I've got four adorable, longhaired approx. 2 month old kittens just off the streets, terrified of humans. They need to be socialized so they can be adopted out; and I'm going to utilize the clicker with them.
I've also got three 5-month old beautiful black & white short-haired kitties that are mostly socialized, but still run away when approached (a behavior they learned on the streets when they were still feral). I'm going to utilize the clicker to change that particular behavior so they will stay still or even better, come forward to meet me when I head in their direction.
My confusion is in how they're going to know the click was for thier specific behavior? I've got 4 resident cats, and 3 half-grown cats and a dog all running around together - plus the 4 in a large cage right in the middle of the house - how's any one of them going to know what behavior got rewarded to which animal???
Likely you will have sorted
Likely you will have sorted something out by now but if not, you might want to check out the yahoo group 'cat-clicker'. the members are prolific posters and great at problem solving things like this. Good luck!
Progress
I began by clicking and treating the cats that were in a cage together. Each time one looked at me or didn't shrink away, I C/T, putting a little treat of cooked chicken in the cage in front of the appropriate kitty. Soon they were coming to the front of the cage to get the treat, and taking it from my fingers
Then I let them loose inside a closed bedroom and began to interact with them on the floor. Again clicking and treating for friendly, forward behavior. Soon I had them climbing on me to get the chicken. Then I started requiring they let me touch them and pick them up to get the treat.
They were all OK with that pretty quickly. But all afraid of being approached. I started using C/T as I approached them, first while in the closed bedroom and then throughout the house. It's really been helping them to get more comfortable to let me approach and pick them up!
Feral cats
Wow, pandemonium. Good for you to help feral cats. From my experience with feral cats, the two month old kittens have the potential to be socialized very quickly. Living in a cage in the middle of the floor, however, with other animals and humans running about will make socializtion extremely difficult. If they can be placed in homes with people willing to work them on a one on one basis, that will be the best solution. It worked with some of the feral kittens we have caught that were that age. When we had them in their cage, they would hiss and scratch whenever anyone approached. They got adopted out and were socialized within 24 hours. That was lucky.
The older a feral cat is the more difficult it will be to socialize. I would not expect such quick results from the older feral kittens you have, but they will need some one on one to socialize them as well. In your situation that is going to be difficult. You need some other people to help you out.
Please also realize that older feral cats may not socialize as completely as we would like or want them to. They may only reach a level where they tolerate human petting and touching but only from the humans they know and trust.