J Carol

Someone dropped off yet another stray kitten and she is quite frightened but very beautiful calico. What is the best way to tame her and have her get use to us? Our local Humane Society does NOT take strays.

She has been around our house for about 2 weeks and we finally caught her in a live trap so we could take care of her as she isn't more than 3 months old and seems very tiny. Any help you can give me as I havn't had one quite this scared. She has calmed down quite a bit since we got her out of the trap and into one of our dog crates but stays to the back of the crate except when my 16 yr old grandson approaches her then she is a bit curious.

Dragonomine

Take your time. She's going to have to learn to trust you. Just sit with her. Hold out your hand. Talk gently to her. Try to hand feed. Go very slow. Give her a few toys and try to entice her. Hmm.. I wonder if a laser light would get her attention. The cats at the rescue love that! Speaking of which, check and see if they have an animal rescue around your area if you don't feel you're going to keep her. Good luck! It's going to be hard and time consuming but don't give up on her!

dakotamaid

It took me about a month to calm down a stray kitten we found. Give her time but keep her in the cage until she can trust you and vice versa.

adnil458

Patience is the key. Neither stray we have likes to be touched very much. One we have had 7 years is mostly outdoors. One we have had 2 years mostly inside. Both are tabbys so I wonder sometimes about that. Our other two are DSHs who were lucky enough to be taken from their ferrel mom very very early, bottle fed with loving attention and have much better dispositions. Unfortunately now there is a long hair grey and white who comes to our front porch in bad weather. We have a trap but not consistent in setting it ... All we have caught is one of our own cats and a possum!!!!!

misspriss

Keep the door of the crate open, make sure there is a litter box near and water. When she ventures out don't rush to her. Let her find you.

Sunnye

Patience. When we had kittens born on our property, they were friendly to us but not the mother. By the time we got back from vacation, the window of opportunity was closed for really taming them. They finally trusted us enough to come in the house, eat the food, lounge around...BUT, they never got used to staying inside. They wanted out all the time and you couldn't close the door fast enough to keep them in. We also discovered that along with using the litter (a good thing) they also used my potted plants for a bathroom.

Jingle

Daughter and I have had feral cats and the secret is to take her out of the cage into a small room where she can't get away and hold and pet her, call her by her name hundreds of times until she learns it. Put her back into the cage and repeat above as much as you can. It takes a while but soon she will get attached to you. When you can trust her to not hide, then you can forget the cage. My Daughter had one that spent his 11 years of life petrified of her and the family.

Jingle

My Daughter corrected me, her cat above spent his 15 years of life petrified. He would come into the living room when Christmas tree was up. He would take treats, couldn't touch him nor look at him.

mythreesuns

We had the same thing with a cat we got...we got it from a neighbors friend.. who we thought spent time with the kittens. We had no idea they never came into their house, nor left the cage, and was never played with. She would only come up to me and hide from everyone else...

Jan in VA

Be sure to create or allow places where the kitten can get up high......
Steps up to a place to look out the window
A perch about mid-chest or shoulder height (yours!) where she can nap or watch the world go by
A place to scratch on and even a partially enclosed, partially hidden or well out of the way 'safe' place.
"Seed" them with a tiny cat treat or two to draw her interest. And then allow her to explore on her own without your involvement.

Jan in VA