Foster kittens and bonding with humans

[Ornery]

A week and a half ago I volunteered to take in a Mama cat and her 4 kittens for a local no-kill shelter.  I have a neat little home set up for them in our laundry room.  They come out several times a day for an hour or two for play time, when my three cats are safely in my bedroom snoozing.  Also, the children and I go in multiple times to sit and pet them and try to get them used to humans.  Mama Cat is quite tame and loves attention.  One of the kittens is really interested in human attention and loves being petted, comes when you call him, etc.  The other three want nothing to do with people.  They are super skittish.  Nothing I do, including feeding them treats, has convinced them that people are worthwhile.  I'm thinking they need to be separated to be able to bond with humans.

They are around 8 weeks and Mama is just now trying to wean them.  What do you cat experts think?  Is there something else I should be doing?  We've had multiple cats, including two that I rescued from feral organizations that I was able to bond with but these little guys have me stumped.  I'm afraid they won't get adopted out if they aren't able to warm up a little.

[plantnerd]

Hold them, love on them, carry them around in your shirt.  Let dogs sniff them, bring them to dinner and parties, play with them, as much as you can.  They are getting old- it seems best that they are handled from birth on, but the most contact you can stand is the way to go.  I would also let them start exploring outside of their room.  Your other cats may give them a little what-for, but it will be good for socialization to other cats.

[ananas]

At this age, the most you can do is just be around them as much as possible. Don't try too hard or make them afraid- sit on the floor, snuggle and play with mama cat and the friendly one, and let them make their way to you to sniff you and check you out. They have to build confidence that you aren't there to hurt them. 

Separating them right now wouldn't help...it might make them even more nervous. 

I agree with letting them out of the laundry room, too- they'll be slow and timid about coming out, but it might be a better experience for them. Right now you're walking into their home, their space, so letting them wander out into the rest of the house might help.

It's possible that they may just be timid cats, also, which is what's great about fostering. You're getting an idea of their personalities, which helps determine what kind of home they should go to. A timid, quiet cat would do better living with an elderly couple than a young couple with a houseful of children, for instance. 

Fostering is such an awesome experience! Have fun :)

[Ornery]

Thank you for the suggestions.  We've been doing all of those things and you are right, they might just be timid cats.  They are allowed outside of the laundry room for a couple hours at a time, three times a day.  They play together like crazy all over the house (which is adorable) but won't come near us people. 

I have been segregating them from my other cats for the majority of the time because Mama cat tries to kill my cats and she gets really upset if I let the kittens out to play without her.  I have a cat that is super laid back and he hangs out with them as much as possible.

It is very weird because there are three tabby kittens that look exactly alike (I have to mark the girls' ears so that I can tell the difference between them) and they are the timid, almost feral kittens that only want to play together.  And then there is a siamese looking kitten that is super bold, loves being petted, follows people around, plays with my dog (who is a 125 lb golden retriever), etc.  Very odd. 

I've just never had this problem while fostering.  Of course, I've typically gotten much younger kittens and they've bonded with us very quickly.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Ornery 

I've just never had this problem while fostering.  Of course, I've typically gotten much younger kittens and they've bonded with us very quickly.

Eight weeks is pretty young, all the same. Have you gone for the Gerber-turkey-food-on-the-finger trick? It tends to both get their attention and provide an opportunity to teach about acceptable "mouthiness."

[Ornery]

I've been doing Cat-Cal on my finger and feeding to them because when we got them, they were starving.  One kitten had already died due to starvation.  Mama cat couldn't walk she was so skinny, poor thing.

We'll just keep doing what everyone has advised with trying to expose them to as much as possible and loving on them.  We go back to the shelter today for their official pictures for the website and their vaccines so we'll see what they say!

I think I'll also grab some of the cat treats to give them whenever I can.  Maybe that would encourage them to think people aren't such a threat.

[ananas]

They most likely had different fathers, who probably had very different personalities. They sounds so cute!

Originally Posted by Ornery 

It is very weird because there are three tabby kittens that look exactly alike (I have to mark the girls' ears so that I can tell the difference between them) and they are the timid, almost feral kittens that only want to play together.  And then there is a siamese looking kitten that is super bold, loves being petted, follows people around, plays with my dog (who is a 125 lb golden retriever), etc.  Very odd.