Semi-feral/feral foster kitten crying all the time

huxleysmom

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I started fostering my first kitten a little under 2 days ago. I was told he is roughly 8 weeks old and was just trapped in a garage with his mama and siblings. He has had little to no human interaction so far. When the rescue called me, they said he had been very lonely without his mama and siblings and was crying all the time. They were not kidding. The poor thing howled the whole night he was here when he first arrived whether I was in or out of the room. He was clearly scared of me and hisses, even charged at the crate towards me once. However, since then we’ve made lots of progress. He is eating from my hand, we have graduated from the backscratcher to pets with hands and I was able to pick him up and carry him like a baby twice. The first time he hissed at me a little but quickly fell asleep as I was petting him (while hissing. That was by far the cutest thing I have ever seen!) last night, we started playing with a shoelace and he is since then out of the crate, playing with me. He still hisses at me once in a while, like when I first enter the room for example, but even these are not really scary hisses anymore. So I know we are making TONS of progress real fast. It’s only been 2 nights after all.
However, he continues to cry (not howling anymore though) but still cries a LOT! He cried most of the night and will still cry when I am in the room with him though not that much. The only time he does not cry is when I play with him. Otherwise he can cry pretty much any time (even while eating, which again is adorable). He is currently in my dressing room for a 2 week quarantine period. He has been dewormed and has fleas medication, but he was only picked up a couple of days ago and has not been vaccinated nor checked for ear mites yet so I cannot put him in the playpen in the same room as Sophie just yet. He is going to see the vet for a thorough check up today and his first vaccine shot. He does seem to be in very good health though. Mama cat took great care of her kittens. I feel that constant presence might help him with his crying (if Sophie and him don’t get too stressed by each other’s presence) but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I am all new with kittens and have never dealt with feral cats before so I don’t Know much about how to deal with this. My question is: is this a normal kitten/ feral kitten issue? Will it subside with time? If not, this could be a problem for his chances at adoption. Anyone has dealt with this before and has any tips for me?
He is the most adorable kitten! Love his name too: El Capitan.
 

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di and bob

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What you are describing is all perfectly normal. He is devasted his family is gone, was there a reason for separation? Two together would have been much better. Hissing is perfectly normal, he is scared and unsure of what is happening. You have come a long way in two days! It will be about two weeks before he calms down about his family, that is how long mama cats take to stop calling their little ones when they are taken from them. Touch and handle him as much as you are able, he is on his way to finding a good home!
 
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huxleysmom

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The rescue said that he had much better chances at being socialized if he is placed alone with a foster who can spend as much time with him as possible. As he is 8 weeks old, the socializing window is kind of getting narrow. If they are two, they might not allow for so much handling by humans. I donMr know much about this, but it sounded logical to me.
What you are describing is all perfectly normal. He is devasted his family is gone, was there a reason for separation? Two together would have been much better. Hissing is perfectly normal, he is scared and unsure of what is happening. You have come a long way in two days! It will be about two weeks before he calms down about his family, that is how long mama cats take to stop calling their little ones when they are taken from them. Touch and handle him as much as you are able, he is on his way to finding a good home!
 

di and bob

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I kind of wondered that. Get it all over at once. Sometimes they can feed off of each other's fear and keep it going. It can take longer with two but they also need the socialization that being with a cat family can bring, such as how hard to bite, what they can get away with on 'attacking', etc. now it is up to you to teach him!
 
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huxleysmom

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He is 8 weeks so I hope he has at least learned the basics! Haha

He is gentle when he plays and so far has only focused on the shoelace and totally ignored my hand.

Sophie however must have missed school the day they taught play manners! Lol

I kind of wondered that. Get it all over at once. Sometimes they can feed off of each other's fear and keep it going. It can take longer with two but they also need the socialization that being with a cat family can bring, such as how hard to bite, what they can get away with on 'attacking', etc. now it is up to you to teach him!
 
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