Trying to Tame 2 Feral 2 month old kittens

[Kwik]

Thank you!! I've seen videos and read so many random articles that say to do this or that, which is why I came here because it's very overwhelming. Each situation is unique.

Little update!

They've been getting more and more comfortable with me, and Jinx was even playing with my hand!! I've been interacting with them with their cage open, and only hiss when I enter the room ( very squeaky door, which will be getting the WD40 treatment soon ) then chill out once they've smelt my hand and know it's me.

But today after Shrimp used the litter box she started to walk out and I had to pick her up, and she let me with no hisses or scratches or bites, nothing! Just as if I was picking up my own cat.

Even after she was calm, and they've been gradually allowing me to pet them more! Baby steps and time seem to be the best solution so far, any tips are appreciated!

But please keep in mind, next paycheck I will be getting scratching posts and covered beds! Just can't right now. View attachment 465223

You're very welcome,it my pleasure..... your update is FANTASTIC!!!And oh my goodness,the babies are just too cute for words You're absolutely right-everyones situation is different and we must always put ourself in someone else's shoes and " remember" our start or any similarities we can relate to- keeps us mindful and considerate .....just know we do understand and care very much!I'm very happy you are here,your story will encourage someone else taking in lil ferals - it's wonderful

One of my most Beloved cats in my lifetime was named Jinx( rip) he was an absolute terror when he was your Jinxys age- turned out to be such a great,well behaved boy- smart as a whip.....

Oh boy do I understand limitations $$$$- you just do as you can and that's that,often times we already have stuff around we can get creative with for no cost at all- make due with what you've got ,I've put together some pretty unique things for my kitties and always got the idea from something they thought of-rofl!!!!

Can you share some photos of your other cats? Love to meet the whole family

 

[doughnutouchme]

Yeah! This is Nugget! She's 8! I got her as a freshman in high-school and she's the sweetest cat. She loves kisses and super affectionate, she's never been around other cats as an adult so I hope once I get to the stage of introducing them it goes well!! She's the only other cat I have now, before Jinx and Shrimp.

I initially named them Jinx and Vi ( from League of Legends/Arcane ) but we were able to start putting Shrimp with a toy shrimp and it just seemed a better fit for her personality.

Yeah I didn't type it correctly but I have 6 nephews and 2 neices to get gifts for and the holidays is always tight for everyone I feel.

 

[Kwik]

Yeah! This is Nugget! She's 8! I got her as a freshman in high-school and she's the sweetest cat. She loves kisses and super affectionate, she's never been around other cats as an adult so I hope once I get to the stage of introducing them it goes well!! She's the only other cat I have now, before Jinx and Shrimp.

I initially named them Jinx and Vi ( from League of Legends/Arcane ) but we were able to start putting Shrimp with a toy shrimp and it just seemed a better fit for her personality.

Yeah I didn't type it correctly but I have 6 nephews and 2 neices to get gifts for and the holidays is always tight for everyone I feel.
View attachment 465268

Nugget is precious- she sure does look like a sweetie pie just as you described- so pretty

With proper introductions I'm sure it will be well- our own demeanor and " energy" plays a big part of it all- keep up the good work and positive attitude- I love your furry family,thanks for sharing your Nugget,darling lil girl

 

[doughnutouchme]

Nugget is precious- she sure does look like a sweetie pie just as you described- so pretty

With proper introductions I'm sure it will be well- our own demeanor and " energy" plays a big part of it all- keep up the good work and positive attitude- I love your furry family,thanks for sharing your Nugget,darling lil girl

Speaking of !!
Shrimp PURRED today!!
She started purring while looking at me and kept purring while playing with me and my boyfriends hand and letting me pet her and closing her eyes while petting her!!

Jinx is more playful than anything and just wanted to play, he seems confused when we pet him.

 

[Kwik]

Speaking of !!
Shrimp PURRED today!!
She started purring while looking at me and kept purring while playing with me and my boyfriends hand and letting me pet her and closing her eyes while petting her!!

Jinx is more playful than anything and just wanted to play, he seems confused when we pet him.

So sweet-Jinx will catch on,lol I told you about my Jinx- he was a little Tasmanian,had no time for petting when he wanted to play or get into mischief and then the " light" switched on in his little head and the only way to separate him from me was to surgically remove him!lol I used to say he was my appendage

 

[tabbytom]

Speaking of !!
Shrimp PURRED today!!
She started purring while looking at me and kept purring while playing with me and my boyfriends hand and letting me pet her and closing her eyes while petting her!!

Jinx is more playful than anything and just wanted to play, he seems confused when we pet him.

Wonderful!

 

[doughnutouchme]

So today Jinx head butted my boyfriends hand and was being super lovey dovey!

Then after I fed them they were both purring very loud and slow blinking, then Shrimp loafed and showed her belly for a bit and I tried to get a picture she started to loaf again.

Petting confident that by next paycheck they'll be ready to roam the house after getting some scratching posts and spray!

 

[Kwik]

So today Jinx head butted my boyfriends hand and was being super lovey dovey!

Then after I fed them they were both purring very loud and slow blinking, then Shrimp loafed and showed her belly for a bit and I tried to get a picture she started to loaf again.

Petting confident that by next paycheck they'll be ready to roam the house after getting some scratching posts and spray!
View attachment 465360

Just tooooooo cute!!!

 

[tabbytom]

So today Jinx head butted my boyfriends hand and was being super lovey dovey!

Then after I fed them they were both purring very loud and slow blinking, then Shrimp loafed and showed her belly for a bit and I tried to get a picture she started to loaf again.

See, told ya you could do it.

 

[doughnutouchme]

See, told ya you could do it.

More good news! Jinx is starting to come up to the cage and rubbing against it, booping my hand. He's LOVING pets, purring the moment I pet him!

My new questions now are these:
How do I start to introduce them to my older cat?
What room should be their first place to explore?
What is the appropriate amount of scratching posts and such?

As I've stated that stage will be accessible hopefully by next week! So right now they continue to get more and more comfortable with us, I just don't want to accidentally scare them because I'm sure the whole house and other kitty is going to potentially back-track their progress. They've been eating well too, they should be around 2 1/2 months old now as tomorrow will be the 2 week mark!

Any and all tips, advice, and comments would be super helpful!!

 

[Kwik]

Precious darlings- love your photos!

Well the first room will be the one the cage is in- you'll begin by leaving the cage door open ( kitten proofing the room so they are safe unsupervised) so they can explore on their own,then they will find additional safe spots in that room and establish it as their territory( a den,little bed perhaps & scratch pole) .... the next step would be starting to room swap for periods of time-the resident in their room and they explore the residents territory- its very helpful to limit the space a little at a time and if you have baby gates or use something to gradually increase their new space to explore....

What does their room lead out to? Is it a hallway,does that lead to the kitchen or another bedroom,bathroom? I always let them explore little at a time starting from their " safe room" and gradually extend the area one section at a time until they reach the opposite end of the house.....many people room swap from let's say bedroom to bedroom but if they are on opposite ends of the house it csn be overwhelming for little ones when suddenly everything is open to them ,know whst I mean?

Tell us a little about your resident kitty,is he going to the door and curious about who's in there,lol?

 

[Kwik]

Oh ,you can get one scratching post( one with a nice stable base so it won't tip over if they jump onto it) and a little den would be great too,or a nice size bed for them( do they cuddle together to sleep or rest,groom one another?) and a nice corrugated scratch box- some cats are horizontal scratches while others prefer vertical- good to have both

 

[doughnutouchme]

Precious darlings- love your photos!

Well the first room will be the one the cage is in- you'll begin by leaving the cage door open ( kitten proofing the room so they are safe unsupervised) so they can explore on their own,then they will find additional safe spots in that room and establish it as their territory( a den,little bed perhaps & scratch pole) .... the next step would be starting to room swap for periods of time-the resident in their room and they explore the residents territory- its very helpful to limit the space a little at a time and if you have baby gates or use something to gradually increase their new space to explore....

What does their room lead out to? Is it a hallway,does that lead to the kitchen or another bedroom,bathroom? I always let them explore little at a time starting from their " safe room" and gradually extend the area one section at a time until they reach the opposite end of the house.....many people room swap from let's say bedroom to bedroom but if they are on opposite ends of the house it csn be overwhelming for little ones when suddenly everything is open to them ,know whst I mean?

Tell us a little about your resident kitty,is he going to the door and curious about who's in there,lol?

The room they are in opens up to a hallway that leads to the living room. So I will definitely do that!

My older cat, she has not been curious at all about them. We've even let her look at them while I hold her, and the doors open. But she has not been doing anything out of thr ordinary or trying to see or smell them.

So I'm not sure how she will react if i let her get closer to them.

 

[doughnutouchme]

Oh ,you can get one scratching post( one with a nice stable base so it won't tip over if they jump onto it) and a little den would be great too,or a nice size bed for them( do they cuddle together to sleep or rest,groom one another?) and a nice corrugated scratch box- some cats are horizontal scratches while others prefer vertical- good to have both

Yes they do cuddle with each other while they sleep! And I've watched Shrimp groom Jinx a bit, they cuddle quite a lot.

Definitely will be getting a more medium sized scratching post and a covered bed or two!

I was able to get a horizontal scratching cardboard thing, so I guess I will see what they prefer when I get a scratching post as well!

 

[tabbytom]

More good news! Jinx is starting to come up to the cage and rubbing against it, booping my hand. He's LOVING pets, purring the moment I pet him!

My new questions now are these:
How do I start to introduce them to my older cat?
What room should be their first place to explore?
What is the appropriate amount of scratching posts and such?

As I've stated that stage will be accessible hopefully by next week! So right now they continue to get more and more comfortable with us, I just don't want to accidentally scare them because I'm sure the whole house and other kitty is going to potentially back-track their progress. They've been eating well too, they should be around 2 1/2 months old now as tomorrow will be the 2 week mark!

Any and all tips, advice, and comments would be super helpful!!

Great news!

Yes, I agree with Kwik , make sure the room is cat safe and leave the cage door opened. Drape a large towel over the cage and let it be their safe place to retreat to. Move out the litterbox and meals bowl out of it if they are still in it. Place the litterbox at one end of the room and the meal and water dish at another end.

Time to do scent swapping. Though your other cat knows that there are other cats in the room, best is do scent swapping early. Have towels left in the kitten's room to soak up their scents fro a few days and vice versa for the other cat/s. Then switch the towels and place them in the kitten's room and also where the other cat/s are. This is to let them get use to each other scents before the actual meeting.

Leave the kitten's room door open and place a high lattice like this :- Post 7820 of this thread - My Feral And Rescued Cats. Like all things, go slow.

 

[Kwik]

That's okay thst your girl is not so interested,sounds like she's a very "chilled" kind of personality which is usually great with kittens.... remember it's "scent " that is much more important than sight with kitty cats - so her SEEING them is not familiarizing,they don't get to know each other by sight

The fact that older gal was uninterested by seeing the kittens can give us a clue that she feels no threat to her territory,now whether she'll want to be bothered by annoying little kittens wanting to play or not remains to be seen-my guess is she'll give them a hiss and teach them a thing or two because she probably knows they are babies.... they just might bring back the " kitten " in her- young ones will often rejuvenate an older cat

Case & point is as tabbytom has said ,the scent swapping is most important before they actually do MEET because thst is how they meet without physical introduction..... it's sorta like on line dating,first you read someone's profile and you are pretty familiar with them before you meet briefly for coffee or ice cream,making you more comfortable even before the physical intro- see?

 

[doughnutouchme]

That's okay thst your girl is not so interested,sounds like she's a very "chilled" kind of personality which is usually great with kittens.... remember it's "scent " that is much more important than sight with kitty cats - so her SEEING them is not familiarizing,they don't get to know each other by sight

The fact that older gal was uninterested by seeing the kittens can give us a clue that she feels no threat to her territory,now whether she'll want to be bothered by annoying little kittens wanting to play or not remains to be seen-my guess is she'll give them a hiss and teach them a thing or two because she probably knows they are babies.... they just might bring back the " kitten " in her- young ones will often rejuvenate an older cat

Case & point is as tabbytom has said ,the scent swapping is most important before they actually do MEET because thst is how they meet without physical introduction..... it's sorta like on line dating,first you read someone's profile and you are pretty familiar with them before you meet briefly for coffee or ice cream,making you more comfortable even before the physical intro- see?

I have a towel that the kittens have been sleeping on for a while, so I assume that would work for them, but I don't know what to give them that would smell like Nugget.

One of the toys we gave them was one of Nuggets but I don't know if that's enough because she has A LOT of toys. She doesn't have a cat bed because she doesn't really use one.

Would love some tips on what to use!

And the Kittens get better by each day, today they both showed their bellies and love being pet, purring up a storm!

 

[tabbytom]

Would love some tips on what to use!

You can still use a towel and place it wherever Nuggets lay down. Anywhere that she has been, you can also place the towel there as her scents are there too and you can also use the towel and gently go all over Nuggets to get her scents.

 

[Kwik]

I have a towel that the kittens have been sleeping on for a while, so I assume that would work for them, but I don't know what to give them that would smell like Nugget.

One of the toys we gave them was one of Nuggets but I don't know if that's enough because she has A LOT of toys. She doesn't have a cat bed because she doesn't really use one.

Would love some tips on what to use!

And the Kittens get better by each day, today they both showed their bellies and love being pet, purring up a storm!
View attachment 465605

Lol- tabbytom took the words right out of my mouth- there's your answer!

Or a little soft throw blanket you can rub all over Nugget ,no doubt she'd like the way that feels-my cats really like a rub down'- rub them down with their own scent before we go to the Vet & rub them down with the same towel before coming home so that they smell like themselves ( not unfamiliar)when the others greet them home!

They are just as cute as cute could be!

 

[di and bob]

They are absolutely adorable! Always remember too, that hisses, growls even swats from yoru older cat are absolutely normal. Make sure she has a high place to escape to. since the kittens are so young, your older cat will be overwhelmed at first, but she will love disciplining them and putting them in their place!