Geez! You just never know what will happen!
We moved to Orlando, FL to renovate a house and plan to sell it after we finish fixing it up.
With an upcoming move, we definitely didn’t plan to adopt a cat. Plus, we never dreamed of having to tame a feral kitten. But sometimes things don’t work out the way you planned. Let me explain…
We have a storage shed and storage tent in our backyard. A few weeks ago, we saw a white mama cat and her kittens hanging around. They popped in and out of the tent and crawled in and out of the crawlspace underneath the shed.
There were 5 kittens. One was completely white and looked like a tiny replica of her mother.
We saw the cat family a few times each day. So we figured they were exploring the neighborhood when they weren’t in our yard.
After we didn’t see them for a few days, we saw the mama cat and 4 of her kittens in a neighbor’s yard. They looked pretty healthy and well-fed, and we were glad they had found a home. But the white kitty wasn’t with the others, so we wondered what happened to her.
Two weeks later we suddenly saw the white kitten walking between the shed and storage tent. The poor baby was so thin that her ribs were showing.
Here’s Kimba a couple of weeks after “moving into” our house.
You can still see scratches on her face, but she filled out quite nicely in just a few weeks!
Operation “Save a Kitty / Tame a Feral Kitten” began!
I had no idea how to tame a feral kitten, but my instincts took over. I tried putting myself in the kitty’s “shoes.” Her face was all scratched up, so she was probably attacked or had a fight with another animal. I figured she had to be extremely fearful, in addition to being so hungry and malnourished.
Knowing she was hungry, I brought her some food and placed it on the concrete slab in between the shed and tent. Then I called, “Kitty, Kitty, come get your food.” I knew she wouldn’t come out of her hiding place until I was gone. So I went inside and peered out of the window. Sure enough, in a few minutes, she slowly and very cautiously crawled out from under the shed and devoured the Life’s Abundance Cat Food.
During the next week, I continued feeding her and leaving out fresh water that had Flea Free Food supplements in it to get rid of any fleas she might have. The Flea Free has over 200 vitamins and minerals, so I knew that besides getting rid of fleas, it would also improve her health.
With each progressive meal, I moved closer and closer to her feeding bowl until I was able to touch the bowl while she was eating. Within a week, I could touch her while she ate. Ultimately, I was able to pick her up and hold her, but it took a couple of weeks.
We were trying to think of a name for her. One day my husband, Bob, came up with the name, Kimba. She was the white lion in the 1965 television series, “Kimba the White Lion.” The name fit her perfectly!
After Kimba was comfortable enough to come inside our home, I gave her a bath in the kitchen sink. I was afraid I would end up with scratches all over, but it went fairly smoothly.
I put about two inches of warm water in the sink so there was enough to wet her feet and to fill my cupped hands so that I could gently cover the rest of her body with water. When she was completely wet, I applied the Herbal Scents Pet Shampoo. When you leave it on for 5 minutes, it gets rid of fleas and helps to heal and soothe the skin. Then I rinsed her with the water sprayer, making sure the water was warm and that it was at low pressure so that it wouldn’t terrify her.
She did try to jump out of the sink a few times, but all in all, it went well. And when she was completely rinsed, she seemed to enjoy being wrapped in a big towel afterward.
The next day I took her to the veterinarian. Kimba was skittish, but she let the vet examine her. The vet said Kimba was healthy, but she needed to gain weight and be dewormed. After deworming her, the doctor applied Healing Gel for Dogs to her face. This gel contains aloe vera and did a great job of helping to quickly heal the scratches on her face.
It’s amazing the difference high-quality cat food makes!
For the next month, we continued feeding her the Life’s Abundance cat food – both dry food and the Instinctive Choice canned cat food. We also gave her the Life’s Abundance Wellness Food Supplement to boost her immune system and keep her as healthy as possible. Anytime she asked for food, we gave it to her. And she certainly could express her desires! She would jump in front of me when I walked around the house, mew as loud as that tiny voice could manage, rub against my legs demandingly, etc. You know what I mean if you’ve ever been around a kitten full of energy! Kimba couldn’t talk the human talk, but she certainly communicated just fine – and still does!
Kimba After Gaining Weight
Kimba gained weight and looks and acts like a very healthy cat now! She has so much energy and certainly keeps us entertained! I had forgotten how much fun kittens can be, and we are so thankful that she adopted us!
Well, I was able to tame a feral kitten. But there are some behavioral issues we now need to deal with. Kimba is an incredible jumper, and unfortunately she jumps onto our kitchen counters! Not a good thing when you have food set on them! So my next goal is to train her to stop jumping up on the counters. If you have any ideas, I’d really appreciate your sharing them!
