Luring a kitten

[SusanO]

Yes I am the crazy cat lady. Some lowlife out here dumped a kitten. I heard it crying all yesterday but when I went out to see where it was in the undergrowth next to the road - it would stop crying. I took bowls of dry food out there but it did not seem interested. Finally I got a glimpse as it climbed partly up a vine covered tree.

It cried and cried. So I opened a can of mackerel I had saved for a situation like this and put some out there. It did not seem tempted. Finally after it got dark I heard it closer to the house and it sounded like it was under my car so I put a bowl of food out there too. It came to my back door crying and I turned on the light. It is a tiny floof of a kitten but looks old enough to eat canned food. So I put yet another bowl of food back there but it did not seem to be interested. It looked like it might run into the house but changed its mind and ran back down the stairs.

I think it is scared but not totally feral. And I think it is crying for its mother which I cannot provide. This morning it is out there crying too. I don’t know what else to tempt it with but it obviously needs to eat and drink. The food was gone this AM but I think the resident possum had a feast last night or the other cats ate the food. Right now I just want to get food into it. After that taming them is easy. Finding a home will be the problem.

So how do you tempt a tiny scared kitten?

[OzarksRider]

Do you have a humane live trap, or can you borrow one? Put some cat food in it for bait and set it near where you last saw the kitten. Try to confine your other cats so they don’t trap themselves, and I guess you’d just have to hope you don’t catch the possum (or a skunk).

[SusanO]

Yes I have a trap. But the problem is the kitten does not seem to be interested in canned food, dry food or canned fish. I put a fresh can of cat food in a bowl where the kitten was hiding and then went to the front yard to pull weeds. I just came back and the kitten has not touched it. It doesn’t act sick because it meows quite loudly and runs from me when I approach it. But it can’t live long if it does not eat or drink something. My guess it was pulled from its mother and dumped and it does not know anything but mother’s milk. But from the glimpse that I saw it looks old enough for solid food.

[OzarksRider]

@SusanO

My guess it was pulled from its mother and dumped and it does not know anything but mother’s milk.

Could you get some kitten milk replacement at Walmart or a pet store?

This is a tough situation. Someone once dumped a litter of 4 kittens by the side of a road near our house. I couldn’t get near them, so I put out a live trap but I never caught any. There was thick brush where they were and the kittens kept moving along, so I never knew where to put the trap. I imagine they all ended up coyote meals.

[NancyM]

I would put the small dish of stinky canned cat food out there, in a safe and accessible place, with a dish of fresh water as well, and wait. You might shelter the food with a cardboard box over the top, to keep birds from moving in on it. If the kitten is able to eat solid food (and it probably is), I think you will get it in time. Don’t introduce the trap until the kitten is eating the food, and knows about the food. Once it knows, it will enter the trap. And then, you have yourself a kitten. I hope you wanted one LOL. Or can re-home it successfully. Good luck. Humans who dump young kitties are horrible.

[OzarksRider]

Is there any chance one of your other cats would “adopt” the little guy? Sometimes a motherly female or laid back male will take a little one under its wing. I once had a male cat that bonded with a 6 week old kitten. The older cat taught that kitten everything he needed to know about being a cat. A few years later the older cat died, and the now grown kitten grieved for months.

[SusanO]

Uggs is the official greeter and gets along with all other cats since he is a sweet boy. I am kind of hoping the kitten will see him eating and around me and get acclimated that way.

I think it actually finally ate something. I put some canned food in a bowl by the back door where it was hanging out. I went back up there, and it was untouched. But after I cleaned stalls, I checked again, and the bowl was knocked over and most of the food eaten. Then I saw it had moved onto the dead cedar tree in the backyard that was covered in vines. So I put a bowl with some mackerel (can’t get any stinkier than that) on the tree. When I came back the bowl was gone so I assumed it ate out of it and knocked it somewhere. I also think it is sticking close to my house so it should be safe here If I can get it eating food then I can tame it. Nobody has ever left after they found the meal train and their reproductive parts have been removed.

[Marla_000]

Good Luck in catching your new kitty!!
My Heidi dog (GSD) treed a youngish half grown stray kitty last week, probably dumped.
So I’ve re-started putting out
Kitty food at night.
Well yesterday Heidi notified me
She heard something in the barn in an unused stall. She was whining and running around wanting into that stall. Same empty stall I made nest boxes up high for when I had my chickens.
So we go into the stall and heard tiny mews over and over.
There it was, a practically newly born tabby mewing up a storm.
Just one
We quickly left so as not to upset the mother.
I’m afraid some wild critter will find it.
All I can do is keep feeding the mother then eventually tnr.

[beowulf]

She/he will eat eventually. She is probably just scared. FOOD is how you win over a kitten! Don’t get discouraged, keep doing as you are doing.

If you really want to, leave your door open (if you think she was released). Otherwise, I agree the best way is a Have-A-Heart trap. For a kitten, you probably don’t need to load it first but it’s not a bad idea to if you think the kitten is wary. Just put the stinky food in there at night and in the morning you’ll likely have trapped a kitten. Kittens are hungry and have no common sense.

[GraceLikeRain]

I’d keep food in the trap. Survival will take over. A stinky fish in a bowl that’s floating in a slightly larger bowl of water will keep ants out. If you feed outside of the trap they will always choose that. A blanket over the trap can make it more safe feeling. Cardboard underneath can also be helpful for providing a stable foot feeling if you are trapping on grass. Best of luck

[SusanO]

Ok this kitten is driving me crazy. It got dark and it was around the side of the house so I put a bowl of wet cat food out there. Did not eat any so I went back inside after checking. I heard it closer and there it is coming up my front steps crying. So I went back inside and got another bowl and put dry food, mackerel and canned food. Put it on the steps and then it headed down the steps and out of sight. Looked through the window - it is two steps from the top now and that bowl of food. But it just stands there and cries. I know it smells the mackerel. Maybe they don’t like the mackerel - my other cats were not impressed but this little guy has to be hungry. My cats don’t want this special meal, but I am sure Mr. Possum will be thrilled with it so kitten needs to get on the ball and EAT SOMETHING.

It is a little ball of fluff but big enough to eat real food. Now Uggs is eating the bowl of food. Maybe the kitten can learn from watching him. No way I would leave the door to the house open. I would have Hansel and Gretel in here, 3 raccoons and a possum or two. Maybe even an armadillo and a few deer looking for a handout in the kitchen. And gnats. Millions and millions of gnats.

I hope this animal gets smarter. When Hansel and Gretel got dumped they were up at my house by dark and chowing down. None of this crying and then not eating.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I would try a different food. He may not like the fish, or it might be unfamiliar to him. If you can get some Fancy Feast or Sheba, in a few different flavors, you might find something he likes.

Good luck! There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to catch a kitten that needs help!

[SusanO]

Mr./Ms. Possum thought it was tasty. I heard something and thought it was the kitten. Nope. I have chicken cat food here but may go into town and get some Fancy Feast. I don’t think I have any here at the moment. Not feeding the possum.

[SusanO]

Woo hoo!!! We have progress. I found a pouch of Friskees Lil Shakes and got a plate this time. Put some chicken cat food and the flavor pouch stuff to one side. It was at the back steps crying so I set it out there. It finally climbed back up to the top step and slowly made its way to the plate. Did not touch the flavor pouch stuff but chowed down on the chicken cat food. I am going to put one of my covered cat houses out there so I hope it will feel protected and sleep in it. Can’t wait to get it tame enough for flea stuff since it is scratching and I am sure it is covered in fleas.

[SusanO]

So if I have not bored everybody already - progress is being made. It is slow but I am optimistic. This morning I went outside and the kitten was crying from the tree in the back yard. I did not want to put food out there because I would not be able to see if the food was eaten or not and I am tired of crawling through all those weeds and vines. I thought I would see if it would come to my back door again. So I went to the front yard to pull up weeds and plant annuals.

It was crying again, but closer. Then it stuck its little head out from under my deck. It sat there and looked at me crying. Then it got on my deck. I put food out and finally it was brave enough to go to the plate and eat. It got three helpings and sat there watching me on my hands and knees pulling up weeds. It is a floofy little thing. I am not sure if it will be long hair or not at this age. Precious little face. My cats are not thrilled with this noisy creature and are not interacting with it but are not chasing it off. I want it to associate the house with food and not the tree. And ultimately me with food. Boy was it scratching. It needs to get friendly so I can dose it with flea stuff.

[Marla_000]

Not sure how old they have to be to safely use flea stuff.
But when I found a couple of raccoon babies who were covered with giant fleas, I bathed them in the sink with Dawn anti bacterial dishwashing soap.
Killed all the fleas immediately
Plus the lil coons smelled better.

[OzarksRider]

@Marla_000

But when I found a couple of raccoon babies who were covered with giant fleas, I bathed them in the sink with Dawn anti bacterial dishwashing soap.

I’ve used Dawn to get fleas off a cat, but instead of bathing the cat I used a flea comb. Dip the flea comb in a bowl of Dawn diluted with water, then comb through the cat’s fur. The fleas stick to the soapy water.

Years ago I remember a vet’s assistant told me she used Frontline on kittens, but not a full dose. I don’t remember how much she used, but I think it was just a drop or two. I would ask a vet before putting spot on flea treatment on a tiny kitten, unless the instructions specifically said it was safe to use.

[SusanO]

Please disregard the junk on my back porch and the taped up Temu cat house. It is chowing down to make up for its former life. Coat looks pretty dead and it is sure scratching but it will be a long while before it is tame enough for a bath (OYYY!) or flea meds. It is thinking I MIGHT be its friend but is not really sure.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I used Dawn to give baby Pixie flea baths last year. She was 4 weeks at the time, the vet did NOT recommend using flea treatment yet. It took about 3 baths, plus combing, to get rid of them.

Just be prepared, because I was not, for the bath water to turn instantly bloody from the flea poop!

[NancyM]

Oh, you are getting somewhere with this plan now!!! Excellent news. You will have this kitty in your possession soon I think. Start thinking of a name!!!