The
new born
kittens that my husband and I rescued were socialized to be trusting of humans
quickly. We handled them daily, first
with heavy leather gloves and then barehanded. We petting
them under their chin, top of head and on side of face by ear. We
also ran a cat brush through their fur gently. The entire time that
we handled them we talked to the kittens softly.
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| Husband holding 7 week old feral cat |
At
first we needed to wear heavy leather gloves because the kittens were
fearful and wanted to bite and scratch us. But after three times of
holding them we were able to stimulate their appetite and coax the kittens to us with bonito fish
flake treats and soon the kittens were in our lap.
By
the time the kittens were 8 weeks old you would never know that they
were born outdoors inside a hallow tree. All kittens were very human
friendly, running in in-between our legs, purring when we petted
them.
Feral
Cat Tips:
By
taking time to handle the feral kittens we were socializing them to
not be fearful of humans. We held all kittens several times a day.
My husband held the kittens while he watched TV and many of them fell
asleep while being held.
 |
| Holding feral kittens makes them less fearful of humans |
Feral
cats are generally afraid of everything, but if you are able to
foster kittens before they are 12
weeks old then you will be able to bond with kitten and they will
trust a human and not be fearful.
Know
that I find it is easier to socialize a feral cat that is six months
or younger. That is not to say an adult cat cannot be tamed, all
cats can be tamed to trust a human. Know that a friend of mine
worked with your feral barn cats for a good year and then told me the
other day that all were dependent upon her for food and water and
that she was able to pet them without them being fearful of her.
