Feral kitten - any advice?

[Jayney2]

We've been looking out for a kitten since we lost our old cat. As we have a dog the rescue shelter won't even entertain us, so we've been looking online for a kitten/cat.

There is one that has come up, however it is a barn cat so has never been inside. It's around 7 weeks old.

Would we be silly in thinking we could tame the cat to be a family pet? Obviously we'd be willing to put in a lot of time and effort.

Thanks for any advice.

7 weeks is not too old, although they may always be more skittish than a kitten exposed to people when younger. My cats were born in a house but weren't handled or interacted with until almost 8 weeks. Now adults. One is a proper lapcat and does friendly greetings but hates to be picked up. The other one is extremely neurotic but very chatty, & will cuddle when we are lying in bed.

I had a feral cat that moved into our garden when I was 17. It took me 6 months to get near him and two years to convince him. Once he was convinced he was the most loving cat I’ve ever known. He was older, you’ll be fine with a kitten.

It’s unusual for no rescue to allow you to have a kitten with a cat friendly dog. Is it a sighthound or a bouncy youngster? In that case I would be looking at not getting a kitten.

I think you could with time and patience (and plenty of Elastoplast!!)

It's a little young to leave its mum though. Is there just one kitten? You might be better with two?

Should be fine but you'll need to put on gloves or something and handle a lot .. don't leave to own devices and ignore any hissing or spitting. Free treats often

Yes, 7 weeks is fairly close to the age limit to turn around a feral kitten into a friendly cat.
You'll need to do a lot of work in the first week or two. Do you have access to a cage - I'm too tired to remember the name of the cages we used to use, but similar to a large dog crate type thing. Ideally you would keep them in the cage for the first couple of weeks with a small litter tray and water bowl in there. You need to then give them small amounts of food and stroke as you feed. Don't let them out of the cage unless you're holding them and they're calm.
If you don't have a cage, a small bathroom might work. Try to hand feed them chicken or similar.
There is a bit more to it but my brain isn't properly functioning right now!
I've done this a few times as a cat fosterer. Ex feral kittens often turn into really lovely cats.
Do you know anything about their health though, have they been treated for worms? And are they telling the truth about the kitten's age? Because by 10 weeks it's often too late and the cat will always be nervous of humans. It's not fair to try to tame an older feral.

Time is of the essence. Even next week could be too late.

We rescued six from my yard in June, at about 6-7 weeks. The two we missed are completely feral now.

We got our kitten at six weeks as a semi-feral.

You need to completely ignore the hissing, growling and spitting and handle them as much as possible. Hold them in a towel on your lap if necessary. They need as much human contact as you can give them.

Don't free feed - you need to be the source of all food and goodness - so that might mean sitting with them while they eat or eventually hand feeding them etc.

He's sixteen weeks now and just like a normal cat. You'd never know he was once a feral, spitting ball of anger