Introducing Formal Feral To Indoors

[mariek]

Hello! A small family of ferals (a mother and her kittens) have been in my yard since April, my father and I have been trying to TNR them as we are able. All of them at this point are semi-friendly with us and will come running up for food when they see us out. One of the remaining kittens became very friendly with me! After her TNR we've decided to try our best at making her a house cat as she is very sweet and seems to have the potential. We've called her Maezie and she is about 4-5 months.

Currently she is all set up in a room directly connected to mine with everything she needs, and so far has been doing very well. I can play with, pet, and pick her up with out issue. I'm up in her room 4 times a day at about 1-2 hours at a time. I am taking introducing her to other rooms very slowly so she realizes she does not have to immediately dart and hide in them.

If possible we would love to keep her ourselves, but we have many different pets. Right now I am first seeing how introducing her to our other cats go and take it from there. Which is where I could use advice!

We have three older cats, two brothers (Cloud & Spot,16) and their mom (Sunny,18). They are all still quite playful, but Cloud is especially so and may enjoy the playful youngster the most. I have been swapping scents via towels and brushes which has been going well. Cloud has followed me upstairs a couple times and sniffed at the door, and today I allowed them to peak and sniff at each other through a slightly opened door. Cloud showed no aggression, but Maezie was a little spooked and poofed herself up with one tiny hiss. I'm sure it could have gone worse

Anyone with experience with something similar whether it be introducing a feral to indoor life or introducing the cats themselves I'll appreciate advice on either. Right now I'm heading up to wear her out before bed, I will check back for any replies in the morning

 

[shadowsrescue]

Thank you for rescuing her. The first step is to give her some time to adjust to inside living. It does sound like she is a stray not a feral. This will make the process much easier. Once she has adjusted to inside living, you can start introductions. THe key is to go very slowly or you will only have to restart again.

Be sure that #1 she has been spayed and #2 she has received a clean bill of health and all shots. You don't want your other cats getting sick.

Here are a few articles and video on cat to cat intros.
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats

A Simple Little Trick to Use During New Cat Introductions

 

[mariek]

I know for certain she is feral, her mother is a queen in the neighborhood we have yet to catch for TNR who had the litter under our shed. When younger she would bring the kittens around for food, we just got lucky this girl in particular warmed up to us.

Thank you for the articles! She has been spayed, and gotten the general shots and parasite medications all kittens do. I will continue to work slowly.