just reescued 2 feral kittens... what now?

Have rescued two 8-10 week old feral kittens this afternoon. There is 1 left with mom cat (who we trapped and had fixed, dewormed, deflead, etc. last weekend and then returned to where we found her.) Finally, this afternoon we were able to capture two out of the three remaining kittens. I have read everyone's reccomendations on socializing ferals, however how long does it normally take to get them acclimated to a human environment. I have them in a small bedroom of an empty apartment in my building but will have to move them as soon as the apt is ready to show. I dont feel comfortable bringing them inside my apt. as I have three cats that wont be very welcoming. If anyone can offer me a timeline of how many hours a day I should work with them to expidite the process, please let me know. I have had cats all my life but this feral thing is new to me.
Thank you,
Georgy

Hi Georgy,

May I ask how you caught the 8-10 week old kittens? Did you build a trap or were you able to just pick them up? I am basically in your same situation. I found a feral cat with three kittens outside. I was able to get the mom cat spayed, defleed, rabies shot and booster, and I released her. Since then I have not seen her at all or the kittens. I put food out for them, but they won't touch it until the middle of the night in the dark. I can put food out at 5am and check on it all day and night and it would still be there. The next day though, it would be gone. The cat and kittens are under my house and because they won't come out until dark, I cannot catch them. This only happened after I got the mom cat fixed, which was about a week ago.

I am interested in what kind of responces you will get about socializing the kittens. I already have some cat toys ready for them to play with.

First off congrats on the capture. There is no timeline, the timeline is set by the kittens. If you are looking to rush this process, it isn't going to happen, unless you put the kittens inside of a cage and literally shock them into submission. It depends on the kitten, to what degree the feralness has set in, if they were exposed to nice humans or bad ones, the same goes for the mom. If she was hurt by humans she will have taught her babies to hide from humans when they come around.

They are not interested in man-made toys. Find things in nature that they would play with, small pebbles that roll, feathers off of birds, small pinecones. You can't get them involved with furry mice or catnip toys because they are not familiar with those items.

You want to get down on their level as much as possible. I lay on the floor on my back and just relax and when they get brave enough they come out and explore me. I lay down next to them when they are eating, I sing to them read to them, I do not touch them, not right at first. I let them bond with me before attempting to touch them at all, unless they are sick.

thank you. The kittens are doing better every day. They have a large bedroom apt all to themselves and it must be like the Ritz Carlton compared to where we found them. Thank yoiu for the toy advice. They love balls made out of aluminum foil and the small play mice. Also I recommend a scratching post w/ feather attachments.

Was wondering if it is OK to give them a little bath & place a couple drops of advantage on them, since I did that this morning??? They're filthy & have fleas...

Absolutely correct about lying on the floor and I leave a radio or TV on during the day so they get used to the sound. Still skittish when I enter the room...takes lots of patience. Oh! taking them for shots, etc. this weekend.

Thanks again.

Sounds like it is going well. If it is kitty safe advantage it should be fine, depending on the age of the kittens, but your vet can advise you there. Once you apply it you really shouldn't give them a full bath until it dries and starts to work- keep the kitten's as warm as possible after the bath so they don't get chilled.

sometimes i give my cats a quick wash in the following manner. I wet a bath mit, the type that fits on your hand like a glove and just stroke them as i would normally. It gets the surface dust and stuff off and is also not as stressfull for the cat. Also the mit must feel a bit similar to a giant tongue for them... I don't use any soap when i do this. Just water and then follow with a quick towel rub.