Behavior: Semi Feral Cat To Home Lovely Friend (and Playing)

[explorador]

Hi, it's been a while but I'm updating the status of my new friend (the story). I have own (been friend) of several cats and all of them turned into amazing caring normal cats lovely to have at home while also keeping their nature in many ways, yes all rescued, this one... was different, difficult!.

Chapter #1. The semi feral cat.
This fellow appeared at home stealing food from garbage bags. Then I started leaving some food for the cats (some, not "lots", why? read below). This one was very thin, swallowed food in a hurry, nervous, etc. There is a small forest around so at time it was obvious to me this cat grew without human interaction on first days. I qualify this as a semi feral cat because it was naturally aggressive (read feral cat) but was exposed to humans at least as neighbors, not as a group they an socialize with. The cat was fearful.

Chapter #2. Slow first contact.
I slowly managed to approach the cat while eating, it was a slow process as anytime the cat heared me then quickly ran away. Slowly approached night after night until leaving traces of food made it easy for the cat to approach (instead of me, he did the job). Over time entered home. Sure any noise caused the cat to ran away.

Chapter #3. Bruises.
We humans can't help but touch things or beings right? very slowly the cat allowed to be touched, sometimes would run away and others attack but as you might already know it's complex, there is no evil in them. Be careful you can't allow this just because, why? diseases.

Chapter #4. Nap time.
I repeated the same procedure, food and space. Then the cat would enter home, eat, drink some water and then sit or lay down on the floor. Later would do the same on the couch. Any noise would trigger the same response of running away.

Chapter #5. More nap time and staying the day.
I was very happy, the cat would come and MEOW. He used come at 11:30pm, then every day at 10, then 8pm, then every day at 18:30, I managed to see the cat running each day same hour coming to my house. Then the cat would stay inside my car (windows open), for months this car became his home, usually leaving at some time of the day.

Chapter #6. Staying the whole day.
This felt as an achievement. Now allowed to be petted some bits, attacked in some encounters if touched. Any visit would make him leave.

MISTAKE. I knew about this but failed to act accordingly. Sure there is discussion about this but... you can read about those discussions on other threads... it's good to capture the cat and get him fixed (castrated), the sooner the better. If too young better, then keep it, if adult, well do it, keep it for recovery and try to keep it for real. If too aggressive then most people usually fix them and let them go. The thing is many times we don't do this because we fear the cat would leave and won't come back, well quality life is a better option, they have a very short span outside so the sooner the better (and keep it).

Chapter #7. Poisoned.
A very evil and large cat appeared out of nowhere. Some other cats already were familiar and came around for some food, this one... attacked other cats and did so to this fellow. Got him to the vet, later someone apparently decided to leave poision, mine got a bit. Lucky us the cat survived, got him neutered and kept it home, this time fixed things up to avoid any chance of scape (closed doors, etc).

Problems with the cat. Let's make some things clear. Every cat is different, but this one was WAY different than any other cat. He was fearful (natural), and sometimes aggressive but then again I consider this natural given the circumstances. But... it was impossible to get him to play. He was young, still no adult, yet didn't play. Was VERY noise-aggressive towards other cats (unlike the other ones around) but rarely (like never) got in a fight.

He was like a watchdog. There was a time when refused to enter too often but stayed in the garage without leaving. Well, anytime a cat appeared he would let me know, but when I came out he went on a full scale noise attack towards the other cats, it seemed like "we were" a team protecting the area, it was both funny, tender and also unconfortable. Well, as impossible as it might sound, this cat joined me for walks around home and even to the forest, great buddy (we don't do this anymore for obvious reasons, I keep him only at home, no... it's not a good idea to bring him out for a walk, don't feed what you won't be able to do forever).

The main problem was not letting me sleep. I applied all I know about cats but failed. Got him fixed and still... it was a pain, would meow every 2 seconds for hours, HOURS!!! I kept him home and there was a time when I went nuts and let him go. He would come back and while not my intention directly, I would supply less food for obvious reasons.

Long story short (while doing the same) the cat lives with me peacefully. All it took was patience and got him fixed. Now while he still pretty much ignores the laser... (amazing, still surprises me) we now play full scale, he is playful but take note: perhaps due to the fact he grew in the forest, he plays full scale in the garden. Over time he managed to play some more inside the house but it's out where he loves it, lucky me I have a garden.

In my case the signs of improvement were not so much about eating or entering the house, it was more about the speed of eating, this allowed me to see the cat was relaxed. I can rub his belly with no problem now, sleeps with me in my bed, lovely cat.

His demands are very simple:
- Two sand boxes
- fresh food and water
- caring
- personal attention in the morning for some playing
- personal attention in the night for some playing too

Failing on any of those, specially the last two means trouble and anxiety. He is a good boy. Yes along the way scratched me and also bit me, careful with that, they are not evil but they can get you sick, some of us are already used this (doesn't mean we consider this part of the job). It means its a possible danger but the responsibility is on you.

Feeding the cats? careful. Be responsible, you can't afford feeding street cats allowing them to multiply just because you feel "good" or it's "noble" feeding sarving animals, what you might be doing is allowing the multiplication of issues and then getting people to kill them depending on where you live. You can only do so much... feed, rescue, get them fixed. Help to avoid multiplication, when possible adopt a cat, rescue one. Don't try to rescue them all, that's a long story but sure we can't do that, we would love to but remember: fix them, it's easier to deal with 1, 2, 4 than making the problem bigger and then deal with 20 cats (unless you want to keep them).

Keep them... cats become more social and easy to adopt if you keep them (and treat them well). Letting them go? avoid this, but there are cases where people just rescue, fix them and let them go, we will not cover or discuss that here, sure there are situations where that's the best thing to do but let's cut it here. I bring this to attention because many times we fear socializing with a cat means making him weak and then would not be able to protect himself out there. Well that's wrong, they keep their natural instincts. My only opinion would be about cats you raised from very very early stages, they would consider humans their friends, well you get the point where the danger is if you let them go.

And never... NEVER declaw them.

Good luck.

 

[maggiedemi]

I remember you from your other thread. So getting your cat neutered helped? That's so wonderful that he now sleeps with you.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Thank you for this. We have several people working with feral and semi-feral cats, trying to get them to trust, and any "tech tips" are good to have! We know that different cats respond to different things, so the more we know, the better off we all are!

 

[simonschuster]

This was great to read! I haven't been here for quite some time, but was a regular when I was taming my once feral mama cat. It was the hardest and yet most rewarding process I have ever been through. It took me 7 months of working with her outside (after I had TNR her) before I was able to lure her indoors. I did so with cooked chicken after the vet had given me a capstar pill I gave her a few hours prior to getting her inside. I had prepared her safe room and getting her from my front door back to the room was a miracle! I put organic potting soil on top of the litter. She urinated on the fleece fabric I set out the first night. I cut up pieces of the urine soaked cloth and put it under the litter. By day 2 she was a litter box pro. She hid for weeks under a tall wire shelf. I pet her with a plastic spoon attached to an extendable fork intended for roasting over a campfire that put me at a distance of about 4 feet from her, but still having contact. I also sat for hours talking to her every day after work and left a soothing radio station on during the day. Over time I blocked off more and more of her hiding space forcing her out from under the shelf and to a space under a table. I ended up with rug burn on my elbows from laying on the floor so much under the table talking to her and petting her with the spoon I kept making shorter as I got closer and closer. Food was of no interest to her, so no bargain tool. She also had no idea how to play and had no interest in toys. After 4 weeks I pet her with my hand. Then in another two months she slowly came out from under the table and would sit across the room from me. We talked nightly for hours, me and my girl. I praised her and told he how proud I was of her. Patience, going at her pace, one step forward and two steps back some days. That was life for months. I put a screen on the door and let her see my other cats- 3 of whom are her babies she had been away from for 9 months. There was some hissing from the babies- she was mildly interested. Over time I treated her for worms and cleaned her ears. Also got feline advantage administered all at the counsel of my vet. There was no way I could get her in a carrier to get her in to be seen and she had her vaccinations at the time of her spay. Slowly I let the others in for supervised visits. Everyone got along well. 5 months after bringing her inside, mama was let out of her safe room to explore the house. She still will not allow anyone to pick her up, and greatly prefers me and my 14 year old daughter over my husband and other daughter, but she is my bestie! She crawls up in my lap and snuggles. She sleeps curled up at my chest every night. She wants to be near me and touch me a lot! She's still learning to relax and I get so excited when I see her play! This experience has taught me the power of unconditional love, never giving up, persistence, allowing for regression and remaining positive and trusting that there would indeed be a light at the end of the tunnel! Some days I wondered what I had done bringing her inside! Now I can not imagine my life with out her, and I shudder to think of her outside in the bitter cold!

I'd say my tips are be prepared to go slow. The spoon on the extendable fork was awesome to allowed me to pet her from what she felt was a safe distance, but we established some trust as she enjoyed the touch. Talking to her A LOT also really helped. She now comes when I call like a dog and responds to my voice like no other cat I have ever known. Also slow blinks, she really responded well to that.

Good luck everyone! Mable was not just semi feral- she was outright feral when I first discovered her and her roughly 8 week old babies and trapped them all. Our 7 months of work outdoors all revolved around feeding time and my talking to her and establishing a feeding routine where I very slowly got closer and closer to her while she ate. The closest I ever got outside was about 3 feet.

Here is my little girl now...

 

[explorador]

I remember you from your other thread. So getting your cat neutered helped? That's so wonderful that he now sleeps with you.

Yep, that's me. Neutering the cat helped. We were getting along pretty well but it was difficult to keep him inside 24 hours per day, still while injured and then poisoned it was evident the cat saw me as a friend, came to me for help etc, so it was more about patience and keeping him inside at all times. After recovery bit me only once but it was accidental, mostly my fault, errors during handling (we have to go slow, slot motion, no noises etc).

I guess new people to this only see one challenge, well there are many:

- trust
- keeping them inside
- enough activity to keep them interested and also tired on full cycle (play, rest, food, rest)
- attachment
- safety and safe from other influences (smell, noise and interaction from other cats)
- and... the biological agenda: times for sleep and being awake. This can be difficult in some cats becase well, they are nocturnal!, so in time we learn and start seeing the different components on adopting and living with a cat (that wasn't born at home)

And word to new people in this: if you have other pets, remember it doesn't matter if the new cat or dog acts friendly or not, you NEVER should allow newcomers to have direct contact with other animals (or left alone) not only because of temperament or attitude, but because of diseases. Allow only if all the points are covered, you can have a healthy cat and a new "friendly" cat, even have them playing well and then having the local one dying due to some disease, always get the new ones treated.

Oh yes I was loosing my mind with this one.

 

[explorador]

Thank you for this. We have several people working with feral and semi-feral cats, trying to get them to trust, and any "tech tips" are good to have! We know that different cats respond to different things, so the more we know, the better off we all are!

YES!, always more than happy sharing what I learn about this adapting stages. I was losing my mind on this one... couldn't sleep well and had things to do etc, but what made the adapting a bit easier is that I'm working at home for some time now, so I was always home, constant contact helped.

 

[explorador]

This was great to read! I haven't been here for quite some time, but was a regular when I was taming my once feral mama cat. It was the hardest and yet most rewarding process I have ever been through. It took me 7 months of working with her

Great story, lovely pictures!, read your whole post. Mine was difficult on treating the worms, fleas were mid difficult. I see similarities with some of your shared details, no interest on playing specially. I sometimes wonder how much time this cat spent alone (no friendly interaction with cats or people).

Unlike yours, mine doesn't exactly loves being arried in arms or sleeping (sitting) over my legs, lap etc, had cats sleeping in my back, shoulders, etc no problem, well this one is different, nothing bad just different. It's been sometimes difficult to get him to look at "me" (face), just like some other cats and dogs sometimes mostly looks at my feet and predicts/interacts with me just fine doing so, well... it's understandable, I'm 1.90mts and they live at the level of our feet.

Another challenge was... well realizing the cat wanted me to go outside instead of him coming inside. The cat was obvious on trying to get me to the walks around and also playing in the garden, interesting. Cats can get easily stressed outdoors but I guess that was more familiar to the cat than the inside of a house. I always loved to play with cats with my hands, this one was very (just too) used to using the claws, well not anymore. This cat is friendly, learned to switch from full grab mode to just-paws.

Thanks for sharing your story, you stole some of thewords I was about to post!!! it's a slow process but at the end everything goes blury on how they came into our lives, it's just... difficult to just imagine every day without them, they just "entered home" in many ways.

Ah, another tip, something I didn't know but learned while reading: check your cat for thyroid problems, some cat don't have attitude problems, they just need to eat more and play more, never in the same place due to hormonal problems.

 

[explorador]

Things in general that can affect de behavior of your new cat (fera, semi feral or stray) while moving in with you

• Not fixed. Get your cat fixed!!, you can find info online (some say less, some say more distance) the thing is, males can smell and detect a female in heat 1-2 miles away
• Get your cat a litter box with enough sand or temporary replacement components, they need it to pee and defecate
• Get your cat clean water, always, replace constantly
• Get a bowl of fresh food always available
• It's not recommended to keep those near each other, by nature cats eat far from water sources to avoid contamination
• Keep the litter box clean, constant cleaning is important
• Provide a peaceful environment (no loud or sudden noises)
• Give your cat time to adapt, avoid constant visits (at first)
• Don't yell or hit your cat
• Provide a warm place, you can't just leave your new cat "out", they can't regulate their body heat as efficiently as other animals, so they suffer with the cold

If you are not always at home, or they are in contact with diff people... be careful, consider the fact that new cats can be a pain... to tolerate while adapting, and some people might go nuts and mistreat them while you are not home.