Fostering a 22 week old feral kitten

[Rowey63]

Hello !
I live in Australia and foster kittens for a local shelter.
For the last 4 weeks I have had a kitten, an un neutered female tabby.
I have her in a very large crate at the moment.
In the the beginning, she hissed snd spat, never scratched or bit me (yet).
She will now eat food from the palm of my hand, and I can pat her in the crate and she will purr.
She will still flee from my hand entering the crate though, and hisses at me.
She will trill and call to my house cat and also the dog !
She is very playful and enjoys catnip and wand and ball toys.
Can anyone advise me on what else I can do ?
I have not tried to pick her up yet as I am afraid of frightening her

 

[susanm9006]

Hello !
I live in Australia and foster kittens for a local shelter.
For the last 4 weeks I have had a kitten, an un neutered female tabby.
I have her in a very large crate at the moment.
In the the beginning, she hissed snd spat, never scratched or bit me (yet).
She will now eat food from the palm of my hand, and I can pat her in the crate and she will purr.
She will still flee from my hand entering the crate though, and hisses at me.
She will trill and call to my house cat and also the dog !
She is very playful and enjoys catnip and wand and ball toys.
Can anyone advise me on what else I can do ?
I have not tried to pick her up yet as I am afraid of frightening her

If you are able, give her some time out of the crate. If you leave the crate open in a closed door room, you can sit on the floor, let her explore and hopefully relax enough to come to you. Have some of her favorite toys nearby and play with them and she may get interested enough to join you.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And, if this is possible for you, as you sit on the floor, read aloud or talk to her, without making eye contact, which can be seen as a challenge by a frightened cat. Let her make the moves.

 

[Rowey63]

Yes I have been reading to here and talking.
She has just today started to actually approach me to sniff my face this morning !

 

[Rowey63]

I forgot to add that I have to somehow manage to get her out of her crate for a vaccination in 2 days

 

[HeyKat]

I forgot to add that I have to somehow manage to get her out of her crate for a vaccination in 2 days

Can you fit a carrier inside the crate? Chances are she'll go in by herself as a place to hide.

It might also be easier for the vet to just sterilise and vacc her at the same time. Less traumatic for kitty too.

I recently fostered 3 semi-feral cats at a similar age. 5 months old when we trapped them. It took them about 5 months to fully accept me and they became total lovebugs, but are still very wary of other people.

One thing that helped a lot was I had a secure room I could keep them in, and I'd sleep in there at night. Just being in their space but ignoring them made them a lot more comfortable.

It's a slow process, but it's so rewarding when that former feral curls up on top of you and gives you nose kisses.

 

[Rowey63]

I will make an attempt to put the carrier into the crate and I will ask about de sexing and vaccination on the same day.
I am worried about traumatising her as well.
She sleeps in the crate in my room, and has a 'bit of a chat'. She didn't even his at me today, and sat quietly while I gave her a pat.. she purred within seconds !
However, I do think that she will be a 'one person' kitty...so probably a foster fail... and I already have 3 !
So I guess I will need to build an enclosure !