Animal Welfare Professionals

I'm fostering a litter of feral kittens and was wondering if anyone might have some tips and tricks for helping to socialize them. I've been using Gerber ham baby food to help them get comfortable being near me and I've been in the room with them as much as possible. I've tried holding them but they're pretty squirmy and I'm worried I might scare them too much. 

Depending on the age and sass level we have lots of different tried and true techniques. In the beginning we encourage fosters to spend as much time with their kittens as possible to acclimate them to their presence. Just sitting in the room, reading a book, and letting them see that you aren't a threat is a huge thing. Bonus points if you set a delicious treat or wet food snack beside you to encourage them to come up. Don't leave the delicous treat in the room when you leave though - you want the to associate you with that wonderful goodie!

Kitty burritos - where you snuggle kitty up in a towel or blanket and force some attention on them work really well, lots of head and ear scratches and then a gentle release.

Wand toys are a huge favorite of our socialization fosters as well - it's hard to resist a toy even if it is getting closer and closer to the scary human!

Great suggestions, rarmes. Since this post is from Aug, I assume all your little guys are long gone but here are a couple more suggestions for future kittens.

For fearful, squirming kittens try hand feeding them their wet food and treats. Also, handle them often but briefly. In a quiet, calm space, pick them up and hold and stroke them until just before they start struggling and then gently put them down. Don't put them down if they are struggling b/c then they learn that if they struggle you will let them go (think about how this lesson will effect vet visits, for example) This may mean only only hold them for a couple seconds at first but that's ok! If you wait too long to put them down and they start struggling, apply gentle pressure (if that is calming) and wait for 1 second of stillness and then let them go immediately. Frequent, short socializing sessions like this will give them many opportunities to realize that you aren't so scary after all.

I had one kitten that was more scared than the rest. When I let them out of the cage, I held the scared one as described above before I let him out so I was able to reward him with freedom for allowing me to hold him.