Kitten(s?) outside my house!

September 5, 2024 9:56 PM

It’s the middle of the night and the cat distribution system has finally come to our house in the country. Is there anything I can do tonight that will improve my odds of catching / caring for them tomorrow?

We heard one crying outside our bedroom window and I believe there’s another one in a thicket of bamboo that separates our house from the one next door. Caught a glimpse of the one near the house and I think it’s very young. I went out with a flashlight but couldn’t see or get either to come to me.

Should I put out food? Water? We have wild animals about, so I don’t want to accidentally attract a predator. And tomorrow, what can I do besides try to be way more chill than I am now? We will keep them and love and spoil them if they’ll let us!

posted by Sweetie Darling to Pets & Animals (19 answers total)

Best answer: I'd put out a box on its side, with water and food in it and maybe a soft place to sleep (a rag will do). Small amount of wet kitten food, but commit to top it up regularly at set hours, that'll encourage them to show up when you're around. Sit around in sight of the box but not in arm's reach for a while after adding food and keep the door open to entice them to explore inside. Be ready it might take a few days or weeks for them to get comfortable enough to eat in your presence. Get a wand toy, kittens love play!

If they go inside the house, that's easy mode - close the door and commit to not letting them out for a good few months at least. Otherwise it might be a slow process until they're comfortable with eating at your side until you can close the box on them or lure them within hand's reach with the wand. Be gentle, calm, no raised voices or sudden movements. These are scared toddlers you're trying to take care of.

Good luck! This took me five days with a six-week kitten (in the woods, so he only got to see me three times a day) and nearly four weeks with a litter of four month olds where the chief difficulty was luring them all inside at the same time. The younger the kittens, the less time they need for domestication.

(Free tip: start with local sand / soil mixed with 10% more clay litter each time you clean the litter box. Once you're 100% clay litter, you can switch the same gradual way to whatever you want to use long term. Commercial litter doesn't look like a toilet to wild raised kittens at first, they have to be taught.)
posted by I claim sanctuary at 10:30 PM on September 5 [4 favorites]

Best answer: You need to trap them to get them inside your house. Get on NextDoor or your local neighborhood group and ask for someone to loan you a humane trap. The humane society will often loan them out as well, but neighbors are quicker. Then bait the trap with wet food and put it where you’ve seen the kittens but can easily watch it. You’ll have to trap them one at a time. Meanwhile I’d keep putting food out to get them in the habit of coming around.

Feral kittens are very easy to tame. If you have a large dog crate, that’s ideal, but you could also put them in a small area like a bathroom. You can tame a feral kitten by wrapping it in a towel and feeding it turkey baby food with your fingers. You can usually handle them within just a few days if you do this. Then continue to hold them as much as possible, like if you’re reading or watching tv.

You should also try to trap and spay the mother cat ASAP.
posted by Violet Hour at 11:06 PM on September 5 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Interesting turn of events: after getting within two feet of me to eat some canned food, he just went into our cellar through a foundation level access door that had been left askew. I’ll take the can down there and leave him till morning.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 12:01 AM on September 6 [9 favorites]

Response by poster: Morning update: He ate the food, so I replenished. I can hear little mews from an inaccessible (to humans) part of the cellar, but I guess he's managed to save himself. Now to determine if we really heard a second one in the bamboo or not!
posted by Sweetie Darling at 4:32 AM on September 6 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Great news! Bring a chair down, sit by the food and play with a length of strung - you should fish him up shortly.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 4:35 AM on September 6 [11 favorites]

Best answer: friendly reminder to please update this thread with links to kitten pics once you finally secure them

it's metafilter law

thank you
posted by Jacqueline at 5:30 AM on September 6 [46 favorites]

Best answer: Food is the way to get kittens.

Also, yes, Metafilter law.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:50 AM on September 6 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: We've made eye contact and I love him
posted by Sweetie Darling at 8:37 AM on September 6 [54 favorites]

That nose! Do we get to name him? Can we name him Sweetie Darling?
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:24 AM on September 6 [3 favorites]

Another method to try is to bring a chair and a book or laptop and just hang out down there. If he comes out, ignore him. There's a reason why cats are often drawn to people who ignore them/want nothing to do with them - it feels safer.

Even if he starts to come over to you, ignore him. You can also bring some yummy tasty treats and sprinkle them around the area where you're sitting.

As a kitten, it's possible a long string or cat toy on a string may be enough to entice him, but I've found acting like a piece of furniture until the cat becomes more comfortable is super helpful.

Also, he'll be more comfortable with dimmer lighting (if you can arrange that), and I also sometimes play a white noise app on my phone of cat purring.
posted by litera scripta manet at 11:49 AM on September 6 [3 favorites]

In case you don't know it already, the slow-blink cat smile is worth learning for the next time your new boi makes eye contact.
posted by heatherlogan at 2:06 PM on September 6 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Update: I spent most of the day in the cellar (where, weirdly, I get better phone and wifi reception than I do in my home office). He came out to eat and we slow-blinked at each other, then something scared him so he's back in the crawl space. He mews occasionally, particularly in response to our big boy Rudy who has spent the day vocally annoyed that I've been in the cellar when he is not allowed down there. Hopefully he is getting used to my voice and our house sounds.

DH was tasked with listening for a potential second kitten outside. I think maybe in hindsight I was confused about where the sounds were coming from, which can happen out here at night.

Hopefully in the next day or so I can get him to trust me enough to bring him up to the guest room, where we'll do the usual slow introduction to the big boys (tax remitted).

Thank you all!
posted by Sweetie Darling at 2:39 PM on September 6 [9 favorites]

Vet checkup and vaccines first, before you bring a new/feral kitten into physical contact with your other cats.
posted by heatherlogan at 3:04 PM on September 6

Response by poster: Final (for now) update: This morning he* (confirmed/pretty sure) came out from the ductwork to eat, despite me standing next to the plate. I scooped him up and took him first to the bathroom, now to the guest room where we will start a slow introduction to the house after a trip to the vet tomorrow. He's precious and purrs like a Hemi.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 7:31 AM on September 8 [15 favorites]

It looks like he found his way to the right house! Congrats on your new family member!
posted by amarynth at 8:18 AM on September 8

That mirror photo is so cute!
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:59 AM on September 8

Mod note: [Awww! Congratulations, Sweetie Darling; this adorable fluffball has been added to the sidebar and Best Of blog.]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:10 AM on September 9 [3 favorites]

Mazel tov!
posted by DarlingBri at 5:28 AM on September 9 [1 favorite]

<3 look at that cute little fella!
posted by Juffo-Wup at 6:34 PM on September 13 [1 favorite]