Hey,
My wife found a couple of kittens on our porch the other night, and she set some food out for them and put a blanket in a box for them to sleep in. Now she’s decided she wants to bring them inside out of the cold, but they run away whenever she gets near. What’s the best way for her to lure them inside?
Food. A trail of gravy dipped meat (in very small portions) should lead the little critter right in.
Have your wife inform the kitten that you’ve lost your young daughter and you need its help finding her. 
I’ve had good luck using live traps with cats (had to trap a couple of feral cats once). Just put the food in the cage, open the doors, cat goes in, door closes. You might be able to borrow one from animal control–trap it and bring it on in. Might be a little less cold then leaving the door open, and it’ll be much less effort.
Warmth and food. If these are kittens, where is the mother? Put a fan heater or something to make the room warm, move the box nearer the door, leave the door open. Put fresh food in the room. Don’t leave the room unattended! When the cats enter, close the door.
Warmth and food. If these are kittens, where is the mother? Put a fan heater or something to make the room warm, move the box nearer the door, leave the door open. Put fresh food in the room. Don’t leave the room unattended! When the cats enter, close the door.
dang, my post got eaten…
Ok, this is basically echoing qts’s advice. (BTW, how did you manage a double post 56 minutes after the first one? Weird.]
Leave the door open (Does it open to small room that can be closed off like a foyer or a laundry room? That’d be ideal.), put some smelly food across the room (canned food would be good), bundle up, and sit by the door patiently (grab a book) and patiently. When the kittens come into explore and get a good distance from the door, quickly close it. (I would only open the door maybe halfway, so it’ll be easier to close quickly) Do not try to grab a kitten if it comes up to you, you don’t want to scare the other one off. Wait until they are both inside.
Do you want to keep the kittens? It sounds as those they’re feral. Be prepared to do a lot of patient sitting and letting the kittens come up to you at their own pace until you’ll be able to pet them. And they may never be as affectionate as hand-reared kittens. But they’d probably still be great pets!
Qts gives good advice, and same with Tremorviolet. However, a Havahart trap is not a bad back up plan.
And, if you plan on keeping them, or even finding them good homes- bless you!
Why try to “lure” them when you can just ask them if they’d like to come inside? Amazing how far you can get with a kind word and an invitation.
You don’t actually need to lure them inside,as someone who has fed a lot of stray cats and kittens when it becomes obvious they are otherwise going to be bad off you just have to offer food where the cat can see it
and back away
let the cat go eat and slowly approach.
Not too close that the cat runs but close enough and just sit on your haunches,the next day be waiting in a chair when you offer food etc,after two or three days of this you should be able to lead them in or even pick them up since these are kittens.
I used a cat-trap when I started trapping the ferals around my house. (I borrowed mine from a local feral cat rescue as they cost about $50 at the local Ranch & Home.)
I did this after the cats were used to me. I fed them at the same time every day and talked to them so they knew the sound of my voice. I’m slowly working on getting them trapped, fixed and re-released but one of them decided that my house was MUCH better then being outside in the cold and she just marched in and refuses to go back outside. The boyfriend named her so now we have to keep her. 
Patience is the key with feral cats. Patience and stinky wet cat food.
Best of luck!
Once you have them inside, be very careful handling them. They are wild, and they will bite and scratch. If you have to handle them at all, put on heavy gardening gloves first.
I have a cat who was a feral kitten, and he bit me several times when I caught him. Of course, I just grabbed him with my bare hands! After a few days he was used to us, and we could handle him without gloves. Eventually he became a real sweetie. Now he sleeps on my feet at night.
First, get a laser pointer. If you’re going to have kittens inside, you’ll need one anyway.
It should be simple to lead them anywhere you want with the laser. My cat will chase that dot halfway up the wall. Wild kittens should easily chase it inside.
Sure, you can trap them, or try and wait them out. But you’ve got to admit, my method has the advantage of being fun for all involved.
Well whenever I want to make kitten stew, I just set out some large mouse traps with tuna on them. Gets lots of stray kittens.
String. Slowly drag a string past the youngster. When she sees it, stop. Twist your end, and the cat’s end will move. Pull it a little more. Your quarry will pounce. Let him revel in that, then pull some more. You’ll get the hang of it. A kitten that won’t pounce on a string is too dull to adopt.
Have you ever seen Young Einstein starring Yahoo Serious? Hilarious “kitten-stew” making scene – or was it ‘kitten pie’? Anyways, 'twas the best.
No, I have never seen that movie. And what is so funny about kitten stew? 
It taste good and is cheap to make, I don’t know why more people don’t eat it.
We’re going through this right now with an older cat that’s been hanging out. We feed him on the deck. It’s been weeks and we still can’t touch him. He comes closer to us each time we feed him, but then we extend our arm…extending…extending ever so slightly each time…and HISSSSSSSSS!!!, which really sucks because he looks like a pretty nice guy. We call him Domino, but I’m thinking of changing it to Antisocial Muthafuckah Who Might Bite My Fingers Off, The Little Bastard.
Try “trilling”–an imitation of the “come here” vocalization that momma cats are supposed to make to kid cats. At least that’s what I saw on a PBS documentary.
It is like saying “brree” in a soft falsetto voice, rolling the r in in the back of the throat. It starts at a “low” pitch and ends at a high pitch. (A low falsetto pitch–is than an oxymoron?) It’s like an up-inflection as if asking a question.
The other two things I’ve heard are to not look them in the eye and to squint, which is supposed to be a sign of non-aggression. I usually take my glasses off when I do that part.
I’ve had pretty good success with these, but far from 100%. Let me know if it works.
KITTEN SEDUCER!
i used the brown bag method. place an open bag (no handles!) near the kitten, when the kitten goes into the bag turn the bag upright and carry kitten (in the bag) to a safe enclosed room.