Training Cats/Kittens for Newpaper Give away

I have found about 6 kittens and 1 moma cat in my garage. They are very
shy. They are hard to catch. I have not handled them because they
might bite. I am wonder what is the best and quickest way to train them
and get them use to people (not biting) so I can put an ad in the paper and hopefully give them happy new homes. I have fed the moma cat a little but she is very shy. I think some nieghbor has thrown fire crackers at the moma
cat at one time. These cats need to get use to people before I can give
them away.
thank you,
muckmail

Just sit with them.

Get a comfy chair and a good book and go sit outside with them for a few hours and let them just get used to you. Don't talk to them or move towards them or anything. If you can bring them in the house it would be even better. Then they can get used to being in someone's home.

Good luck!

muckmail,

Since these cats are strays or ferals, they are not used to people. You are right, they need to be exposed to you on a daily basis. You need to establish a routine that they will be comfortable with. I would start feeding the momcat about 5 times a day. You want to give her kitten food, or good quality canned food, for all her resources are right now going into nursing her kittens. Make sure you put the bowl in the same place every day, don't deviate. Sit down on the floor, not to close to the bowl of food, far enough away that mom won't feel threatened. Take a book and read out loud softly. Do this everytime you feed. Once mom gets used to your presence, move a bit closer to the food source (over time) Stay very quiet, if she makes eye contact, don't stare, blink slowly a few times not in succession and she will relax. You don't say how old these kittens are, but once mom gets used to you, they will not consider you a threat either, and you will become a cattree they can climb all over.

I also would caution you about giving them away. They should be 12 weeks old at least and on solid food before going to a new home. You need to charge something for them- even $5.00. "Giveaway" kittens easily become snake food, research subjects, or other unpleasant things. If you know the families, that is one thing, but if you don't please don't give these kittens away.

Good luck with the family, you will be able to bond with them. You just need to go by their timeline and not yours.

Welcome to the site...I agree with Hissy...please charge a fee. This article gives the reasons why free to a good home is not a good idea:

http://www.parrett.net/animalaid/free.html

Also..if possible....try to either place the kittens in pairs or into homes that have another kitten or a young cat:

http://www.pawschicago.org/PetCare/catsinpairs.htm

Good Luck

Katie

Muckmail, thank you for wanting to help these cats!

You've already gotten good advice on socializing them. One other thing you can do is put on an old t-shirt, go running or something and get it good an sweaty, and place that t-shirt under the bowl(s) of food you're putting out. This will help the cat/kittens get used to your smell - and a human smell - and associate it with something good (food).

The kittens will likely warm up to you pretty quickly, so long as you're able to spend some time outside with them. If you want to learn about the stages they go through by week, please check out this site: www.kitten-rescue.com . It's really informative. Once they're eating wet food, being outside with them while they eat will really speed up their socialization process. If they warm up to you after a couple of weeks, you can also begin to play interactively with them with wand toys.

If you want to give the kittens away, you may want to use an adoption agreement. We have one up that is in Microsoft Word so you can make any edits to it that you want to. Just click on the link in my signature line.

Also, you can try putting a couple of litterboxes out in the garage. With a mom can and six kittens, you'll need at least a couple! I'd scoop them morning and evening. But this way they have the opportunity to learn to use a litterbox. Mom cat may not use it, but the kittens might. You can sprinkle a layer of potting soil over the top the first time (not dirt, but store-bot potting soil), and they all may use them, if they're kept clean.

Also, please bear in mind that kittens should stay with mum as long as possible, up to 12 weeks is really optimum, though many organizations adopt them out as early as 8 to 10 weeks. The kittens will cry if adopted out alone, especially if they're adopted out earlier than 12 weeks, so whoever's adopting them should be warned that kitty will likely cry for a few days. The adopting person should be told what kitten food you're using - they will get upset stomachs and diarrhea if fed a different food without transitioning to a new food over at least several days. Also, just the stress of being separated from their family and being in a strange new home may give them diarrhea. This is normal, and the adopter should be told to take them to the vet if it lasts for longer than a few days.

You can print out these articles and supply them to whoever's adopting the kittens:

Bringing Home a New Cat

You can also browse the cat Care and cat Behavior pages to see if there's anthing else you want to send along with kitties to their new homes. We also have an article up in the rescue resources section of Save Samoa (just click on the link in my signature line) called "Bringing Outdoor Cats Inside." It's in PDF format and may take a minute or two to load. This may be helpful too.

Last thoughts: if you have the resources to have kittens see a vet, get them vaccinated and spayed or neutered, it is safe to spay or neuter them as young as seven weeks - though I'd probably wait until 10 weeks so they have time to heal up before being adopted out. Anyone who would make a responsible kitten parent would be willing to at least pay enough for you to recoup the money you spent on them, and shoud be happy that they've already seen a vet, were wormed, vaccinated and sterilized. Something to think about. You can search for low-cost spay/neuter services via the link in my signature line.

Please keep us posted, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.