# Foster kitten stressed in his crate



## rosay (Nov 14, 2011)

Hi all

I'm currently fostering a very feral 3 month old kitten for the shelter I work for. I've had him for 9 days now. The first night he escaped from his crate (through the tiniest gap ever) and was loose in my living room till Sunday afternoon. I eventually managed to shut him back in the crate when he went in there for some food. Since then he pretty much sleeps most of the time and has regular chats from me and stroking etc. He is still pretty frightened but has definitely improved, although he won't let me pick him up yet and hates it when I pick him up by the scruff. I'm trying to do that once/twice a day at the moment.

Today he is going pretty mental in his crate, and I feel really guilty and worried. He's meowing loudly and throwing himself around/climbing up and gnawing at the bars. I'm sure he's really bored and I'm trying to keep him stimulated by playing with a toy (not that he likes that much). He just seems very stressed today, like he's had enough of being shut in the crate, can't say I blame him. 

I can't let him out because I know he'll just disappear for days again and we'll get no work done, but I feel so bad watching him throwing himself about. He's going back to the shelter on Wednesday because I'm going on holiday so he'll have a proper unit then. Any advice of how I can make him happier during his last few days here?


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## fuzzymum (Nov 29, 2010)

Do you have a spare room you can use rather than a crate? 

Also look into getting a feliway diffuser or theres a new one....i think its called pet remedy. Might help him feel at ease?

I do have to wonder why the rescue allowed you to foster him only to take him back again on wednesday? More stress for the little mite. Have they not given you any advice? xx


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## rosay (Nov 14, 2011)

fuzzymum said:


> Do you have a spare room you can use rather than a crate?
> 
> Also look into getting a feliway diffuser or theres a new one....i think its called pet remedy. Might help him feel at ease?
> 
> I do have to wonder why the rescue allowed you to foster him only to take him back again on wednesday? More stress for the little mite. Have they not given you any advice? xx


Unfortunately I have a flat which is open plan - the only room I can shut the door to is my bedroom (which is too small to have him in) and my living room which is where he was loose before and he just disappeared under the tv cabinet for two days. I have got a feliway diffuser which I have had plugged in since Monday.

By the time I take him back I'll have had him on foster for nearly 2 weeks, and I think they believe 2 weeks in a home where he can be around humans all the time is better than 2 weeks in the shelter where they just don't have the same amount of time to spend with him - they've got hundreds of other cats/kittens to attend to and not enough staff. They are very good at giving advice but due to it being Sunday I don't think the person I need to speak to will be working today.


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## fuzzymum (Nov 29, 2010)

I would maybe phone up and find out.

I noticed you worked at the shelter. Maybe you can try and track down another foster home for him? Any good that you may have done in the last 2 weeks will surely be undone by putting him back in the shelter. I also fear that he may now associate people with being stuck in a crate and scruffed twice a day - obviously something he is not comfortable with.

I guess it is finding what works best for him. This may not be what works on the next cat, or the last cat, but each cats needs are different.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

This is in no way meant as disrespect towards you but I dont think your domestic set up is ideal.Keeping a feral kitten shut in a crate is not IMO really going to help to socialise him,he needs more room.If he had a safe room where he can behave more normally, learn to relax in your company,approach you on his terms and interact with you if he felt comfortable then I think there would be more chance that he would respond.If it is not going to be possible for you to do this then I think the best thing is for the rescue to find a foster carer able to provide a more interactive environment.It is good of you to try to help as I know shelters are full and desperate for any assistance they can get.


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## rosay (Nov 14, 2011)

buffie said:


> This is in no way meant as disrespect towards you but I dont think your domestic set up is ideal.Keeping a feral kitten shut in a crate is not IMO really going to help to socialise him,he needs more room.If he had a safe room where he can behave more normally, learn to relax in your company,approach you on his terms and interact with you if he felt comfortable then I think there would be more chance that he would respond.If it is not going to be possible for you to do this then I think the best thing is for the rescue to find a foster carer able to provide a more interactive environment.It is good of you to try to help as I know shelters are full and desperate for any assistance they can get.


I am only following the instructions given to me by the shelter, they have supplied me with everything including the crate. I do agree that it isn't great that he can't have more freedom and approach me on his own terms but trust me, if left to his own devices this cat would never approach a human on his own terms. At least now I can approach him, open his cage and stroke him without him trying to attack me, which is what he did to the staff when he was in the shelter. This is not the first feral foster I have done either, and each one has had the same treatment and has been kept in a crate, and all became happy, affectionate young cats after a week or so in my care, and have now been successfully rehomed.


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## Superash (Aug 23, 2011)

should a kitten be kept in a crate???


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

rosay said:


> I am only following the instructions given to me by the shelter, they have supplied me with everything including the crate. I do agree that it isn't great that he can't have more freedom and approach me on his own terms *but trust me, if left to his own devices this cat would never approach a human on his own terms*. At least now I can approach him, open his cage and stroke him without him trying to attack me, which is what he did to the staff when he was in the shelter. This is not the first feral foster I have done either, and each one has had the same treatment and has been kept in a crate, and all became happy, affectionate young cats after a week or so in my care, and have now been successfully rehomed.


If you can approach him in his crate and stroke him without him attacking you,what will be your next step if you cant give him any more freedom.I can see that a crate has its place but not 24/7.How will he gain enough confidence to approach/feel comfortable around humans if he isnt given any freedom of choice,I really dont see this as a great arrangement,but it is only my opinion.


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## rosay (Nov 14, 2011)

OK well as far as advice on how the kitten shall be socialised I will continue to listen to what the shelter tells me to do as they are the trained professionals. All I wanted was to know other ways of keeping him entertained whilst he is in the crate for the last couple of days, not whether he should be in the crate or not. The shelter told me to keep him in the crate until I take him back to them, they will then socialise him further once he is more used to humans being around and touching him, which is what I have already achieved.


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## Cloudygirl (Jan 9, 2011)

rosay said:


> OK well as far as advice on how the kitten shall be socialised I will continue to listen to what the shelter tells me to do as they are the trained professionals. All I wanted was to know other ways of keeping him entertained whilst he is in the crate for the last couple of days, not whether he should be in the crate or not. The shelter told me to keep him in the crate until I take him back to them, they will then socialise him further once he is more used to humans being around and touching him, which is what I have already achieved.


each cat is different. If this approach was suiting him he wouldn't be as distressed as he obviously is.

I'm sure you have the right intentions but this cat seems distressed and he will barely be used to where he is before being unsettled again. What makes a trained professional? What training do people running rescues have anyway?

There are people here with years and years of looking after problem and feral cats. If you don't want advice then don't ask for it to be honest. I don't want to put off new posters or seem like a harsh person at all but why ask for advice and then dismiss it?


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## Myanimalmadhouse (Mar 6, 2011)

To be honest if you are unable to let him out of the crate into a room where he can free roam without harm then you should take him back to the shelter asap. Nothing you do now can ease his stress at this point apart from letting him out and unfortunately I've seen this happen before and his future is very uncertain at this point. He will need someone with ALOT of experience and patience to turn this around.

I commend you for trying with this little one but I really wish rescues would stop using this blanket "guide" for fosterers. Every cat and kitten is different and although this way of forced socialisation will quite often work with young kittens it can actually be completely detrimental to older kittens and cats :frown2:


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

Two weeks is far too short for a kitten to "learn" to interact with new people. I would say a month to two months minimum. It seems the shelter is trying to do a crash course in socialisation. This isn't fair on the cat. It is very normal for a kitten to need to hide at first. My guess is that he feel overexposed in the crate. I would suggest is for you to allow him the run of the flat (as long as he can't get out through windows or doors). If he wants to hide for a while, let him. He will come out when you are asleep or not at home to explore. To pursue him and drag him out from his hiding place every time will have negative effects. All cats need a hidey-hole which is sacred and where they can feel safe. If you really must keep him in a crate, then cover one half of it with a blanket so he can hide or place a cardboard box in one corner of the crate which he can hide in. But really, he needs moe space. If he gets rehomed, it is unlikely he will be living in a crate, so really I don't see how the crate is helping him to socialise. Good luck and bless you for taking care of this kitten.


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## raggie doll (Sep 16, 2011)

Could you no let him out but shut him in one room so at least he can run around a bit


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## raggie doll (Sep 16, 2011)

rosay said:


> OK well as far as advice on how the kitten shall be socialised I will continue to listen to what the shelter tells me to do as they are the trained professionals. All I wanted was to know other ways of keeping him entertained whilst he is in the crate for the last couple of days, not whether he should be in the crate or not. The shelter told me to keep him in the crate until I take him back to them, they will then socialise him further once he is more used to humans being around and touching him, which is what I have already achieved.


you can't keep him entertained in a crate cats are not built for being confined like that


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi rosay - as it has reached the stage where the little thing is so upset and stressed he is meowing loudly, climbing up frantically and gnawing at the bars then IMO there is nothing you can do to entertain him in the crate. In order to preserve his sanity and to have any chance he will ever trust humans, he needs to come out of the crate as soon as possible.

As another poster has said he needs to be able to find himself a hidey hole in your flat, where he can emerge at night time when it is quiet and he feels safe, when you are asleep with your bedroom door shut.


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## scatchy (Nov 29, 2011)

Hi
I have fostered many feral kittens over the years and agree with what the rescue is suggesting.
It is very important to keep a feral kitten in a crate so he can become accustomed to handling.
If you let him out of the crate he will hide and you will end up chasing him around to try and handle him which would be much more stressful for him.
Letting a feral kitten run loose and hoping it will come to you will not work - the chances are he will never come to you and it will certainly take a very long time if he does.
Being tamed will be upsetting for the kitten but the best way I have found is lots of short sessions of touching. Keep the kitten where he can see people and have a radio on (Radio 4 is good as it is human voices).
Also the more people he meets the better.
Kittens do vary, some never become that tame, others become like any domestic cat, most become used to their people but never really accept strangers.


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## Feral Life (Nov 28, 2011)

I am taming a feral kitten at the moment, i took him into my house nearly 2 weeks ago. I have a huge dog crate & for the first day & a half i kept him in there, he had a bed that he could hide in & he had loads of toys to play with, but the main thing was that the crate was huge so he had loads of space.

But by the second day i had to let him out of the crate, he is a kitten with bundles of energy, he needs space to run around. Kittens/cats love to explore & what better why is there to get a kitten used to living in a house then having freedom of a home?

My kitten was 100% tame after one week! :thumbup1: he was completely feral when i got him, he was terrified of humans!!! Once i let him out of the cage he started to come around really quickly! Of course the first two days out of the cage he spent hiding, only coming out for his food, but he soon learned to come out to me when i came with his food, & i could also get him to come out when i dangled a piece of string in-front of his hiding spot for a while 'curiosity killed the cat' & all that!

I know you said that you kitten got out of the crate & hid for a few days, but it is totally normal for them to hide, its nothing to worry about! Also if you were trying to catch the kitten to put him back in the crate he would have sensed that you were trying to catch him! 

I really think you should take peoples advice on here, its a great thing that you are doing by fostering this kitten, but think how good you would feel if you actually made some real progress with the kitten! Coz so far it sounds like you have made no progress with the crate! Honestly the kitten will only hide for the first few days while he is getting over the stress of the crate!


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