Socializing 6-wk old Feral Kittens

[tortie]

Hi Everyone,

Glad to have found this site! I've read through some of the messages, but did not quite find the answers to my situation. I would really appreciate your all knowledge in helping me out!

Over the weekend I trapped a feral mamacat and her 3 feral kittens. The kittens are 6 weeks old (they were born in my back yard and then were moved somewhere else before I could trap them). I want to get the mama cat spayed and then released and would like to socialize the kittens and get them adopted out.

How soon should I spay the mama cat? What should I do to socialize the kittens? The kittens hiss at me constantly. The mama cat is a bit more at ease as long as I stay away from the cage where they are.

The kittens are not completely weaned. I only saw two who tried eating some of the canned kitten food and saw only one using the litter box so far.

Appreciate everyone's advice!!!

 

[tnr1]

Hey Tortie...here is a link to Alley Cat Allies information:

http://www.alleycat.org/resources_care.html#10

Hope that helps.

Katie

 

[tortie]

Thanks, Katie, for a quick response. The link you gave has a lot of useful information.

I will probably keep the cats in the crate where they are in right now for the next week, trying to socialize all of them as much as possible and will have the mamacat spayed in the next week.

Anyone has any other bits of wisdom?

Also, one of the kittens bit me when I was catching it - should I run to a dr? I had a rabies shot several years ago... I think... Anyone knows if anything can happen to a human from a feral cat bite?

 

[tnr1]

Hey Tortie....there are a lot of really great TNR individuals who will probably come on at various times, so keep checking back.

Katie

 

[leesali]

I have a feral (quite a few actually) mother who gave birth in my backyard too. I recently got involved with Neighborhood Cats who will be assisting me with some TNR.

I took the kittens from the mother when they were about 5 - 6 weeks old. I noticed they would eat kitten food that I was putting out for them even though they would still suckle from their mother. I believe the kittens react from the mother...I didn't want them to be feral. They lived in my house for 2 weeks...in a safe, warm, clean enviornment where they were picked-up & cuddled constantly. Almost immediately, they stopped hissing and ducking everytime a hand came near and are now socialized, cuddly little ones ready for adoption.

As far as the mother goes, she is going to be trapped this week and spayed along with her sisters.

Personally, I would get those kittens into a safe environment and start introducing human touch and scent to them.

My 10 week old kittens from a feral mom:
[/IMG]

 

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by Tortie

Also, one of the kittens bit me when I was catching it - should I run to a dr? I had a rabies shot several years ago... I think... Anyone knows if anything can happen to a human from a feral cat bite?

That happened to me once. I called the vet and asked if there had been any cases of rabies in the county. He said no, but to keep an eye on them for a few weeks to be safe. The kittens are young, and they don't contract it from their mother, so you are most likely safe.

Our Humane Society picked up 56 kittens in the last 2 weeks, about half of them feral. When possible, and once they are weaned, they are carried around wherever the foster mom goes. We never have a meeting where there aren't kittens that we pass around to get them used to being handled by humans. Of course we do this with people who adore cats and have handled ferals in the past. If you don't do this, they might bond to only you and that is not the best if you want them to adapt to another home.

Katie passed on good information. Each litter can be different and there are a lot of options for you that is used at our humane society.

If the mom is highly feral, she can be a bad influence on the kittens. In this case, we separate kittens from the mom as early as possible. This is not the best option, as kittens need to be with their moms up to 12 weeks.

If one kitten is more feral than others, we sometimes separate that kitten into a separate foster home. Also not the best option, but there are times that a bad behaving one can influence the others.

Handle the kittens as often as you can. Get them to eat canned food from your fingers. Talk to them often. If you can move their cage/carrier around with you as you go thru the day, they get used to human interaction all day long.

Give them lots of toys and if they are a bit nervous, use a wand toy and draw them to you on their terms.

If you have a well behaved cat that does not threaten mom and kittens, play with that cat in front of this group.

I personally don't like to use cages once they are separated from their mom. I'll give them a small room that has hiding places, but not a bed to crawl under and get lost from you.

Good luck!

 

[beckiboo]

My beloved Festus was born to a lovey dovey Mom, and the whole litter hissed and spit at me when they were about 3 weeks old!

I agree with separating the babies from their feral mom, as she will teach them to fear you. And if one is especially shy, take it away from the others so it will not teach them to fear.

Best of luck with these little wild ones. Once they are vetted and up on their shots, maybe you can put a friendly cat in with them. My Garfield helped a lot in taming a 4-5 month old semi-feral girl, Jill!



Festus (brown tabby girl) and Garfield (orange tabby boy, face showing in the middle) were in the "cat chair". I guess there wasn't room for Jill (swirly orange tabby girl on top), so she just layed on top and went to sleep!