Rescued Cat Was Feral For A Year

I just brought home a cat from a cat rescue organization. She was living on the streets, as they said, for a year before they picked her and her siblings up. When I went to see her she was hiding in her cage and wouldn't come out even though it was open and she was free to roam with the other cats. They said she was shy but I thought I might give her a chance. I got more concerned when I went to pick her up today, a few days after originally seeing her, and the girl working there said she fostered this cat for a month and a half but she never became socialized and just hid the whole time. She did adopt the cat's sibling, though.

Anyway I am fostering her now with intent to adopt, but I'm worried that this cat is totally feral still and always will be. The rescue was worried they wouldn't even be able to get her in a carrier at all so I could take her home. I obviously haven't had her long enough to know but I'm afraid she'll hide forever. She has her own bedroom for now with a litterbox, beds, food and water so she can acclimate and I'm going to be super patient with her, but I'm worried that now that I took her home I'll feel bad to bring her back. I think maybe they shouldn't have rescued her because may have had a better quality of life being feral since she was perhaps too old to try and make a housecat.

Do you think there's any chance of her becoming socialized?

Hello and welcome to TCS.

I don't have any experience with ferals myself, but I have read many "success story" threads in the Caring for Strays and Ferals forum, so yes, I do think there's an excellent chance of your foster girl becoming socialized. Especially with someone prepared to be patient with her.

And considering the dangers for ferals living outside, it is always better to bring them inside where they'll be safe and loved, even if sometimes they don't realize it at first.

TCS has some articles that might have some tips to help you with her socialization. Here are the links:

Handling Feral Cats
The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside | TheCatSite

How To Get A Cat To Come Out Of Hiding? | TheCatSite
16 Top Cat Experts Share Tips For Dealing With Timid Cats | TheCatSite
10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat | TheCatSite

Also, here are a few of my favourite feral success story threads. They're good to read (possibly out loud) when you're sitting in the room with your girl.

Here's a current one:
I Have More Trust Issues Than This Feral..

Some older threads:
meet Buggy | TheCatSite
Extremely Skittish Cat
First Time Trying To Tame A Feral/stray

And this one, though very long, is ongoing, and tells many wonderful stories about Jcatbird 's rescue/socialization/adoption of around 100 feral cats:
My Feral And Rescued Cats

Good luck with your foster girl. What's her name? Do you have a picture you can post? How To Add A Picture To Your Forum Post | TheCatSite

I ahve read SO many stories on this site about shy ferals just like yours that were socialized in the end. So don't give up. It may take a long time to get it done, but it can and does happen. Sitting quietly in the same room and reading out loud in a quiet voice is the start. You have to get her used to you and your voice. No sudden movements, no loud noises. Leave treats when you go. She will bond to you eventually. Some take a year. It will seem like you have no cat at all for a long time. Just make sure she is eating, drinking, and using the litter box (usually at night) and everything will turn out. All the luck!

Short answer, yes, I think she has a chance. And as others have said, there are a lot of success stories here (my former feral Chai was one of them!) and lots of helpful tips and support.

For specific tips, it would be good to get a baseline idea of where she’s at, after she’s had a few days to settle down of course. For example, does she allow any touch at all? If not, how close does she allow you to get? Does she eat, groom, sleep, or close her eyes when you are in the room? Does she hiss, growl, swipe, try to bite? Or is she just scared and silent? Will she take yummy food out of your hand? Out of a long spoon? etc.

Let me tell you something. I have been working with 5 feral cats. All were 100% feral and most over 5 years of age. They were part of a hoarding situation of 80 cats. Thankfully all of them with the exception of one have been TNRd. So no kitties until my one was playing foster Dad for a day. Now these cats are no longer feral. The light color Tabby I call Treasure and the white calico I call Shaman are litter mates. Both totally feral and ran the distance of 1/4 acre in 2 seconds if I looked out the window. Slowly through leaving out food, watching them, getting them used to my voice and household sounds by putting an echo dot outside, watching from a cam, they are both now lap cats. Another one (the one not TNRd) and a solid fluffy black cat was taken in by a crazy person who booted her kittens out. One kitten now has a home. I don't know what happened to the others as no one has seen. The cat taken by crazy lady was removed and taken to a no kill shelter. Treasure ran her off so she releasing her back here would not work. The darker orange tabby found a home right next door (not the cray lady) and is let out occasionally as he gets along somewhat with Shaman (not Treasure). And the other one has a home on the street behind our house who also is let out occasionally. This is another one that Shaman gets along with and yet another one Treasure doesn't. Wichapi is a black cat with white splotches that Treasure gets along with but Shaman despises. Yet Shaman and Treasure are best friends and always together except those few times they go off to socialize with the other cats.

What I'm saying is that it took one year of constant contact for Treasure to domesticate and 13 months for Shaman to domesticate. I started off by just a few seconds a day to sitting absolutely still while they ate from a food bowl 2 inches from my feet. Now I can't go anywhere in the yard without Treasure running by me, almost tripping me wanting to play. And Shaman loves to be pet as much as her brother does. And they were well over the kitten age. I fret a lot, I worry a lot but they come through and stay by my side. All of this with the stress of an elderly mother who is in early dementia that throws fits about me feeding them.

Don't give up. It may seem like you aren't making progress to you, so it's good to keep notes of what you're doing. And look back at those notes and see how far you have come.

Oh and btw: They now come when I call them by name, they know where to hide when there are severe storms (tornados included), lawn mowing and fireworks. They know the Mom alert and the worker alert. Even dealing with these difficult situations I'm having good luck with them. And they love lounging around the stairwell when I sit outside to eat my meal. I wish I could bring them in but with Mom's attitude about them as well as her allergies I cant.

If she wants to stay in the crate, I wouldn't worry about it. But rather than let her hide in the crate in a back bedroom, I would instead keep the crate with me. I would take the crate in whichever room I was spending time in and I would talk to her in a low soothing voice all the time. Keep your voice calm and positive. Keep startling noises to a minimum. If you're in the kitchen cleaning up and run the disposal, for instance, she probably shouldn't be in the kitchen with you at the time.

You can try the Filaway pheromone plug-ins. And Bach's Pet Rescue Remedy. I would put a few drops in her water bowl every time you changed it. The homeopathic remedy gelsemium sempervirens 30x is good for anxiety. I've used it successfully on my brother's 3 cats that are now living with me and have never been around a dog. I get it from swansons here:
Hyland's Gelsemium Semp 30X 250 Tabs - Swanson Health Products

I know the bottle says it's for headache and flu, but its traditional use is for anxiety and I have found it to be very effective for anxiety.

But most importantly, she just needs time to trust you.

ellejay said:

I just brought home a cat from a cat rescue organization. She was living on the streets, as they said, for a year before they picked her and her siblings up. When I went to see her she was hiding in her cage and wouldn't come out even though it was open and she was free to roam with the other cats. They said she was shy but I thought I might give her a chance. I got more concerned when I went to pick her up today, a few days after originally seeing her, and the girl working there said she fostered this cat for a month and a half but she never became socialized and just hid the whole time. She did adopt the cat's sibling, though.

Anyway I am fostering her now with intent to adopt, but I'm worried that this cat is totally feral still and always will be. The rescue was worried they wouldn't even be able to get her in a carrier at all so I could take her home. I obviously haven't had her long enough to know but I'm afraid she'll hide forever. She has her own bedroom for now with a litterbox, beds, food and water so she can acclimate and I'm going to be super patient with her, but I'm worried that now that I took her home I'll feel bad to bring her back. I think maybe they shouldn't have rescued her because may have had a better quality of life being feral since she was perhaps too old to try and make a housecat.

Do you think there's any chance of her becoming socialized?

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Adding to the chorus, our feral hid and strongly avoided for almost 10 months, then one day, bam hes rubbing on my legs when I get home and now he's a total lover and snuggle bug.

I read forum after forum and then experienced my own version, here's my notes:

1. Patience is key - If there is no dangerous or destructive behavior, let them do their thing. Be present but don't force interaction.

2. Change your response to hissing - it is a FEAR response, not a MEAN response. It's a warning, yes, and should be heeded, but it is more an expression of fear, so train yourself to feel empathy in response, not anger or offense. At some point you will likely observe your feral attempting or considering approaching you, and they will hiss - demonstrative that they are not angry but actually WANT to approach you, but they feel fear and express it through hissing.

3. Provide "safe" areas they can hide, and retreat to, but that you have access to, and limit your access for when it is needed (e.g. a box in a corner or better yet an open carrrier.) Similarly, provide a "safe" area they can play and look out a window or something

4. Talk to them - Desensitization requires exposure to sound as well as physical presence/proximity

5. It's worth it

There are tons of more recommendations, and these are just a few key points from my experience.

Throughout this experience I read forum after forum and site after site about potential outcomes. I noticed 3 different prevailing opinions about domestication. One group will say that once fully feral (1+ yrs in the wild) the cat can't be domesticated. Another group will say it is cat personality/time spent feral dependent. Others (myself now included) will say it is possible, regardless of how feral, to cohabit with a rescue and gain their trust if conditions are right.

This forum is a great resource as well, so bookmark it.

Here is my girl, Rosie. Attached a photo here. Thank you sooo much for the info and links. Can't wait to read them.

Hi and Welcome! Yes! You can socialize your new baby. All the previous posts are great! It just takes time and love. Give her a regular routine, a place to feel safe ( my cats use a carrier as their safe spot to retreat to) Feeding time is a great chance to bond. I sit on the floor and just stay still at first. Let them eat undistirbed. Once they are used to seeing you, try moving the food closer to you by small degrees. Laying on the floor can be even better. I also sleep in the room with them. I go in when treat to sleep and leave as soon as I wake up for the first week or so. The cat is very likely to investigate you while you sleep. Over the next weeks spend some time just talking softly to her. Let her understand that you will NOT pursue her. If she decides to come near you, let her make the moves, sniff you and you can offer hand fed treats. Using things like all meat baby food can help to bring her closer to where you sit or lay. If she moves near you to eat you can gradullat get her closer and when she trusts being near you then put the food in your lap or even on your stomach if you are laying down. Once she trusts eating by you things can begin to move towards touching her. A light touch along her side or head. If she seems to trust it better, you can hold out a wand toy of hairbrush. Some like rubbing against a brush. I don’t know if she will have any interest in play at this point but you can try a laser pointer or wand toy. No really sudden moves with the wand. Slow dragging on the toy.
There is a process to go through to convince her that she is safe. Out of all the many cats and kittens of all ages that I have attempted to socialize, every single one of them became trusting and loving. They show immense gratitude once they know you are their forever family. They just need security. Once she feels that, everything will begin to change. My most challenging and older feral was a great surprise to me. He is a tough old Tom that avoided me when he was outside. One day he just decided that I was safe. He is now the most affectionate lover in the house. He has turned out to be a teddy bear and protector of me and all other cats here. I am so grateful that I kept working with him! He is sweet and extremely funny. I have gotten great joy from each one of my rescue kitties. Some adjust slowly and some quickly. A lot depends on how bad their lives were before you saved them. Show her that she can depend on you for love and to be her family, no more being shuffled from place to place, and she will be forever grateful. The rewards of working with a kitty like this are amazing and will warm your heart. Thank you for becoming her family and please don’t return her. You are probably her only chance at a happy life. We will all be very happy to guide you as you take the steps to help her. All questions are encouraged. You can save her life. Bravo for bringing her into your home! Rosie is absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing the photo! She has my heart!

I think she has a chance! Toffee and Fudge were feral for two and a half months before I adopted them, and even though that's a lot younger than a year their time in the wild was still a lot more than other kittens, who often get adopted or rescued at an earlier age (e.g. 3 - 5 weeks). I heard the final socialisation stage was 3/4 months, but I believe that with a lot of TLC she can pull through and become a happy little kitty! She's so beautiful.

ellejay said:

Here is my girl, Rosie. Attached a photo here. Thank you sooo much for the info and links. Can't wait to read them.

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Oh, she's paws-itively beautiful. Good luck with her. Hopefully you'll find tips in the links. Plus the members here, with feral experience, can probably answer any questions that arise. Looking forward to following along with Rosie's progress, so please keep us updated.

I have successfully socialized three older ferals at different points in my life. It CAN be done. I know there's plenty of people out there who say you can't do it, but really I think it just comes down to patience. A month is not a long time if the cat has been feral most of it's life. And, in all honesty, she probably has a lifelong of bad experiences with humans that you need to overcome. I don't think she'll ever become a friendly cat to everyone who graces your doorstep, but she doesn't need to learn how to trust all humans, she needs to learn to trust you.
Right now her trust bank with humans is at zero. Your goal is to fill it up with positive experiences. Everytime you are in the same room and don't hurt her. That's a deposit in the trust bank.
If she is feral, she is probably food motivated. I used to use the stinky fish treats with my most recent feral. At first, he wouldn't eat when offered. Then he would eat it, but not when I was there. Then we moved to fishy treat when I was there. Then we moved to me petting him while he was eating stinky fish treat. Just knowing that I was the holder of the stinky fish and would give it to him was deposits in the trust bank.
I also used to sit by him and read outloud. No eye contact, no real interaction. Just sitting and letting him get used to human speech. Letting him come and sniff me and paying him no attention. This is our story We have set backs and odd triggers. We have good and bad days. But now he sleeps with me every night, and follows me around to get lovings.

ellejay said:

Here is my girl, Rosie. Attached a photo here. Thank you sooo much for the info and links. Can't wait to read them.

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Description says she is shy but likes to cuddle and play?? If they already know that, then she is doing AMAZING! I would definitely use toys and “play therapy” to help her adjust. She is absolutely beautiful by the way!

By the way, it mentions she loves other cats. Do you have another cat or if not, room for one more? I know my Chai was very positively impacted during her socialization period by having Chilli around, since Chilli is such a calm and sweet cat who likes people. In fact, the first time I petted Chai was after petting Chilli first. Chai got to watch and see that everything was safe, and smell happy Chilli smells on my hand.