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He may have medical problems, might need veterinarian care. Also might try goats milk, it's gentle enough for kittens.
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Help! Terrified Feral Kitten
- Thread starter karabas
- Start Date
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #42
Hey guys,
So puzzle me this: he's hesitantly willing to sit on my lap to eat food. If I hold the container with my middle finger and thumb and pet him with my index while he's face down in the food, he doesn't mind one bit.
But every 10 seconds or so he looks up at me and if I dont turn away or close my eyes, he jets.
And if everything dare to move my other hand, he jets.
Why no problem with being touched, but then all that fear at the other things?
So puzzle me this: he's hesitantly willing to sit on my lap to eat food. If I hold the container with my middle finger and thumb and pet him with my index while he's face down in the food, he doesn't mind one bit.
But every 10 seconds or so he looks up at me and if I dont turn away or close my eyes, he jets.
And if everything dare to move my other hand, he jets.
Why no problem with being touched, but then all that fear at the other things?
Mama ferals use almost subsonic growls to train kittens from birth to believe that they are prey. Since kittens have good scent skills from birth, even before they can hear, they are taught to associate human scent with predator danger. I think some of it might be instinctive - I had a tame cat give birth this spring (first time since 1985 that I had a tame cat have babies) and when they were tiny, they would hiss at our fingers.
Your kitten is doing very well
Your kitten is doing very well
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #44
So I figured out a trick to pet him while he's eating I hold the food container with one hand, then with my other hand put a finger on the container. Once he's OK with that, I rub his head with my finger as he's eating. If he's still OK with that, I start using my full hand and going further down his back. He's overall OK with it, although he does occasionally give me a hiss and threatens to run away.
We have a fan in the room that's propped up on a chair to give the fan enough height to match the window. And the last couple of days, he's taken to resting on top of the fan stand most of the day (see picture). It doesn't seem like a very comfortable spot: it's all plastic. And I know he feels more safe inside the crate because if you scare him, he jets to hide there (he's usually comfortable with us going about the room though). We've lined the crate with a bunch of towels too and now that his litter is outside it, it's not longer dirty or smelly inside.
Any idea why he would pick something so uncomfortable? Is it the height? Should we prop the crate on a chair too? Or would that freak him out?
I hold the food container with one hand, then with my other hand put a finger on the container. Once he's OK with that, I rub his head with my finger as he's eating. If he's still OK with that, I start using my full hand and going further down his back. He's overall OK with it, although he does occasionally give me a hiss and threatens to run away.We have a fan in the room that's propped up on a chair to give the fan enough height to match the window. And the last couple of days, he's taken to resting on top of the fan stand most of the day (see picture). It doesn't seem like a very comfortable spot: it's all plastic. And I know he feels more safe inside the crate because if you scare him, he jets to hide there (he's usually comfortable with us going about the room though). We've lined the crate with a bunch of towels too and now that his litter is outside it, it's not longer dirty or smelly inside.
Any idea why he would pick something so uncomfortable? Is it the height? Should we prop the crate on a chair too? Or would that freak him out?
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- #45
So I just had an incident with the little guy.
I've tried to back off of him the past couple of days since you guys advised to me to go slower. I started trying to pet him when he's in his crate just once a day (I used to do it after every feeding). I still do it while he's eating, but he only marginally minds that.
Just now he went totally berserk on me. I think he might have even bit me again (hasn't happened in a week now) and I've got a hand full of scratches. This is in comparison to the past few days where I've felt so safe I haven't worn any protective glove or anything like that.
It seems like it's either all or nothing with this guy. Either I continue to be quite active in terms of trying to habituate him to human touch or I let him go and do his own thing.
The thing is, when he was OK with being touched, scruffing him if necessary wasn't a problem. Now you're bound to get a bite. And if we want him to be taken care of while we travel next month, we need to feel that the caretaker will be safe around him.
So not sure what to do. Any advice?
I've tried to back off of him the past couple of days since you guys advised to me to go slower. I started trying to pet him when he's in his crate just once a day (I used to do it after every feeding). I still do it while he's eating, but he only marginally minds that.
Just now he went totally berserk on me. I think he might have even bit me again (hasn't happened in a week now) and I've got a hand full of scratches. This is in comparison to the past few days where I've felt so safe I haven't worn any protective glove or anything like that.
It seems like it's either all or nothing with this guy. Either I continue to be quite active in terms of trying to habituate him to human touch or I let him go and do his own thing.
The thing is, when he was OK with being touched, scruffing him if necessary wasn't a problem. Now you're bound to get a bite. And if we want him to be taken care of while we travel next month, we need to feel that the caretaker will be safe around him.
So not sure what to do. Any advice?
I would return to how you were proceeding. Ferals can become inside ferals - allowing room and board and not much else. I wouldn't worry about the caretaker - ferals hide, run away but typically lack the confidence to attack.
You may have to wrap him into a "purrito" and hold him. It is alot like "sacking" out a horse. Offering snacks while being held is a good approach - he may resist at first. Have you watched any My Cat From Hell with Jackson Galaxy?
You may have to wrap him into a "purrito" and hold him. It is alot like "sacking" out a horse. Offering snacks while being held is a good approach - he may resist at first. Have you watched any My Cat From Hell with Jackson Galaxy?
This is Tommy Scott, who was an adult feral living in the back of the city park. It took me from April until a bitter day in November to magically transform into a tame, super affectionate cat. Even in summer, I wore muckboots, long sleeve shirt and welding gloves, outside, when I fed him. I would put the food dish by my feet and he would attack my legs and try to pull the dish away. I was doing our routine (by then he has stopped lashing out but still pulled back and hissed if touched) when the blizzard wind blew the back door open and he went inside. He was inside for months.It was nothing short of miraculous.
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #48
Thanks for the encouragement guys
Wanted to give an update:
He's still generally scared of us, but he's getting more habituated to things. My wife went back to working from her office (the room that we dedicated to the kitten) and he runs around the room while she's there and plays with everything that he can get his paws on, including her running shoes, the garbage bin, etc. When we leave him alone at night, he started to prefer to sleep on my wife's chair (or on the desk itself!). So overall he seems fairly comfortable with her, although he still runs away if she comes too close.
We've been trying to pet him while he's eating and it's working overall. However, once in a while he looks up, as if realizing we've been petting him, hisses and retreats. But before he used to run away to his crate. Now he just backs up a bit and then comes right back to eat. So that's progress, too!
We brought him to the vet today, along with our other cats. He got his shots, got washed and had his nails trimmed. They had to give him a mild sedative to do it. The vet cleared him to interact with our kittens if we want and I think we'll try. The few items they got close to each other, he was very friendly and seemed to want to play. One of our cats seemed interested in him as well (the other hissed, so maybe we'll keep him apart for now).
So... progressing slowly, overall
Wanted to give an update:
He's still generally scared of us, but he's getting more habituated to things. My wife went back to working from her office (the room that we dedicated to the kitten) and he runs around the room while she's there and plays with everything that he can get his paws on, including her running shoes, the garbage bin, etc. When we leave him alone at night, he started to prefer to sleep on my wife's chair (or on the desk itself!). So overall he seems fairly comfortable with her, although he still runs away if she comes too close.
We've been trying to pet him while he's eating and it's working overall. However, once in a while he looks up, as if realizing we've been petting him, hisses and retreats. But before he used to run away to his crate. Now he just backs up a bit and then comes right back to eat. So that's progress, too!
We brought him to the vet today, along with our other cats. He got his shots, got washed and had his nails trimmed. They had to give him a mild sedative to do it. The vet cleared him to interact with our kittens if we want and I think we'll try. The few items they got close to each other, he was very friendly and seemed to want to play. One of our cats seemed interested in him as well (the other hissed, so maybe we'll keep him apart for now).
So... progressing slowly, overall
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #49
It looks like things are progressing swimmingly! Manchester is so vocal - it would be interesting to see studies on variances in verbal communications of cats throughout the world. The ferals in my yard are very verbal, more so than the colony in the supermarket parking lots. Thank you for continuing the updates 
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #51
I wonder if he's responding to our cat's level of vocalization. Our cats are siamese mutts and definitely have the siamese personality. So they make a lot of noises. When these guys first met they were just running around the room, trilling at each other.
Another interesting thing is that as soon as we introduced our cats to him, he also became a bit more friendly with us: he was willing to come closer on his own and when we would play with our cat (by dangling something), he'd come running up also.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #52
Our second cat seems to have warmed up to Manchester... so here's our happy kitty family.
Since he's getting along with them, we've let him explore the rest of his apartment, except the kitchen, which is where the cat food is. Since we want to socialize him and he's most willing to be socialized if we're feeding him ourselves, we're still feeding him by hand only. That's not mean, is it?
We've had a bit of a weird experience since he started exploring the rest of the home. We have a fruit bowl on our dining table... and yesterday he mounted it and peed all over our fruit. He had full access to his litter box and there was nothing preventing him from it.
We thought it was a one-time thing, but we just caught him today sniffing about and acting like he's going to pee in it again.
What gives? It's uncomfortable, the fruit are not sandy, and he's too young to be spraying for territory (~3 months).
Since he's getting along with them, we've let him explore the rest of his apartment, except the kitchen, which is where the cat food is. Since we want to socialize him and he's most willing to be socialized if we're feeding him ourselves, we're still feeding him by hand only. That's not mean, is it?
We've had a bit of a weird experience since he started exploring the rest of the home. We have a fruit bowl on our dining table... and yesterday he mounted it and peed all over our fruit. He had full access to his litter box and there was nothing preventing him from it.
We thought it was a one-time thing, but we just caught him today sniffing about and acting like he's going to pee in it again.
What gives? It's uncomfortable, the fruit are not sandy, and he's too young to be spraying for territory (~3 months).
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- #54
Apples and bananas. It's been a while since this happened and he hasn't tried doing this again, so hopefully that was a one-time thing.
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- #55
Hey guys,
I have an update and a question.
Both our cats are now friends with Manchester - they play together, snuggle together, and lick each other all the time. So that's good - he now has company.
In terms of his interaction with us, he's pretty chill when it he's being fed. We can pet him and even slip a hand under his tummy and pick him up, he doesn't mind. BUT when he's not being fed, he's still very scared of us. He will usually run away if we come too close and he won't come into a place where we are.
There are some exceptions - he will timidly play with us if we dangle stuff and he's even tried jumping on my leg to catch a string once. He's also a little less scared when our other cats are playing with us.
So here's my question: right now, we're trying to feed him ourselves (while petting) for every meal so that he gets used to us, but that means keeping him out of the kitchen where our other cats have their food. He knows there's food there and he keeps wanting to come along with our cats to eat. Should we keep preventing him?
I'm afraid that if we stop feeding him ourselves, he'll be completely uninterested in any interaction with us (or just plain scared). But we feel really bad keeping him out.
I have an update and a question.
Both our cats are now friends with Manchester - they play together, snuggle together, and lick each other all the time. So that's good - he now has company.
In terms of his interaction with us, he's pretty chill when it he's being fed. We can pet him and even slip a hand under his tummy and pick him up, he doesn't mind. BUT when he's not being fed, he's still very scared of us. He will usually run away if we come too close and he won't come into a place where we are.
There are some exceptions - he will timidly play with us if we dangle stuff and he's even tried jumping on my leg to catch a string once. He's also a little less scared when our other cats are playing with us.
So here's my question: right now, we're trying to feed him ourselves (while petting) for every meal so that he gets used to us, but that means keeping him out of the kitchen where our other cats have their food. He knows there's food there and he keeps wanting to come along with our cats to eat. Should we keep preventing him?
I'm afraid that if we stop feeding him ourselves, he'll be completely uninterested in any interaction with us (or just plain scared). But we feel really bad keeping him out.
Tough love is hard, I know, but I think that if you switch from feeding=human contact, he will revert to feral. IMO, that is what would constitute "moving too fast". Since things continue to progress in a positive direction, I say, "stay the course". It does take a long time in some ways - to tiny ferals, we are like mountain lions or grizzlies.
