Taming a kitten

lmahoney79

We have 3 12 week old feral kittens that live outside our house, they come just inside the door to feed from us. We want to be able to catch them and bring them in so they can get used to humans and hopefully be re-homed....anyone any ideas on best way to tame them?

niallb

Spend some time outside with them. Put out a chair and grab a good book.
If every time they see you they get food, all they'll see is the food.
When they're more used to you after a few days, sit outside at the time you normally feed them, and don't provide any food or open the door. It's very likely they'll come over to remind you that you've forgotten to feed them, and that could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
That said, 12 weeks is a little old if they've never been handled at all.
Maybe you just need to enjoy having cats as neighbours!

lmahoney79

well i have just read that kittens up to 12 weeks can be tamed but anything after that is harder so we must start straight away!

okedoke

I put up a question here a few days ago about a couple of feral cats we're feeding at the moment, I'd guess they're 1 year + of age. Is it realistic to expect them to become fully domesticated at some point or are they too old?

okedoke

lmahoney79

you can try to but yeah they will be alot harder to domesticate at that age.....you need a lot of patience.

MsFifers

Sit down outside, close to them but don't look at them directly. Then put some food snacks close to you, on your legs etc. Ignore them if they come close to investigate. Eventually they will probably come right up to you to eat, then you can gradually try stroking & see what happens.

They'll still be at the playful stage at 12 weeks so maybe get a few dangler toys for them - they'll be too curious to stay away for long.

It'll probably take quite a while to build up a relationship with them.

How did you get on with the mother? Did you manage to catch her yet to have her neutered?

lmahoney79

we have actually been advised to get a kittne pen and have them in the house with us getting used to our voices and general domestic noises and let them out now and then to play etc, so we are trying that.
Yeah we did get the mother spayed thank god!! Very kind lady from Fingal SPCA lent us a cat trap to catch her.

Twee.

My kitten was feral when we found him (or rather, he found us). We did pretty much what was said above. First we started feeding him, then sitting out with him, began feeding him closer to us, and eventually started petting him. He then started to trust us, and would sit on the sun lounger beside us, then on our laps. Eventually you could pick him up and he'd
snuggle in

Well, look at him now.

babychuckles

okedoke wrote: »

I put up a question here a few days ago about a couple of feral cats we're feeding at the moment, I'd guess they're 1 year + of age. Is it realistic to expect them to become fully domesticated at some point or are they too old?

okedoke

If they are neutered they may begin to settle down and depending on their underlying personality one may settle down more than the other. It is often that they become a total slob once neutered if they are the only ones in the household.

okedoke

Thanks - food for thought

boardbrowser

I've had 5 foster kittens in the last 18 months. all of whom were between 8- 11 weeks.
what worked for me was forcing the issue. Meaning- i got them inside my house asap. didn't wait till the socialisation window had come to a complete close.
The last one ( 8 months old now ) i kept.
she was a spitting and growly kitten at 10 weeks but i took her inside having trapped her.
what a turn around, she is so friendly and outgoing and a real love bug.
for the 1st 2 days she hid.
would feed only at night or early morn before i came downsatirs.Detested dog.
day3- 4- eating while i was present in same room would approach my dog but not me.
day 5-7 started moving around room but would scatter if i moved.
week 2- sat next to me on couch but would not accept reach. touch- flight.
week ending 2- week- 3 Petting on couch and happily playing with string toy.Purring.
week 5-6 nail clipping desensitisation/ picking up/ habituating her to cat carrier( i travel alot)
week 7- 10 - car trips in carrier/ Visiting new house / new people ( at least 15 tossing her tiny pieces of chicken)
Presently- real sweet kitty. relaxed at vets, sleeps on bed next to dog, well socialised to other cats and adapts well to new surroundings, very tolerant of handling/ nail cliping/ restraint. Plus a fantastic recall.
wouldn't part with her for the world.

lmahoney79

Thanks for that, it's good to know what other people have done. This is the forst time we have tried to tame feral kittens so it's a learning curve with us. We currently have the twp kittens in a kitten pen in the living room with us, letting them gt used to our voices and general goings on in the house. We cant let them out yet as they recognise the area outside where they know they should be so they just run straight to the window and try climb up it every time!
We just opent he cage to change food and litter etc.....The little male kitten is still crying sometimes. He just hisses if i go near the pen.