Well, first the good news - and as you can see, the two kittys are now tame enough to be picked up, handled and cuddled - even if fairly briefly at present! Getting a big cat now is Mr Tabby, sooo much fluff!
Sadly, it looks like the two girl tabbys will not tame down, and may well always be wild. So Sunday they are going to a special long term foster home, in the country, where they will live ina big pen until they are big enough to be spayed, then they will be introduced to outside, with a couple of other resident ferals, and life their lives as outdoor cats. they are afforded every comfort though, regular food, a place of safely and warmth, proper vet care, working etc - but far less human contact!
Another Day Dawns.....
And another breakthrough! I can now pick up the little black girl and the big fluffy tabby boy - they are not terribly happy but they do not struggle to get away either - in fact the tabby fella started purring again!
Unfortunately the two smaller female tabbies are not taming at all - still very hissy-spitty. When the other two have gone to new homes I will split the tabbies up to see if either of them show any signs of taming down. they are eating and drinking well and all seem very fit and healthy!
Well, we have decided to split the kittens up into two sets of two - primarily because two of them are just not taming down - in fact one is VERY aggressive. so am hoping that smaller groups might help with this.
The black girl and large tabby boy are quite happy to be stroked now and are not showing any signs of aggression - however the two tabbies are very ferocious still.
If they will not eventually tame down then they will have to be spayed and housed somewhere outside where they can effectively live as wild animals. As they say - you can't win 'em all!
Well I decided that the kittens have had enough of hiding - so I swapped their closed in cat basket for an open bed - now they feel safer in their surroundings this is the next move.
There is a possibility that the two bolder, more tame kittens, will go to a different foster home, so i can concentrate on taming the wilder ones - I would ideally seperate them into two cages but we have a lack of cages and funds are too low to purchase one currently - so they will go to a small pen.
The kittens are all eating well and are very clean - the black and l/h tabby are really getting into the being smoothed bit!!
Latest pics ......
Getting Bolder.......
Well as you can See from the pic, they are getting a bit more used to coming out of their hidey-box! They scarper in again if we get too near, but they sat there long enough for a photo to be taken - a step forward indeed!
They are all eating well and using the litter tray. Two of them will now let us stroke them gently when they are eating - the key to training really is eating and food - we took some ham up last night and they all except one came to the bars and snatched it through!
Leghorn is a great asset, they usually always come out when he is in the room - talk about 'Who's the Daddy' !!
I have noticed the long haired tabby girl has very large matted lumps in her fur, we have no chance at all currently of getting them out, if she tames down enough we can cut them out, failing that she will be anaesthetised for neutering later on and they will be dealt with then.
Latest photo of the kittens taken this evening, they all huddle in the cat box for safety, two of them are getting quite bold though and actually venture out when we are in the room, and are ok to be smoothed whilst eating. Although they vary in sise they are all siblings.
This is a pic of the kittys this evening, looking a bit scared but wanting some food - again! There are actually 4, but these two are more bold.
