Earning Stray Cat's Trust

[Neo815]

I sit on a chair. If I she senses any movement she moves back. I have placed her bowl under a table. I think she feels more secure when she is under some furniture or a car. She sits at a distance after she finishes her meal. She still does not sit comfortably near me.

 

[tabbytom]

This will take some time for her to completely trust you and have confidence.

In the meanwhile, let her eat near you where you are sitted and slowly you move to the ground while she’s eating and slowly slowly bring the bowl closer and closer to you. It may take days or weeks or even months but just don’t give up and don’t let her loose confidence in you.

Try giving her food from your hand and see if see cones near you and eat from your hand. If she does not, then put the bowl down and you move back away from the bowl and sit on the floor and see if she eats. If not, the go back to the original way you feed her and slowly try the methods so that she really get use to you and not move away. Keep trying!

 

[maggiedemi]

I would wear gloves. Whatever you do, don't let her scratch you on the palm side of your hand. That side of your hand is very hard to heal. It happened to me once and I had to tape it up for 2 weeks.

 

[Neo815]

Today I feed her some food with a spoon. She took the food from the spoon and put it on the floor. Than she atr from there. I was sitting on the floor next to her. After taking some bites she came near me and started eating from the bowl. I tried to lightly touch her on her head but she jerked her head away and hid under the car. Then after a few seconds she came out of the car and started eating again. I moved back and sat on a chair.

I saw her closely for the first time and her back leg's paw has no meat on the nails. The nails were just there fully exposed on the paw. I don't know what happened to her.

 

[Neo815]

I touched her head but she jerked it away and hid under the car. Luckily she did not scratch me. I touched her twice while she was eating. She moves away but shows no sign of agression. Should I be more careful in the future even if she is not getting agressive?

 

[tabbytom]

That’s good news. It’s normal for her to take the food from the spoon and place it on the ground to eat as it’s easier to eat from the ground than from the spoon. But the point with the spoon is to see if she have the courage to eat from it and she did.

Keep repeating and till she dosen’t move away.

As for the paw, as long as it is not bleeding or rotten with abscess, just keep an eye on it till you bring her to the vet.

 

[Neo815]

The paw has healed. It looks like an old injury.

 

[tabbytom]

The paw has healed. It looks like an old injury.

Thank goodness.

 

[orange&white]

I touched her head but she jerked it away and hid under the car. Luckily she did not scratch me. I touched her twice while she was eating. She moves away but shows no sign of agression. Should I be more careful in the future even if she is not getting agressive?

I think that's really good progress and the fact that she ran versus trying to claw or bite you shows that she is more scared than aggressive. I would continue to touch her head while she eats. What you don't want to do is make her feel like you're trying to restrain her in any way. But a light touch teaches her that no harm comes to her and she is free to leave. In a few days, she may stop running and you might actually get to get one stroke of a pet down the back of her head instead of just a couple of touches.

 

[Neo815]

I am feeding the cat with spoon now. I give her 2 or 3 spoons and then let her eat from the bowl. Can I feed her with my hand now? She sometimes take a bite of food from the spoon. I am worried that she can bite my hand unintentionally.

 

[maggiedemi]

You could wear a glove. What about those type of rubber gloves that you use to wash dishes? Those are pretty thick.

 

[tabbytom]

I am feeding the cat with spoon now. I give her 2 or 3 spoons and then let her eat from the bowl. Can I feed her with my hand now? She sometimes take a bite of food from the spoon. I am worried that she can bite my hand unintentionally.

If you want to try feeding from your hand and if you are afraid that she bite you unintentionally, hold a bigger piece of food with your finger tip and feed her. With a bigger piece of food, she’ll bite the other end of the food so that your fingers are are not in the way.

 

[orange&white]

The main reason for using the spoon first is to get her reaction. She didn't try to swat the spoon out of your hand to get the food or show any other aggression with you being so close to the food she wanted. That's a good sign. None of us can make any guarantees, but it doesn't sound like she'll bite you if you try feeding her by hand.

Using bigger pieces of food at first, like little chunks of meat, as tabbytom suggested is a good idea.

The feral I TNR'd who was deemed by the shelter as "too wild to be socialized" has never bitten me hard. She used to swat at me with her claws quite often but she instinctively knew not to bite hard. She still occasionally tries to claw a piece of food out of my fingers instead of using her mouth, but she moves slowly enough for me to pull my hand back and say "No".

Bite inhibition is usually taught by the mother and siblings while the kittens are young. As long as your cat learned that, then she is likely to only bite hard if she feels trapped and can't escape.

 

[Neo815]

I have found a 7 or 7 months old kitten in a park. He is very friendly. I have feeding him for a few days now. He sits in my lap and purrs nonstop. I want to bring him to my house and keep him as my outdoor pet. I can easily take him with me to the vet.

But I am worried about the cat in my house. She is still very suspicious of me and won't allow me to touch her . I don't think that I can take her to the vet without getting a few bites. I am also worried that she will fight with the cat from the park and cause him harm. Now I want her to leave my house so I can keep this friendly cat in my house. I know it's a terrible situation but I really want to adopt that cat. He is showing me so much affection in such a short period.

 

[tabbytom]

Yes, it is a terrible situation. Please give the cat that is in your house a chance or at least get her to the vet and have her spayed and vaccinated and continue feeding her outside your house and make a nice outdoor home for her.

You are going to meet more nice friendly cats out there and I hope you don’t dump a cat just because you found a good cat.

 

[Neo815]

Can I bring that other cat to my house? Is it a sure thing that she will fight with new cat?

 

[orange&white]

Usually a male and a female cat will get along with no problems. I think it's wonderful for you to adopt a friendly cat, but please do continue with your plans to spay the girl you've been working with, and provide her with food. The 7 month old should go to the vet to be neutered immediately since you are able to easily handle him. He is at an age where he could get the female cat pregnant.

 

[tabbytom]

Can I bring that other cat to my house? Is it a sure thing that she will fight with new cat?

Yes you can IF only you have separate rooms for each of them. At this moment, it is not recommended that they meet each other and it takes quite a bit of time and patience on your side to introduce them.

I think you are moving too fast. Better slow down as all these I got a feeling is going no where and it’s not going to work right.

I agree with what orange&white just mentioned. One step at a time please.

 

[Neo815]

I am feeding two cats at a park. If you give a feral cat high quality food then will it eat other foods if that high quality food is not available? Will they get used to it?

I am not sure if I will continue to feed them in the future. I have read that you should not feed feral cats. What should I do?

 

[orange&white]

Feral cats will eat any cat food if they are hungry enough and not sick.

There are dozens of feral cats around my property. I only feed the one cat who I took for TNR, but that's just me. Also the one "extra" feral cat is all I can afford in addition to my two indoor cats and the dog. The others appear to be well-fed by neighbors who live in the apartments and condos nearby. If I could afford more, I'd feed and TNR my city's legal limit of 6 cats. It's a nice thing to do for them.