Hello! My semi-feral boy and I are happy to be here :)

[Alana M]

Hello everyone! This site has already helped me so much in my journey of adopting an unexpectedly feral little man!
My family has had cats all my life and I'm a huge animal lover, and it's finally time for me to have my own! I've had Bounce, my 9 month old DLH tuxedo kitty, for a little over a month now. The shelter I adopted him from said that he was quite shy and timid, and that he might need a bit more love than usual- but when I got him home, I realized that his extreme level of fearfulness indicated that he was more likely feral, or at least semi-feral. While he's made some huge strides in our time together, I still have a lot of questions since I have no experience with socializing a very fearful/semi feral cat! So I'll probably spend lots of time over on the Ferals forum

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Congrats on being a new cat parent.

Some cats are more timid than others when first adopted, but after a month they usually come out of their shell, so you may be right that your Bounce was a feral or semi-feral baby. So definitely check out the Caring for Strays and Ferals and/or the Cat Behavior forums and post your own thread if you want some answers pertaining to your own situation.

In case you haven't seen these yet, here's a few TCS articles that might have some tips for you:

10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat | TheCatSite
16 Top Cat Experts Share Tips For Dealing With Timid Cats | TheCatSite
14 Cat Experts Reveal: How To Get A Cat To Like Me | TheCatSite

 

[Tobermory]

I’m so glad that Bounce was adopted by someone who knows and loves cats! I adopted semi feral Mocha when she was three years old. I couldn’t touch her for the first few weeks and it took several months before she was somewhat comfortable being petted. She wouldn’t let my husband touch her for more than a year.

As Bounce is a young guy, I can’t imagine it would take that long for him to feel more at ease. It does take a tremendous amount of patience p, though. And you need to let him approach you rather than reaching out to him. I spent a lot of time sitting in the floor talking quietly to Mocha. If she acted like she wanted pets, I’d extend the back of my hand, and she’d eventually rub herself against it.

Fortunately, it’s just the two of us and our house is very quiet. I also set up several places for her to hide. Even after five years she runs whenever someone comes to the house. But she’s become a total lap cat and sleeps next to me at night.

Bounce will come around. It just takes patience and gentleness! It’s really hard for us cat lovers because we just want to love on them.

 

[aliceneko]

Welcome to you and Bounce!

As an owner of former semi ferals, I'm so glad you decided to adopt Bounce. I wish you the best of luck in your socialising journey.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Welcome to you and Bounce! Thank you for being patient with this very special little guy!

 

[tabbytom]

Alana and Bounce, on behalf of The Catsite community, a warm

to both of you.

So glad that you’ve joined this wonderful site and you are in the right place for all things cat and this site is loaded with tons of rich resources and you’ll find friendly and helpful cats around and many of our cats are very knowledgeable in cat related stuffs.


Do post photos of Bounce for us to see! and we have a special thread here just for him in Tuxedo Cats ;) and many fun threads here in Fur Pictures and Videos Only! to showcase what your kitty is up to.

New Here? I Have A Few Suggestions For You!
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Feel free to ask questions if you have any and start a new thread of your own and post them under the appropriate forums and do check out the many informative articles we have here in Articles | The Cat Site


Enjoy your stay and see ya around

 

[betsygee]

 

[strider rose]

Alana M welcome to you and bounce

 

[cassiopea]

Welcome to the site! Awesome to have you join us! Thanks for taking in a little semi-feral and taking time to help him and learn I also adopted one - very rewarding experience and they often become wonderful little cats.


All the best in your journey!