New at this...Captured a Feral Kitten...Lost Now

[my feral kitten]

A mother cat dropped her kitty here and we started feeding him though she never ate a thing we put out and then she left-the other critters came around-and since we have bear/deer/raccoon/etc., I knew we had to catch him somehow.  Not knowing what to do, I worked with him trying to gain his trust over 6 weeks and finally captured him taking him to our vet where he was examined, got his shots, was neutered, and found to be in excellent health-he is almost 4 months.  He came home groggy, we put him in his own room with everything he needs (5 days ago), and this is where we are lost.  He will let me (not my husband) hold him on the ground for appx. 2 min. while I talk to him, then purr away to run all over the room eventually coming out from under the bed for more attention.  He is mischievous, no doubt, but I have tried to hold him for more than a minute while I am standing stooping to pick him up-no dice.  He will not let me pick him up to take him out of the room; we have 2 other resident cats whom we adore; and, they haven't met yet.  We also have 2 dogs-one Australian Cattle and one Havanese.  Lil kitty sits by his door crying sometimes which breaks my heart, but I don't want to do anything to traumatize him in the socialization process.  The Aussie will chase him without question; and, when we brought him home in the carrier, our mother cat hissed and growled at him and her son, the orange darling was really angry taking it out on a chair.  I/we have never done this before but have fed all ferals here in the mountains for about a year and a half but this one was special.

What can we do to socialize Bandit we call him with our cats and dogs-and we probably have to do it separately?  What can we do to have him trust us enough to pick him up?  It really was comical to see us when we carried him in a carrier to another room, with just him and the mother cat on top of her cat tree, and we set the carrier down for about an hour not paying any attention with all of us in the room, then we opened the door to the carrier, he stepped out and took off.  It took us well over an hour to capture him to put him back into the carrier to bring him back to his room.  The mother cat hissed at him behind a plate of glass in a table; he just looked at her and paid her no mind-was that right or wrong?  We haven't done it again and are waiting for some EXPERT advice on what to do.

Thanks for any and all words of wisdom for I am lost as is his father...

coming of the little gem...

 

[ondine]

Thank you for helping this kitty; you are a godsend for him.

First thing, though, you can slow down some.  Introductions usually go glacially slow between cats - Bandit needs time to adjust to life indoors with all its new smells and textures.  The fact that he lets you touch him at all is amazing.  At four months old, he was on the outside of easy socializing, so you have your job cut out for you.

Leave him in his room for the time being.  Can you get a screen door and place it at his doorway?  That or two stacked baby gates will allow the cats to see one another without being able to get to one another yet.  That way, they can get used to the idea of the new one and he can get used to the idea of sharing this new territory.  Just putting them in a room together is almost a guarantee of problems.

We have two feral born cats, siblings eight years old, who still do not let us pick them up.  It is just something they never got used to and we do not force them.  He may never be a lap cat but he can learn to co-exist with your other pets.  Please don't let the Aussie chase him.  I know this is something instinctive with Aussies - she will try to herd him where she wants him.  The cat will not like that, obviously, and it may traumatize him.

Sitting in the room with him, reading out loud, often has the effect of calming him.  He will approach to see what's up, especially if you are calm and deliberate.  No sudden moves, no forcing you will  on him.  This is going to take time, so have patience and don't worry too much.