How To Socialize 7 Week Old Feral Kittens
Introduce toys into your play when the kitten is 6 or 7 weeks old. Kittens love to play with squeaky toys, cardboard tubes, or small boxes with holes that they can bat. Avoid cat toys that have loose parts or things that could be eaten, such as string or feathers on a wand.
How to socialize 7 week old feral kittens. Congratulations on deciding to foster and socialize kittens! Spending time with these fuzzy little guys, though a lot of work, will also be a lot of fun. We have tons of tips on how to help your mini kitties feel at ease around people, and how to help them grow up to be loving companion animals. In fact, we do kittens a disservice when we don't actively attempt to socialize them, says Shawn Simons, the founder of Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats, based in Los Angeles, California. And don't let the name fool you. It is a nonprofit with a serious mission: to rescue feral street kittens and turn them into beloved pets. They estimate that kittens under 4 weeks old take “a matter of hours or days to socialize.” Older kittens take longer, naturally, and kittens who are 10 weeks or older “can also be tamed, but it may take much longer and many times they will only tame to the person working with them and remain wild with strangers.”
At about 54 days old, kittens are at the height of their eye-paw coordination, leading them to try more daring and complex actions. Watch them and ensure their play area is safe. At this age, the kittens’ adult eye color may start to emerge! Care Feeding: Kittens who are seven weeks old should be eating kitten kibble and wet food. Kittens are by nature very active and love to play--even feral ones. It would be good if you could take her out of the cage a few times a day and let her run around in a room where she can't get hurt. Provide her with cat toys and try to engage her with a wand toy. I socialized a 3-4 month old feral kitten with lots of play time. This is easily remedied, though. By planning the right experiences for your cat, you can socialize her on your own. When to Start Socializing. It is important that your kitten has the proper socialization when she is young. The main socialization window for kittens is from 2 to 7 weeks of age, but it can extend up to 14 weeks.
Kittens under four weeks old can usually be socialized in a matter of days, and kittens up to eight weeks old can take approximately two to four weeks to socialize. 10-12 weeks old kittens can also be tamed, but it may take longer. Taming feral kittens over 12 weeks old can be difficult and they may never be fully socialized to people." Since kittens start learning so early, most of the "life as a cat" lessons should have been done by the time you adopted the kitten. There's a reason people use the term copycat: Kittens learn by watching their mother and patterning behaviors after her.If a cat mother is buddies with a dog, her kittens will accept dogs as a safe part of their world. Kittens that do not have any contact with humans after they are born will be feral, regardless of whether their mother is a lost house cat or a feral cat living in a colony. They will be frightened of people and demonstrate all of the signs of fear and anxiety that an adult cat would, like spitting, hissing, and running from human contact.
If you want to easily tame feral or undersocialized kittens for adoption, there is a narrow window of opportunity between four and eight weeks of age. Kittens under two months old usually can be socialized very quickly using food as an incentive to befriend humans because they have not yet developed the strong “fight or flight” instinct of. 14 weeks is a little old to try to socialize a feral kitten. I have a feral queen locked up in my garage with a litter of 6 kittens (estimated 6-7 weeks old) and they are already starting to show aggression towards humans. They and the mother will be released after they are weaned and the mother is spayed. Hi, I work for a cat rescue group as a volunteer. I've fostered a bunch of kittens, from 2 weeks to five months, with good success. But now I've got a feral kitten, roughly four months old, that was brought in and neutered last night during our monthly clinic.
Typically, the older kittens are, the longer it will take to socialize them, and it is intensive work requiring proper time and space. Depending on a kitten’s age and temperament, he or she may never become a good candidate for adoption. In attempting to socialize an older kitten who seems borderline feral, we recommend giving it 2 weeks maximum. Place a pet carrier in the room with the trap. You will need to take the feral cat to the veterinarian to receive some much-needed veterinary care (e.g., vaccinations, dewormings, FeLV and FIV testing). It will probably be easier to transport the feral cat in the carrier, rather than the trap. Leave the carrier door open and place some blankets and treats in the carrier to make it more. Feral kittens that are between 4 to 10 weeks old are especially suitable to socialize. Several organizations recommend not to take a cat from the wildness if they are all grown up already. Even if your intentions are the best, you can harm the cat.
Some Helpful Guidelines for Taming Feral Kittens. Kittens under 8 weeks can usually be socialized without much difficulty following the guidelines detailed below. Kittens over 8 weeks of age who've had no positive interaction with humans often take much longer to socialize. At 6 or 7 weeks, kittens can eat soft food, but they really can’t manage kibble yet unless it’s softened into a gruel. Thomas: Alley Cat Allies has tons and tons of fantastic resources on socializing feral kittens, feeding rescued feral kittens, and even how to trap a mom-cat using her kittens as bait. This is likely part of the explanation for why some seven-week-old kittens turn into biscuit-making purr machines in no time, while others continue to hiss and swat after a week or two of socialization. What to do. If you are aware of feral kittens in the area, attempt to live trap them around five or six weeks of age.
