Hello!
I recently began fostering for my local cat shelter (currently have kittens #8-11 in my spare bedroom) and had some questions about my current set. They came to me with their mom about two weeks ago, and the shelter estimated their age then to be 7-8 weeks. The family that found them (in a wood pile!) and brought them to the shelter wanted to adopt mom, so she went back to the shelter last weekend for spay and adoption. I still have her three kittens, along with a very friendly orphan. My main question is how socialized can I realistically expect these kittens to get? All of the other kittens I've fostered have been around people their entire lives and have been friendly, sociable, and cuddly. After two weeks of spending at least 2 hours/day with them (most days 6-8 hours), they've made some huge strides, but still are nowhere near what I'd consider friendly.
They have an expected spay/neuter/get put up for adoption date a little over a week and a half from now, and I want to make sure that they will be able to find good homes. For reference, when they came to me all 3 would hide in corners and under blankets as soon as they heard me opening the door and wouldn't come out until I left. If I reached for them to pet/hold them they would hiss and swat, and they would also hiss and hide/run when I looked at them. Now all will eat from my hands and let me pet them when they're eating, will accept being petted while they're sleeping or drowsy, and will play with me with a variety of toys. They no longer hide when I approach, and only one still hisses occasionally. I've gotten two of them to purr, briefly, while being handled. The biggest obstacle I see to them getting adopted is that they all still startle/ run and hide at any sort of sudden movement and will not approach for attention (they all tolerate being handled, but do not seem to enjoy it.) They've gone from visibly semiferal to what I'd call your-great-aunt's-mean-old-cat -- how do I get them the rest of the way?
I've been letting them have dry food free choice and bringing them wet food 3-4 times a day (sitting by them and touching them while they eat) and trying to play with them at least twice a day with active toys. I generally make a point of petting or holding them each at least a little after these encounters. Is there anything else I should be doing? And, finally, how friendly should I reasonably expect them to get? I've read stories about people who were able to turn feral kittens older than these guys into hypersocial lap cats, but I can't see these guys getting as social as my other fosters have been. Will they still be adoptable even if they're skittish/ need time to warm up to someone? They're super cute (like all kittens,) but I just can't see them ever being super chill, especially with new people or young children.
Sorry for the long post- thanks for reading
I recently began fostering for my local cat shelter (currently have kittens #8-11 in my spare bedroom) and had some questions about my current set. They came to me with their mom about two weeks ago, and the shelter estimated their age then to be 7-8 weeks. The family that found them (in a wood pile!) and brought them to the shelter wanted to adopt mom, so she went back to the shelter last weekend for spay and adoption. I still have her three kittens, along with a very friendly orphan. My main question is how socialized can I realistically expect these kittens to get? All of the other kittens I've fostered have been around people their entire lives and have been friendly, sociable, and cuddly. After two weeks of spending at least 2 hours/day with them (most days 6-8 hours), they've made some huge strides, but still are nowhere near what I'd consider friendly.
They have an expected spay/neuter/get put up for adoption date a little over a week and a half from now, and I want to make sure that they will be able to find good homes. For reference, when they came to me all 3 would hide in corners and under blankets as soon as they heard me opening the door and wouldn't come out until I left. If I reached for them to pet/hold them they would hiss and swat, and they would also hiss and hide/run when I looked at them. Now all will eat from my hands and let me pet them when they're eating, will accept being petted while they're sleeping or drowsy, and will play with me with a variety of toys. They no longer hide when I approach, and only one still hisses occasionally. I've gotten two of them to purr, briefly, while being handled. The biggest obstacle I see to them getting adopted is that they all still startle/ run and hide at any sort of sudden movement and will not approach for attention (they all tolerate being handled, but do not seem to enjoy it.) They've gone from visibly semiferal to what I'd call your-great-aunt's-mean-old-cat -- how do I get them the rest of the way?
I've been letting them have dry food free choice and bringing them wet food 3-4 times a day (sitting by them and touching them while they eat) and trying to play with them at least twice a day with active toys. I generally make a point of petting or holding them each at least a little after these encounters. Is there anything else I should be doing? And, finally, how friendly should I reasonably expect them to get? I've read stories about people who were able to turn feral kittens older than these guys into hypersocial lap cats, but I can't see these guys getting as social as my other fosters have been. Will they still be adoptable even if they're skittish/ need time to warm up to someone? They're super cute (like all kittens,) but I just can't see them ever being super chill, especially with new people or young children.
Sorry for the long post- thanks for reading
