Taming Feral Cats and Kittens

Feral kittens, lurking on the street, hungry, fleeing human contact. To adopt such a ragged, half-wild cat would surely be madness. Yet many people are doing just that, to deal with feline overpopulation in cities. This was why I adopted my own feral kittens, Peaches (pictured left) and Pan (below, left), seven years ago.

Urban centers often try to solve feline overpopulation by eliminating feral cats. But remove one cat colony, and another replaces it. Some areas are attempting a new method: “Trap-Neuter-Release,” or TNR. Volunteer groups, such as Toronto’s Annex Cat Rescue, trap and neuter adult cats, then return them to the colony. So no new cats move in, but the population stabilizes and slowly decreases.

However, there are always existing kittens, so volunteers try to rescue and adopt them out. But these cats are nothing like Fluffy’s babies born in your closet, and start with difficulties domestic cats simply don’t face. Transforming wild kittens into pets takes work and patience, and attention from special people.

The first of these are veterinarians who help the rescue organizations. Kittens diagnosed with diseases like Feline Leukemia, FIV (a virus similar to HIV), or herpes are treated just as domestics would be. Fortunately, there is no higher incidence of these diseases in feral cats than in tame ones. Kittens also usually come with parasites or ear mites, but no cat is adopted out until it’s healthy.

There may be problems stemming from the babies’ nursing from a malnourished mother (e.g. Peaches’ teeth were never strong, and most needed extraction), but since kittens are usually caught around six to eight weeks of age, the effects can be reversed with good nutrition. However, ferals seem on average to remain smaller than their domestic counterparts.

The next step in the process—fostering—requires people who are patient enough to handle cats who respond with fear and hostility, yet strong enough to let them go just when they become friendly. But most people want to do their very best for every cat, and if this requires personal sacrifice.

There are no guaranteed “quick fixes.” Karen Wigg, a volunteer with Annex Cat Rescue , chuckles when asked how long the taming generally takes. Some of her cats go from wild to tame in two days, yet one trio took several months. Those who foster use varying methods, but all require patience and time. Each person uses frequent touching to accustom the kittens to a human presence. Mike Milne, another Annex volunteer, believes in fact that touching is the primary taming factor, while offering food and talking are secondary.

Generally, the cat is first isolated from the rest of the household. A bathroom is small enough for it to feel secure, but large enough that the volunteer can visit. Both Karen and Mike mention that their kittens usually start by hiding behind the toilet. Mike makes as much contact as possible on the first day, even if the cat bites. Karen, as soon as she can, begins feeding her cat by hand. If it wants to eat, the hand will be there, so the animal gets used to being petted. This method accords with Mike’s caution that even when petting the cat, one should not initially hold or confine it.

Once the kitten is comfortable being visited and touched, the next step might be toys. Mike believes that even adults can be tamed if one works with them enough, but he admits that, when it comes to toys, “adult ferals tend to be harder to get interested in something they can’t eat.”

If the kitten takes a while to tame, it can be disheartening. Yet the moments of success make everything worth it. Karen had a black and white male that no one could touch, but one day as she was getting food ready, the little cat made a decision. He launched himself onto her pant leg and hung there. As Karen says, “He was like, ‘Hiiiii!’” From that moment on, he was a “crazy affectionate” lap cat.

Mike describes a sudden turnaround with a very wild kitten from a pair. “I started petting the wilder one, one day, and she went from hissing to purring to laying on her back wanting more attention all at once. It was very sudden and she never reverted.”

Once the kitten seems comfortable, the next step is to widen its boundaries. It meets other household members, one at a time. Food or a new toy may be placed to lure it a few steps outside the current comfort zone.

Gradually the kitten becomes relaxed and comfortable. And now it is ready for the final adventure: going to a new family and learning to be just as comfortable in a new home.

[This is the first part of a two part article. Find the second part here ]