Episode 54: How We Tame Wild Cats and Kittens

[@ray-vanralte]

A stray cat decided to have a baby in my storage room. I had to research a lot on how to make her like me 😅 Thx for sharing the video 😍 (I’m super allergic to cats 😅)

[@lynnaltmayer7982]

This has been really helpful- especially because you address very fearful kittens or adults. Many videos are not realistically giving you the step by step and explaining it in a time frame that can take a long time for these cats that can't go back out on the street and need to find a loving home.

[@josie4peace]

These are not wild cats. I recently trapped a true, feral cat who refuses to be socialized after three weeks. I'm being patient, but he's truly feral. He only came out at night, so trapping was quite a feat.

[@crinklescat1871]

It took me 7 months on one. Especially after trapping. We are in the process of doing one now. It’s easier with kittens but I typically do adults. But this isn’t a quick process with adults. I haven’t finished the video yet but we use a back scratcher to pet after time then go from there. This is a good video but kittens are easier than adults although a kitten can tear you up too. The one that took forever after trapping, she’s currently on my sofa curled up. Source: work at non profit rescue for 8 years now. Just my advice. There’s a lot of different methods. Don’t get discouraged. This is abridged.

[@CarmenAbigail65]

Brilliant! I’ll use this!

[@GabbyCito]

do you follow this food feeding steps with fersl cat vs kittens?

[@DJimeku]

I saved a cute ferral cat, trapped it, put it in my bedroom - but she is so scared. I didnt place her in a large crate (watched your video late). Any advice or tips? Just let her settle for a few months in the room, and hope she eventually warms up to me?

[@doml998]

I also didn't have a large cage. Instead I found a nice big square cardboard box and made decent sized air and peek holes with one side open(Like a squared house essentially) in my bathroom and coaxed the kittens to come out with food, essentially the same steps as this video. Sometimes I had to wait and come back being that hunger is the biggest motivator in these first steps to take advantage of. A brush worked awesome for me as far as desensitizing them to being touched while not getting swatted or bit out of fear. Had these kittens for a week now and they actually play with me when I have a toy now and it's still a work in progress but the brush has quickened the process. Of the two one is starting to ask for the brush before play. The 2nd is still a little shy but will eat right next to me with the occasional hiss when I touch her so she's progressing slower but it's still progress as the 2nd cat has a slightly more guarded personality, ironically I enjoy her feistiness and it makes me want to keep her even more. I'm planning on moving them from the bathroom to my Foye as it's the busiest part of my house when I see their fear of me dissipates to a manageable level. Good luck and remember patience is key!

[@ally203katt]

You have given me hope 😃

[@GabbyCito]

i have a feral adult who is in my barn area with 2 other cats. she was in a kennel for 5 wks, in the barn. she occassiinally let me hold her in a blanket and pet her thru the blanket and then my hand. i didnt know about the food idea using a firk, Ive been feeding meat in a bowl. i just allowed her to be free by ooening her kennel door. she left for 2 days and came back. shes been back for 3 days but wont go inside the kennel to jer bed. instead shes sandwiched herself between the kennel and the wall. i gave her a blanket back there and put her water and food there basically saying, take your time. is that a bad idea? shljld i resume with your idea now of feeding with the fork? she usually has ears back and hissws if i get close with my hands but she accepts a blanket put on jer for me to pet her that way.

[@maureenbakulich3953]

WITH THE BITES AND SCRATCHES YOU RECEIVE Megan what do you put on them to stop getting infected ?.Defin labour of love just tamed a ferral cat took me 7 months but now part of my big family of cats .

[@TheUrbanFarmyard]

I douse them in iodine as soon as they happen. So far I haven’t needed to visit the Doctor or take antibiotics for any of my bites. Touch wood 😊

[@Monica_bondevik]

I've got a young mother rn she's maybe about a year old, she'll eat sausage from my hand but she is very uncomfortable being picked up which is unfortunately something I need to do for changing the bedding in the box, give her flee and worm treatments and finally I have to teach her about the litter tray as she has absolutely no clue what to do with them even when give 2 in 1 room with different litters so she could have a choice. I'm just so unsure of how to do this even though I have literally no fear of scratches, bites or hisses. she's only has hissed at me a few times as I approach likely because I'm tall and out of her view for most my approach, once I have sat down she settles and purrs even leaving the babies while I'm in the close proximity though she watches me pretty closely as she already knows that I will take the babies out for weighing and generally look over for their health, doesn't attack me if I do this but has actually started to come out and watch what I'm doing which was really interesting to see. Sorry for the long comment I'm not the best with text and wording in general but I want to get as much advice as possible to be able to help her to adapt to inside life in the UK.

[@alyesmatthews3902]

Hi. Are you still taming feral cats?

[@KristiClephane]

What if you have an older wildling who refuses to leave his cozy cat house until it’s night and there are no humans around. I’ve had him for a few months already and he still refuses to come out at all.

[@radhabhusari9211]

Same

[@nigelmay6870]

There was a lady who had a similar issue in that the cat would spend all of the day under the sofa and only venture out at night and play, she spoke to a cat advisor which said you must block off the hide away place and force the cat to be more in your company, her cat found a place by the window, then next she fed the cat with a long spoon, gradually moving her hand closer on the spoon handle, finally she would pet the cats head and start off a wonderful friendship. Her thought as the owner was the cats life was very low hiding away the whole day under her sofa so it was right to push forward and block the base of the sofa with boxes and bits of wood to force the cat out in the open more. You have to use the food as leverage, be claim speak softly, slow steady progress ftw i guess.

[@doml998]

Are you always feeding her yourself? You must be present while she/he is eating. If she doesn't eat, just try again later. Hunger is your number one tool to make progress. Also, try to incorporate toys that you use yourself like a string toy with a bird or rat and have a brush handy. The cat needs to be desensitized to being touched and having a brush does that while also protecting yourself from getting bit/swiped. You should try moving the cat to a cage rather than a house. It helps desensitize your presence and noises or movements you make. Hope this helps and good luck. Oh and having a 2nd or a 3rd person taking turns could help as well. They'll recognize that humans aren't so bad. Just stay on the same page.

[@Rpgesusgoingin]

3 ferals near me

[@dougs7367]

He shouldn't be in a cozy house he should be in a "socializing cage" where he is forced to interact with humans until he is accustomed to their presence and being fed/petted etc

[@shellyrhazeleur6029]

Your charming…. I have some wild kittens and the mom in my yard. I have been feeding them for a month. Now they are eating from my hand, mama too. What is funny is that I found a feral kitten almost dead years ago. It had one eye eaten out of his face by infection and a huge bulge on his head. His other eye was sealed closed and he was skinny and dying. I threw him in my car and took him home and neuroses him back to health. He got mad when we got a puppy and left. I found him after 10 days and it took me a year to get him to come home every day to eat. He has never come back inside though. He is a mean cat. He is not nice to other cats. He is and the. He attacks them. He fell in love with the mom cat and he is the dad. The whole family, my Tub Tub included now hangs out I. The yard and tub tub seems like a living dad. It is the weirdest thing. We want to make the kittens tame without disrespecting or pissing off The Mom or Tub Tub. What do I do? I have picked up two of the kittens and it went well. I pet them and set them back down fairly fast so I could gain their trust. So far so good but I am afraid that maybe I need to be a little more aggressive because they are getting big fast.

[@ashythedon]

Can an adult feral cat be tamed?

[@Drag0nBrand]

I came with the same question 💀

[@halatiny6537]

She said they do this with both kittens and adults.

[@doml998]

Depends, some ferals have lived VERY traumatic lives making them super skittish. Typically takes more time and effort with grown adult cats but it can be done if you are willing to give the patience.

[@УзнатьГ]

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[@vitalik1829]

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[@romhcikcafil9344]

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[@mickvonbornemann3824]

You talk about feral cats but all your visuals are kittens. Feral kittens are no problem, they domesticate themselves within a day or 3 through normal human kitten contact, & using the human as a heat source. The problem is full feral adult cats - they take a unrealistically long time to tame, & during all that time they are traumatised with fear & their cortisol (the flight or fight hormone) levels get too high for too long, which is very unhealthy & can have long term consequences. It really is better to just tame the kittens & put the adult feral cats down.

[@lanialost1320]

No! It's cruel to kill feral adults -- they can be successfully tamed using a roomy cage with a quilt cover over the top to keep them in for several weeks.

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

@@lanialost1320 what so cruel about killing feral cats? Where do you think the meat comes from that people feed cats with? If killing animals is cruel in itself then anyone who feeds cats are being cruel to animals by default. They are obligate carnivores you know.

[@crinklescat1871]

@@mickvonbornemann3824we TNR, (actually we vaccinate& deworm as well) And are currently taming an adult. It’s a process. But TNR has been shown to work as you control the colony and eventually the colony cats pass away naturally. It just takes effort and a caregiver and also coordinating with people in the community. Euthanasia is cruel in the sense unless they have no caregiver or no access to food. But there have been countless studies and countless towns and cities that have controlled the cat population by doing this without euthanasia unless the cat is severely injured upon intake. Also with taming adults, it’s a labor of love with a lot of steps and a controlled environment with a schedule. I’ve got one sleeping on my sofa now that we did and am currently working on one. Euthanasia should only be a last resort. I’m not on here to fight and a lot of people are divided on this subject.

[@abc33155]

@@mickvonbornemann3824 Are you eating the feral cats you kill, man? Your argument that we should kill them just so we don’t stress them out is so absurd!

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[@aleksa9938]

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