I rescued a kitten....?

Question

I found a mother cat and her kittens living in the wild(behind a grocery store)Hes 4 months old now and he constantly bites and scratches me.The only time i'm able to pet it is when he sleepy or going to sleep. Is it possible that this kitten will grow out of this or is it "wild "and untamable?I have another cat that never acted like this even when he was a kitten. All I want to do is pet the little varmit.

I have had him for about 6 weeks and he seems right at home and very playful and has tons of energy.I could just be sitting there and he will attack my hand and bite in a playful way but it hurts a lot.

Answer 1

The kitten doesn't feel safe around you yet, so you need to let it adapt. Since it was born wild, it doesn't know what humans are like so this may take awhile. Depending on how old it was when you got it will decide how long it will take for it to adapt to it's new surroundings. The younger it was when you got it, the less time it will take to adapt. Just give it time. Let it get used to your smell first, and the smells around your house, before you try to touch or hold it. Give it frequent opportunities to approach you instead of the other way around. Sit still for awhile somewhere near it with a bit of food so it will want to be near you. When you feed it, make sure the kitten is right there at it's dish so it knows that you're the one that food comes from. My cat always comes to me even when it's not time to eat, because she knows I'm the one who takes care of her. Just give the kitten time and be patient. Good luck with your new pet!

P.S. The reason your other cat never did this was probably because he had been handled by humans before and he wasn't born wild(was he?).

Answer 2

You can't fault a kitten for being a kitten. It's part of their development to explore, be curious, get into trouble, be naughty, climb up the curtains, un-make the bed, knock every priceless knicknack you own onto the floor, etc. Don't spray her with water to get her to behave. It really doesn't work in the long run. For a kitten, you need to act like it's mother. If your kitten was still with it's mother and littermates, the entire lot of them would be clamoring all over her playing and making total nuisances of themselves. A mother cat does one of two things...she walks away or she gives them a swat of the paw. When they get really obnoxious, she bites them on the scruff of the neck. Miraculously, they instantly become little angels when mama goes for the neck. It's really important that you be your kitten's surrogate mother. At first, you want to ignore. If she bites your hand (because she thinks it's a toy), don't pull your hand away. That just makes it like a game to her. Instead, have your hand just play dead...that immediately stops all the fun. If she continues...get up and walk away from her. You do this consistently and she will get the hint. If not, you need to grab the scruff of her neck firmly (do not lift her without supporting her from behind though!) and get her to calm down. Firmly say, "NO!" And when she's calm, you can let her go.

Another important part of your kitten's development is playtime. Since she has no littermates to play with you have to make time to play with her. Get an interactive toy and let her release all that pent up energy playing. Play with her till she's lying on her side panting in exhaustion! Watch how much calmer she is for the rest of the day after all that play! She'll be snoozing in no time! She will begin to look forward to playtime with you and you will experience a very special bonding moment. :-)

She will still climb the walls and get herself into trouble every now and then, but she will eventually grow out of it and mature. Good luck!

Answer 3

We also rescued a ferrel cat. She was on the freeway and had been grazed by a car...she was about 6 weeks old. Over time, she has calmed down and now follows me everywhere. Some of the biting and scratching is normal kitten activity.

We have conditioned our kitten. When it's time to eat, I tap the plate and call her. She now comes when I tap the plate. At night, we pen her in a large crate. We don't "push" ourselves on her, but allow her to come to us.

Good luck and God bless you for your kind heart!

PS We are allergic to cats...anyone with a tender heart in the state of Utah who would like to adopt our little I-84 Angel?

Answer 4

I wouldn't go so far as to call him untamable: You've said you can pet him when he's sleepy, after all. But most wild kittens never completely outgrow being wild. Take your time, stay near him and let him see you bring his food out. Once he gets used to the idea of you bringing food, he'll stay near you. But again, don't hurry to pet him. He'll let you know when he's ready to be affectionate.

Answer 5

It depends, but usually it does not work out and they do not tame after a certain age. At 4 months it may be too late for it to become tame.

I suggest giving it treats for a few days by hand, and then slowly after giving him a treat try to pet him - and then more - and so on.

They tend to be more trusting when they understand you are the one providing it food.

Good Luck.

Answer 6

Before petting the kitten let him sniff your hand as a way of getting permission first this will ususally stop him from biting and scraching u when u pet him. Let him chose the pace and follow.

Answer 7

for starters ive never seen a store inthe wild before you must live inthe jungle or something like that but about the cat you just have to give it time try petting the cat while you feed him milk it worked for me not thefirst day it took a week just keep with it it will work just remember to be really gentle

Answer 8

The cat is wild not likely to grow out of it

Answer 9

im sure he will grow out of it...just make sure when you pet him that you do it very gently and speak with a soft voice. he'll get more and more used to you and then he'll learn to trust you. it sounds to me like he might have a trust issue. my uncle rescued my kitten, who is now a year, and he is afraid of everything, but luckily he has now learned to trust most of my family and some friends. just keep working on it with him and he'll eventually learn to trust you. he might think that you're trying to hurt him. you don't know what happened to him before you rescued him.

Answer 10

He doesn't know you, it seems like a pretty natural thing for him to do. Don't touch him until he wants to be touched. Take care of him, feed him, and treat him nicely. He'll eventually come around.