopefully not to look for her. Not saying they won't. Are any of them really close to her? Maybe if 1 is close to her, that person might take that one too. I hate to see animals separated and grieve for each other. There was a youtube video about the separation of a goat named Mr. G and his buddy a donkey named Jelly Bean. When they were reunited it was so sweet!

mzkitty1971 · Mar 7, 2016

Ginny said:
The spaying/neutering should help with the socialization.

I'd get others advice on how to separate mom and kittens. They are 5 months now, right? So they are old enough to be away from her, but I understand your concern over the separation. They will never see her again. It's thoughtful of you to consider their feelings. Not that cats feel like humans do, but we don't know what they feel or don't feel!

I've heard some say that on the day the mama leaves, to make sure the kittens see her being put in a carrier and going out with the person she's going home with. That way they will know, hopefully not to look for her. Not saying they won't. Are any of them really close to her? Maybe if 1 is close to her, that person might take that one too. I hate to see animals separated and grieve for each other. There was a youtube video about the separation of a goat named Mr. G and his buddy a donkey named Jelly Bean. When they were reunited it was so sweet!

mzkitty1971 · Mar 7, 2016

Sassy seems to be pretty close to mama kitty and I don't want to give her up. Hate to separate them from mama but I have 4 other cats in home. One is the kitten (Squirt) that mama abandoned due to I think it was because she was the runt of litter. The other 3 cats in house are older, one being a female and queen of the house. Mama is so protective of these 3 I think it would be darn near impossible to integrate kittens with my other 4 with mama around. I'd rather mama have a home indoors with my friend than me have her be an outdoor kitty even if my garage is heated. The 2 male kittens are the ones taking the longest to come around which kind of surprised me. They watch when I pet mama and their sister. She seems close to all the kittens though. Thank you for the advice. Will keep working with them. I may be frustrated but am determined.

Frustrated help

mzkitty1971

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shadowsrescue

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ginny

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mzkitty1971

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ginny

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