abandond feral kittens

Question
QUESTION: On Monday, I found a little kitten under one of the floor of one of our classrooms at school. It looked hungry, so I gave it some food, sandwich crusts. I later learned that there were 2 other kittens. I saw one of the other 2. I want to help them, and the first kitten is already starting to trust me, but the kittens are small, and it is Thursday. I have not seen the mother at all, and the first kitten that I saw acted like it was looking for food. earlier in November, me and one of my friends saw two kittens, but then they just disappeared! since the school is in a country setting, there are hawks. and hawks will eat kittens. we think that the first two kittens had either grown up and moved, died during one of the cold nights, or they were eaten by a hawk. I am a dog person, but the kittens are too cute to be left homeless. all of my friends want to do something, but they did not try anything, but i want to help these little kittens. What should I do?!!

ANSWER: Hi Alex.  The best way to help these kittens would be to rent a humane live trap and bait it with food.  Many animal shelters or animal officers will lend you a trap, and some feed supply or lawn and garden stores have them to rent.  The folks who you get the trap from can show you how to set it up.  The kittens will enter the trap for the food, and then you will just need to have a home lined up to keep them in until the kittens get used to people enough to be adopted.  Without a trap, it will be really difficult to get the kittens, but you can try earning their trust through feeding them food in the same spot each day, and then see if they will enter a cat carrier if you put food in it.  Then, close the door behind them.

If the kittens' eyes are still blue, taming them should only take a couple of weeks.  You should keep them in a small area such as a bathroom or even a dog crate so they'll be easy to reach, and they won't have any place to hide.  Giving them any hiding spots will delay the taming process.  Spend several sessions of at least 10 minutes holding them each day, and use treats of chicken to earn their trust.  Hand-feed them a couple bites of chicken breast each time you hold them to help socialize them.  The more people they are exposed to as kittens, the more adaptable they will become as adults, so if any of your friends want to help you tame them, you should all take turns handling them.

Best of luck, and thanks for stepping in to help these little ones!

Jessica



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: the kitten's eyes are light colored, but the first one's eyes are a yellowish color. is this normal?

Answer
A kitten's eyes typically start to change from a gray-blue color to their permanent adult color around 7-8 weeks of age.  The permanent eye color can be deep copper, yellow, green, blue, and most any color in between.  Generally the only time to be concerned is when the cat already has had its adult eye color for a while, and that eye color begins to change, or a rust-colored cloud develops in the eye.  That can indicate infection.  It sounds as though these kittens probably have normal eye colors and are just at different stages of development.