Tiny ferrel kitten hanging out with my girls.

[navychick]

After I put the girls to bed I put out a dish of kitty food but have not seen her in 2 days so who knows who is eating it. Hopefully not the raccoons and opossums we have hanging around. I'd love to have her around. I guess it's up to her.

 

[Pele]

It's just doing exactly what cats are made to do: Hang around human establishments and hunt the inevitable mice that result from having livestock. How people can be upset at them for such a valuable service always boggles my mind. It controls disease and improves the health and wellbeing of your animals.

Just take it to the humane society for a very cheap spay/neuter, and you have a barn-cat who will repay you with years of barnyard improvement.

 

[MaureenL128]

well said Pele

 

[wyododge]

Kinda funny. Never really figured it out. Our cats CONSTANTLY chase and catch birds, could a gave a pile of donkey poo about the chicks and later chickens though...

We have somewhat of a cat pandemic going on in my parts, lots of city folks leave their pets along the highway and they end up at farms and ranches. They absolutely devastate the wildlife, and are an invasive species. In my opinion ferrel cats do not belong here, not a thing wrong with spayed or neutered pet cats though, they are somewhat controlled. JHMHO

 

[navychick]

Well, the little kitty was on the back porch tonight. I put some dog food mixed with warm milk out, then I remembered we had tuna so I put that out too. Ten minutes later kitty came and devoured the dog food mix and not a bit of the tuna, go figure. Hopefully, I can get her to trust me before it gets too cold. Other than feeding her, how can I tame her. I'm afraid she'll freeze or fall prey to predators.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Kittens have a really strong prey drive and love to play, chasing things. I bought a wand toy, to entice my feral kitten. It's a long stick, with streamers or other things at the end, that move when you wiggle it.

She wouldn't come too close or let me touch her at first. She would run off when she saw me and only came to eat the food after I'd gone back into the house. Eventually, she would eat while I was outside, as long as I wasn't too close.

I started sitting down on the ground and she would watch me. I took the wand toy and started wiggling the streamers on the end. She got really excited by the movement and came near. After a couple of times doing that, she cam over and started playing with it. A couple of times playing and we could reach over and pet her.

She was fine with handling, once she figured out that it felt good to be petted and we weren't going to hurt her.

 

[flspnr]

How tiny is the tiny kitten??

I had one once that was living under the house next to me, and it was about 4 weeks old. I managed to catch it, using a butterfly net, and brought it inside, holding him by the scruff of his neck so he wouldn't scratch me. Boy was he ticked! I put him on the sofa and removed all animals from the room. He hid under the cushions for the longest time, and hissed and spit if I moved my hand close. I ignored him, and watched some tv. Every few minutes, I scooted my hand a little closer, watching out of the corner of my eye so I didn't get scratched (no idea on diseases he might have had, plus I'm allergic to cats and swell up when I get scratched...). After about 45 minutes, I was close enough to touch (I moved SLOW lol). I placed my hand over him and held him on the couch, so he couldn't squirm away and scratch me, being very careful I didn't hurt him. After about a minute, he calmed down, so I started scratching with one finger and holding him with the rest of my hand. He started relaxing and purring! So I moved him on my lap, carefully, and continued petting him. DH thought I was nuts, but I think he just needed to learn I wasn't going to hurt him. When he was on my lap and I was scratching, I got DH to bring me food for him, and he ate it right up. He was still a little skittish for a bit, but very very quickly learned to come when I wiggled my fingers, a sign we use for all our cats to let them know that we want to give them scratches and loving.

Go slow with the kitten. You don't want to scare it off, but if you can catch it, wrap it in a towel or something so it can't scratch you (snugly cover all feet!), and scratch and love for a bit, then feed. That'll show the kitten that you equal love and food, to very important things! If you can't catch it, that's okay too. Just tame it like you would with chickens - slowly move it's food closer and closer to you, until you can reach out and scratch gently. Make sure to talk in a calm, soothing voice. You'll win this cat's heart for sure!

 

[navychick]

Thanks everyone for the advice. My guess is kitty is 7-8 weeks old. First time I saw it 3 weeks ago it was very tiny. It was in the run eating crumble. I caught her (as she had no where to go), by the scruff of the neck and released her outside of the run. I wish I had brought her inside, but I was on my way to work. I was worried my girls would attack her. Since then I have seen her a few times. Its so cold here in the winter. I'm afraid she won't make it if I can't win her trust. Last night was a step in the right direction, I hope.

 

[ailurophile23]

The sooner you catch the kitten, the better your chances are to tame her - live traps baited with food (apparently dog food for this one!) work well, especially if covered with a blanket or towel so it looks like a cave. I have kept feral kittens in kitty condos and even small rooms - someplace I can work with them. Just move slowly, be patient, and tempt the kitten with food and play - the wand toys suggested by WoodlandWoman work great - they allow you some distance form the kitten while definitely appealing to their prey and play drives.

If you cannot catch her, keep supplying food and consider putting out a warm kitty house for her to take cover in - a box with some bedding or a box within a box, just keep the opening small - big enough for her to get inside but not much more - anything that will provide some insulation from the elements. I have had luck placing such boxes in sheltered areas near where I am feeding feral kittens - they will often end up sleeping inside. I also have used water-proof "boxes" such as the top half of a litter box attached to a board and then insulated with blankets or towels.

Best of luck with this for both you and the kitten!

~Laura

 

[ZoeZoo]

She'll likely be more helpful than harmful, keeping all sorts of rodents away! I would just leave a dish of kitty kibble out. She'll come around soon, and then you can get her fixed.

Poor thing..