Feral kittens, or undersocialized kittens, can thrive in foster homes. By gradually exposing them to humans, helping them form an association between humans and food, and slowly introducing new stimuli, kittens four months old and younger can turn from hissy to kissy.
Make Your Feral Foster Kitten Feel Safe
Give your feral, or undersocialized, kitten a calm and cozy space. This should be a small location, such as a playpen or small bathroom, that has everything they might need throughout the day. After letting them adjust to their safe space for a day or two, it’s time to start gradually challenging their boundaries.
Help the Feral Kitten Get Used to Your Presence
Spend more time with the kitten in gradual increments. This can look like simply sitting in the same room or next to their playpen for a couple of minutes. If the kitten makes eye contact, slowly blink at them a few times. It’s cat lingo for “I trust you.”
However, it’s important that you don’t approach the kitten during this time. Give them as much space as possible while staying in their line of sight. Simply stay present and don’t stare directly at them – some cats perceive this as a threat.
Associate Yourself with Kitten Food
You should be present for each of the kitten’s mealtimes. Sit at whatever distance that will allow the kitten to feel comfortable eating. The more you do this, the closer you can get to them. This is one important reason to not “free-feed” a kitten – get them on a meal routine so they start to associate you with their food.
Another way to use food as a tool is to have treats on hand. Have the kitten watch you slowly offer a treat. You can place it in the space between the two of you or make a trail of treats to encourage them to explore.
As you spend time with the kitten during meals, watch for subtle cues that tell you the kitten has achieved a new milestone. One milestone might be getting close enough to touch their food bowl, and another might be successfully feeding them from a spoon.
The overall goal is for the kitten to eat food right out of your hand and to allow you to pet them while eating. Please note: If the kitten is ill or underweight, this should not be the first step you use to socialize them.
Introduce Other Cats and New Stimuli to Your Feral Kitten
Most kittens thrive with kitten playmates. Introducing a feral foster kitten to either a resident cat or a social foster kitten may help the feral kitten feel more relaxed around humans. Not only will they be comforted by their own species, but they’ll be able to observe confident house cat behavior and see that other cats trust you. Please be sure that all animals involved have been through a two week quarantine before introductions take place.
You can also try introducing stationary play to an undersocialized kitten as another way to bring them out of their shell. Toys like ball tracks or scratching posts are exciting but not overwhelming, because they don’t make unpredictable or sudden movements. Watch your foster kitten’s personality come to life as they learn to feel more confident in exploring new kinds of toys. The more confident they are, the more likely they are to attempt to interact with you on their own.
It’s also important that your foster kitten learns they can trust more than one person. Set up playdates with friends and family of different ages and energy levels. This will help the kitten adjust to the idea that humans are safe!
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Any contribution is greatly appreciated!
– $6.00 allows us to buy a bag of litter
– $25 helps us buy 12 cans of cat food
– $100+ allows us to fund general medical procedures for any felines that we foster on our own
Thank you so much for considering a donation! 🙂
Any contribution is greatly appreciated!
– $6.00 allows us to buy a bag of litter
– $25 helps us buy 12 cans of cat food
– $100+ allows us to fund general medical procedures for any felines that we foster on our own
Thank you so much for considering a donation! 🙂
Any contribution is greatly appreciated!
– $6.00 allows us to buy a bag of litter
– $25 helps us buy 12 cans of cat food
– $100+ allows us to fund general medical procedures for any felines that we foster on our own
Thank you so much for considering a donation! 🙂
Oosha’s Story
The sweet gray tabby pictured above is Oosha. She is the most undersocialized kitten that I’ve fostered so far, because she came to me at 4 months old and had never really been around people. All of her adult teeth were already in, meaning that she had passed the critical window for socialization.
We had some work to do. Thankfully, she was fostered alongside another kitten from her colony. He was socialized by the time she arrived, and she was able to observe him cuddle with me and eat from my hands.
At first, Oosha constantly hissed, puffed out her fur, and always tried to make herself as small as possible. She was also sick at the time. I could only give her medicine by wrapping her in a blanket and facing her away from me. Other than that, she wouldn’t let anyone touch her.
It took 3 weeks for her to take those slow steps mentioned above with me and a few unfamiliar faces. At that point, she was finally ready for adoption. Oosha learned to respond to the snap of my fingers by running up to me, purring, and grabbing my hand. She would roll at my feet or flop into my lap any chance she could.
Because she was considered an older kitten, it took Oosha a little longer to find her forever home. In spite of her significant improvements, she still hid from the few interested adopters that came to meet her. It wasn’t until she met her new family that she really came out of her shell.
Oosha sat on my lap and watched this stranger sit across from us. The second that the adopter spoke and reached for a toy, Oosha jumped off of my lap. Instead of hiding, she ran right up to the adopter with the loudest purr I’d ever heard. And that was that; a perfect match.
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Exploring animal welfare one foster kitten at a time
The Kitten Koop 