Feral Cat Kittens

[hhpminis]

I have 3 half grown kittens caught and in a safe set up so I can contain them and socialize them. They have been living in and out of my friends garage and wont come to you but if you catch them they will not attack. They are afraid but not terrified.

I have a large wire cage with a dog kennel attached to it. They have a blanket in the kennel and outside of that in a cage, they have a litter box, water, cat food and a few little mouse toys. They are on our enclosed back mud porch with a heat lamp above them. Our older male cats bed is right with them under the heat lamp. He is sleeping there right now.

My plan is to several times a day, pet, hold, scratch, whatever they are comfortable with at that particular time. Not push them, but make them dependent on us for all their needs for a while before I allow them out of the caged area.

I want them to be farm cats, not inside cats but also be friendly and stick around. I do not know if they are male or female yet but will get them neutered very shortly. Our humane society has certificates they give out in limit for inexpensive neuters and they will issue them for a short time again starting next week. I am going to try to get a certificate.

Any other ideas on what I should or shouldn't do? I know to be careful of scrathches and bites and am wearing gloves when handling them for the time being. I am not a cat person extraordinaire so if I am making any mistakes, let me know please. I will get some pictures of them and post soon.

Thanks

 

[runamuk]

You might wish to contact this group they may be able to help you find a local group to help.

http://www.feralcatproject.org/aboutus_partnerships.aspx

They are based in Seattle but they work with groups all over WA and have lots of rescources.

Take it slow and they will come around especially once they realize you are the food dispenser

good luck with your project

 

[MinisOutWest]

cats/ kittens/ newborns. Been there done that. All I can say is say the same thing each time you go in- Hi kids. Hey kitty kitty kitty. and buy treats, the kind from walmart, both the hard and soft special kitty kind, cheap and a good friendly treat. And SMOTHER them to death, go out as much as you can and maul all over them, that is the only way they will trust you, and not think you are keeping them held captive. we have a feral problem in our neighborhood. people population maybe 40 and cat population 250+. so we trap feral cats, rush them to the vet , get them fixed and turn them loose again, but baby baby kittens, we find, take and then bottle feed and hand raise, quite costly, but well worth it. do not shoot me, but we have 8 right now, 2 from humane socieyy- the originals, then 4 baby feral 2 day old kittens, raised into very gorgeous, human like pets, and one from WalMart. yep, he was a little teeny kitten in the parking lot scared too death, poor thing. oh advice- never bottle feed baby kittens sitting at the kitchen table, now our big babies think when it is breakfast, lunch and supper, they all have to have their chair to sit at the table , about 4-6 ft back and watch us eat, when we are done, they all go eat kitty food!! Oh, I forgot about Patches, she came to us at a horse show in Stillwater OK, skin and bones and about to die, we packed her up after the show and 17 hours later she arrived at our house, she is the most beautiful girl, huge lion mane around her neck, she is cool. But that is it for me, no more cats, but I will help others and raise them to give away, but ferals are the best hunters too, just remember, if they hunt, they need one worm pill down their throat every other month. if you have any questions, please ask. I have definately been there done that... good luck and do not give up, they need your help. how old again? remember to get them fixed right at 6 mos of age. dont need any more, they are at the humane socity waiting for a new home too.

 

[hhpminis]

I think they are about 3-4 months old, they are a good size, about 1/2 of our cat, he is about 12 pounds so on the larger size, I dont know how big these will be.

We have a huge feral cat problem around here so I will definitely get them fixed. Like I said, I dont know if they are boys or girls yet. I am hoping girls, as my male cat sprays even though he was neutered at a very young age and I dont need 4 of them doing that.

I do know that they need to be wormed if they mouse. I use drontal every other month on my mousers. I really did not need 3 more cats but I wanted 2 so they could pal up as ours is about 10 years old now. I just ended up with 3 in the cage instead of 2 so I guess they chose me.

2 are black, one with just a small tip on his tail white. The other is a striped cat, very pretty face, he is the wildest one and of course my favorite so far.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[Marty]

Hey Annette, The boys did a mountain rescue up here for years. The most cats we ever had was about 18 at one time, most ferral also.

They trained them and got them friendly with hot dogs or pieces of ham. Try people meat and I swear they will turn around for you really fast!

 

[Sonya]

It sounds like you are doing everything right....just keep at it...they are lucky that you are willing to take the time for them...they'll come around and probably be great barn cats!

 

[hhpminis]

Well, this morning I went out right away and talked to them for a while. They went to the back corner of the crate. Then when I went inside and watched they came out of the crate into the cage so I went back out and caught and held 2 of them and pet them for a while. One of them actually purred. If I give them meat, should I cook it first?

The pure black one got a name this morning, it is Izzy, she looks like an Isabella, all black, kind of enchanting, so Izzy it is.

I have been told that once feral, always feral and that I am wasting my time. I guess even if they are never overly friendly, at least they will have been neutered and will not add to the feral cat problem. I would love to build a bigger cage and get them out in the barn soon, I feel bad that they are in such a small space. The cage I have is a rabbit hutch, 30x30 and the crate is about 24x20.

 

[Equuisize]

We had a feral Mom come into our shop and have a litter of

kittens in a back storage room, 11 years ago come March 23rd.

Michael heard the mewing, located them and we started

feeding the Mom. I carried the babies in my shirt pockets for

a little while each day.....could get three at a time in a pocket,

they were so small....as they grew, one would fit in a pocket,

then they graduated to sitting in a lap....

The mother was viciously feral except when she was pregnant

when she would play with our German Shepherd and hang with

her toenails in his face....She had another litter of kittens and

tried to attack this litter we found, to bring the new babies in.....

The girls from the first litter were all spayed but seemed to take

offence at being taken for spaying and we were never really

able to handle them again, except at feeding times.

The vet told us at that time, feal cats live an average of 3 years HA

When we were flooded out last year, one of them climbed up the front

of me, when we were finally able to access our property after 4 days.

We put her in a kennel and my niece took her home, bathed her several

times to get the muck off her and she is a happy barn cat now. One

disappeared about 7 months after the flood, we figure as the area went

back to green space and the coyotes were coming up from the river, maybe

she became someones meal......she was my favorite and it was very hard.

After we moved down here in August, it took Michael 4 months to catch the

remaining girl to change her address to our new address. She's now happy

in the barn but will not let us get anyplace near her, she still talks to me..but

she'll be 11 soon and she can do whatever she wants....she's a survivor.

Keep at it, even if they never becomes pets, you'll know they are cared for

and they will make you smile....

 

[MinisOutWest]

no meats, just kitty treats. you will get them where the y will want meat and not eat kitty food. here are my last four little ones.no meats, just kitty treats. you will get them where the y will want meat and not eat kitty food. here are my last four little ones. they are about 2.5 weeks and love their bottle. sorry for the huge pic, I have made it little, but it will not post little here. ugh