Need advice about terrified feral kitten

[Caitlininterlicchia]

About 2 weeks ago I rescued a litter of five feral kittens and am currently fostering them. They appear to be about 12 ish weeks. Their only human interaction was people leaving food for them at a park but no human touch. In the litter there are 4 girls and 1 boy. All were very scared when we first brought them home. They have their own room with a screen door attached so they can see and hear us throughout the day. I go in there multiple times a day and usually offer wet food and hold the dish the entire time. They have to eat it while I’m holding it if they want wet food. I do also leave dry food in there for them especially since two of them will not eat the wet food with me holding it. 2 of the kittens have acclimated well and one is very social and allows me to pet her, pick her up and feed her with no problem. She even purrs when I pet her. The other one will let me pick her up but reluctantly and will growl while I’m holding her but will let me
Pet her and does accept food from me. The other three are still very afraid and will hiss, swat, and lunges if we come close to them. Wearing gloves I offer those 3 wet food as well, one will hiss and swat but them does accept food from me. The other two will hiss, swat, spit and growl and will not eat the wet cat food I hold in front of them. They will not allow us to pet them either . I have held all 5 wrapped in a blanket and with gloves on but have only held the two most afraid ones only twice.

my question is: has anyone had a similar experience and have eventually been able to tame them? I am new at fostering feral kittens this old so the process is much slower and harder.Is there anything anyone recommends that Would help the process for them and is there a possibility they will never become accustomed to humans?

the most scared one will also bite when I attempt to hold her and I am worried me trying to approach, hold and offer her wet food could be making her more afraid of humans since it’s a struggle to pick her up or hold or even attempt to get close to her. I know her attacks and hissing is her survival instinct . Should I continue to attempt to hold her periodically and if she continues to be terrified of humans should I separate her from the rest in a kennel by herself in another room? I have read elsewhere Online that separating is sometimes suggested. Any advice and input would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[gilmargl]

Thank you for looking after these unfortunate kittens. Such a lovely brood - all so different!

Just a quick comment: I would never use food (wet or dry) as a bait. Let them eat in peace and use treats or chicken in your hand to tempt them to come closer - but never grab them when they do.
To win their trust, sit on the floor with a wand or several small balls of alu-foil and cat toys to throw about. The more friendly kittens will eventually jump on you, play with your feet, chew your shoelaces and the others will slowly follow suite. Nevertheless, it will not happen overnight.
I would never recommend solitary confinement - it will only cause more stress. At the moment, they are learning from each other so try to keep their experiences positive. They can relearn fear and mistrust just as quickly as they can gain confidence and trust so avoid circumstances where some of them are reacting with fear and aggression. When you are encouraging them to play with you. simply allow the timid kittens to watch from a safe distance. Their curiosity will soon change their behaviour!
Good luck!

 

[shadowsrescue]

Here is a great video series on the rescue and socialization process of feral kittens. The beginning video shows their rescue and other videos show some great tips and tricks. Even though the kittens in the video are younger than yours, the tips and tricks still work. I used them on a 9 month old feral kitten years ago.

Taming Toolkit – Urban Cat League – New York City ~ Dedicated to improving the lives of street cats everywhere

www.urbancatleague.org

 

[Caitlininterlicchia]

Thank you for looking after these unfortunate kittens. Such a lovely brood - all so different!

Just a quick comment: I would never use food (wet or dry) as a bait. Let them eat in peace and use treats or chicken in your hand to tempt them to come closer - but never grab them when they do.
To win their trust, sit on the floor with a wand or several small balls of alu-foil and cat toys to throw about. The more friendly kittens will eventually jump on you, play with your feet, chew your shoelaces and the others will slowly follow suite. Nevertheless, it will not happen overnight.
I would never recommend solitary confinement - it will only cause more stress. At the moment, they are learning from each other so try to keep their experiences positive. They can relearn fear and mistrust just as quickly as they can gain confidence and trust so avoid circumstances where some of them are reacting with fear and aggression. When you are encouraging them to play with you. simply allow the timid kittens to watch from a safe distance. Their curiosity will soon change their behaviour!
Good luck!

Thank you so much for your response!! And the chicken/treat idea is great! I always leave dry food in there for them to eat anytime they are hungry!! I have been trying the play with them idea and it definitely has helped! I will spend a good 1-2 hrs 3x a day sitting in there and playing with them or working/watching tv on my laptop minding my own business on the floor so that they can explore me if they want without feeling like I’m gonna touch them or try to pick them up so I will continue to do that! I agree with you about not separating any of them from the rest, I read other places online that suggest that but I was thinking the same thing as you that it may make the scared ones even more scared so I don’t plan to do that so I appreciate that input! Your input is exactly what I was hoping for because I don’t want to do anything that would make them feel more scared or back track their progress of being more comfortable around humans. Thank you so much

 

[Caitlininterlicchia]

Here is a great video series on the rescue and socialization process of feral kittens. The beginning video shows their rescue and other videos show some great tips and tricks. Even though the kittens in the video are younger than yours, the tips and tricks still work. I used them on a 9 month old feral kitten years ago.

http://[URL]http://www.urbancatleague.org/TamingVideo

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Thank you so much for passing along these videos! I am going to watch them now! There is so many different methods I have read about online about socializing scared feral kittens so I appreciate your input because I would never want to follow a method that might end up making them more afraid. They all have made progress since day one, some quicker then others but even the scared ones are more tolerable of things that they definitely were not when I first got them home so I still have lots of hope for all five! I appreciate this!!

 

[Caitlininterlicchia]

Thank you so much for passing along these videos! I am going to watch them now! There is so many different methods I have read about online about socializing scared feral kittens so I appreciate your input because I would never want to follow a method that might end up making them more afraid. They all have made progress since day one, some quicker then others but even the scared ones are more tolerable of things that they definitely were not when I first got them home so I still have lots of hope for all five! I appreciate this!!

Oh, and the fact that you were able to use these methods successfully on a feral even older then mine gives me hope!!!

 

[shadowsrescue]

Oh, and the fact that you were able to use these methods successfully on a feral even older then mine gives me hope!!!

Remember when working with feral cats it can often be one step forward and 2 steps back. It takes time and patience. Work with them as often as you can.
I have 5 former feral cats living in my house. I moved 3 years ago and brought with me 3 feral cats that had lived outside on my property for numerous years. All had been neutered and all had food and shelter from me. All had various degrees of socializing. Now they all live inside my house with 2 other cats for a total of 7 cats. Not all of them are lap cats and most still run and hide when visitors come to the house. Yet, they are safe, loved and well cared for.

 

[Caitlininterlicchia]

Remember when working with feral cats it can often be one step forward and 2 steps back. It takes time and patience. Work with them as often as you can.
I have 5 former feral cats living in my house. I moved 3 years ago and brought with me 3 feral cats that had lived outside on my property for numerous years. All had been neutered and all had food and shelter from me. All had various degrees of socializing. Now they all live inside my house with 2 other cats for a total of 7 cats. Not all of them are lap cats and most still run and hide when visitors come to the house. Yet, they are safe, loved and well cared for.

Just watched the videos, thank you again for sharing that. It is so helpful for me because at times it definitely feels like some will never become socialized to humans but just need more time to progress. And the 1 step forward and 2 steps back info is very helpful because the 2 who have made the most progress will back track at times in their development. I will definitely be marking some changes to the ways I feed and give treats based on those videos so help make the most progress and reduce fear. And you rehabbing all the ferals you have is so awesome! Being a newbie at this, I can imagine that was not an easy or quick process. It’s a bit emotionally exhausting at times! But hopeful when I see they are making progress!

 

[di and bob]

The really scared ones seeing you interacting with the less scared will give them the courage to come closer. Really play it up with the ones you can, stroking them, giving them treats, the others will eventually follow suit. When you finally get them to eat close to you, the next step is to keep trying to stroke them while they are eating. Sometimes they are so intent on eating you are petting them before they know it. They will realize and run, but soon that even quits. I have tamed many an older feral doing this. They would enver let you hold them, but they enjoyed petting. It takes lots of time and patience!

 

[Caitlininterlicchia]

The really scared ones seeing you interacting with the less scared will give them the courage to come closer. Really play it up with the ones you can, stroking them, giving them treats, the others will eventually follow suit. When you finally get them to eat close to you, the next step is to keep trying to stroke them while they are eating. Sometimes they are so intent on eating you are petting them before they know it. They will realize and run, but soon that even quits. I have tamed many an older feral doing this. They would enver let you hold them, but they enjoyed petting. It takes lots of time and patience!

Yes that is what I have been trying due to all the helpful advice from everyone who responded to my post! Thank you so much for the info you shared! That has been working rather then trying to hold any of them when they are not ready. One of the more timid ones who would always hiss and swat even when offering wet food came down from the cat tree this morning to eat the wet food that the more friendly ones were eating I was sitting a few inches from the plate. He allowed me to pet him while he ate which has never happened with him up until now! So thank you so much for your insight on this!!