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Original poster

Anybody tamed a feral kitten?

82 replies

nextdoorscatwantstomovein · 20/10/2018 21:21

A few days ago dd1 and her friend found what appears to be an abandoned feral kitten(from the look of it just couple of months old max). On the advice of loca! rescues have been putting food down but have not yet been able to catch it. We now have a trap down but it seems to be too light to trigger it so we're going to see if we can get a smaller one from the rescue.

Dd1 and dd2(aka the cat whisperer as she seems to have a knack with cats) want to keep it if we catch it, I've not definitely said yes or no, I had cats growing up and as a teenager tamed a feral adult who turned into one of the most affectionate cats I've known.

Just wondering if anyone else had experience with feral kittens

OP posts:
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Original poster
nextdoorscatwantstomovein · 20/10/2018 23:51

Great ideas here, will have to try some tomorrow, it's still getting to the food without triggering trap!

OP posts:
nocoolnamesleft · 21/10/2018 01:37

I'd just like to point at that the best way to tame any kitten is to take lots, and lots, and lots of photos of them, and post them all on here. Grin

HirplesWithHaggis · 21/10/2018 01:45

My current 13yo started life as a feral kitten. He was near death when we found him but the vet managed to save most of him (he needed a leg and most of his tail amputated) and he is a very laid back, chilled and affectionate adult. He was about 12/13 weeks old when found.

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Cats
Heuschrecke · 21/10/2018 07:23

Good luck with catching it, OP. I must admit I had a slight chortle at the Police imagining you're drug dealers rather than cat rescuers!

Slightly off topic, but have a look at this lovely video of an old feral cat making friends with kittens

mrsjackrussell · 21/10/2018 07:53

We have a feral cat and got her when she was a kitten.
When we first had her she was terrified and we couldn't get her in at all. She would claw and rip us to shreds so as we live in the countryside we feed her and let her do her own thing.
Manage to flea her by doing it quickly.
Over time she has come to love my daughter and will sometimes come in and lay in my daughters bed but is still so terribly nervous.
If you make any movement at all she will just run out the door.
We got her spayed and the rspca lent us a cat trap to take her. It was awful though and she hurt her paws trying to escape.
She won't stay in at night so sleeps in the shed. She has such a lovely thick coat I think she is adapted to being outside.

MrsCatE · 21/10/2018 07:56

Applaud OP, I hope you manage to rescue the cat and amazed at some of the stories here. Mine was a feral and about, 6 weeks when we rescued him. Hejust about tolerates me but adores my husband however, still not madly affectionate. He's the most intelligent cat I've ever had. He's also very protective.

An ongoing theme here; ex-ferals bonding with just one person!

Zoflorabore · 21/10/2018 08:00

We look after a family of cats as do two of our neighbours so they are spoilt rotten.

One of them has taken a particular liking to dp ( hates me!! ) and we've tried to bring him in but he's a nervous wreck and dd (7) is loud.

NDN has made them a little shelter in one of her sheds and a couple of them have been using it.

Neighbour at the back who also feeds them doesn't think it's possible to train them as house cats for various reasons.
She is a real cat person, has about 8/9 herself and has tried with several of these guys too.

All we can do for now is make sure they are well looked after. We all have different names for them though which is slightly confusing Grin

theboxofdelights · 21/10/2018 08:06

Yes I did, she was about six months old and had had kittens under next door’s shed, skeletal, flea infested ball of hissing and spitting. I called her Small.

Had her spayed, the CPL took the kittens. She adapted but still remembered where she had come from occasionally. Ruled the roost at home and was firmly in charge of both dogs and cats here all her life.

She didn’t live a long life, nine years as opposed to eighteen and nineteen by the long feral cats. I took her overseas when we moved.

theboxofdelights · 21/10/2018 08:07

Non feral cats not long feral cats.

glamorousgrandmother · 21/10/2018 08:08

I took on a feral kitten that a builder had found on a site. She was tiny but feisty and hissed and spat at anyone that came near but developed into a wonderful pet with a great character. When she had to be pts at 21 years old the vet said she was the oldest cat she had ever had brought in.

calpop · 21/10/2018 08:12

How interesting, my MIL has a feral cat that they rescued from the street about 9 years ago nedt to the dead mother, barely newborn and not expected to survive. She fed it through the night with an eye dropper. Now its glued to her and sits on her lap or her feet all day but if anyone else goes near it, it goes crazy, junps up and claws and bites you in the face if you get too near it.

theboxofdelights · 21/10/2018 08:19

I remembered this photo of Small ....... ruled with a rod of iron.

Anybody tamed a feral kitten?
NicoAndTheNiners · 21/10/2018 08:23

My neighbours did.

I trapped it with a proper cat trap in our garden. Was tiny, like ten weeks old max. It was wild. I opened the trap up in our bathroom and it kept vertically up the wall and dug its claws in and was hanging on the wall! Scratched dh badly as he put it in a cat carrier.

Neighbours borrowed my dog crate and kept it in there in the front room for weeks, slowly getting him used to human contact. He’s very friendly now, you wouldn’t know he was a feral.

TeddyBee · 21/10/2018 08:40

Mine were a bit older - I’d say six months. It’s been three and a half years and they’re perfectly happy to be in the same room as me, and one of them will even cuddle up if he thinks he’s getting dreamies out of it, but they aren’t friendly at all. I don’t mind, I have other cats and I’m happy to give them house room, but I think I’d be disappointed if I wanted lap cats!

Chloecoconut · 21/10/2018 08:59

We had a feral kitten - she’s now incredibly loving and loves nothing more than to sit on whoever is willing to fuss her!
When we first got her (and her brother who died last year) we kept them in a guinea pig run in the garage. We would stroke them with toothbrushes and wore gloves and long sleeves. It didn’t take too long for them to become domesticated, although they both loved catching anything and everything - the sister cat still does!
Fingers crossed all goes as smoothly for you.

Original poster
nextdoorscatwantstomovein · 21/10/2018 20:04

We have finally caught the kitten!

OP posts:
Original poster
nextdoorscatwantstomovein · 21/10/2018 20:10

Think it's older than we thought now we've seen it close up

Anybody tamed a feral kitten?
OP posts:
ellendegeneres · 21/10/2018 20:18

What a cutie little baby!! 😍

TombIhadaGraveChange · 21/10/2018 20:24

Awwwwww!

TombIhadaGraveChange · 21/10/2018 20:24

I’m sure kitty will have you all trained very soon!

Crunchymum · 21/10/2018 20:28

He / she is a little beauty.

Hope it all works out.

nocoolnamesleft · 21/10/2018 21:40

Awww. That looks like a cat who knows how to train their humans.

Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 21/10/2018 21:49

Adorable!

That one looks pretty calm - I'm certain you'll be able to tame it. The ones near me look different from normal cats (thick fur, pointed eat tufts) and would go crazy in a cage.

Original poster
nextdoorscatwantstomovein · 21/10/2018 21:52

Dd1's spoken to somebody she knows from our local rescue, apparently tbey rescued a feral mother and a couple of kittens from the area about 10 days ago and the kitten looks the right age to have come from that litter

OP posts:
viccat · 21/10/2018 22:13

Great to hear you've got him/her!

My young pair were semi-feral when they were rescued aged about 4 months. Both are still skittish with strangers but the boy is very cuddly with me and his sister is cuddly on her own terms, too.

Using a crate works great as it will be easy to get close, and regular handling - he/she looks young enough that I think you will be successful. I'm fostering two (ex) feral kittens at the moment - they were about the same age as your one when rescued. One is now super friendly and happy to be carried around the room in my arms, her sister is shy but gentle.