Taming ferals

[GSD20]

Somehow I’ve ended up with a little feral kitten. Probably 8-10 weeks. Hes been quite sick (flu) and stressed having come from huge colony that is currently being removed from the location.

Anyway he’s on medical treatment which I can manage and have agreed to foster him as I can’t get him into a rescue anywhere (everywhere is inundated!)

Has anyone got any tips on how to try and tame this little thing so he has the best chance of finding a new home? Hes currently a hissy spitty mess as soon as you open the cage. I have him in a crate in a quiet room but I’m not too sure what to do for the best. Do I handle him or just let him be?
Is he ever likely to be to a level where he could be a family pet?

Thanks?

I've had a couple of ferals that have ended up as pets, although they started off scared rather than aggressive. If you can I'd spend time around him without expecting anything from him so he gets used to you without any pressure. Let him come to you. Don't put him in the position where he's trapped. My current ex feral cat still hates people between him and an exit despite being super friendly. He's still young so there is a good chance he will get used to you.

I had a feral. I took it very slowly, and at first spent time around each other, just letting her watch and observe me. She had a safe place on top of bookshelves, and after about a week felt safe enough to explore and find some other safe spots for herself.
Eventually she would come near while I put her food out, and I would touch her briefly and then slowly increased that contact.

She never got to a point of tolerating handling or unsolicited touch, though she did get quite affectionate on her own terms. I could never trust her with the dc though as she could and would attack if overstimulated. Fortunately she kept her distance from them so it wasn’t a problem but she really wasn’t a family pet.

We had a feral kittens a couple of times, they grew up to be great pets. I'm surprised that it didn't get friendly while you were nursing it, one of ours was quite poorly when we got her and by the time she was well had become quite tame. I would try to stroke it gently and talk to her, it's lonely and frightened, has it got a cuddly toy to cuddle up with?

With an older feral, I would suggest the hands off "let them come to me" approach (as I did with mine). However as a kitten, and one really a little too young to be away from it's mother and siblings. you do need to handle him. He hasn't yet found out "good" manners, they usually learn that from playing with the rest of the litter & from their mother.

Heavy duty gloves if needed (and arm protection), but he has to be acclimatised to human contact and how nice that can be - he can't find out how great a good chin rub feels, if he never gets one. I'd imagine he's well into food, so start touching & stroking while he's eating maybe. Hold him then give him treats like cooked chicken while you have hold of him. Bribery basically!

Soft gentle praises for acceptance, stern (but not shouting or angry) voice for telling off when he oversteps a boundary. In extreme circumstances (I've used this on my ex-stray before) even a hiss.

Talk to the local rescues; even if they don't have room for him they should be happy to give advice and they should have had plenty of experience of feral kitten.

Good luck - now where's the Cat Tax?

At that gas the kitten won’t know it’s feral. Bond through play. Something on the end of a string, a cat ball. They will come to you. I bet this little thing will be the best cat ever in time. No sudden noises or movements.

I've got lots of ex ferals here that were all trapped as adults, and were pretty terrifying initially!
They've all transformed into happy friendly cats, although I have two out of eleven that don't like being picked up, but they will sit on your knee.
Each cat has been an individual, so I've been led by them, but the main thing is for them to learn to trust and associate ypu with good things. Once neutering and any meds are sorted I give mine the freedom of a roomand spend lots of time just being in there and ignoring them. They will hide inotially, but if you have another cat then playing with tjem with something like a da bird toy can encourage them out. It also helps them to see other cats interacting with you.
Sleeping in the same room can help as they often explpre at night and you aren't a threat when asleep
Eventually I manage a cheek rub and they often come round quickly once they start. Putting food in front of them to start and gradually move it further into the room near you can help as well as offering trats from your hand.
Take it slowly and have patience would be my biggest tip. Good luck, you will get there!

I wouldn't keep a feral kitten in a cage, it will just make him feel trapped.

You have to handle him

Posted too soon 🙄

You have to handle them constantly - basically force it on them. It sounds horrible but you don't have long until that socialisation window closes so you can't afford to take it nice and slow.

Ours was a hissy, spitty mess when we got him and I basically wrapped him in a blanket everyday and forced him to sit with me and get stroked and fussed, lol.

ski gloves are your life line here!
We had 4 feral kittens, within 4 weeks all were tamed and 3 rehomed and we kept one.
As above said, do stroke and touch them, with the gloves on you don’t react when they scratch and therefore they stop doing it as it has no reaction.

Sorry, just realised this little one is only ten weeks, (I'm in a rush!). In which case I agree that being more hands on will be better. Play and food are your friends if he's up to it. Have a look at scaredycats.com for useful tips.

Thanks everyone!

Hes in a cage because he has awful diahorrea so I need to contain him until he’s a bit better and also seperate him from my other (very pathetic ragdoll) cat until he’s feeling a bit better. He’s still not got a great appetite and is on antibiotics and other meds which panic him every time I give them. He sees me coming and tries to run straight away. I’m also having to clean his tail which stresses him out a lot!

He will tolerate a stroke but he’s more frozen than enjoying it, I’ll keep going and see what happens!

He’s not really up for play at all. He just hides under his blanket 🙁 He also only eats in secret when I’m out of the room.

I meant to say - don't give up hope of him being a good pet cat in the long run. Mine were a year old when the colony were trapped, then another year at the rescue as nobody wanted 2 very shy black cats. Took me a long time, but once they realised I wasn't a horrible monster then right up until he had to be PTS Boycat was a total cuddle monster and Girlcat loves to be fussed over especially belly rubs & chin scritches.

I wouldn't let him eat in secret or hide under a blanket - pick him up and hold him and basically bribe him with food and attention.

So hold him on your lap in a blanket and stroke him - have him like a burrito so he can't scratch. Ignore him if he hisses. Just stroke his head. Use those lick-e-lix treats to feed him from a distance, or put his food on a long spoon.

The key is positive associations with you - but you do need to force it.

Thanks all of you. At the moment I have him in a spare room, partly because he’s so frightened and partly because he stinks!

Would you all think he should be in the living area with us or is a quiet space better?

Poor little kitten, he sounds scared (not surprising) and feeling rough - I'd be inclined to keep him in a spare room if you have one and just go and sit quietly with him. If he's feeling ill he's not going to want to play yet although they do bounce back quickly. Lots of quiet attention, food as reward, and give him time.

At that age, I wouldn't be worried about his feral past as they're usually much easier to get used to humans when they're that young.

Tiny kittens on FB is a brilliant rescue to get ideas from, they deal almost entirely with feral cats and kittens.

It doesn't really matter what room he's in as long as you're giving him plenty of attention and trying to socialise him as much as possible.

We had ours in the living room with us just because it was easier.

I've only had one feral baby but luckily he was food motivated, so I hand fed him every single meal until he realised people were good.

You can also wrap them tightly in a blanket and 'pat like you mean it' - if you look at myfosterkittens on Instagram, she's the best at iy!

I really don't think you should keep him in a cage

If he’s ill keep him in the room till he’s decompressed then use your own judgement.

Can the meds be crushed into food? A lot of vet meds can be.

Thanks. He's in a huge German shepherd sized dog crate with a bed, litter tray and toys but I’m fully intending to let him out asap. I’ve been letting him out to handle him but putting him back when needed.

In addition to the flu and diahorrea I initially mentioned he also has wounds on his front legs/bum/hind feet which need to be kept clean. They are being treated as open wounds (possibly burns, he came off a farm so no idea) so I can’t just let him run as I need to keep him really clean until the wounds are dry. I also have him on a heat pad as he’s been shaved to treat the injuries, he’s so thin he’s easily cold. I think he weighs less than 600g, no fat at all. That’s what he seems to hate most. He isn’t too bad with antibiotics as they are liquid but cleaning the wounds is not a fun experience!

Sorry I should have mentioned the latter. I know he doesn’t sound like he has much going for him does he 🙁

Just to give you some hope - I fostered a 4 month old kitten rescued from a colony of strays through a local shelter. They didn’t want her to become institutionalized. My job was to socialize.

3 and a half years later, she is a foster fail that sleeps on my bed at night and in my laundry basket during the day. She is my shadow the rest of the time.

I started out by only touching her to give medication. She had cat flu and most of her teeth out. She was not in a good way. We played with wand toys a lot and she got closer to me over the space of a couple of weeks. She got much, much better once she finished her medication.

Talk to your cat lots so they get used to your presence and voice, don’t force anything other than medicine.

PS - my other foster fail (also rescued from a feral colony) is currently being used as a pillow by my toddler.

A cage is definitely the right thing at the moment, if you had to chase him to catch him it would be incredibly stressful for him and probably set you back, it should be his safe space for now. While he is ill I'd be inclined to let him eat in peace so you know he is at least happy eating and reducing stress will help recovery. Once he is feeling better you can be more proactive.

We had a feral kitten. She had the run of a warm room and I would sit quietly and she was far too curious and would be bored and come for a play. He sounds very sick so I think you are doing the right thing

We do need a picture though