Could use some input on releasing a 10 week old kitten

moxiewild

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On Monday morning I very unexpectedly trapped a young kitten.

This is a kitten our cameras had only seen once about 4 weeks ago, and who hadn’t showed up since.

Fostering and socializing him myself (like I would normally do) is off the table right now.

Because rescues are slammed as usual, they are essentially only taking the kittens who are the best candidates for socialization/adoption. Generally this means kittens under 6-8 weeks if they’re feral. And because I have a lot of kittens I need to try and place with rescues, I have to be selective, as well.

I left the little guy alone Monday, but I’ve spent the past two days trying to better gauge this his temperament to get an idea of whether he’s be a good candidate for socialization (especially for an inexperienced foster, as that’s primarily the type of foster the rescues I’m talking to have available right now).

The good news is that there’s no hissing, spitting, or signs of “aggression” whatsoever. He also squints the longer I’m there, and he’s blinked maybe twice.

But otherwise, he’s just frozen. He won’t react to food (he is eating, but will not react at all to enticing treats in front of me), toys, or other cats or kittens whatsoever. He just hides motionless and keeps his eyes fixated on me no matter what I do.

In the past, I have noticed that single kittens are much more likely to shut down like this compared to a kitten that has its Momma and/or siblings, so I suspect that has a lot to do with it. Sometimes single kittens will come around with one of our friendly cats or kittens, but this kitten has no interest in our friendly guys here.

Now, it’s only been three days. If I had the time/resources/intention to socialize him myself, this lack of progress wouldn’t concern me at all. The problem is that I need to make a decision ASAP about whether he’d be a good candidate or not.

The only thing I haven’t tried yet is “forced” interaction by handling him. I’m really not a fan of that approach, but it’s of course something in the table to see if he responds to that...

So far, he is doing very poorly with confinement and being on his own, so I don’t want to keep him like this much longer. But I’ve never released a kitten anywhere near this young before, so I’m having a hard time with that thought too.

The other issue I have, is that when I picked him up at the spay/neuter clinic, they told me to bring him back in two weeks (even though they were well aware he was brought in as a TNR...) because they didn’t give him a rabies vaccine since he is too young.

On the relatively rare occasions I have brought kittens younger than 12 weeks to be neutered and vaccinated, I’ve take them to a different clinic and they always give them rabies anyway. So I was a bit sidelined by this.

Either I release him without rabies, or I release him and try to trap him again sometime in the near future (which is very unlikely given that this is only the second time I’ve even seen him in the area), or I keep him for two weeks until I can bring him back to vaccinated, then release him.

I’m concerned about whether he will be okay and have his bearings if I hold him here for two weeks and then release him. I’m already concerned he isn’t familiar with the area as is, let alone after being away for two weeks at his age.

Even if I try to get him into a rescue (which is ideal for so many reasons), I need to figure out a back up release plan in case I can’t.

But the rabies really messes up any approach to release him now, so I’m not sure what the best way to go about that would be. (I should mention that we live in a high rabies area, so it’s definitely an important vaccination for him to have).

Sorry if this isn’t completely coherent. This has been a rough year and I’m completely overwhelmed.

In sum -

How do I decide whether he’d be a good candidate for socialization when he isn’t giving me anything right now? Should I try forced handling? Any other ideas or suggestions?

Whether he’s not a good candidate for socialization or I just can’t find a rescue that will take him, how do I go about a release plan given the rabies situation?

Thanks everyone. Here’s some photos of little Taco.

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Babypaws

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The poor little thing, he has to be really scared. You haven’t seen the mother? Maybe something happened to her and this little guy was left alone. I’ve had kittens born in our yard and was able to get them to befriend me and now have them inside. It does take time for them to trust.
Have you asked friends/relatives if they know of someone who would be willing to care for this little kitten? He seems awful young to be left on his own....
 
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moxiewild

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The poor little thing, he has to be really scared. You haven’t seen the mother? Maybe something happened to her and this little guy was left alone. I’ve had kittens born in our yard and was able to get them to befriend me and now have them inside. It does take time for them to trust.
Have you asked friends/relatives if they know of someone who would be willing to care for this little kitten? He seems awful young to be left on his own....
He is absolutely petrified. It’s hard on us both.

This kitten showed up once with one of our females ~4 weeks ago.

That same female showed up about 2 weeks ago with 2-3 other kittens, and he wasn’t with them at the time.

Those are the only two times she ever came with kittens in the past two months. They are clearly old enough to eat wet/dry food, so I’ve been perplexed about why she isn’t bringing them to the feeding station with her every day if they’re hers.

And I say “if they’re hers” because one of our other females also showed up with a kitten around the same age, several weeks ago, and again, just once.

What’s even more odd, is that the first female is a calico, the second female is all black. But the kitten the black female showed up with was a little calico, so I’d think she belongs to adult calico? Maybe she does. Or maybe I just don’t understand the genetics behind the calico gene 😂

I am leaning toward the calico being his mom, though, but frankly, I’m just really not sure what the kitten situation is at this colony, so who knows.

We’ve taken in lots of kittens - we have 9 now. We just have no more space/resources, and unfortunately this colony is not at my house.

None of my friends/family are “cat people” and I’ve tapped out every other rescue contact I have, and have exhausted my social media options. It’s been a really rough year, kitten wise.

I’m pretty sure he could survive at his age - especially since it seems like he might have a Momma or other adults at the colony who look out for him, and the colony is being fed - but yes, it feels really awful even thinking about releasing a little one like this :(
 
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moxiewild

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I really don't see a good outcome for him if you release him now. Like Babypaws Babypaws asked, is there someone (not a rescue) who would be able to take him? Can you use an app like NextDoor to feel people out?
I have been nonstop pleading on social media and to my rescue network to take kittens for months. It’s been nonstop this season. I found two colonies (including this one) a few months ago, and there were already a bunch of litters running around by the time I found them, so...

Everyone has taken as many kittens from me as they can, and I’ve taken more cats and kittens than I can.

I’m in south/central Texas, between San Antonio and Austin.
 

war&wisdom

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I have been nonstop pleading on social media and to my rescue network to take kittens for months. It’s been nonstop this season. I found two colonies (including this one) a few months ago, and there were already a bunch of litters running around by the time I found them, so...

Everyone has taken as many kittens from me as they can, and I’ve taken more cats and kittens than I can.

I’m in south/central Texas, between San Antonio and Austin.
Maybe try posting in the Cat SOS section on this site, including your location.
 

fionasmom

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I have released kittens this age when the situation allowed no other options and they all survived but this could vary greatly with circumstances.

My vet will not do rabies on a young cat who has just been fixed either, so it is not just your clinic.

Two years ago I had a calico mom and a black and white dad who had three calico females and one black and white female. I am not great with genetics either. Can you hang onto him a few days to see if he tips his hand as to socialization and then make a decision? I do realize that you are up against it and work 24/7 for these cats, so it is very hard to do this.
 

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If the black cat mated with a red male, she could have calico daughters, but not a red son (because males get one red/black color gene only from their mother). So his mama must be the calico.

That's really a hard decision, I hope you can find a solution that works for everybody.
 
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moxiewild

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I have released kittens this age when the situation allowed no other options and they all survived but this could vary greatly with circumstances.

My vet will not do rabies on a young cat who has just been fixed either, so it is not just your clinic.

Two years ago I had a calico mom and a black and white dad who had three calico females and one black and white female. I am not great with genetics either. Can you hang onto him a few days to see if he tips his hand as to socialization and then make a decision? I do realize that you are up against it and work 24/7 for these cats, so it is very hard to do this.
He’s in a very packed neighborhood, but the good part is that they seem to hand out primarily by two cup-de-sacs (so no through traffic or busy streets super close by) and (I suspect) on one property along the neighborhood that is more densely wooded.

Coyotes are not here (for now, at least), and no other concerning predators other than dogs (no free roaming or chained up pet pups, virtually no strays running around, so only fenced in dogs and lost pets to really worry about).

People here are generally pet/animal friendly, but there are of course always people who don’t much like strays/ferals/outdoor cats.

And food and water will be provided... not sure if I can provide any shelters though, as I’m limited on space and by the need to be discreet.

It’s not the worst situation in the world, but it just feels so wrong releasing such tiny ones :(

I am keeping him for as long as possible. Especially because I’m not sure what to do about the whole rabies thing! I might just have to keep him for two weeks.

And maybe that will give him time to come around, but I’m worried that he won’t and I’ll have to release him anyway, and I’m just concerned he won’t be familiar with the area anymore.

Like I said, our cameras have only ever seen him there twice (one of those times being when he was trapped) and that’s it... I think I only trapped him because the scent of the stinky bait traveled far enough to get his attention. I honestly have no idea how familiar he is with the area I trapped him in...

And I’m just not sure how great their memories are at this age either...

He still hasn’t made progress, but one time I kind of scared him by accident (I think he thought I left the room) and he backed up to go hide and then let out a little meow/mew... so that’s... something, I guess?

I’ll be able to work with him a lot more tomorrow. His crate is stacked on top of another crate of a girl we just TNR’d from the same colony. It was a spay/abort, so we had to keep her for longer, but we release her tomorrow.

Without having to worry about stressing her out too, I’ll be able to work with him more/more freely.

However, I’m supposed to trap again Sunday night so that other crate won’t stay empty for long...
 
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moxiewild

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If the black cat mated with a red male, she could have calico daughters, but not a red son (because males get one red/black color gene only from their mother). So his mama must be the calico.

That's really a hard decision, I hope you can find a solution that works for everybody.
Well there are three unneutered orange cats there - Cheeto, Dorito, and Cheese - so I guess it’s certainly possible then that the black female is the little calico’s Momma if I understand correctly?

Just seemed weird considering there was an actual calico there, so I just would have thought the little calico was hers! The adult calico did come with an adorable little torti kitten a week or so ago, at least.
 
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moxiewild

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Do any of you “force” contact (with the assistance of a blanket) with kittens to speed up socialization? What are your thoughts on this?

Normally I never do it like this, but I know some do.

Given the time restraints and the fact that he’s already pretty passive, I’m wondering if I should try it and how to best go about it. I’m thinking maybe burrito him and try to spoon feed baby food and some gentle petting, maybe? And just carry him around a lot?
 
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moxiewild

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Good news!

No one in my network could foster but someone contacted me about potentially adopting him!

I’m normally extremely hesitant to go straight to adoption with cats/kittens who are still so feral, but she’s done some fostering and kitten socialization for a rescue before, and she’s in most of the same local private rescue groups as me on Facebook, so I’m thinking she might be able to handle it.

I told her I’ll keep him until he’s due for rabies and work with him as much as possible until then to try and get him out of his shell more by the time she meets him.

Wasn’t expecting this, but now that he has a real shot at a home, I’m definitely going to try a more aggressive approach.

Any other suggestions welcome!
 
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moxiewild

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Here’s a video of Taco playing with the camera and the sheet covering his crate -


I think he was trying to tell us he wanted some privacy 🤣
 

fionasmom

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What an adorable little guy! I am so glad that you have gotten some sort of a break and might have someone to help you out with at least one cat. Yes, I have forced contact with numerous kittens.While nothing ever went wrong with it, it did not, in all cases, domesticate the cat. Ferals can be so hard to predict...who comes around and who does not. I think it is always worth a try though in desperate situations.
 
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moxiewild

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What an adorable little guy! I am so glad that you have gotten some sort of a break and might have someone to help you out with at least one cat. Yes, I have forced contact with numerous kittens.While nothing ever went wrong with it, it did not, in all cases, domesticate the cat. Ferals can be so hard to predict...who comes around and who does not. I think it is always worth a try though in desperate situations.
Do you mind if I ask how you went about it?
 

poohandpunky

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The rescue I work with always uses force contact to socialize kittens. They advise carrying them around with you as much as possible. The more the better. Wrapped in a towel or baby blanket if necessary. At times I've played audio of kittens meowing while handling a feral kitten and found that often gets a very positive response. Sounds like you do a tremendous amount of TNR Moxiewild. That's wonderful!
 
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moxiewild

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The rescue I work with always uses force contact to socialize kittens. They advise carrying them around with you as much as possible. The more the better. Wrapped in a towel or baby blanket if necessary. At times I've played audio of kittens meowing while handling a feral kitten and found that often gets a very positive response. Sounds like you do a tremendous amount of TNR Moxiewild. That's wonderful!
We tried “introducing” him (from a distance, while he was crated) to some other kittens around his age and a bit older to see if it’d help him perk up a bit, but he hasn’t reacted to them at all :(

I’ll definitely try the audio and see if that helps! Getting desperate, he’s a tough cookie!
 
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moxiewild

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Update - I’m spending as much time as I can in the room with him, while uncovering enough of the crate that he can watch me but still feels safe. Slept in there for a bit too.

Still can’t get anything out of this little guy, though.

I have been testing the waters by gently petting him through the crate, and that’s the only time he reacts to anything, by hissing and vocalizing for me to back off. At least it’s something 😂
 
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