Impossible Cat

[LeiLana80]

"dsclp" is correct! This is fantastic news! Feral Kitty is wanting to interact with you. That is so awesome and amazing! I'm so excited for you both! Talk back to her quietly, calmly, and sweetly when she meows at you. Maybe settle on a name? That way Feral Kitty can get used to hearing it and connect it to herself- and more bonding can happen!
YAY!!!

 

[susieqz]

her name is [high plains] drifter.
i'll be smoking a beef roast on saturday. that will keep her close.
i bet i can feed her the fat cap from my hand.
i have developed a great deal of affection for an animal i have never touched.

 

[susieqz]

one day it rained all morn so i only went out to feed her.
when it cleared at noon, i stuck my head out n asked if there was a kitty around.
she said yes.
then i asked if she wanted company.
when she said she did, i grabbed up my stuff n went out to read.
but as soon as i was down flat, she demanded food, as she knows friskies appear after i'm settled in.
well, i got tired of the complaining n got a handful of friskies.
but i told her, if she was gonna eat between meals, she would eat where i say.
i put the food down no more than 18'' away.
she really wanted to eat so she came over.
i could have grabbed her if i wanted a trip to the ER.
that was 3 days ago. now, all breakfast is served within arms reach.
after eating, she still moves off to 10 or 12 feet tho.

 

[surya]

If you google coyote escape shelter for cat, there is some good info. It seems escape tunnels are recommended. I would be worried about a coyote getting your kitty.

 

[susieqz]

all i can do is get her to live in my garden.
it's coyote proof, more or less.
6' high wooden fence. if one somehow got in to attack my kitty, there would be noise.
i'm armed n will shoot to protect her.
i'm very good with my side arm due to constant practice.
i have had a rattler strike at me without warning, so i do carry.

 

[surya]

I hope it is coyote proof and she stays safe in there.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

I hope it is coyote proof and she stays safe in there.

She's safe. susieqz wrote, "sidearm," rather than, "gun." Drifter's a very safe cat.
.

 

[susieqz]

DAY 31
drifter now takes all meals within arm's reach.
getting her to depend on me for food was easy, as she was literally starving.
my big push has been in convincing her that i won't hinder her freedom of movement.
no force, no cages, no pushing.
my objective is to get her to decide my garden is home.
getting very close to that.
when i go out at 7 am to hang the wash, she complains that i woke her at the far end of the garden,
she isn't there for food. breakfast is at 10, n she knows when 10 is.
after breakfast she hangs with me, then patrols the garden. she returns for a drink n to spend more time with me.
when she tires of all this socializing, she goes to her end of the garden to be alone.
i saw her jump to the top of the 6' high fence to surveil the outside.
when she saw nothing interesting, she jumped back in.
my theory is working.
the idea is, she knows that she is always free to go.
but, when she thinks about it, she says to herself: ''why bother ?''

 

[susieqz]

iwas right! she will eat from my hand.
i cut the fat cap into strips 1 1/2'' long, by 1/2'' wide.
long enow to prevent bites.
i went out with one n sat in her view. i said ''look what i got'' n made yummy noises til she took it from my hand.
hasn't made any difference tho.
if i stand up, i'm a scary monster n over the fence she goes.
unless of course, i'm bringing food, in which case she doesn't notice i'm standing

 

[LeiLana80]

You lay down when you feed her, right? Try just sitting on the ground and feeding her.
Really, though, the progress you've made with the kitty over the past few weeks is pretty amazing! I would just keep it up and be patient. I love your updates! Woo hoo!!

 

[susieqz]

oh, i can now sit, if food is there.
thing is, i have to be careful with treats. if i tried unlimited food, she would eat herself sick.
i think she has often been very hungry in her life, so she will eat everything in sight.
it's too bad i can't feed more, as food is the only training aid i have.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

food is the only training aid i have.

On the contrary; you've already been employing a training aid far more powerful: gentleness.
.

 

[LeiLana80]

she would eat herself sick.
i think she has often been very hungry in her life, so she will eat everything in sight.

Yeah, you're right. I have a stray that we found earlier this year- and she still daily wolfs down either too much food or eats too quickly... and hurls it all back up. It doesn't concern her one bit either; I think she's been doing it her whole life. It's a nasty thing to deal with too, with 4 other cats in the house.
Will she let you touch her while she's eating next to you? Sometimes it's hard to get past that hurdle; but once they realize that human touch can be very soothing, gentle, and calming... they are much more open to it!

 

[Willowy]

I think she must have been a pet at some point. Maybe when she was very small, but at some time. A born feral won't warm up that quickly, and true ferals don't meow at humans. But obviously something happened to make her scared, poor thing. Once you prove to her that you're trustworthy, she'll be fine. I think you 2 will be best friends soon .

 

[susieqz]

this is day 33 of our courtship.
constant planning n effort on my part.
sounds feral to me.
i suspect that others taming ferals haven't tried
interacting while flat on the ground.
this works with all wild animals. that i have used it on..

 

[sarah430]

I'm really enjoying this wonderful story. Please keep posting updates!

 

[susieqz]

oh, dear. this old hag [me] has forgotten how to play.
things have gotten pretty relaxed around here, now that all feeding is within inches of me.
plus, everyday, she gets a piece of beef fat from my hand.

after dinner, drifter plopped down on her side, a couple feet from me.
she stretched her front claws as far as they could go. same with the back paws.
she arched her back n stretched as far as she could go.
this looked like an invitation to play, but i didn't know what to do.
i haven't minded getting scratched while playing with kittens, but i just learned about car scratch fever n this makes me wary.
i don't have any elbow length gloves.

it came to me that i simply have no idea how to play with a wild cat.

as it turned out, i needed to make no decisions today. this huge tarantula came up. about 3'' across
,cat snifed it, didn't know what to do.
i did.
i know they are harmless but big spiders scare me, so i killed it.
that broke the mood.
but, what do i do next time?

 

[LeiLana80]

I would not play with her with your hands as toys- that just leads to trouble and in my book is a huge no-no. Hands (any person body parts) should always be off limits for play time! (Although long hair is quite irresistible for some, haha).

Get a length of string or ribbon, like 5 feet long, and try that. You could even tie it to a stick and make a sort of "cat fishing pole". Keep the stick low for a while, so she doesn't think you are going to scare her/hit her.

I think string is a universal attraction for cats! And a good way to play with her, if she'll allow it.
I'd love to see what others suggest too!

 

[susieqz]

i just ordered a pair of cheap motorcycle gloves from amazon.
i can't pass up any chance at touching.
if i can get to the point where i can pick drifter up, she can spend winter in the house.
i doubt she'll want to tho. she likes her own space.

 

[boney girl dad]

Loving this story. Remarkable progress. Thinking that the gloves might be scary to her. Maybe leave them laying around so she can investigate and get used to them before using them.