How do i tame a kitten who is farely "wild?"

Hi :-)

my husband and i brought home 2 kittens last night. there was a women with a BUNCH of cats and kittens that was giving them away for free, so we took 2... a brother and sister. the boy is older than the girl by a couple months. when we had them in the car the boy threw up a 2 or 3 times but was pretty calm. he sat in the backseat and dozed off a bit. the girl hid. she either wanted to be in the box or under the seat. when we got home we gave them both baths (which they did NOT like AT ALL!) the boy warmed up to us after we got him dry and pet him. but the girl still hides. she hides in her litter box or ANYWHERE really. she lets us hold her but she doesn't like it... and ANY chance she gets she runs. she hisses when we walk by or come near her. we watched the 2 cats together and they like each other. he cleans her and she comes out of her litter box and runs to him when she doesn't know we are in the room. this morning when we woke up the boy was acting like he was scared of us again... but warmed up after a bit.

anyway, i was just wondering if there are any ways to get her to adapt to this new place better and if there is anything we can do to make her like us :-) lol it would be greatly appreciated! thank you.

by the way they are both currently unaltered!

First off - Congratulations on your new additions!
Unfortunately there's not much advice I can offer other than experience, but I would definitely say that due to the fact that they are both unaltered and the male is a little older - depending on their age - get them fixed ASAP! Cats will mate very early on and I'm sure you've got your hands full already and don't want a house full of more wild little babies.
Second - keep in mind that they are babies and will get into everything (and I mean everything!) so expect a little "wildness" in the house. It's actually very entertaining when you have two young ones at the same time. That way they go nuts with each other, but not nuts on you.
As for adapting - give them time. This is all extremely new to them and it will take some time. Just go about your daily business and they will slowly get use to their new environment as well as your movements through the house. They will need to explore on their own. If they are skittish - don't grab for them or chase them. I had a very skittish calico and I found that if I brought myself down to her level and layed on the floor and started playing with a toy she would come out. Also what I found that actually helped alot too was that everytime I walked close to her, I would just walk by - not stop, not look, not grab for her and she eventually got use to my movements so that now I have to step over her to get around the house. Just be patient and bring out the toys. Babies can't resist playing.
As for training wild babies. I"m not sure what everyone else uses, but I've always used the water bottle method. Some don't like it because - well - it's water and cats don't like water, but face it. That's the point right? You are disciplining them. I keep about 5-6 bottles around the house in different locations and if I see one of my little angels on something they aren't suppose to be on, climbing something, scratching something, etc I just give them one single blast. The key is - you don't need to douse them, but it works real well if they don't know where it's coming from too because then they associate doing whatever they are doing with "mysteriously" getting wet.

Hope you enjoy your little ones!
Please post their names and some pictures when you've got them.
Lisa

HI you sound like me with the kittys, i would buy plenty of toys and give it time my boy still takes time to warm up to us and after 8 weeks the wee girl is getting there but my 2 where semi ferals . toys toys and time oh and spay/neuter asap good luck you will enjoy it its worth it xx

Here is an article that might help

Handling feral cats

I would say first to give them a few days to settle in. They are very frightened by the change, I am sure. And anyone with a bunch of cats and kittens, giving them away to strangers for free, is not the most responsible person. Especially with siblings of different ages! The Momma must have had 2 litters close together.

So they have had a change, and likely came from a home with little or no medical care, and maybe not enough socialization. The kittens need a vet check and vaccinations. And if they are old enough (over 2 lbs in weight), they MUST be neutered and spayed.

If they remain shy after a settling in period, follow the instructions for feral kittens at the link from Hissy. Even truly wild kittens can be tamed, so I am very certain your little sweeties will tame up nicely. Best of luck, congrats on your new babies, and thanks for saving them!

the lady whose house we brought them home from was a really nice older lady. she said that she had wild cats that lived outside and whenever she found the kittens she brought them in and tried to give them good homes...

How are you feeding them? You might consider feeding them some of their meals with canned food, so they come out of hiding for it, and while they are eating sit in the room and just talk to them quietly. It gets them used to your voice and they will associate you with the yummy food.

Originally Posted by lsconyers

the lady whose house we brought them home from was a really nice older lady. she said that she had wild cats that lived outside and whenever she found the kittens she brought them in and tried to give them good homes...

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Oh, that is nice of her. You might want to check the AlleyCatAllies site for her, for references to TNR groups. They will help her trap the adults and spay or neuter, so she will quit getting babies. Or maybe she is already doing that.

Finding homes for the kittens is nice, but if unaltered cats continue to breed, they can have so many kittens that it gets overwhelming real quick. Some areas have programs where the cats are altered at no cost, and that will include their shots.

Here is the link. http://www.alleycat.org/index.html

It wouldn't hurt to check into it, and give her some info. Often people are trying to do their best to help a situation, and don't realize that so much more help may be available. In my area we do stray cat clincs and only charge $15/cat. At that price, it is well worth getting it done! Hopefully there is help near you, too.

And keep us posted on how the kitties tame up. If they have been outside for part of their lives, that shyness may be what helped keep them alive. It will take time to realize that they are safe now.

When I got Mama cat she was from an abusive owner. She did what your kitty does, hiss anytime you come close and run and hide. It took a good amount of time to get her to come around. After about 3 months she would finally allow you to pet her without hissing but wouldn't come up to you or let you pick her up. I've had her for about 7 months and she completely trusts me. I can do anything expect to play with her belly. With your kitty the biggest thing is to establish trust. I started by playing with Mama under a sheet. I'd run my fingers or toes along and she would chase them. This got her comfortable with touching me. After that I built a routine with her, cat's learn really quickly with a routine. At night I brought her up to my boyfriend and my part of the house to sleep with us (it was like a large loft so you may not be able to lock her in with you guys). Then whenever I would come home I would attempt to find her and acknowledge her. It really does just take time and experience with that particular cat. If one thing seems to be working try that, and if another doesn't then pass that idea up. Hope she comes around!

How wonderful of you to adopt these kitties! And yes - you will have so many less problems once they're spayed/neutered.

There have been a ton of great suggestions here already, but since Heidi put so much work into it and it came out so great, here's another link to a wonderful article on socializing ferals!

http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/html...feral_cat.html