How To Socialize A Feral Kitten With Other Cats
Still wary of more human interaction the feral cat will need time to adjust to your hand.
How to socialize a feral kitten with other cats. Alley cat allies an advocacy group for the protection of felines advises consider using non pharmaceutical behavior modifiers like feliway rescue remedy or composure soft chews. We often receive calls from people who have a feral cat who just had kittens. Indeed kittens may also try to suck from non lactating. Alley cat allies does not in general recommend trying to socialize a feral cat over 4 months of age.
Put poop in one box. Acclimate the feral cat to your hand. These products can help calm and comfort cats using essential oils or extracts or by mimicking natural feline pheromones. Between 4 and 8 months of age if there is time and capacity and if the kitten is showing meaningful signs of social behavior the decision may be made to place the kitten in a foster home for socialization and eventual adoption.
Cats can form strong social relationships with familiar individuals and particularly between kittens in the same litter and between kittens and their mother. There is no exact answer to how long it takes to socialize a feral kitten but it could take more time and skill to socialize kittens older than two months. Feral kittens should be checked out by a veterinarian and tested for diseases contagious to other cats before you bring them home. 1 spay or neuter and return to their original environment or 2 socialize to the point where they are friendly enough to be adopted into good homes.
Then there are two options for the kittens depending on age. What you will need for the socialization process. If you have children or other pets at home remember that loud noises and too many movements will scare the feral cat. Soak up what pee you can before properly cleaning the spot and lightly bury the pee soaked paper towel in the other.
Let her come to you and allow her to bump into your leg arm or hand. However there is a gray area in which the personality of the individual cat comes into play. Keep the kittens isolated from your pet cats wash your hands and wear a smock or change clothes between handling visits to protect against the spread of disease from the kittens to pets or from pets to the kittens. With the scents in the proper places feral kitties typically very fastidious about their bathroom behavior will almost always pick up on this cue.
Avoid contact between the cat and your children in the first phases of the process. Don t throw it away. Clearly they aren t vaccinated and you re at risk of getting an infection or disease if they catch you. If catnip does nothing for your cat then fret not there are other substances you can try.
Clearly the latter is the better choice but it will take some work on your part. It is during these early days that kittens form bonds with cats humans and other animals. However in feral cat colonies kittens may often be nursed suckled by more than one lactating queen and this in itself may help in the formation of social bonds at a young age. They are feral and they can take some time to adjust.
On socializing older kittens. It could take as long as 28 to 56 days to socialize a feral kitten. The best time to socialize feral kittens is within 14 to 49 days of their lives. Usually feral cats tend to bond with one singular human so if you want them to be more used to other humans you can call friends and family in and then you can have them work with the kittens handle them and from there see what happens.
Feral kittens will likely try to attack bite or scratch you. First and foremost the female cat must be spayed. With feral kittens you should take time with them. The golden rule is that if they are struggling with actually getting into the process of taming and socializing you should definitely make sure.
To begin place your hand flat on the floor palm side down. Wear gloves at all times until the kitten is fully.