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Cat Forum / Rescue / October 2003

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Semi-feral kittens: separate or keep together

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Nord Stjern - 16 Oct 2003 11:05 GMT
I took in two semi-feral kittens, not related, in July, when they were
about 10 weeks old. They were in a cage for about a month, then moved
into a bathroom (with other kittens, all of which are adopted in the
meantime because they were friendly & social) for the next two months.
I had hoped to get these two socialized and adopted out during kitten
season as well, but they are still not ready to go :-( Two weeks ago I
moved them into a spare bedroom. They are now about 5 1/2 months old.

Shelby has made decent progress. Though she still runs away when I
enter the room, I sometimes find her sleeping on the window sill, and
on exceptionally good days even on the bed. She also isn't totally
paranoid of me any more and will only try to escape half-heartedly
when I approach her. If I do pick her up, she will purr and head-butt
for a while...seems like until she realizes that I'm a human, and then
she will run off.

Benji has not made much progress. Very scared, he will spend most of
his time under the dresser. Sometimes he will sleep at the foot of the
scratching post, but immediately retreat to the dresser when I come
in. When I pick him up, he paralyzes and gets away as quickly as he
senses a chance.

Overall, they snuggle with each other a lot, which is why I have kept
them together. I am now debating separating them and putting both in
with another (more socialized) cat. Opinions welcome!

Nordstjern
Ted Davis - 16 Oct 2003 13:44 GMT
<snip>

>Overall, they snuggle with each other a lot, which is why I have kept
>them together. I am now debating separating them and putting both in
>with another (more socialized) cat. Opinions welcome!

I have a somewhat parallel case - as a kitten, he was tame and
friendly, but as he grew up he became very afraid of me (his sister
became a lap cat).  Alone, he can't be touched, but when next to a
tame and friendly adult, he can be petted, and even picked up ...
sometimes he will even jump into my lap if his favorite adult is
already there.

Progress in resocializing him is very slow, but without the friendly
adults, I don't think I would make any progress at all.

Curious thing: he likes to be around me, but hovers just out of reach.

T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu)
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