I have a guest blogger today; my son, John-Michael. I am so proud that he tries to make the world a better place, a kinder place. He could easily say that life is too hard to help others, since he has chronic back pain from the tumor that presses on his spine. Yet, for over a year, he has helped with this non profit.... doing what he can. John-Michael is one of a kind and we are so proud of him. It is our hope that what we have learned while working with the Feral Cat Program of Georgia will help kittens and people all over the world.
Tips for taming a feral kitten
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| Jamilah when we met her |
I am currently working
on socializing a feral kitten that I received from a rescue group just a couple
of days ago. Her name is Jamilah, but we
call her by a nickname, Jam-EE, like P.J.'s... put on your jammies.
. Her 8
weeks of life taught her that humans are evil. She was born at an apartment
complex where the people viewed her and other cats as rodents, so the people
tried to hunt her and her family in order to exterminate the cats. Since she was so scared
when she first arrived we had to pick her up with rawhide gloves and
immediately burrito her. (Those who do not know what burrito means, this is when
you take a blanket or a towel and gently wrap the kitten in the cloth, snuggled
in, but not too tight). The burrito
makes the kitten feel calmer and keeps the people that are holding her safe from
her claws. In order to keep her from hiding
from us and to keep us from having to catch her each time we want to work with her, and thus causing her
more panic, we keep her in a big portable cloth dog kennel.
In the kennel, she has a heat pad, a stuffed
teddy bear to cuddle with, a litter box, dry Royal Canin kitten food, water, and
a few toys. We have talk radio or the
weather channel playing in the background 24/7, so she gets used to hearing
human voices and not feeling panicked.
While she is in her burrito, we pet her head
with our hands and brush her with a tooth brush. The tooth brush is said to
feel like a cat’s mother grooming her, helping her to see us as a source of
comfort. She gave us her first purr within 24 hours of us having her while
brushing her with the tooth brush. We do
that 5 to 6 times a day. Also, we only give her canned food while we are
holding her. This helps her associate people with good food,
snuggles, and lots of love.
Three days into working with her, she has now
graduated to playing on my bed. This allows her to get energy out and learn to
play. She will look forward to seeing
people because they have cool things called kitten toys. When you work on taming a feral kitten,
remember they will hiss and possibly scratch. They might even bite out of fear.
Persevere.
Don’t give up. You are giving the
kitten the chance to having a loving human friend, inside, away from predators,
cars, and so forth. It is not a easy task. Every kitten is different; some kittens tame very
easily in little as one day. The older the kitten the more time it will take… possibly months. Please remember that cats are
not dogs. Do not treat them like dogs. Also,
make sure that you have a stuffed animal handy, because when kittens play, they
naturally play bite and bunny kick (kick here back legs) other kittens…. It is natural,
normal kitten play. If they
start to play with you this way, you can quickly switch your hand out with the stuffed animal. I hope this helps you save and transform a
kitten from feral to friendly.
Jammie learning to play
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