Expert: Jessica - 5/25/2011

Question
It turns out it was a mother with 3 kits can you tell me how to gain there trust???I've fed them and sat for two hours about every day for 4 days.

Answer
Hi Christian,

How easy these guys will be to socialize will depend on whether the mother ever had human contact and the age of the kittens. It may be a long road and a slow journey. But in any case, food will be your best friend. Continue to spend a lot of time with them, and use food to build trust. Try to feed them extra special treats by hand. This will encourage them to trust you even further. If you are able to catch the kittens, do so. If they are already at the age where they’re trying to bite and scratch, I recommend using some thick gloves, such as dirt-biking gloves, and catching them anyway. Hold them against their will. If they’re only 2-3 months old, they should calm down relatively quickly. If the mother has never had human contact, she will take much longer and may take years before accepting any real human contact. If she did receive some socialization when she was younger, it should come back to her with some intense work after a few weeks to a couple of months, but you will need to be patient and consistent. Keeping her in a dog kennel and reaching in to pet her will work best for this. Most cats will back into a corner and hiss and spit, and on occasion may swat, but I’ve rarely had any damage done by even the most aggressive cats. Again, I recommend wearing the gloves to pet any cats who seem like a threat at first, and petting them anyway.

You can also try sitting down reading a book to the kitties. This will just help them to get used to your presence and your voice. It can be easier for them to accept when you’re there reading a book because you’re not making eye contact, which can be threatening for cats who aren’t socialized. Once they’re fully used to your presence, you can move on to looking in their eyes and speaking to them more directly. Cats generally enjoy this type of bonding with people once they have been socialized, but it will scare them off until then. When you need to look at them for catching them or hand-feeding them, I suggest squinting your eyes slightly, which suggests a relaxed manner, rather than looking at them with your eyes wide open. This fully alert look can signal danger to a cat.

Aside from this, it’s just being consistent and working with them every day. In time, you will see progress, but it can take weeks for kittens and months or longer for adults.

Good luck!

Jessica