My new foster is a feral kitten - I need support please!

[Lyzzie]

My new foster arrived today. He's a 3 month old feral kitten. He was captured last Friday, and spent the week-end at the vet. Clean bill of health, and he was treated for fleas and worms. the vet wouldn't neuter him because he's not big enough. I don't know his weight, but to me he seems big for a 3 mo. He doesn't even have a name. That broke my heart a little.

His background : A couple came back from holidays and found a litter in their garden. They have dogs, but no cats. They fed the cats outside, but now the dogs are getting a little too aggressive I guess, and they couldn't keep caring for the cats. From what I understood, they couldn't find the momma, but they captured 2 kittens, one male and one female. If we could have fostered the two of them together I would have, but we just don't have the space.

Anyway, here's where we are at : Kitty is with us since 11 AM this morning. It's 4:38 PM my time. His safe room is actually the bathroom. It is kitten-proofed, he has a litter box, kibbles, wet food and water. A little cube with a soft and fluffy blanket where he can hide if he wants to, and a big soft blanket on most of the floor. When I opened the cage inside the bathroom, he wouldn't move. I left a little and came back, I guess a little too fast because he ran and hid behind the toilets. He hasn't moved since. He's not stuck, he just wedged himself in the corner between the walls and the toilets. He's directly on the tiles, so I'm hoping it's not too cold.

We go in about every hour, hour and a half, and softly talk to him. I pull a Jackson Galaxy move and presented him with my glasses, but I think he's too terrified, and he wouldn't even sniff them. John (SO) presented him with the bowl of kibbles, and he ate. So YAY for that.

I presented him with kibbles in my hand, and he didn't even approached. I put the kibbles on the floor next to him, and he sniffed, but wouldn't eat. So I moved my head a little, and as soon as he couldn't see me looking at him, he ate them.

He didn't use the litter box, but didn't go anywhere in the bathroom either. The water bowl is untouched, as is the wet food.

So, I'm a little surprised that the rescue would trust me this fast with a feral kitty, because we just had one foster, and she was the complete opposite. She trotted inside like the house was hers already. Apparently, new kitty is used to humans, just not inside. I don't know if he was petted even once. This is his first home, and it's just breaking my heart. I'm so angry at the people responsible, I'm crying a little bit. He doesn't even have a name for the Cat Goddess' sake! OK, angry rant over.

He's gorgeous BTW, a grey and black Tabby with patches of white. His nose is pink with a little black dot on the side. I'll take pics and videos as soon as I can.

The only health concern that we and the rescue have is that his right eye is a little red on the side, when it should be white. I don't know if I explained that very well, let me know.

So, I need advice, and support. We didn't try to touch him, he's too frightened poor thing. Are we doing the right things? Does going every hour is too much? Not enough? How much time should we spent when we go in? We're currently staying about 15 minutes each time, and we read to him. We take turns, should we just choose a person and stick to that, or is it good to do it like we are?

I should add that we have a resident cat, Sparrow. He's neutered and vaccinated, and they didn't meet. But Sparrow is interested by the smell coming from under the bathroom door. He didn't display any signs of aggression, and neither did the kitten. I wanted to do some smell swapping, but I'm going to wait until Kitty is comfortable with us humans first.

 

[molly92]

Aw, congratulations on your new foster! Even if he is a little older than 3 months, he's still young enough that the socialization process is likely to work well.

He is on the feral side, and his behavior sounds very normal but it is wonderful that he is eating! He will get more brave and find a more comfortable spot than behind the toilet soon, but right now he feels safest there so he's going to be the most comfortable there.

As you found out, ferals feel more comfortable when they don't think you are watching them, so something that also helps is to hang out in their room but make yourself busy doing something else that makes a little bit of noise, like cleaning or typing on a laptop while you're not looking at him. That way he can feel a little more comfortable investigating and getting used to you while believing that you're not to focused on him, which means you're not likely to be a threat.

You're doing everything really well! There's no one right way to time things, but keeping to a routine is helpful for making the cat more comfortable. Once an hour sounds fine, just keep the sessions short and sweet at first to make sure it doesn't get overwhelming, and always bring a treat or food so you're associated with good things.

This is a really great step by step guide for socializing ferals: http://bestfriends.org/resources/socializing-cats-how-socialize-very-shy-or-fearful-cat

The petting wand tips are especially useful for easing the cat into accepting human touch. You can adapt the steps how you like as your kitty progesses. He probably will come around much more quickly than an adult would, but it still might take a few months. Sparrow might be helpful in teaching him to be more trusting of people, or he might not be ready to meet Sparrow until later, depending on how he feels about other cats. If they start playing with each other under the door, that's a good sign!

I think he will soon become a loving and adoptable pet, but his future adopters should know that he will probably always need some time to adjust to new situations and people, but once trust is earned he will bond very closely to people who take care of him, because he remembers what it's like not to be cared for.

 

[Lyzzie]

Thank you @Molly92. He looks like he's going to be really sweet, if that makes any sense.

I've read the step by step, and that's going to be a fantastic resource for us! I've shared it with John, and he's going to read it, and then we will discuss our plan of action.

When I went to the bathroom last time to read Harry Potter to him, he was in the middle of the room, eating the wet food! I scared him, although I announced myself before going in. He hissed, run in the litter box (it's an open litter box, nowhere to hide) and hissed again. I just sat down, not even looking at him, and began reading. I saw him from the corner of my eye, he was going back to his corner. I read two pages and then left. He was meatloafing, which I think is a good sign.

I hadn't thought about treats, I don't know why, we have lots of them, DF chicken ones. We also have some tuna, so we are going to begin working the steps with that. If he's too food aggressive, we'll go with the treats, or we will buy some baby food (no onions or garlic, just meat).

I've also read on an article here that it's possible he won't recognize the water bowl as such. We already have everything we need if that's the case, so we'll see. Since he's eating wet food, I'm less worried.

 

[Lyzzie]

I'm already seeing progress, he's so brave!

The last time I went in, I brought some tuna with me. I read a little, and then opened the can. I put the juice in his water bowl.

I put a bit of tuna on my finger, and presented that to him. Very slowly. He went ahead and smelled it, then retreated. So I put the tuna on the floor not too far, and got out.

Now two hours later, I just went in there. He was meatloafing on the blanket! He hissed at me two or three times, but I just ignored him and went and sat on the shower step, right next to my regular place. That's as far away from him I can go, this room is really small. He didn't seem to mind, and stayed on the blanket. I began to read, and then thought that I should go down were I am normally, because maybe I'm scaring him by being higher than the floor. Yeah, he went straight back to his corner. I could have kicked myself. Next time, don't move woman!

Anyway, he ate the tuna, and drank all the tuna juice that I left last time! I didn't rinse the bowl, I just put water back in it. Hopefully he will drink from it again.

He also peed on the blanket, opposite side of where he was when I came in. I took the blanket, put a towel in it's place, and cleaned the floor. I don't care about the blanket, I'm just happy he peed! We'll see about the litter box, maybe I should have placed it where he did his business? Or maybe I should put some soil mixed in with the litter? It's clay BTW. I don't want it to become a habit, but don't want to push him too fast either.

After that, I presented some tuna on my finger again, he smelled it like last time, and then I put it on the same spot on floor. He actually moved and advanced his head to smell it. He smacked his lips but retreated again, so I left.

Maybe I'll be able to snap a pic tomorrow, he's really cute.

 

[Kieka]

Rocket was a feral when we got her. She was a smidgen older though. One of the problems socalizing ferals is that they tend to bond to the human who socalizes. I have definetly seen that when it comes to Rocket. So if you have other people who can come and quietly read or have low conversations in the room with him that could help him get used to different people. Males, females, children, teens, as much variety as you can get around him.

I second the eye contact thing. It took me months to get Rocket comfortable with me looking at her. To this day she is uncomfortable in the open and with people watching her.

One of the things I did with Rocket was force her out of her comfort zone and sit her on my lap petting her while I watched a show. Since we were keeping her in a large cage if she ran she went back in the cage and I'd try again a little later. Over time I'd let her walk around the couch then the floor. I'd offer her toys and treats as long as she was calm but if she bolted and hid I'd scoop her up and back in the cage until she relaxed. We eventually widen her area to out of the cage and into my bedroom then a room at a time until she had the whole house. But to this day she still hides under the dining room table when she is startled which was where we kept the large cage for those first few weeks.

I've heard since then of using a kitten burrito (or purrito) to socialize a feral, http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/how-to-make-a-kitten-burrito

The idea is you make the kitten comfy wrapped in a blanket with just their head out and just sit with them. Watch TV, read a book, whatever but it safely forces close contact. I've seen the KittenLady and some online foster moms do it with great success and over time the cats just start falling asleep when wrapped up. Just don't push him past his comfort point with it.

 

[Kieka]

Sorry, I forgot to day that it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job.

It will pay off. Rocket is my little love now. She waits for me to get home, sleeps next to me every night and loves to cuddle. Its still all on her terms though, I can't approach her I just have to settle first and she will follow. I agree that it is important that any adopter for the little one knows that he will need space and time but they will be rewarded with unending love.

 

[Lyzzie]

Thanks @Kieka, I will see about the burrito. For now he's way too scared, I'd rather try and see if I can combine that technique with one of the steps on the link provided by @Molly92 above. There is one called "lap time", I should be able to combine the two if needed.

We had already thought about introducing different people. When he's more comfortable, we will introduce our neighbors, they are a younger couple, but not teens either. There's also my mom. Kids I don't know. My nephews are way too energetic, and they don't understand yet about animals. I guess I should talk to them about that anyway, they still need to learn the proper way to care and treat animals.

Kitty is not caged but in the bathroom. Our studio is small, and that's actually the only door, apart from the front door of course. So, we kind of don't have the luxury of messing up socialization or introductions with Sparrow, or it's going to be impossible for them. Poor Kitty can't live in a bathroom forever, and we are going to need to take showers... or we could live up to the saying that French people are smelly...

 

[Lyzzie]

I'm not sure what happened, but he decided he wanted to eat some tuna out of my hand. I think my jaw dropped

So I pushed my luck a little, and try and pet his cheek. He didn't say or did anything, so I petted the top of his head. And he purred!!! That was a sound I didn't think I was going to hear this fast. Then he walk out of his corner, and proceeded to head butt my hand, and rub his head against everything in sight. He also went to his kibbles and ate a good amount.

And then... he rolled on the floor and showed me his belly.

I just kept petting him, and all over too. He even kneaded his fluffy blanket, and he was purring while on it when I left.

This cat is amazing. I can't believe he trusted me this fast. He probably had more interactions with humans than I thought.

I did take a look at his eyes, and one is red on the side of it. I will tell the rescue about it, what about conjunctivitis?

 

[handsome kitty]

Sounds like things are going well.  If you have a small stuffed animal you can put it in the room to keep him company.  He is used to sleeping with a litter mate.  Have you come up with any names yet?

 

[Lyzzie]

I do have some that I brought back from my mom's for my last foster. I'll try it.

About names, well not very original but I have Socks, because of his white front paws. I'm trying it out but he doesn't seem to like it very much.

 

[Lyzzie]

More progress! John went in this morning, and the litter box was used! No accidents at all, 2 pees and a poop! The poop was a bit dark and then a bit soft, we'll see, but poor thing was so stressed out, it might just be that.

John introduced a kitty scratching post, with a little bell on it. Socks was very curious about it. He left his new hidey hole (behind the foot of the sink) and went out in the open, on the shower step. John gave him a bit of tuna, and left.

I went in right after (nature called...), and he was still on the step, eating. He's always in or next to a corner tho, but he gets braver. I talk to him, and did my business. After that, I put on a big sock, and approached him for some pet time. He loved it! I was actually able to make him move from the step to his food bowls by moving my hand away, and he just followed it for more pets! He then ate, dry and wet, and I was still petting him. Then I gave him a bit of tuna, and left.

I presented Sparrow with the sock, and he sniffed it real good. When he was done I petted him, and he growled. More of a grumble really, he likes to grumble a lot. Maybe I shouldn't pet him right after he smells Socks. I put the sock next to his food bowls, we'll see how that goes.

What is awesome, is that for the last 10 minutes, we can hear the bell on the scratching post going. Socks is playing with it! What a good day already!

 

[Lyzzie]

It gets better and better. I don't think Kitty was really feral, he's just really really scared. We're back to Kitty, "Socks" was vetoed by the rescue. Apparently it's too harsh sounding. I'm toying with Boots. I don't know. Anyway, here's the first video of Kitty getting some lovin' :


I find him very big for a 3 month old cat, even an intact male. What do you think?

I'm also concerned by his eyes. They are both reddish on the sides, and he has a little bit of goop. I think he should go back to the vet. Again, what do you gals/guys think?

EDIT : I almost forgot : he slow blinked at me last time I got out of his room

 

[Shane Kent]

One heck of a cute little fellow, thanks for sharing the video.

My cats Rusty and Kitty had eye infections when I trapped them. It was like described here:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/48369/cats-third-eyelid-showing-please-help

My vet pointed out how the third eyelid was showing on the cats I trapped. Vet gave me gel to put in the infected eye three times a day until the gel was all gone. My vet told me if I see the third eyelid on a cat take it to a vet.

Do you slow blink back, my cat Rusty likes it when I slow blink back. You should see the look on his face when I stick my tongue out at him

Regardless of if it is feral or not you are a great person for taking the cat in and caring for it so attentively.

 

[Lyzzie]

@Shane Kent Thanks for the support, and the link. It's not his third eyelid tho, it's his sclera (I looked up the right term). On both his eyes it's a little red, but I've only looked at the sides, not above, or below the eye. The goop was actually just goop, he doesn't have any discharge, tears, or anything else. He's not coughing or sneezing, no runny nose either. I'll keep an eye on it (pun intended).

About the slow blink, we've been doing it from the beginning. Our resident cat Sparrow loves it, and we do it all the time! Kitty actually returned my blink. And he keeps doing it now, he's a cutie. John and I can now both pet him, and hand feed him. Kitty's been hissing less and less, he's getting use to us. He's also playing, either alone or with John. I'll try to film it tomorrow. I can touch his paws, front and back, and I've kissed him on the head. He's getting use to lap time, he stays on his own, but not for long. And he's really pet motivated, more than food, even tuna! He just loves it. He's still very good about the litter box, and his poop is now normal. His appetite is increasing, that's so good to see, he's an ogre! I still think he's older than 3 months, he's so big!

We still don't have a name for him. I call him Booboo

 

[Lyzzie]

Great progress again yesterday and this morning!

Warning TMI : Nature called again in the middle of the night, so I went in the bathroom. I was half asleep so I didn't announced myself before going in. Boo was sleeping on the towel, middle of the room. Half asleep too, he hissed at me. I just went in, let him smell my hand, he rubbed his face on it, and that was that. He didn't even move.

This morning, John was in, and again, nature called, so I went in also. 2 adults crammed in there with Boo, same thing. He smelled my hand, rubbed against it, and continued to play with John. That was the first time we were all three together. That little guy is a gentle soul, that's for sure.

Today we are going to try and let the bathroom door open. Always supervised of course, but since Boo is beginning to play, and eat like crazy, he's going to need the extra room.

Scent swapping is going great, neither cat seems to care. They sniff at the sock, and then just continue with their business. The socks are placed next to their food bowl, with no problems. Sparrow doesn't even growl at Boo's scent anymore. He did that the first time only.

 

[Lyzzie]

Everything is going well. Boo's door has been open for 4 hours now. He did not come out, but he still wants lots of pets. We even cuddled on the floor, and he took a quick nap next to me, his back to the open door.

Sparrow is not allowed in Boo's room, and he's been very good about it. He is curious, but not aggressive.

When we first open the door, I stayed with Boo and petted him a lot. Sparrow decided to come investigate, and saw Boo for the first time. He growled, but no hiss, and no "big fluffy tail". Boo didn't even care. He just looked at him. No hiss, no growl, nothing.

Since I was in between them, I used my lethal weapon : tuna. I fed them tiny pieces in turn. Sparrow always at the same place, in the hallway in front of the door but not too close either, and I used Boo's pieces to make him come closer each time. They both ate in full view of each other. Nothing came from Boo but we got growling from Sparrow. Boo's limit was 80 cm from Sparrow (2 feet 7 inches). He went back to his corner, but sat instead of laying on the floor. Sparrow then wanted to come in, but I distracted him with tuna away from the door, and that was that.

Right now, Sparrow is taking his afternoon nap on the bed upstairs with John, and Boo is in his room downstairs.

I've got to give lots of kudos to Sparrow, he's such a cool cat. We went on a long walk this morning, I wanted him as content as possible before opening Boo's door. Seems to be working so far.

 

[Lyzzie]

We had a good one this afternoon! I decided to have a long play session with Boo, since I'm more of the cuddle one, and John is more of the playful one. Door still open, I tried to engage him with the laser pointer, but no luck, he was interested, but not enough to move from his cube. Then I tried the cat-it senses circuit, same thing. I knew John had been playing with the wand toy, with a fluffy tail at the end of it, so I tried that. Oh boy, he loves that thing! He was really shy at first, and he's still scared of rapid movements and human feet, so I had to be careful, but he became more and more into the game. After about 30 minutes, John came with us, and took his turn to play. I filmed everything, but I'm just sharing the John part, the video is about 5 minutes.


I couldn't believe he was coming out of the bathroom! We gave him lots of praises, and he seemed to had fun. We had fun too! About a half-hour ago, I went downstairs, and Boo was out exploring in the kitchen! I scared him I think, he bolted back in his room, but that's some great progress.

We will still keep him in the room at night, until he's comfy enough in the house. Sparrow is his usual self, he just growls when he sees Boo, and then continue about his business.

 

[Lyzzie]

I have more good news!

Last evening Boo decided to explore the downstairs. He managed to get his paws on Sparrow's Kong toy, the on filled with catnip... He had a blast! He kicked the heck out of the toy, with John and I watching and laughing. Sparrow was watching him for afar. After that Boo kept on exploring, so we left him alone.

Later I was able to get Boo up the stairs by playing with him with the wand toy. He went exploring right away, and got comfy on the couch. Sparrow went over there growling, and Boo was not impressed. He just got up to him, and they touched noses. Sparrow growled a bit and went back and took his place on the bed. Boo explored a while longer and got back downstairs. His new lounging area is quite clever actually. He chose the low cabinet below the stairs, it's got carpet on top. That way, he has at least 3 escape routes at all times, and he can see everything that's going on.

We decided to leave Boo's room open for the night, and it all went very well. No fights at all, and this morning Sparrow was on the bed, and Boo on the cabinet. Both litter boxes are used, and they each have their food bowls in different areas.

Boo is showing his playful self, and he discovered some wick balls with bells in them, and a shoestring that we attached to a drawer. He also likes the two cat-it games very much. I'll take more videos and/or pics today, but it's going very well, faster than I thought!

 

[foxxycat]

I'm loving your adventures with "BooBoo". I think you should name him that. He is adorable.

 

[Lyzzie]

Thanks @foxxycat. We actually named him Boo. But it's still one of his nicknames.