Tips on taming a semi feral cat kitten?

Question

We noticed a few months ago a snow leoppard bengal cat in our neighborhood, it mainly hung around the neighbors house. My GF inquired to the neighbors thery said they allow it with thier cats in the house occasionally. My GF exspressed intrest in it, the neighbor brought it over in a carrier the other night and told us to either adopt it or try and find it a good home, as the just had a newborn baby a week ago, and didnt have time to try and tame it.
The cat I'd gues is 8 months or a little older, very beatiful animal, just real shy of humans. We had it in the house 3 days now, and it hides constantly from us, but I caught it playing with our seal point siamese when I was comming out of another room last night. They were rubbing on one another, the bengal had her tail up in the air, then she noticed me, off she went under the couch.
Ive been trying to associate food with us, shes eating and drinking, and using a temporary litter box, when we are not around.Just looking for some tips?

Answer 1

Keep it away from babies and small children. Be patient !
Other than that treat it like any other kitten.

Temperament is of primary concern, both to breeders and to pet buyers. Modern-day, carefully bred kittens have loving, outgoing personalities. The instinctive suspicion of the wild cat has been bred out through careful selection. The two main things breeders look for are sweet temperament and beautiful, wild appearance.

First-cross (F1) hybrids tend to be shy, nervous, untouchable cats, much like their wild fathers. Like mules and bison/cow hybrids, first-generation hybrid Bengal males are infertile, but their F1 sisters can reproduce. In subsequent generations, males are fertile so outcrosses to domestic cats are no longer needed. In fact, they are undesirable because breeding back to domestics dilutes the precious wild inheritance.

Good Luck!


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Answer 2

What worked for me to tame and socialize many feral or rescue cats and kittens was to put a large cage, like a full sized cat cage or a large varikennel, in the corner of a room where there was noise, tv, etc, and cover it except for the door. There the cat can see, hear and smell everything, but feel safe in the darkened cage. Leave her some dry food but also start offering canned food and make handling time also be the feeding time for the canned fiood. Whenever you go to handle the cat, dont pick her up at first, just scratch her ears, under her chin, stroke her head, whatever she appears to like best and be scared of least. If she doesnt like anything, then scratch behind ears gently and stroke the top of her head and if she isn't trying to bite, scratch gently under her chin. Then leave her the canned food, close the door, and walk away. The cat just learned that she had to put up with some handling, but still felt safe in the back of her dark cage, not being picked up, and then she got rewarded with something really good tasting and the human left without harming her. Her last experience before you shut the door was of receiving a treat. This starts forming the association of handling, with something positive. As time goes on, you should start seeing her relax as she gets used to handling. It sometimes takes weeks or even a couple of months to go from just scratching her or petting her and leaving, and reaching the point where the cat is confident and can be let out to run around the house. As you are doing this, gradually uncover the cage. After about a week, for instance, uncover part of the side so that just the back and about 2/3 of the sides are covered, Next week, uncover another third, third week, take the cover off. If she reacts in fear at any of these stages, go back to covering all but the front for another week, then try again. It takes patience but has worked for all but a few cats and kittens that I used it on. And of the few it didnt work on, one was cattery born and raised, socialized but just had a wild kind of basic temperament.

Answer 3

Hi,

Well, to me it's a time thing. You are doing very well the way you are handling this cat now. Just give it time, keep doing it the way you have been. Try to approach the cat slowly, talking softly as well. In due time the cat will get used to you and any one else in your household. Seeing that this feral cat is getting along with the cat you have now, is a huge plus too. I wouldn't let the cat outside any more tho. It will be much better off being an inside cat. If you can, have it fixed asap. That would greatly up the chances on having a loving, people friendly cat for the rest of it's life. I wish you much luck and hope my advise helps you out. You are such a nice person to take this cat inside. Good luck!

Answer 4

3 days is not long enough for a cat to be comfortable. If the cat hasspent its entire life so far away from people, it is scared. It could have been abused also. Keep giving it food and treats, in a week or so it should start to come out. Just try to not be too loud or agressive around it and it will be okay.

Answer 5

I think you're doing just fine.

It sounds like she's quite happy with your other cat but is very wary of people. Most kittens are handled from a young age, but your feral us probably more used to being chased off, so you just need to be patient.

Avoid loud noises, but don't creep around the house either, as both will make her jumpy & nervous.

Encourage her occasionally to come out of hiding places with soothing baby talk, tasty morsels or a shoelace to chase, but mostly let her get on with things.

Once she learns that she can trust you not to make her do anything or do anything but feed, love & play with her, she'll be fine.

I had an ex-feral myself (for 12 years) and she never completely lost her nervousness of strangers (not necessarily a bad thing to be honest), but she was very loving & playful with us.

I'd leave it a good while before you let her outside (if you intend to) You might find if you do it too soon, she'll disappear. When you do let her out, you'll probably find that you've got yourself a neighbourhood cat, who visits everyone's house to 'do lunch', before coming home to sleep, so keep an eye on her weight. If you notice she's gaining too much, it might be an idea to get her on some lower calorie stuff.

And DEFINATELY get her SPAYed - BEFORE she starts going out and - especially if your seal point is male.

Best wishes.x

Answer 6

We had the same experience with a wild, abandoned, kitten that we took in. It stayed hidden, only coming out to eat but eventually he began socializing with our other cat and finally we could pet it as it ate and gradually it became more friendly and is now a lap rug. It takes time and patience to socialize a 'wild' animal so take your time and enjoy your small successes. Don't rush or you will scare the animal and set yourself back. Trust is the issue and it has to know you won't hurt it. Good luck.

Answer 7

Sounds like you are doing all of the right things. :)

My cat is completely tame, and it took her months to adjust to becoming an inside cat after being outdoors her whole life.

I would suggest quarantining the cat to one room or area with its food, water, and litter box. After a few days, start leaving the door open for a few hours. That will help the kitty establish a safe area, and he/she will settle in a little quicker.

Treats don't hurt, either. :)

Good luck to you and your new kitty, and I hope this helps! :)

Answer 8

being any kind of cat;they are going to be really shy and timid for awhile;;try putting the bed somewhere quite and dark and kitty will start coming out 'a little at a time..i think your doing every thing good for her,, just give her time to find herself,,good luck

Answer 9

Give her time. She will get used to people. Maybe if she see the other cat socializing with you it will interest her and she will come around