Re: Feral kitten advice please! -Got it, thanks folks 
Aw, thanks so much for the interest and encouragement, folks. (And Juliet, it's lovely to 'see' you!)
It's day 4 now of this little adventure.
The first three days were pretty much the same routine: Every time I went into the room the kittens would hiss and spit; and I got the occasional whack with a paw when I tried to clean up their cage. I did feel rather uncomfortable at being the cause of so much fear. :sad:
They didn't poop for about a day and a half, which was slightly disconcerting, but then both of them produced really hard almost black poops. I think they'd been constipated. Since then the poop has looked much more normal (and has contained dead roundworms (following their worming treatment)). They're using their little litter tray just fine. But I was slightly demoralised to find that a catnip pillow I'd made for them had been dragged into the litter tray
and pooped on. (Thanks a bunch, guys... :roll: )
I've been feeding them little and often, trying to get them to realise that I'm the source of the food and that I'm not to be feared. Their dish is just inside the cage and I put the food through the bars and into the dish using a little palette knife.
Then I sit and talk to them so they get used to my voice. For the most part they've just stared at me, wide-eyed, as though I'm some terrifying alien from outer space. But yesterday evening, while I was telling them about my day, they just curled up and went to sleep. I know my day hadn't been the most interesting so maybe they got bored! But it did occur to me that maybe I could bore them into submission. :lol:
It has been the case that they'd only eat once I left the room. But early this morning, when I went to check on them at around 3am, I put some food into their dish and the little female came straight over and started eating the food while I was putting it in the dish. That was a first! It was something of a relief because I was beginning to wonder if we would ever make any progress.
Then, a little later this morning,
both of them came to eat as soon as I'd put the food in their dish. That was the first time I actually managed to get a good look at them.
And afterwards they washed and then played (a kitten wrestling match) while I was sitting by their cage. I'm still getting the odd hiss from them but they are definitely beginning to relax a bit. They are returning my 'blinks' now.
I've not tried to touch them yet because they are just too fearful; it doesn't seem fair on them. But, if this improvement continues, then I may well attempt that soon... nailbite_smile
I will actually
need to pick them up soon to move them into a new cage. The one I have is just on loan for a couple of weeks, but also they are going to outgrow the space. They've grown already in the short time they've been here. So I've ordered a cage for them that's a size larger than the one they're currently in. And I'm really hoping that they will only be in that one temporarily. If I can get them to tolerate being picked up then I think it would be OK to let them out of the cage and into the room at that point. If they
don't get to tolerate being touched then I'll have to rethink what to do next...
Will try to take some pics of them so you can see what they look like (ie, uber-cute!)
Eliz
