- Joined
- Dec 20, 2014
- Messages
- 6
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- 1
Hi all, very glad to have found this site! Lots of awesome advice.
A Mum cat with 4 babies came out from under a friend's house last week - we managed to trap 2 but the Mum and other 2 seemed to have wised up about the trap. The two I have now have made really good progress but it seems to have stalled now.
They're in my room, which I've kitten proofed, and I've given them 2 cubby spaces to hide and feel safe in. When I first brought them home they wouldn't even look at my flatmates or I and hid, and we've worked on them to the point that they will eat their food right next to us as we sit on the floor, take treats from our hands, sleep and clean themselves out in the 'open' unhidden with us 1.5m or so away, play with toys we have and run under our legs as we sit on the floor playing with them and play freely by themselves with people around. They are only allowed to eat their food with us sitting on the floor right next to the plates. Occasionally one of them will come right up to an outstretched hand, or jump up onto my bed unbribed by treats. We've not been shy about talking, laughing, moving our arms and legs around as we sit in the room with them so they are quite fine with noise and movement unless it's within the 1.5m range of them. We've avoided extended eye contact, and 'smize'/squint when we do.
This is day 5, I'm very proud of them! Especially as they've used the litter box from day 1. The past 4 feedings (they get fed 3-4 times a day and then get hand fed treats) we've been stroking them gently from behind/the side as they eat. They growl at this, and now when I bring the food in and go to sit cross legged with the plates right next to me they eat way faster than they used to (admittedly that was also very fast), growl a lot more, are jumpier and seem to know that food time = scary patting time. They aren't as jumpy when it isn't food time but still flee when someone enters the room. I spend about a few hours with them every morning before work and then post work I hang in my bedroom with them, one flatmate spends 30 mins with them in the late morning before she starts her job, and then other two flatmates are with them when I go out or work evenings. They pretty much always have someone around them 6pm - bedtime and then 5am-8am. They are very interested in us, will sit around watching us.
I was hoping for some advice on where to from here to get more into the handling/touching phase and overcoming the fear of hands. I've read various bits of advice on swaddling, but am not overly keen on taking away their free will. However it does make sense on a different level and I would try it if it came to it, they are overdue for defleaing, though not infested and will have to be handled for that anyway. Are we doing the right thing by continuing to pet them while they eat? They are still coming back to eat after jumping away, and will do 4-5 pats in a row before retreating and then eating again. We are also going to get kitten milk and put that on our fingers for them to lick off. Should we separate them at this point, or leave them seeing as they've made such huge progress in 5 days?
It's only been 5 days but I want to make sure we're going down the right path! Currently I'm sitting in my room and they are racing around post breakfast, play fighting, coming within 1 meter of me - very cute. Every now and them I talk to them, make brief friendly eye contact and move my body around so they stay used to me being in the room. The plan is to tame them, neuter & vax them then rehome. Unfortunately I've lost too many cats to cars on a nearby busy road so as a cat lover this is the next best thing to looking after my own personal cat.
Pic for age reference shows the little tab next to a box just over 10cm in height (sorry, from the southern hemisphere, 6-7 inches?), though they were underfed when I got them so could be older? Second pic is a close up of tab straight after trapping (no individual pic of the black, they photograph shockingly!). The tabby is slightly bigger and more frightened of voices/noise and the black one watches us a lot and is more fine with voices/noise and being approached. Both are just as bad as each other with handling and touching.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me and my flatmates.
a
A Mum cat with 4 babies came out from under a friend's house last week - we managed to trap 2 but the Mum and other 2 seemed to have wised up about the trap. The two I have now have made really good progress but it seems to have stalled now.
They're in my room, which I've kitten proofed, and I've given them 2 cubby spaces to hide and feel safe in. When I first brought them home they wouldn't even look at my flatmates or I and hid, and we've worked on them to the point that they will eat their food right next to us as we sit on the floor, take treats from our hands, sleep and clean themselves out in the 'open' unhidden with us 1.5m or so away, play with toys we have and run under our legs as we sit on the floor playing with them and play freely by themselves with people around. They are only allowed to eat their food with us sitting on the floor right next to the plates. Occasionally one of them will come right up to an outstretched hand, or jump up onto my bed unbribed by treats. We've not been shy about talking, laughing, moving our arms and legs around as we sit in the room with them so they are quite fine with noise and movement unless it's within the 1.5m range of them. We've avoided extended eye contact, and 'smize'/squint when we do.
This is day 5, I'm very proud of them! Especially as they've used the litter box from day 1. The past 4 feedings (they get fed 3-4 times a day and then get hand fed treats) we've been stroking them gently from behind/the side as they eat. They growl at this, and now when I bring the food in and go to sit cross legged with the plates right next to me they eat way faster than they used to (admittedly that was also very fast), growl a lot more, are jumpier and seem to know that food time = scary patting time. They aren't as jumpy when it isn't food time but still flee when someone enters the room. I spend about a few hours with them every morning before work and then post work I hang in my bedroom with them, one flatmate spends 30 mins with them in the late morning before she starts her job, and then other two flatmates are with them when I go out or work evenings. They pretty much always have someone around them 6pm - bedtime and then 5am-8am. They are very interested in us, will sit around watching us.
I was hoping for some advice on where to from here to get more into the handling/touching phase and overcoming the fear of hands. I've read various bits of advice on swaddling, but am not overly keen on taking away their free will. However it does make sense on a different level and I would try it if it came to it, they are overdue for defleaing, though not infested and will have to be handled for that anyway. Are we doing the right thing by continuing to pet them while they eat? They are still coming back to eat after jumping away, and will do 4-5 pats in a row before retreating and then eating again. We are also going to get kitten milk and put that on our fingers for them to lick off. Should we separate them at this point, or leave them seeing as they've made such huge progress in 5 days?
It's only been 5 days but I want to make sure we're going down the right path! Currently I'm sitting in my room and they are racing around post breakfast, play fighting, coming within 1 meter of me - very cute. Every now and them I talk to them, make brief friendly eye contact and move my body around so they stay used to me being in the room. The plan is to tame them, neuter & vax them then rehome. Unfortunately I've lost too many cats to cars on a nearby busy road so as a cat lover this is the next best thing to looking after my own personal cat.
Pic for age reference shows the little tab next to a box just over 10cm in height (sorry, from the southern hemisphere, 6-7 inches?), though they were underfed when I got them so could be older? Second pic is a close up of tab straight after trapping (no individual pic of the black, they photograph shockingly!). The tabby is slightly bigger and more frightened of voices/noise and the black one watches us a lot and is more fine with voices/noise and being approached. Both are just as bad as each other with handling and touching.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me and my flatmates.
a