Any animal behaviourists

[crossy67]

I'm looking for some reassurance that I am not paranoid.

Towards the end of July we found a stray cat in our barn hiding with 4 small kittens,. We life in a rural location with lots of farm land the accompanying vermin that comes with it so I (being stupid) thought, a cat or two might not be a good idea. We started feeding the mother who was very affectionate and left them all where they were. About a week or two later they all disappeared, we didn't see them again for about a month so the kittens weren't handled until they were about six weeks old.

After we fond them we started feeding them again and making friends with the kittens. One in particular was very friendly, two others were less so but after we moved them into the house they came round. The fourth kitten was a problem right from the out set.

We managed to rehome two of the kittens and were quite happy to keep the remaining two kittens if we could socialise the fourth. The fourth kitten ran a mile when ever anyone went into the room he was in would freak out running round like a loon. About a week later he ran out the back door into the garden and vanished. He was out all night meowing for his mother who had just had the snip so wasn't allowed out. Eventually we let her out and they were reunited. After this both the kittens and the mother spent most of their time outside, coming in to sleep in the utility room and eat.

Now this is the bit that is making me wonder if I'm paranoid. Until the fourth kitten got outside all was going well with the other two but he seems to be turning them feral. Even the friendly one is acting skittish and avoiding contact now. Could he be leading the others astray or am I mad?

[parakitaMol.]

Firstly, I am not a behaviourist, but I wanted to share my experience of a semi-feral cat who I adopted as a kitten 18 years ago. She's never fully been happy in a house, she acts like she's been beaten with sticks and kept in a box.... she is spooky and jumpy and never sits on laps. Despite having picked her up from the farm as a kitten and had all the usual home social experiences AND living with another cat. In our current home she decided she didn't want to be inside and preferred to live in one of the sheds so we put a cat flap in it, heaters and her beds and that is where she stays. It might be that the kitty is just going to always be a bit feral? Ours still kills squirrels, mice and anything else she can find -we had a full sized bunny last week! I don't know lots about cats but I do wonder if they are distinctly different when they are born feral?

[eybic]

I think most Ferral cats are pretty much always difficult, we had one that we rescued and for the 10 years we owned her she was far from a lap cat. She got on with our other cats very well but wasn't so keen on us

[crossy67]

Well we've had some significant progress.

We removed him from the other cats and put him in a cat basket in the spare bathroom and kept going in and sitting with him on and off. Within a few hours he was transformed, purring like mad and climbing all over me. He was still very skittish out of the bathroom but quite good in the kitchen.(unlike Julie).

We're now on the third day and he's following me round, purring and wanting contact. He's just climbed onto my knee and is falling to sleep. He's by a mile turned into our favorite and most affectionate kitten, we love him to bits. He'a still a bit skittish but it's early days.

Thanks for your input.

[Mobile Chicane]

We have an ex feral who's always been a bit contrary. He came to us as an adult cat with fear aggression issues we've managed to resolve however he will never be a cuddle bug.

You may not know that in cats, the act of copulation stimulates ovulation, so it could be that different toms with varying degrees of wildness fathered your kittens.