I have been fostering cats and kittens for awhile now for my local shelter. They are giving me a new job now. They have 3 ferel kittens that has been traped, and trying to catch a fourth to the litter. These kittens are going to spend the night at the vets and then I'm going to pick them up tomorrow night or Friday morning. I have never delt with ferels befor and any suggestions or tips would be great. Thanks.
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fostering 3 ferel kittens maybe 4
- Thread starter crys
- Start Date
Hey Crys....have you been reading some of the posts on this forum..that would probably be a good start. Then you can contact people like Hissy and Beckiboo who have had experience with feral kittens to see what they recommend.
Katie
Katie
This is a great resource:
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/socializingferal.pdf
The most helpful thing to do is to keep them in a large crate in a high-traffic part of your house. The living room or rec room is the best place in most houses.
Since kittens (unlike adult cats) must be handled frequently to be socialized, caging them is the best way to go. That way they cannot run away from you. If they run it only perpetuates their fear.
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/socializingferal.pdf
The most helpful thing to do is to keep them in a large crate in a high-traffic part of your house. The living room or rec room is the best place in most houses.
Since kittens (unlike adult cats) must be handled frequently to be socialized, caging them is the best way to go. That way they cannot run away from you. If they run it only perpetuates their fear.
I have fully tamed ONE feral kitten, and she was started. So Hissy has TONS more experience than I do. However, my little Blue is like a miracle girl, so I am going to let you know how I did it. This is the link I based my care on:
http://www.cat77.org.uk/articles/feral3.htm
My litter was trapped at 5 weeks, and I do not know how they were treated. I was told they came from a hoarder. Then they stayed at the vets office for over a week being handled and medicated. Then I got the two tamest kittens. By the time I got them at 10 weeks, they were scared, but would tolerate being held by humans and petted. Red shook as you held her, but Blue didn't. Neither tried to get away. They were not pets at all, just kittens who learned to allow "forced" petting.
I kept them in a cage at first, in a separate bedroom/playroom. These little animals are like wild baby deer...I think it would be terrifying to be in a high traffic area! Yet they do need to see us. They also must be kept from your cats until they are vetted and have vaccinations. (Not a problem with mine, they were old enough to have shots already.)
Disclaimer-I have 3 kids and an akita. The high traffic areas of my house can be chaotic. The playroom has video games, so the kids go in often, and we can play music CDs when we are gone. The kids are good at being near the animals without pestering them. If you have that in your hightraffic area, it would probably be fine. We get a certain amount of yelling and running in our house!
Hissy does not cage. She sets up a separate room with few areas to hide, and no place to sneak away into a crevice.
http://www.cat77.org.uk/articles/feral3.htm
My litter was trapped at 5 weeks, and I do not know how they were treated. I was told they came from a hoarder. Then they stayed at the vets office for over a week being handled and medicated. Then I got the two tamest kittens. By the time I got them at 10 weeks, they were scared, but would tolerate being held by humans and petted. Red shook as you held her, but Blue didn't. Neither tried to get away. They were not pets at all, just kittens who learned to allow "forced" petting.
I kept them in a cage at first, in a separate bedroom/playroom. These little animals are like wild baby deer...I think it would be terrifying to be in a high traffic area! Yet they do need to see us. They also must be kept from your cats until they are vetted and have vaccinations. (Not a problem with mine, they were old enough to have shots already.)
Disclaimer-I have 3 kids and an akita. The high traffic areas of my house can be chaotic. The playroom has video games, so the kids go in often, and we can play music CDs when we are gone. The kids are good at being near the animals without pestering them. If you have that in your hightraffic area, it would probably be fine. We get a certain amount of yelling and running in our house!
Hissy does not cage. She sets up a separate room with few areas to hide, and no place to sneak away into a crevice.
Here's another article that goes from beginning to end. This is based on Hissy's method and many other tips and tricks from many other sources and experts.
http://straypetadvocacy.org/html/soc...feral_cat.html
http://straypetadvocacy.org/html/soc...feral_cat.html
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Hi-
No I do not cage unless the kittens are ill. I do not believe in caging cats or kittens, especially feral kittens. They are used to wide open spaces, and places to hide. I set up one room with hidey holes and they go inside there. I leave them be with food, water and litter pans for 24 hours so they will just settle in. I know, beforehand they will be unable to get out- I have plastic trellis over all my screens, and heavy chicken wire doors so they can't get out. The lights are low, the room is quiet, there are comfort items in the room (depending on the age of the kittens) I set up a schedule and keep to it and I work with each kitten slowly.
No I do not cage unless the kittens are ill. I do not believe in caging cats or kittens, especially feral kittens. They are used to wide open spaces, and places to hide. I set up one room with hidey holes and they go inside there. I leave them be with food, water and litter pans for 24 hours so they will just settle in. I know, beforehand they will be unable to get out- I have plastic trellis over all my screens, and heavy chicken wire doors so they can't get out. The lights are low, the room is quiet, there are comfort items in the room (depending on the age of the kittens) I set up a schedule and keep to it and I work with each kitten slowly.
How old are the kittens? That will make a big difference in how they tame.
