we have been trying to socialize a feral kitten we brought into our home a little over 4 weeks ago.
so far i think we have made a lot of progress. it's slow, but steady. when we first brought him in he freaked out. was climbing the walls for a day. settled down and was extremely skittish. he hid in a corner under a char for a day or two, his food and water bowl were under it with him, and he only came out to use the litter box (which he did with no problems at all) over the course of the next week he got more comfortable, would come out from his cave to sit in the middle of the floor, would play with da-bird and some toys and the cat tunnel. he adores the older cats and would actually come near us if they were in with him. we left him in his own little room with a glass door for 2 weeks, basically from the day we got him tested for diseases up till a few days after we got him neutered, we didn't think we would be able to catch him again if we didn't leave him contained. i let the big cats and his sister go in to say hello (his sister is very well socialized)
now he has the run of the house. we still can't get closer than a foot or two from him without him running away, but that's a big step up from him fleeing in terror the second he saw us. he sniffs my hand if i hold it out for him. he plays beautifully with the other cats, he especially loves our tim roth and they sleep in the cat tree together.
we have been giving him treats. spent the first two weeks when he was in our mudroom reading out loud to him and playing with da-bird. he will play with us, and now if i throw a toy for him he runs after it instead of away from it LOL he prefers to come out when it is quiet and the kids are in bed, but he will come out in the morning before school too. he is obviously still a little freaked out, but he really wanted to escape from confinement, he was lonely.
really, i was just wondering if there was something else we should be doing that could help him feel more comfortable with the humans here? we have a feliway diffuser, he has lots of toys, safe spaces to hide, things to climb and things to scratch on. he likes his pom-pom on a string and kitty springs best. we try to be quiet and move carefully around him...
so far i think we have made a lot of progress. it's slow, but steady. when we first brought him in he freaked out. was climbing the walls for a day. settled down and was extremely skittish. he hid in a corner under a char for a day or two, his food and water bowl were under it with him, and he only came out to use the litter box (which he did with no problems at all) over the course of the next week he got more comfortable, would come out from his cave to sit in the middle of the floor, would play with da-bird and some toys and the cat tunnel. he adores the older cats and would actually come near us if they were in with him. we left him in his own little room with a glass door for 2 weeks, basically from the day we got him tested for diseases up till a few days after we got him neutered, we didn't think we would be able to catch him again if we didn't leave him contained. i let the big cats and his sister go in to say hello (his sister is very well socialized)
now he has the run of the house. we still can't get closer than a foot or two from him without him running away, but that's a big step up from him fleeing in terror the second he saw us. he sniffs my hand if i hold it out for him. he plays beautifully with the other cats, he especially loves our tim roth and they sleep in the cat tree together.
we have been giving him treats. spent the first two weeks when he was in our mudroom reading out loud to him and playing with da-bird. he will play with us, and now if i throw a toy for him he runs after it instead of away from it LOL he prefers to come out when it is quiet and the kids are in bed, but he will come out in the morning before school too. he is obviously still a little freaked out, but he really wanted to escape from confinement, he was lonely.
really, i was just wondering if there was something else we should be doing that could help him feel more comfortable with the humans here? we have a feliway diffuser, he has lots of toys, safe spaces to hide, things to climb and things to scratch on. he likes his pom-pom on a string and kitty springs best. we try to be quiet and move carefully around him...