How to Tame a Scared feral cat – Dormouse the Kitten, part 1 of 7

Hi welcome to Kitten School! Today we’re
going to talk about ways to tame a feralkitten who is scared and acting out
aggressively. So here we have Dormouse. . . this is me taking him out of the carrier
after I picked him up from the shelter. And watch here. . . uh oh, I was not taking
precautions as I should have whenworking with this scared kitty cat and
he bit me! And what do I mean byprecautions? I mean a good pair of tough
leather gloves. Here’s Cindy approachingDormouse wearing one of the gloves. He
did bite the glove a few times but heseemed to stop the biting once he
realized that the hand wasn’t going awayno matter how much he bit. So we’re still
working with Dormouse, and the videoprogresses pretty quickly, but remember
this was a pretty long process fromactually picking him up with the one
hand and petting with the other. You wantto go slow wait for the kitty to relax
before moving on with more holding ortaking out of the crate. . and just a quick
aside that white cage that Cindy ispulling the kitten out of I call that
the “Social Box”. That is NOT where thekitten stays all the time, it’s a
technique I use to help socialize catsand kittens, and I did a video on the
Social Box so I will put a link to thatvideo at the end of this one. if you are
trying to socialize a cat or kitten Ireally recommend checking that video out.
After a few minutes it’s very apparentthat Dormouse has relaxed quite a bit. . .
he’s looking around his ears aren’t flatback against his head, which would
indicate that he is severely scared. Cindy just continues to pet him and hold
him so after a few minutes Dormouse was put back into the
social box for a rest. . . but a few minuteslater I’m going to come along and pet
him, and speak to him very softly. . . maybegive him a little treat if he’s
receptive. So you can see he’s still alittle unsure – right there he tried to
bite me . . but it was a little half-heartedthis time. I’m still watching out for
him to bite there he goes!but I come right back and I always
respond to aggression with affection when it’s when it’s safe to do so. And then
watch here I’m scratching his headand his little nose and despite himself. . . .
I think he’s enjoying it!So even in one day you can see how much
Dormouse has really come around. He was a spitting, biting, just nervous
wreck at the shelter . . . and just someintensive, gentle, and repetitive
socialization has made a huge differencein his comfort level around people. This
is not the end of training for Dormouse. . . we’re going to be working with him
extensively over the next month or maybeeven longer to make him the best,
lovingest kitty that we can so that hecan be adopted into a forever home! So
thanks for watching and look out forpart 2 coming soon! Please SUBSCRIBE!