Trying To Befriend A Feral Kitten

[Kaira]

I have a cat that we own. Also there is a feral kitten in our backyard that we don't own. It's still alive and kicking, for now.

I want to be able to place some kitten friendly food in a hiding spot for the kitten. But a hiding spot that the adult cat can't get to, otherwise it will eat the kitten's food- Even if I fed our cat, it might smell out the kitten's food later on and get to it before the kitten does. Yet, no hiding space seems good enough.

What can I do?

That's the first question.

The second question is how do I get it to come out and trust us? Obviously it will give me greater piece of mind, being able to keep an eye on it, and not be worried that our cat might have hurt it. Our cat is a female, so hopefully because she's not male she won't hurt the kitten. But I can never be too sure. Especially since my brother said she saw our cat stalking the kitten.

The third question is 'how do I tell where it's been hiding, so I know where to put the food?'

Thanks for any help and responses!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!!

Can you set up a camera to track where the little guy goes? Even if so, can you keep your adult cat inside for a while so that you can observe the kitten and where it goes?

Hopefully you can keep your cat inside, and maybe a box with a hole too small for your cat to get into but the kitten can, would work for the kitten food?

Then, try sitting on the ground and reading a little bit to it. Don't look directly at it, that can be intimidating. Just sitting, over time, will help the kitten to become more comfortable with your presence. Try treats after a while, but put those on the ground away from you at first, then gradually closer.

Try these things, and let us know how things go

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I want to think about this more before I try to offer some suggestions. But, I have had a similar situation, and can tell that just because your cat is a female doesn't mean she won't try to harm the kitten. And, if the kitten senses anything negative from your girl, it will likely stay away to protect itself. So, first off you have to figure out you can deal with your girl in a manner that would enable the kitten to feel more comfortable about coming around for food. You might want to elicit the help of a neighbor if that's possible, with regard to the kitten. Is your girl outside most/all of the time? I'll be back later with more thoughts...

 

[Kaira]

Hi. I want to think about this more before I try to offer some suggestions. But, I have had a similar situation, and can tell that just because your cat is a female doesn't mean she won't try to harm the kitten. And, if the kitten senses anything negative from your girl, it will likely stay away to protect itself. So, first off you have to figure out you can deal with your girl in a manner that would enable the kitten to feel more comfortable about coming around for food. You might want to elicit the help of a neighbor if that's possible, with regard to the kitten. Is your girl outside most/all of the time? I'll be back later with more thoughts...

Well...I've noticed the kitten is always approaching our female cat...and it bolts when I stand up to investigate whether our cat is meaning it harm or not. Also, I'm not sure if it's approaching our female cat. Or if it's approaching the food on the porch.

I've found a perfect spot to leave food for it now.

 

[Kaira]

Hi! Welcome!!

Can you set up a camera to track where the little guy goes? Even if so, can you keep your adult cat inside for a while so that you can observe the kitten and where it goes?

Hopefully you can keep your cat inside, and maybe a box with a hole too small for your cat to get into but the kitten can, would work for the kitten food?

Then, try sitting on the ground and reading a little bit to it. Don't look directly at it, that can be intimidating. Just sitting, over time, will help the kitten to become more comfortable with your presence. Try treats after a while, but put those on the ground away from you at first, then gradually closer.

Try these things, and let us know how things go

Great idea thanks!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Glad you found a spot for the food. Is this somewhere your cat can't get to it? I gather your cat spends some/all of her time outside?

If the kitten is willing to try to approach your cat, even if it's real purpose is to get to the food, that is still to me a promising sign. The kitten would rather be exposed to your cat than to you - not terribly surprising. You are just going to have to be diligent as you can be to make sure your cat doesn't attack the kitten. Hopefully, they could become accepting of each other - that would go a long way in helping you to eventually befriend the kitten. If they would get along a bit, the kitten would watch your interaction with your cat from a distance and that would help with the kitten accepting you.

See if you can let the potential interaction between them play out a bit more - but always be prepared to save the kitten if need be. You need to determine whether your cat is going to help your cause with the kitten or harm it. If you figure out it is going to harm your cause, then you will have to devise a plan to counteract that.

In my case, my cat, Feeby, HATES all other cats, so when two strays were venturing into my yard she would freak out. The good thing is that Feeby is indoor only and isn't allowed outside except for our screened in patio. There were occasions when I distracted to her stay inside the house, especially when I had started to learn when I might expect the strays to show up.

The other thing will be to let the kitten see you from afar when it comes to eat. And, once that happens, stay frozen in place (depending on what is going on with your cat, of course), while it eats - do not move. It is helpful also, if you can manage to get the kitten to see you place it's food down - so it knows who is feeding it.

Lastly, you might want to consider getting a trap that you can use to start feeding the kitten in once you've seen a pattern of it routinely coming to eat. Once you set up the trap, the kitten will be suspicious, but will eat once it gets hungry enough. After time of the kitten routinely eating in the trap, you would have a better chance of catching it.

Other members, ones with much more experience dealing with strays/ferals, will hopefully come along soon and offer expert tips for you. I am hoping they can give you some ideas about how to handle the situation with your cat.

 

[GaryT]

When I had a feral cat that started coming around, I would put food out and watch from a distance. Every day I kept getting closer (as close as he would tolerate) and eventually Max would let me sit beside him while he ate. I would talk softly to him. After a little while he would let me pet him too. Sometimes he would nip at my hand but he never bit hard. Always slow movement and soft voice.

It is such a special feeling when they start to trust you.

One day he just stopped coming and I never saw him again.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[Kaira]

Glad you found a spot for the food. Is this somewhere your cat can't get to it? I gather your cat spends some/all of her time outside?

If the kitten is willing to try to approach your cat, even if it's real purpose is to get to the food, that is still to me a promising sign. The kitten would rather be exposed to your cat than to you - not terribly surprising. You are just going to have to be diligent as you can be to make sure your cat doesn't attack the kitten. Hopefully, they could become accepting of each other - that would go a long way in helping you to eventually befriend the kitten. If they would get along a bit, the kitten would watch your interaction with your cat from a distance and that would help with the kitten accepting you.

See if you can let the potential interaction between them play out a bit more - but always be prepared to save the kitten if need be. You need to determine whether your cat is going to help your cause with the kitten or harm it. If you figure out it is going to harm your cause, then you will have to devise a plan to counteract that.

In my case, my cat, Feeby, HATES all other cats, so when two strays were venturing into my yard she would freak out. The good thing is that Feeby is indoor only and isn't allowed outside except for our screened in patio. There were occasions when I distracted to her stay inside the house, especially when I had started to learn when I might expect the strays to show up.

The other thing will be to let the kitten see you from afar when it comes to eat. And, once that happens, stay frozen in place (depending on what is going on with your cat, of course), while it eats - do not move. It is helpful also, if you can manage to get the kitten to see you place it's food down - so it knows who is feeding it.

Lastly, you might want to consider getting a trap that you can use to start feeding the kitten in once you've seen a pattern of it routinely coming to eat. Once you set up the trap, the kitten will be suspicious, but will eat once it gets hungry enough. After time of the kitten routinely eating in the trap, you would have a better chance of catching it.

Other members, ones with much more experience dealing with strays/ferals, will hopefully come along soon and offer expert tips for you. I am hoping they can give you some ideas about how to handle the situation with your cat.

Great idea! Thanks!

 

[surya]

If you really want to properly tame that kitten, you need to trap it, vet it and bring it inside. How old do you think it is?

 

[Kaira]

So update, still haven't made much progress, due to all of us being too busy. But when nobody is around, it sneaks up on the porch to sneak a bit of food we give for our cat.

The kitten is a midnight black with green eyes. When we do see it, most of the time it's at the middle of the night, as a blurred shadow racing across the yard.

I only see or hear about it like once every few days. Like some sort of elusive, specter.


I was standing about 20 meters away from it, and we both just stared at each other, for about ten seconds. Then it chose to crawl under the stairs, which leads to the underneath one of our sleepout houses in the backyard.

 

[Kaira]

If you really want to properly tame that kitten, you need to trap it, vet it and bring it inside. How old do you think it is?

My dad reckons a trap isn't necessary. It's desperate enough to come near our home just to eat, and so he thinks patience is the better virtue.

I beg to differ. But I'll have a talk with him about that. It's not that I don't think the patience way won't work. It will. But it might not work "in time", if you get what I mean. The kitten might die before then. I mean sure it appears to be eating. But there is more to keep a kitten alive than having it eat.

 

[surya]

My dad reckons a trap isn't necessary. It's desperate enough to come near our home just to eat, and so he thinks patience is the better virtue.

I beg to differ. But I'll have a talk with him about that. It's not that I don't think the patience way won't work. It will. But it might not work "in time", if you get what I mean. The kitten might die before then. I mean sure it appears to be eating. But there is more to keep a kitten alive than having it eat.

I agree. There are some great youtube video's on how to tame kittens.
There are a bunch of Kitten school video's with great tips:

 

[Norachan]

I think the trap is the way to go. Even if the kitten can be tamed over time the sooner you get him indoors the better. He/She is very vulnerable outside, a kitten's life is in danger every moment they're outside.

Ask your vet, shelters and any local TNR groups if they have a trap you can borrow. Once indoors keep the kitten confined to one room so you can work on socialising. He/She will feel much safer in one small room where they can get used to things.

Everything You Need To Know About Tnr (trap-neuter-release)

Handling Feral Cats

Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips

 

[Kaira]

Kitten came inside house. About a metre in. Was chased out the door by our cat. But...once the kitten was outside. It was like our cat and the kitten seemed to be having a conversation.

I don't speak cat. But it might have been:

Cat: I don't mind sharing my garden with you. But my house? I don't think so.

Kitten: Okay... *will clearly try and sneak back in again* she's done this before.

 

[Norachan]

I got most of my feral born cats inside using the open window technique. Choose a room that you can set up as a kitten room and make sure that your other cat can't get inside. Open the window and leave the kitten's food just inside. If your kitten is already trying to come inside it should be easy enough to coax her in, then close the window from outside while she is eating.

Here are some articles that might help the cat and kitten get along.

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

 

[Kaira]

The kitten comes in through the open glass door, that opens out onto our porch. What window would the kitten be able to get into?

 

[Norachan]

Do you have a room that you can use as a kitten room while you're socialising her?

 

[Kaira]

Member of the fam finally got a few videos of the kitten. Not sure if videos work on this. So took the screenshots where you get to see the kitten on the video.

But maybe, y'all could tell me what breed I'm looking at.

Also, I don't really read cat body language.

How does our cat look? Scared? Curious? Cautious? Confused?

Sorry for the poor quality...I had to screenshot it from a couple of videos. Also, if this can support videos...I tried to find the video, but couldn't...cos don't know what file my laptop stores them in. Which is why I did screenshots instead.

 

[Norachan]

I don't think the cat is any particular breed, the vast majority of cats aren't. I'd say that's a domestic short hair grey tabby. Is that one the Mom? I'd say she looks curious, but not overly scared or anything.

This tutorial explains how to upload videos.

How To Upload And Add Videos To Your Posts