Anybody tamed a feral?

On 8/2/2014 1:40 PM, Joy wrote:
About a week ago I adopted a cat from the shelter. He's a
four-month-old neutered male. He's also feral. I've been keeping him
isolated for the time being, but I'll be trying an introduction on Monday.

He spends all of his time hiding, changing his hiding place whenever I
find him. He is eating and using the litter box, but that's it.

Any suggestions for making him feel more comfortable when I stop
shutting him up?

Joy

Make sure he has his own "safe place". Preferably not hiding under
something.

Jill

"Joy" wrote in message
...
About a week ago I adopted a cat from the shelter. He's a four-month-old
neutered male. He's also feral. I've been keeping him isolated for the
time being, but I'll be trying an introduction on Monday.

I assume you mean he was born feral but surely he was in the shelter for a
while before he was neutered? Do you know his story? He's only 4 months
old so you have a good chance of making him into a housecat, but if he was
truly wild with no human contact for his first (important for soclalising) 8
weeks, it will need a lot of work but it can be done.

He spends all of his time hiding, changing his hiding place whenever I
find him. He is eating and using the litter box, but that's it.

Which is normal for a not very socialised kitten. Humans have probably not
been his friends until now.

Any suggestions for making him feel more comfortable when I stop shutting
him up?

Let him do what he wants and come to you when he is ready.
I've never tamed a true feral but Boyfie was half-way to it through being
lost, and it took months to get him inside, more months before I could touch
him. For the first two years I had to leave the back door open so he could
rush outside if he wanted to. But now he thinks I am the best thing in the
world and is always on my lap given the chance, he is extremely attached to
me and there's no need for open back doors . However, even though he's had
to get used to other people feeding him when I've been in hospital -which he
will accept obviously, he sees no need to remain their friend afterwards.
It kind of hurts their feelings..
I'm sure your new kitten will get used to you and will be fine but will need
much more patience than usual. Don't expect him to be comfortable with your
visitors either if he's been feral or half-feral even if he's become happy
with you.
June fed Boyfie for 8 weeks once, does he stay in the house when she comes
to visit? No.
Claire has been looking after me and Boyfie for months, at first 3 times a
day, but now I am getting independent so she only comes to see me twice a
week but he tries to be outside when she visits.
Your new cat might always be a bit more difficult and need more
understanding throughout his life if he's been feral or even half-feral but
it's worth it in the end.

On 8/4/2014 2:25 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Joy" wrote in message
...
About a week ago I adopted a cat from the shelter. He's a four-month-old
neutered male. He's also feral. I've been keeping him isolated for the
time being, but I'll be trying an introduction on Monday.

I assume you mean he was born feral but surely he was in the shelter for a
while before he was neutered? Do you know his story? He's only 4 months
old so you have a good chance of making him into a housecat, but if he was
truly wild with no human contact for his first (important for soclalising) 8
weeks, it will need a lot of work but it can be done.

Yes, he was in the shelter for a while. I don't know his story, but
they told me at the shelter that "He's still a little bit (I think
that's an understatement) feral and doesn't trust people."


He spends all of his time hiding, changing his hiding place whenever I
find him. He is eating and using the litter box, but that's it.

Which is normal for a not very socialised kitten. Humans have probably not
been his friends until now.

Any suggestions for making him feel more comfortable when I stop shutting
him up?

Let him do what he wants and come to you when he is ready.
I've never tamed a true feral but Boyfie was half-way to it through being
lost, and it took months to get him inside, more months before I could touch
him. For the first two years I had to leave the back door open so he could
rush outside if he wanted to. But now he thinks I am the best thing in the
world and is always on my lap given the chance, he is extremely attached to
me and there's no need for open back doors . However, even though he's had
to get used to other people feeding him when I've been in hospital -which he
will accept obviously, he sees no need to remain their friend afterwards.
It kind of hurts their feelings..
I'm sure your new kitten will get used to you and will be fine but will need
much more patience than usual. Don't expect him to be comfortable with your
visitors either if he's been feral or half-feral even if he's become happy
with you.

Oh, I won't expect that. Pickles isn't comfortable with visitors, and
neither was Waffles, so that will be nothing new.

June fed Boyfie for 8 weeks once, does he stay in the house when she comes
to visit? No.
Claire has been looking after me and Boyfie for months, at first 3 times a
day, but now I am getting independent so she only comes to see me twice a
week but he tries to be outside when she visits.
Your new cat might always be a bit more difficult and need more
understanding throughout his life if he's been feral or even half-feral but
it's worth it in the end.

I do hope he'll come to accept me, but even if he continues to hide all
his life, I'll still consider it worth it just to have gotten him out of
the shelter. It is trying to become a no-kill shelter, but it still
isn't a happy place for an animal.

Joy

--
Joy Unlimited
Colorful Crocheted Critters
Photos at http://www.PictureTrail.com/joy9

"Joy" wrote in message
...
On 8/4/2014 2:25 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Joy" wrote in message
...
I do hope he'll come to accept me, but even if he continues to hide all
his life, I'll still consider it worth it just to have gotten him out of
the shelter. It is trying to become a no-kill shelter, but it still isn't
a happy place for an animal.

Joy


All shelters here are no kill (except for the RSPCA, who are still suspect
for me)
I got a dog from there years ago - she was on death row.
7 days and no one claims you, you are dead 2 weeks later. She was very
challenging and difficult but I sorted her out and we lived happily together
for 14 years. Trim was for the needle (they'd stop electrocuting by then)
But remember it was the RSPCA that got hold of KFC and put her down.
Maybe they have changed in the last few years and all the dogs you see on
the TV programmes about them will stay there until they get good homes.

I'd like to think so.








--
Joy Unlimited
Colorful Crocheted Critters
Photos at http://www.PictureTrail.com/joy9

On Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:26:46 -0400, jmcquown
wrote:

On 8/2/2014 1:40 PM, Joy wrote:
About a week ago I adopted a cat from the shelter. He's a
four-month-old neutered male. He's also feral. I've been keeping him
isolated for the time being, but I'll be trying an introduction on Monday.

He spends all of his time hiding, changing his hiding place whenever I
find him. He is eating and using the litter box, but that's it.

Any suggestions for making him feel more comfortable when I stop
shutting him up?

Joy

Make sure he has his own "safe place". Preferably not hiding under
something.

Jill

All of mine have a spot where they know I will not bother them other
then maybe a scratch when passing by them or such. They know I will
not pick them up or bother them there EXCEPT if they have a vet vist
and I have to but even then I will try to get them to move before I
grab them so they always know they will have a spot regardless where
it is that they will be left alone!!

On 8/4/2014 3:13 PM, lid wrote:
Joy wrote:
On 8/2/2014 12:34 PM, ann791 wrote:
On 8/2/2014 2:38 PM, Joy wrote:
On 8/2/2014 11:16 AM, Cheryl wrote:
On 2014-08-02 3:10 PM, Joy wrote:
About a week ago I adopted a cat from the shelter. He's a
four-month-old neutered male. He's also feral. I've been keeping him
isolated for the time being, but I'll be trying an introduction on
Monday.

He spends all of his time hiding, changing his hiding place whenever I
find him. He is eating and using the litter box, but that's it.

Any suggestions for making him feel more comfortable when I stop
shutting him up?

Joy


I haven't dealt with a real feral, but one of my RB cats was fairly
close to feral. All I did was let her do what she wanted, making sure
she had some safe place to hide in whenever she felt in danger, which at
the beginning was pretty much all the time. Very gradually, she settled
in, and became much more friendly with me - but I let her approach me,
not the other way around. Throughout a long and mostly contented life,
she never cared much for other humans, and went into hiding whenever
they were around. Even the good friend who kept an eye on things when I
was out of town rarely saw her - once the friend ransacked the place
looking for her because she thought she must have slipped out.


Okay, thanks. That gives me an idea of what to expect. Did you have
another cat when you got her? My hope is that Pickles might befriend
him and eventually convince him that I'm safe.



Samwise was close to being feral when we trapped him , 2 litter mates
and the mother.

Spend time in the room with him. Take a book or other quite thing to
do and just sit there.Try talking softy to him. Let him get use to you.
Give him treats. Let him come to you.
After 9 years life is still on Samwise's terms. He will let us pet and
brush him. He will come and lay against me or sit on my lap.He does not
like to be picked up.

If it were me I would keep him separated a little longer. Let him settle
in more.

Ann

Thank you.

I go in and talk to him frequently, and put down some treats for him.

Monday will be ten days since I brought him home. His settling in
consists of moving to a new hiding place every time I see him where he's
currently hiding. He can continue to do that with the door open. The
only concern will be how Pickles decides to treat him. She's the reason
I got him. She's obviously very lonely since here littermate, Waffles, went to the Bridge.

Joy

Shadow was a feral, it literally took years for him to settle completely.
Eventually he even learned to enjoy belly rubs.


That's amazing. Pickles is the only cat I've had who enjoys belly rubs.
She was never a feral, and it took her about three or four years to
trust me enough for them.

Joy

--
Joy Unlimited
Colorful Crocheted Critters
Photos at http://www.PictureTrail.com/joy9

On Mon, 04 Aug 2014 14:35:48 -0700, Joy wrote:

I do hope he'll come to accept me, but even if he continues to hide all
his life, I'll still consider it worth it just to have gotten him out of
the shelter. It is trying to become a no-kill shelter, but it still
isn't a happy place for an animal.

But it's really especially rewarding when you start getting those
small breakthroughs, like when he does approach you and when he does
let you pet him.

On 8/5/2014 7:10 AM, dgk wrote:
On Mon, 04 Aug 2014 14:35:48 -0700, Joy wrote:

I do hope he'll come to accept me, but even if he continues to hide all
his life, I'll still consider it worth it just to have gotten him out of
the shelter. It is trying to become a no-kill shelter, but it still
isn't a happy place for an animal.

But it's really especially rewarding when you start getting those
small breakthroughs, like when he does approach you and when he does
let you pet him.


Oh, yes. I'm sure of that. Unfortunately, I think that will be a very
long time coming, if it ever does. The latest is that a fecal test
shows that he has an infection, and I not only have to keep him isolated
for another weeks, I have to give him medication every day. The first
time was relatively easy, but now he's back hiding under the bed. I
don't know if I'll even be able to give him all the doses. I do know
that if I do, it will certainly put off the day when he decides he can
trust me.

Joy :-(

--
Joy Unlimited
Colorful Crocheted Critters
Photos at http://www.PictureTrail.com/joy9

On Tue, 05 Aug 2014 21:21:48 +0100, Judith Latham
wrote:

In article ,
Joy wrote:
On 8/5/2014 7:10 AM, dgk wrote:
On Mon, 04 Aug 2014 14:35:48 -0700, Joy wrote:

I do hope he'll come to accept me, but even if he continues to hide all
his life, I'll still consider it worth it just to have gotten him out of
the shelter. It is trying to become a no-kill shelter, but it still
isn't a happy place for an animal.

But it's really especially rewarding when you start getting those
small breakthroughs, like when he does approach you and when he does
let you pet him.


Oh, yes. I'm sure of that. Unfortunately, I think that will be a very
long time coming, if it ever does. The latest is that a fecal test
shows that he has an infection, and I not only have to keep him isolated
for another weeks, I have to give him medication every day. The first
time was relatively easy, but now he's back hiding under the bed. I
don't know if I'll even be able to give him all the doses. I do know
that if I do, it will certainly put off the day when he decides he can
trust me.

Joy :-(

Just think how Spicey was with Tak and how she has changed.

Judith

Oh, good point.

One of the hints I've heard about taming a feral is to spend time in the room with him Every Day. (when you're not trying to medicate him, anyway). Just sit quietly and read a book. Out loud, even. He needs to hear your voice, and he needs to make the connection between you and Not Threat. It'll take time, but apparently once you get them acclimated, ferals become the best Lap Fungus you could ever want.

Jane
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