New Kittens

ronjo

Hi there,

I am looking for a bit of advice. We have just got two new kittens (brother and sister) who are about 12 weeks old.

They are outdoor cats but when we got them on Tuesday my wife brought them immediately to the vet. One has quite a bad eye infection so we have cream to give her and the vet advised to keep them sleeping in the garage for a week.

Since Tuesday they have just been there (its a big double garage) and the issue is they are absolutely petrified.
They do eat the food we leave but never when we are there and always use the litter box we have left out.
You can see the eye seems to be clearing up so the medicine works but we are afraid that when we open the garage they will run away never to be seen again. Its happened before.

Does anyone have any advice on whats best course of action? The plan is for them to remain outdoor.

sillysmiles

Personally I think you and your wife need to start investing some time in sitting in the garage with the kittens to let them get used to you. They have no reason to trust you, or no reason to associate you with food and nice things. I don't know kittens, but at 12 weeks are they not still fairly small? Are they able to stay warm enough?

loveisdivine

12 Weeks is very young to just be left in a garage on their own. Even if you don't intend for them to be indoor pets, you want to get them used to being handled etc at a young age. You'll need it for when they require vet visits and such.

You also need to leave them inside for a couple of weeks before just letting them out, otherwise they will probably just disappear, especially if they have no bond to you.

cupcake queen

loveisdivine wrote: »

12 Weeks is very young to just be left in a garage on their own. Even if you don't intend for them to be indoor pets, you want to get them used to being handled etc at a young age. You'll need it for when they require vet visits and such.

You also need to leave them inside for a couple of weeks before just letting them out, otherwise they will probably just disappear, especially if they have no bond to you.

You can let the kittens into the house even if you intend them to be outdoor cats. You should keep them near to you for at least a month so they can get used to you and understand that you are their caretaker. Keep them in one room where you will be in and out regularly. That way when the time comes to let them outside they will know that the house is their home and stay around. We have had many cats over the years and they have all transitioned from being indoor cats to outdoor cats (through their own volition!) At this young age they just need to feel minded so that they will be confident enough to become outdoor cats, if you know what I mean.

ronjo

Thanks for the replies.

The vet told us to leave them there for a week but to start letting them outside a bit before but I think they would scarper.

We had agreed to spend more time with them and my 5 year old spent a lot of time in there during the day as she was at home today.
My wife too as she is working from home today and I will when I go home.

Its plenty warm here as I am in Central Europe and it never drops below about 18 degrees at night there.

We got kittens at home a good few years ago, they were less the 12 weeks and bar the first few nights in the garage they were immediately living outside all the time with a kennel to sleep in at night (though they didn't use it all the time and never when they got older for some bizzare reason they preferred to sleep on the window sill, under the car or in the hedge rather than their nice cat house). They never ran away and were very friendly and easy to handle and we had them for many years. They were never allowed to even look in the back door of the house never mind come inside.

jenn1984

The general rule is that kittens can't really be outdoor cats until at least 6 months old until they've grown up a bit. I would suggest putting them somewhere like a utility room or bathroom so they can be visited by people on a regular basis - otherwise they could get feral. Gunky eyes are probably cat flu - I would also suggest dabbing some cotton wool in lukewarm water and wiping their eyes, it helps dissolve it but needs to be done once or twice a day.

Ms Doubtfire1

The symptom of gunky eyes does indeed point to catflu. You will need to monitor to make sure it doesn't become respiratory. I would most urgently recommend to bring the kits inside and make sure they get handled.They will need vaccinations - if they are displaying catflu symptoms now, they are most likely not vaccinated.They will need neutering at 6 months old. Mind you, kitten can get pregnant as young as 5 months- having them trust you is imperative so you can give them the care they need when it's needed

Bunnyslippers

Agree with the above, they need to be brought indoors to get used to you, they are only babies and should not to be left outside to fend for themselves especially if ill, otherwise not much point in having them as pets if you have nothing to do with them, they won't eat you in the night or something, and are not toxic!!:rolleyes:

Keeping them in for the first six months is your best bet, will get them tame and easy to handle for the future, also means you can get them neutered before letting them outdoors a basic must for having a pet is it doesn't end up creating more unwanted cats, also they will need worming and vaccinating. Will also be great for teaching your 5 yr old about looking after other living things, makes for a better more caring person!:)

After they have recovered from neutering then you can gradually let them outside and if you really don't like them in your house then introduce them to a nice cosy bed in the garage and a cat flap so they can come and go.

ronjo

Just as an update, I took on board the advice and have kept them inside ever since (well in garage but its warm and big).
They get plenty of visits and the male is becoming a lot more tame. Female getting better but still pretty wary.

If I or my wife go in by ourselves they might come over for attention, especially the male who does get a little jealous if the female is getting the attention and will push his way in.

They have been in there for 4 weeks now. Is it time to let them out for a bit? I am just not sure if they will run away.
They are due for injections tomorrow so certainly not before that.

Bunnyslippers

They need to be kept in until they are tame and easily approachable, they need their second jab and neutered, if they are still wary of you after a month then more effort needs to be put into them - usually feral kittens if handled and played with regularly should be tame within a week, otherwise you'll end up with two feral cats. If you let them out now un-neutered and still wary, especially the female you may never catch her again before she ends up producing kittens, and the male could wander off looking for girls, they will more than likely run off, plus at only 4 months old they are still too small to fend for themselves.

To give you an idea I rescued a feral kitten from a car engine a good few months ago he was about 10 weeks old, took 2 days to get him tame and he's only just starting to go out now - supervised for an hour or so, at around 6 months old. He's very tame though and follows us everywhere, he is being neutered next week, but he is an actual pet as he's in the house - don't see the point in getting a 'pet' only to leave it outdoors? I would never have left him out sooner as hed be eaten by something or attacked by other cats, luckily we have no roads and no near neighbors, he will continue having supervised outdoor time for the next month or so and for another month after that he'll be in at night, he should be big enough after that to go out with my other cats 24/7.

If I were you I'd bring your kittens indoors and get them tame and part of the family, kind of the whole point having them, the older they get the more effort needed to tame them so do it now, then get them neutered, then start letting them out once they are around six or seven months old, pets require a lot of effort especially when young!

Bunnyslippers

Bunnyslippers wrote: »

If I were you I'd bring your kittens indoors and get them tame and part of the family, kind of the whole point having them, the older they get the more effort needed to tame them so do it now, then get them neutered, then start letting them out once they are around six or seven months old, pets require a lot of effort especially when young!

I think you are totally exaggerating this. Look at my post above, we had kittens outside (never set a paw inside the house and only in the garage a few days) from younger than the ops are now and they never wandered, never got eaten and were extremely tame and easily handled (as tame as any indoor cat I've come across). There was no major effort to tame them they were just never wild and it was only us as kids that had anything to do with them as our parents didn't want them at all and had no interest in them (bar buying them a kennel, paying for them to be neutered and buying tins of cat food). There is no need to have them in the house and suggesting it even though the op obviously doesn't want them in there (and rightly so) is not really helping.

taytobreath

The best way to introduce them to the great outdoors is too keep them hungry, that way when its time for them to come in before it gets dark or when you want them to come in all you will have to do is rustle the bag of food and in they will scarper.

When i introduce my kittens to outside, I wouldn't let them be unsupervised for the first week and i would always have them locked indoors away from predators in the night time. Its a gradual thing. But I think depending on the area you live in that they are too young to be left to their own devices in the day or night, kittens that age are very vulnerable and naive.

shel64

My daughter was very lucky recently, she had just moved house just a couple of streets away but across a busy road, she had befriended a feral cat who had kittens in her back garden, the cat disappeared and later one of the kittens that still visited the garden for food came into her kitchen and had thee kittens on here mat, she stayed but left regularly out the back window, when they got older she took them outside and left them in the garden and dissappeared,my daughter brought them in and continued to feed them and the mother when she turned up , my daughter then took the mother to be spayed and kept her in for 2 weeks , when my daughter moved last week she took all three with her but the mother got out the next day taking one of the kittens, but the next day turned back up with the kitten so now they are all kept in for the week and hopefully they will stay, we butter cats paws when we move it seems to work when we eventually let them out,,, heaven knows why ????

Ms Doubtfire1

butter cats paws????

taytobreath

the general rule of thumb is that the older the cat is the longer u keep them indoors, kittens have shorter memories and wont go looking for their former homes after roughly 2 weeks, but for adult cats its a month and no less.

butter cats paws is a new one, whats that about lol

shel64

a long time ago we were told about putting butter on our cats paws wen we first let them out in a new neighbourhood, something about them being able to smell their way back even when they lick the paws when they get out, it worked so we always do this

shel64

Not saying it works because of the butter, but it was an old wives tale and only had one reason given for it, but so far so good, I myself will be moving in the next few months,,,,extra butter needed

ronjo

We have had them 5 weeks now and will let them out for short time this week and see how it goes.
They have another Vets visit today so probably in a few days.

They are so much more tame these days and get plenty of attention so hopefully they wont run away.