First days with a feral kitten

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wewerecreatures

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Yeah we’re basically on day 1 so I didn’t want to let it out until we got a bit deeper into our relationship with it, don’t want to traumatize it again trying to get it back in. I’m hoping by Monday we can open the door and let it explore while we read or work and then get it back in with some food.
 

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Yeah we’re basically on day 1 so I didn’t want to let it out until we got a bit deeper into our relationship with it, don’t want to traumatize it again trying to get it back in. I’m hoping by Monday we can open the door and let it explore while we read or work and then get it back in with some food.
This way, you have to spend more time with her so that she can really get use to you and your girlfriend. Actually, since she has already moved from the bathroom to the office and have been eating and allowing being petted, she is quite ready to come out of the crate.

Just like I mentioned earlier on, just leave the crate door opened for her to retreat in or get a cardboard box for her to retreat to - 52-reasons-why-cats-must-get-inside-boxes
As long as she knows where her safe place is, let her explore the room at her own time. Do the same, have towels or toys with her scents and place it around the room so at when she's out, it's familiar scents to her and that will boost her confidence.
 
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Update 5: the vet said she’s a super healthy 8 week old girl and was incredibly well behaved for having been on the streets less than a week ago.

Yesterday morning when feeding she let me pick her up an inch or so off the ground and move her around the food and last night she attempted to come out of the crate and onto my lap on her own and without food, but stopped at 3 paws and turned around. Eventually she rolled over and let me scratch her belly, which continued into the night.

This morning after a standard breakfast, we let her wander outside the crate. At first she cried a ton and wandered around the edges of the room, but eventually calmed down on the window sill and allowed tons of pets and let me pick her up and hold her against my chest.

At lunch she had to be drawn to the front of the crate with food and came a bit out into my lap, but not fully. She did let me pick her up and set out outside to finish eating. Since then we let her wander for a couple hours and I’ve been able to pick her up and hold her to my chest two more times, and she’s rolled over and shown her belly to my girlfriend twice, with purrs!

She has yet to approach us for pets on her own, but if she’s towards the front of the crate we can freely reach in and pet her.
 
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Update 5 1/2 - we can now pick her up at will without so much as a harsh look and belly rubs + purring are common events. She even fell asleep in my girlfriends lap and purred herself into bliss.
 

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Update 5 1/2 - we can now pick her up at will without so much as a harsh look and belly rubs + purring are common events. She even fell asleep in my girlfriends lap and purred herself into bliss.
:clapcat: This is very good progress! She's much gained your trust and confidence as laying on her back exposing her belly and belly rubs means it's full trust in you and the surroundings. Keep it up!

Remember, just don't betray her trust.
 
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Final update: at two weeks in we’ve released her to roam the office freely day and night, but she still hides most of the time when we are in there (I work in the office all day). She does come out to eat with us both in there and plays with us most of the time before or after. I’m going to keep spending time giving her pets when i can, but at this point I guess it’s a waiting game for her to break out of her shell and truly accept us. Any suggestions are welcome.
 

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Final update: at two weeks in we’ve released her to roam the office freely day and night, but she still hides most of the time when we are in there (I work in the office all day). She does come out to eat with us both in there and plays with us most of the time before or after. I’m going to keep spending time giving her pets when i can, but at this point I guess it’s a waiting game for her to break out of her shell and truly accept us. Any suggestions are welcome.
This is another piece of good news as we see the progression has improved. It's good to see her out eating and playing. She looks lime she has come out of her shell.

I don't think she is hiding. If she is, in the first place she won't come out and eat in front of you and play with you. I believe she is watching/observing you from a distance. Some cats are lap cats that literally sits on your lap but lap cats comes in many form. Some on your lap, some on your desk, some on top of cabinet, some in a box, some station themselves in a way that they can see everywhere when two persons are in a different room at the same time. This are all traits of a lap cat except they don't really sit on you lap.

So don't worry, as long as she can see you, her trust is there. As long as you can see her, you know she's safe. Hiding means she'll never come out whenever there are people around and also hiding means hiding deep somewhere where you cannot reach her. So, this is your lap cat. Same as my boy, he's a lap cat but not on my lap but staying close enough and keeping an eye on me.

You are doing great! Keep it up.
 
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I do think she trusts us to a point, but right now it does seem like she's hiding a bit. We have a chair that we covered with a duvet cover (that goes all the way to the floor) so she wouldn't ruin it and she tends to hang out under it where neither she can see us nor we can see her. When she does play with the wand she will pounce on it but then run away, seemingly because she got too close to us for comfort.
 

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I do think she trusts us to a point, but right now it does seem like she's hiding a bit. We have a chair that we covered with a duvet cover (that goes all the way to the floor) so she wouldn't ruin it and she tends to hang out under it where neither she can see us nor we can see her. When she does play with the wand she will pounce on it but then run away, seemingly because she got too close to us for comfort.
Sometimes cats find comfort under covers. I have a one seater with a blanket dropped over it and it is one of my boy's comfort zone, and he has many comfort zones.

Playing and pouncing and then run away could just be the way she play. All cats play differently as they are all of different characters. We can't expect to much out of them but to take them as they are. But since your kitty is still young, you still can teach her a thing or two.
 
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Not much of note. We play with her for probably 3 hours a day or more, she comes out and explores / plays by herself while we’re in the office working or just hanging out, but still runs and hides when we enter the room or stand up, but still allows us to pet her if we’re sitting still and she comes close. We’ve Contemplated opening the office door to see if she will even come out into the rest of the apartment, not sure she even knows that more space exists on the other side of the door!
 

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Not much of note. We play with her for probably 3 hours a day or more, she comes out and explores / plays by herself while we’re in the office working or just hanging out, but still runs and hides when we enter the room or stand up, but still allows us to pet her if we’re sitting still and she comes close. We’ve Contemplated opening the office door to see if she will even come out into the rest of the apartment, not sure she even knows that more space exists on the other side of the door!
You guys are doing great and kitty is doing great too!

At this rate, let her be, it's better than no action from her. Yes, you can open the door and let her explore but live the door open so that she has a safe pace to retreat to as she's already gotten used to the office.
 
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You guys are doing great and kitty is doing great too!

At this rate, let her be, it's better than no action from her. Yes, you can open the door and let her explore but live the door open so that she has a safe pace to retreat to as she's already gotten used to the office.
So we left the office door open last night so she could explore and In the morning we couldn’t find her. Turns out she was under the bed, which seemed sweet because we figure she wanted to be near us, but she was super skittish once we got out of bed and started moving around and seemed like a step backwards. Should we keep the doors open and let her do her thing or close her back in the office at night, but allow her to roam free during the day?
 

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So we left the office door open last night so she could explore and In the morning we couldn’t find her. Turns out she was under the bed, which seemed sweet because we figure she wanted to be near us, but she was super skittish once we got out of bed and started moving around and seemed like a step backwards. Should we keep the doors open and let her do her thing or close her back in the office at night, but allow her to roam free during the day?
That is a good sign that she is under your bed. Looks like she wants to be near you guys but on the other hand, she looks a little unsure of the sudden movements but it is ok. Just reassure her if she looks skittish and speak to her gently and tell her it's ok.

You may want to leave the doors open and let her move wherever she wants.

If your house is cat safe, I'll just let her have free access to the whole house 24/7. Hiding is a natural thing cats do. Whenever that happens not due to danger or sudden banging loud sound or anything to that effect, always just reassure her.
 
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That is a good sign that she is under your bed. Looks like she wants to be near you guys but on the other hand, she looks a little unsure of the sudden movements but it is ok. Just reassure her if she looks skittish and speak to her gently and tell her it's ok.

You may want to leave the doors open and let her move wherever she wants.

If your house is cat safe, I'll just let her have free access to the whole house 24/7. Hiding is a natural thing cats do. Whenever that happens not due to danger or sudden banging loud sound or anything to that effect, always just reassure her.
While that may be the case, she spent the entire day under the sofa and didn’t even come out to eat, which is not common for her. To avoid a regression, we have decided to keep her confined to the office until she is entirely comfortable with us. She’s still quite young and I think with time she will get more confident.
 

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While that may be the case, she spent the entire day under the sofa and didn’t even come out to eat, which is not common for her. To avoid a regression, we have decided to keep her confined to the office until she is entirely comfortable with us. She’s still quite young and I think with time she will get more confident.
Yep, in this case, leave her in the office and observe and let her decide on her own when is best to be out. I guess she needs a little more time.
 
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Update time! Sorry it’s been ages. Neko is doing GREAT. She’s still not a cuddly cat and runs when we approach her, even though she just plopped like she wants pets. But she’s comfortable walking across us while we’re on the sofa, has laid down next to me and passed out hard several times, and sits/sleeps on the desk as I work so I think we’ve made it.

We’ve got a good feeding routine where she comes and figure eights our legs as we get the food ready and then she sprints to the office and sits next to the spot where we feed her. At this point I think she just likes it under the sofa rather than hiding in fear as I often find her sprawled out down there having a nap.

Thanks for all the help folks!
 
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