Taken on some stray kittens, help please!

[BunnyandBee]

Help! We live in the countryside and have one neighbour. Two kittens have recently appeared, presumed dumped. They have been hanging out in the ditch on the neighbours side. Our neighbour fed them for a few days, but her resident house cat is not impressed and she didn't want to take them on.
We think they're about 4 months old.
We agreed to take them on. so far they come for food and hang out in the evening in our utility room or kitchen. In the day they still prefer the ditch!
We don't shut them in at night, but are in a position where we can lock the kitchen door, and leave the back door open so they can come and go/have shelter.
They are very nervous and almost impossible to touch, but not aggressive. The (presumed) boy is a bit braver and will approach for a treat.
My concerns are we need to get them checked out by vets/immunised/neutered.
Does anyone have some tips to get them to a point where they are not so nervous? I am worried if we can't handle them, we are not going to be able to keep them as we can't cope with the unexpected kittens or poorly cats that we can't help because we can't get close.
Is it just a case of time? Any advice much appreciated!

You will need to shut them in and get them to vet's ASAP ideally as cats can get pregnant as early as 4 months of age. Additionally if they've not been handled by people until now, your task will be a lot more difficult and they will need to be exclusively indoors for months if you are to work with them. As you live in the countryside, once neutered, vaccinated and microchipped, perhaps you could consider letting them live a sort of semi-domesticated life with shelter and daily food but let them have their freedom if you find "taming" them doesn't work?

Which part of the UK are you in? There may be a cat charity locally who can help you with initially getting them to vet's and can advice in general on how to work on socialising them or failing that, how to have semi feral cats and catch them if needed for vet visits.

Ask on Facebook for someone with a cat trap

I agree with Viccat. They need to be in, once it gets colder they’ll appreciate a warm house.

Look for your local Cat Protection branch, they may be able to help you with catching them or they may be able to point you towards someone who can. If it was my branch they would be happy to help trap them and advise on how to look after them. They are quite old to successfully socialise if they are actually feral, but if they have been dumped it may be that a little consistent kindness will win them over. As a PP says it may be possible to have them as cared for outside cats, but they still need to be neutered at the very least, for their own welfare. Plenty of cats live quite happily outside so long as they have good shelter and food.

I should say ideally you should bring them in, hopefully they turn out to be tamable.

If they've not been handled it may be that they will always be semi feral, coming to you for food and shelter. I know that some rescue cats are rehomed as farm cats or stable cats who continue to live semi feral.
They could be great mousers for you and will over time trust you more but are unlikely to be traditional lap cats.
Could you get a cat flap fitted so they can come and go? You will need to get them neutered as you could end up with many more within only a year or so. Check with a vet what age it can be done. You may be able to coax them with food into a cat carrier.

Thanks for your reply. I wondered about shutting them in, but didn't want to stress them out? And obviously litter training, but our utility/conservatory has a concrete floor at the moment, so accidents wouldn't be a problem.
Good tip about talking to a local rescue for advice. Will get on the phone tomorrow.
We think they are brother and sister, so neutering is high on my list!
They have made progress (first night they ate and ran, 3 nights later they are 'in' all evening, but still sleep outside I think).

A cardboard box with a snuggly blanket might tempt them to stay the night.

We have given home to a few stray/feral cats all have been successful except for the little female we have now. We have had her almost a year, she is an indoor cat and gets on great with our 3 males, (all fixed) but we are unable to handle her. She will take treats from your hand but as soon as we attempt to pet her she shrinks away. Picking her up is out of the question. I don't think after 11 months she is going to change. She likes to be close to us - as in the same room - but strictly no contact. She is very playful and not aggressive in any way, but just shuns human contact. Good luck with your kittens, and I think it's wonderful you are trying to help them.

We have left out two baskets with fleecy blankets, but they have merely sniffed them. A box on it's side might feel more secure perhaps.
Thanks for your advice so far. If they end up being semi-domesticated I can cope with that, just want to feel that I can care for them properly!

As PPs have said, you need to get the little darlings done as quickly as possible, they're fast approaching breeding age. It's going to be slow going socialising them if you're going to, as you've missed the ideal period - although if they've been dumped rather than being feral, you're in luck and they should be domesticated just wary.

Cat's love boxes! They enjoy being in a heat-reflective space. You could put the baskets on top of each other like a clamshell, might work.

Anyway, capture them any way that works and get them to the vet. The Cats Protection will usually be happy to send someone round with cat-catching gear for this sort of thing, ask when you talk to them tomorrow.

Shut them in, get a litter tray, and get them to the vets pronto. Apart from that just lots of little treats and tiny bits of affection. Try petting the backs of their heads whilst they eat so they associate affection with happiness.

I would be slightly more optimistic. We took on a cat who was scared of everyone and everything. A bit older - around 9 months. He had had experience of people but mainly bad . It took him a month to come inside, he would shy away from us and wouldn't go through a door if we were in the way. It took around 6 months for him to trust us. When he was about 2 it was as if a switch flicked in him and he would start jumping on to my lap. He is still more cautious than his sister - though she is a spectacularly poor cat and would trust anyone and anything.

I had a similar situation, but this was a full on feral  I put a box with a blanket in it, and soon that was his home then I changed it to a cat basket, which was no bother. He got used to me and although I couldn't touch him he got used to me being around. Then one morning he was asleep in the basket and I walked very slowly to the basket closed the door gently put a blanket over the front not to distress him and took him to the local cat rescue place. Even in the car he was fairly calm, they did his injections, neutered him and I picked him up later that day. I kept him in for five days whilst he was healing and to my amazement he knew how to use the litter tray. On day 6 I opened the door he leapt out ran into the garden then half an hour later I found him asleep on the bed!

That was five years ago, and it's been a hard 5 years, but we are getting there. People tell me I saved him but the truth is he saved me. He has turned out to be an amazing cat.

I've got six cats and they were all feral bar one which is a kitten of one of the ferals. They are all happy pets now, and one had lived wild for at least seven years that we know of.
The best way to domesticate them is to trap them, neuter and confine them.

They soon realise where food and affection comes from and build up trust. There is a website called The Lucky Few that has some good tips on taming. It is always nerve wracking taking in a feral, and I usually get to the point that they are never going to come round when all of a sudden they do. My most ferocious feral is now stopping me typing by his head butting and purring!
The Cat Site has a forum that also has advice and tips on taming ferals and is worth a look, also Caring for Cats Yorkshire specialise in socialising and rehoming feral cats and may be able to help with advice if you need it.
I'd be inclined to get them in sooner rather than later, the sooner the taming process begins the better really.

How’s it going OP?

Get Dreamies. A litter tray in your back room they will know what to do. Lots of toys. My ferals all like the laser pointers even outside. Its just time.

Anu updates OP? Hoping they are doing okay, just wanted to add that sometimes very frightened cats can appear feral, but once they are caught and realise that they are safe they are totally fine, if yous have been dumped it's highly likely that they are very frightened rather than truly feral. Love to hear how they're doing.

Just want to add a little optimism to the thread - I have 5 cats, all of which were feral kittens that were TNRd. I just didn't do the R bit with them as I fell in love with them. 4 of them are perfectly domesticated and tame. 1 is still very nervous and won't come near me when she's outside but when she's indoors, she's as affectionate as the rest of them. Although she was one very poorly half dead kitten when I managed to catch her and had months of daily vet trips, so the sight of a cat carrier or attempt to pick her up freaks her out still, even 4 years on.

Yy to those suggesting keeping them in for a while. Ours we4e house cats for about 18mo. They now have the freedom to go in or out as they please and are very happy cats. Good luck. You're doing a lovely thing!

Hello, so a little update. We trapped them in on Sunday. Firstly confining to our conservatory, but opening our house in the evening when our children have gone to bed. They have become steadily braver to the point where they were sitting in the same room as us last night! If we get up they scuttle off fairly quickly though.
They come looking for food when it's their dinner time, and the female actually briefly rubbed against my legs last night when I was preparing food for them, so I think that is progress too...
They are using a litter tray.
The girl can be a bit hissy when she feels cornered, but that's understandable I guess. But I can stroke her when she is eating. The boy is less bold now, but I can still stroke him a bit when eating.
I have them booked for neutering at the end of the month!

Thanks for all your help and advice. I think it will be slow progress (particularly with our children) but hopefully with the progress they have made in such a short time it will continue to improve!

Apparently people like pictures

This sounds like excellent progress. Being in the same room, eating in front of you and being stroked are big steps in the right direction.

Oh they’re so beautiful! 😻. My cats skittish if one of us moves suddenly, you’d think we regularly beat him.

😻 omg so beautiful. I love black and whites.

They are beautiful cats and they look like they are great condition, you are doing really well with them. I predict they will be sitting on knees watching Dr Who with you on Christmas Day, with tummies full of turkey.