Feral cats are wild cats, cats which have been abandoned by their humans, cats that have lost their way or cats that have been born in the wild and do not know any other life. Feral cat colonies usually get their start with one pregnant cat that has a litter and the litter grows and it has its own litters and it grows and grows. There is much to be said about feral cat colonies but we are discussing at the moment taming and raising a feral kitten or kittens.

A pregnant feral cat will have its kittens in a fairly remote and hopefully safe place. Unless a human accidentally stumbles across the spot where the kittens are hiding it is a while before anyone will see them and sometimes it will too late to try and catch them in an effort to rehabilitate them.

The best age to try and catch feral kittens is when they are about 4 to 6 weeks old. At this age they are not extremely active and mom has not taught them everything they have to know about living in the wild. They have had their mother's milk, which is the greatest nutrition a kitten can have and have ingested the important antibodies that only a mother cat can give.

Trying to catch the older feral kittens will require a pet carrier or a humane trap. We have had good luck using several of our carriers in our attempts to catch older kittens by bribing them with food inside the carriers.

This only works if you are nearby and can pounce on the carrier the moment the kitten or kittens get in side and you can shut the door. The older the kittens the harder they are to handle and we suggest thick gloves and long sleeves. Kitten bites can be very painful and should be treated right away. Medical attention is suggested and the biting cat kept away from the others.

Not having any human contact a feral kitten will hiss and spit at you, as they are scared. The wildest one is probably the most scared. Our purpose in catching the feral kittens we knew about was to take them to a shelter where they would be fostered out, hand raised and socialized with the intent of finding good homes for them. The same method of using the carriers with a food bribe can be utilized to catch the older feral cats to be able to have them spayed or neutered and returned to the colony.

When you have found the kittens, caught them and intend to raise them yourself the next intelligent thing to do is cart the kittens off to the vet and have them checked over. However, this might be like playing Russian roulette as you have very scared kittens that are seemingly fighting for their lives. It is sometimes best to wait before taking them, so long as the kittens are isolated from any other pets and they show no visible signs of illness.

Undoubtedly you were aware of where the kittens were and had been planning to capture them as soon as they were older. In case that you don't want to subject yourself and the kittens to the trauma of a vet visit right after you have captured them here are a few suggestions.

* The kittens need peace and quiet for some days with literally no handling. When you yourself have not taken them to the vet for a check up and you have other animals inside your home, you need to protect them from any diseases or infections the kittens may have. The new kittens must be isolated from all of your household pets until the vet says they are healthy and you have tamed them.

* Always wash your hands after handling any of the food or water containers and any thing else you could have handled in the room where the kittens are being kept. It's a good idea to keep an old shirt that you could slip on over your clothes when you are in the room with the kittens.

* For the first few days the kittens should be kept in a large crate or even a cardboard box with a small litter pan and their food. We found that using the bathtub in our guest bathroom was a great place to keep kittens and/or puppies. Layer the tub with an old blanket or towels to keep the little ones warm and put the litter box at one end and their food and water at the other.

* During the first few days visit the kittens often, talk softly, but do not handle them. To feed the kittens dilute cow's milk with water (50/50) and mix a small amount of canned kitten food (not cat food) into the milk and place in a saucer or other flat dish.

Your vet can also tell you what to feed the kittens if you call the Savannah Kittens for sale
clinic. Iams makes a kitten food and packages it in a can. Since the new thing now is foil packages the only place we can find the canned version is at Pets Mart. We would not try to feed the new kittens dry kitten food unless it is soaked very well in milk and is really soggy. Even though we said not to handle the kittens for a few days after capture; you could have to put their noses in the food dish so they know what it is.

If you find that you may have to hand feed 1 or 2 of the kittens wrap them in a towel with their tummy lying in the palm of your hand. I found that feeding with an eyedropper was the easiest for me. Always feed aside of their mouth and not directly in the front as you would normally think to do. By feeding from the side you are less likely to choke the kitten with too much milk. When you yourself have to hand feed a kitten we suggest feeding only milk until the kitten gets the hang of eating from the dish. It is always recommended to check with your vet for his/her recommendations on feeding your litter.