Taming Ferals

I feed about a dozen young feral kitties. These are true ferals, not
strays. They were born outside in the brush and have never been handled
by humans. I would like to bring a couple of them in and have them join
the family, but they are quite wary.

I can talk to them, and they talk back, and they know when feeding time
is and are always there, but when I take the food out, I can't get any
closer than about three feet or they will scatter.

Some of them seem real curious and friendly and will meow and roll
around on the ground, but if I try to approach they take off.

I have had pretty good luck befriending and adopting strays. It takes a
while, but I can usually get their trust. One stray, Fluffy, even moved
in and is now Queen of the house. But, she had lived with humans before
unlike these ferals who have never had and direct human contact.

Opinions?

"Fat Freddy" wrote in message
...
I feed about a dozen young feral kitties. These are true ferals, not
strays. They were born outside in the brush and have never been handled
by humans. I would like to bring a couple of them in and have them join
the family, but they are quite wary.

I can talk to them, and they talk back, and they know when feeding time
is and are always there, but when I take the food out, I can't get any
closer than about three feet or they will scatter.

Some of them seem real curious and friendly and will meow and roll
around on the ground, but if I try to approach they take off.

I have had pretty good luck befriending and adopting strays. It takes a
while, but I can usually get their trust. One stray, Fluffy, even moved
in and is now Queen of the house. But, she had lived with humans before
unlike these ferals who have never had and direct human contact.

Opinions?

Get hold of whatever group rescues and adopts cats out at the local PetCo
and Petsmart. That is how we got Molly. She already had a litter in the
oven when they trapped her so it was homes needed for five instead of just
one. Yes she is a true feral. She does her thing and we provide food and
shelter and a couple of grandsons that she loves to bits. Us she ignores
unless it is really cold and the boys aren't here. Then she will get up on
our bed after we go to sleep and get back up if we start to stir.

She will tap my face if the food bowl gets low.

The rescue groups will tell you how to trap them and where to get veterinary
care for them. Some feral are placed in homes. Others get their shots and
surgery and are released without being able to add to their population..

I think we got Molly thru Cat Moms

Jo

Hello FF,

We've taken in a few ferals. It depends what you expect from the cat,
and your amount of patience. I love former ferals -- it's such a reward
to see the changes in them.

We started with three ten-week old kittens. I found out later that once
kittens are over a few months old, it's tougher to train them. These
guys were right on the edge of that time, but they came around nicely.
Within a week I could touch all of them, although they would scatter at
any sudden movement. Now three years old, they have all different
personalities, but have in common that they will run and hide from some
things (strangers, etc.) more than some of our other cats. They do hang
around us and lay around out in the open like regular cats.

Our other former feral was probably six months old when we brought her
in. She sounds more like some of the ones you described -- she knew I
was feeding her but wouldn't get close. I would talk and talk to her,
and she would roll on the ground in a friendly manner. I started letting
her see me rub my hands all over a plant close to her, then I would walk
away. She would walk over to the plant and sniff it. I knew she was
getting curious about me. Soon after that, she came over to sniff my
out-stretched hand. Later that night, she was rubbing against my leg!

She has been a joy, but never overcame her built-in feral fears. Now ten
years old, she at times has run through the house playing. Most often
she will walk through a room along the wall, not through the center. She
can be braver at times, but spends most days under the bed. She comes
out at night and sleeps with me (and purrs and purrs.)

In general, if you expect a lap cat -- I would not bring in a feral. If
you're willing to go slowly and take pleasure in each little
breakthrough, you will love it. I don't force these cats to be what
they're not, but I do push myself on them enough to build up a trusting
relationship.

One of the three kittens I was talking about went to another home. That
lady recently moved and didn't take him. It's a long, sad story but I
went down and picked him up. He reverted to a feral state during all of
this stress and would hiss at me from a closet. I let him alone a day or
so but then started some tough love. I spent hours in the secluded room
with him, talking to him while he hid behind a chair. I threw treats to
him so he could see that I was the treat-giver. It took a week, but he
finally let me pet him. The moment I touched him, he let out a
tremendous purr. Moments like that make everything worthwhile.

There are lots of other people who have feral experience, on other cat
groups too, and can give you more hints.

The ones you don't take in, do you have a trap and release program in
your city so these cats can get spayed and neutered? If not, have you
thought about attempting that? We have low cost spay/neuter clinics in
our area -- hope you do too.

Rhonda




Fat Freddy wrote:

Some of them seem real curious and friendly and will meow and roll
around on the ground, but if I try to approach they take off.

I have had pretty good luck befriending and adopting strays. It takes a
while, but I can usually get their trust. One stray, Fluffy, even moved
in and is now Queen of the house. But, she had lived with humans before
unlike these ferals who have never had and direct human contact.

Rhonda wrote:

they will run and hide from some
things (strangers, etc.) more than some of our other cats. They do hang
around us and lay around out in the open like regular cats.

This sounds a lot like Licky. Maybe he wasn't socialized early enough,
either. I fostered him with his brother when they were about 3 months
old. If they had been very recently trapped, they might have been just
on the cusp of the 7-8 week old time limit, after which, if they have
not been handled by humans, they will never be very affectionate cats.
Licky is not a lap cat. He never actually gets *on* me. But he loves
being petted under circumstances that feel safe to him. And he sleeps
with me every night.

Most often
she will walk through a room along the wall, not through the center.

That's interesting. I don't have a lot of experience with ferals, so I'm
not attuned to their typical behaviors. Licky does walk into the center
of a room (which means he is more socialized to humans than your feral,
I guess). But when he wants me to pet him, he'll push himself up against
a wall or piece of furniture, as though trying to get himself into as
protected a space as possible. Maybe that's how he feels safest when
allowing himself to be touched.

She
can be braver at times, but spends most days under the bed. She comes
out at night and sleeps with me (and purrs and purrs.)

Does she let you get really close and pet her when she's asleep (or
half asleep)? I find that Licky goes through a total personality change
when he goes to sleep. He will let me lie next to him, pet him with both
hands, kiss him, put my head on his side (to listen to his purrs), hug
him (gently), and he even loves to have his belly rubbed and will roll
onto his back and put his paws in the air, curling his toes and spreading
them apart and together, etc. It's like he's in some sort of hypnotic
bliss state, and he "forgets" to be afraid. At some point, though, often
after half an hour or more, he will wake up and suddenly become very
alarmed and wary again.

One of the three kittens I was talking about went to another home.
That lady recently moved and didn't take him.

What kind of idiot was she? I don't understand people who do this.
What are they thinking??

I spent hours in the secluded room
with him, talking to him while he hid behind a chair. I threw treats to
him so he could see that I was the treat-giver. It took a week, but he
finally let me pet him. The moment I touched him, he let out a
tremendous purr. Moments like that make everything worthwhile.

I'll bet!!

Joyce

On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 07:50:00 -0800, Fat Freddy
wrote:

I feed about a dozen young feral kitties. These are true ferals, not
strays. They were born outside in the brush and have never been handled
by humans. I would like to bring a couple of them in and have them join
the family, but they are quite wary.

I can talk to them, and they talk back, and they know when feeding time
is and are always there, but when I take the food out, I can't get any
closer than about three feet or they will scatter.

Some of them seem real curious and friendly and will meow and roll
around on the ground, but if I try to approach they take off.

I have had pretty good luck befriending and adopting strays. It takes a
while, but I can usually get their trust. One stray, Fluffy, even moved
in and is now Queen of the house. But, she had lived with humans before
unlike these ferals who have never had and direct human contact.

Opinions?

All I can tell you is that I took in and worked with a former feral,
Brando, who is now a loving lap cat of some 15 lbs. :-)

Check out Alley Cat Allies website, for one.

What I did was trap Brando with a Hav-A-Heart trap, keep him in cages
for awhile (this may sound cruel, but they actually feel safer this
way), fed him off a spoon and then my hand, and slowly, he started
associating me with "good things" (i.e., food), and eventually, he
allowed me to pet him, followed by starting to purr. It was one of
the most rewarding things I've ever done, and I am so happy I did.

Best of luck to you.

Ginger-lyn

Home Pages:
http://www.moonsummer.com
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....mmer/index.htm (genealogy)
http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against
Animals in Movies Website)

wrote:

Rhonda wrote:

they will run and hide from some
things (strangers, etc.) more than some of our other cats. They do hang
around us and lay around out in the open like regular cats.

This sounds a lot like Licky. Maybe he wasn't socialized early enough,
either. I fostered him with his brother when they were about 3 months
old. If they had been very recently trapped, they might have been just
on the cusp of the 7-8 week old time limit, after which, if they have
not been handled by humans, they will never be very affectionate cats.
Licky is not a lap cat. He never actually gets *on* me. But he loves
being petted under circumstances that feel safe to him. And he sleeps
with me every night.


That sounds like Sweeter. We can pet her in her safe zones. I've heard
that about other former ferals too.


Most often
she will walk through a room along the wall, not through the center.

That's interesting. I don't have a lot of experience with ferals, so I'm
not attuned to their typical behaviors. Licky does walk into the center
of a room (which means he is more socialized to humans than your feral,
I guess). But when he wants me to pet him, he'll push himself up against
a wall or piece of furniture, as though trying to get himself into as
protected a space as possible. Maybe that's how he feels safest when
allowing himself to be touched.


Yes, I think the earlier you get them the more chance you have of
eliminating some of the scaredy cat complex. Sweeter was in her first
heat when we took her in, so I was assuming she was about 6-8 months
old. I think we're lucky she's as friendly as she is, even though she
will always a special needs kitty. She really is a sweet cat.


She
can be braver at times, but spends most days under the bed. She comes
out at night and sleeps with me (and purrs and purrs.)

Does she let you get really close and pet her when she's asleep (or
half asleep)? I find that Licky goes through a total personality change
when he goes to sleep. He will let me lie next to him, pet him with both
hands, kiss him, put my head on his side (to listen to his purrs), hug
him (gently), and he even loves to have his belly rubbed and will roll
onto his back and put his paws in the air, curling his toes and spreading
them apart and together, etc. It's like he's in some sort of hypnotic
bliss state, and he "forgets" to be afraid. At some point, though, often
after half an hour or more, he will wake up and suddenly become very
alarmed and wary again.


That's cute. He must be in heaven at that point.

Sweeter is just fine at night on the bed, awake or not. We can pet her
and she purrs and flips over. Right now, that's the only place. Earlier,
she used to sleep on a futon in another bedroom and I could pet her there.


One of the three kittens I was talking about went to another home.
That lady recently moved and didn't take him.

What kind of idiot was she? I don't understand people who do this.
What are they thinking??


Last time she moved he peed on her furniture after she had the room
filled with boxes. He stopped after they were moved and settled. She was
afraid he'd do that again. After he went through about 3 months of
stress this time (he lived with another person inbetween and that person
could not even get close to him), he moved to our house. He became more
acclimated and then I caught him peeing on the sofa. We went off to the
vet and he had a HUGE urinary infection and crystals. We took care of
that and he is fine now, and uses the litter box. He probably had the
same thing from stress when she was moving the first time. She didn't
know to take him to the vet. It bothers me though that she could give
him up so easily after loving him for three years. She was more worried
about her furniture.


I spent hours in the secluded room
with him, talking to him while he hid behind a chair. I threw treats to
him so he could see that I was the treat-giver. It took a week, but he
finally let me pet him. The moment I touched him, he let out a
tremendous purr. Moments like that make everything worthwhile.

I'll bet!!


Give Licky a scritch from me.

Rhonda

Rhonda wrote:

Last time she moved he peed on her furniture after she had the room
filled with boxes. He stopped after they were moved and settled. She was
afraid he'd do that again. After he went through about 3 months of
stress this time (he lived with another person inbetween and that person
could not even get close to him), he moved to our house. He became more
acclimated and then I caught him peeing on the sofa. We went off to the
vet and he had a HUGE urinary infection and crystals.

Poor boy!

Thank god you had the sense to get him checked out.

We took care of that and he is fine now, and uses the litter box.

Well, he's obviously far better off now than he ever was with his former
so-called caretaker.

Give Licky a scritch from me.

Awww. I will! He likes that.

Thanks,
Joyce

On Sun 12 Feb 2006 12:50:26p, Rhonda wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes ):

She has been a joy, but never overcame her built-in feral fears.
Now ten years old, she at times has run through the house
playing. Most often she will walk through a room along the wall,
not through the center. She can be braver at times, but spends
most days under the bed. She comes out at night and sleeps with
me (and purrs and purrs.)

I loved reading your reply in this thread! I, too, am amazed at the
progress, even "baby steps", in Bonnie. She's been here almost 3
years now, and was an older feral. I thought maybe 5 months, but I
suspect older now, and she was only small due to malnourishment.
She's still very small. This part of your post reminds me of her. She
would stay close to the walls, always on the floor, never climbing up
on anything. I remember the first time I saw her perching on a box. I
was just amazed by her bravery! Bonnie still has never purred,
though.

--
Cheryl

On Sun 12 Feb 2006 10:50:00a, Fat Freddy wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
):

I feed about a dozen young feral kitties. These are true ferals,
not strays. They were born outside in the brush and have never
been handled by humans. I would like to bring a couple of them
in and have them join the family, but they are quite wary.

I can talk to them, and they talk back, and they know when
feeding time is and are always there, but when I take the food
out, I can't get any closer than about three feet or they will
scatter.

Some of them seem real curious and friendly and will meow and
roll around on the ground, but if I try to approach they take
off.

I have had pretty good luck befriending and adopting strays. It
takes a while, but I can usually get their trust. One stray,
Fluffy, even moved in and is now Queen of the house. But, she
had lived with humans before unlike these ferals who have never
had and direct human contact.

Opinions?

Sounds like a lot of cats! I agree with the suggestion to try to
find some help. That said, that's a hard thing to do. Even though
there are many listed feral groups in my area, none of them would
take in Bonnie when I trapped her. I couldn't keep her because I
had a FeLV+ cat in the house. Since I couldn't find anyone to take
her, she was vaccinated, and I kept her.

Without going into the "hows" and her whole story, I'll give you
one from the lessons learned dept. If I had it to do all over
again, I'd spend more "hands-on" time with her. She's impossible to
catch when it's time for vet appointments. It's very stressful for
both of us, and she ends up with ragged claws trying to keep from
being picked up. She'll grab hold of anything in her defense. She's
also impossible to catch if she needs medicating. So far she's been
healthy, but if she has an infection or some other reason for
medication, it'll be damned near impossible to keep a schedule.

Best of luck, and I'd so "go for it!"

--
Cheryl

Rhonda wrote:

Hello FF,

We've taken in a few ferals. It depends what you expect from the cat,
and your amount of patience. I love former ferals -- it's such a reward
to see the changes in them.
snip
Rhonda




Fat Freddy wrote:

Some of them seem real curious and friendly and will meow and roll
around on the ground, but if I try to approach they take off.

I have had pretty good luck befriending and adopting strays. It takes a
while, but I can usually get their trust. One stray, Fluffy, even moved
in and is now Queen of the house. But, she had lived with humans before
unlike these ferals who have never had and direct human contact.


I would like to thank each and everyone who is doing such a great job
taking in the ferals; it requires a lot of patience and perseverance.
Best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek (semi-feral)