Hi all, thank you in advance for any help you can provide. There was a cat in my neighborhood who I had seen on numerous occasions. I'm not sure whether she'd be considered stray vs. feral. She would never let me touch her, but I would put treats down and she would come within a foot or so of me to eat them. In the fall, she had babies and she brought them to my yard. Her and the 5 babies hung out all day even despite the fact that I was there outside with them and I had my dog outside on a leash, they still didn't run. I contacted a TNR group who came and trapped them all. I became the foster for them. By the time the babies were ready to be separated from their mom, it was freezing outside. The rescue said she was feral and would not be happy living indoors and to release her. She never seemed stressed to me and we live up north so it was below freezing at night already so I decided to keep her inside until spring when it was warmer out and then release her. I set up a room upstairs in my house with toys, beds, scratching posts etc. After a few weeks she began to play with her toys and entertain herself. Spring is now approaching, and I am having a real internal conflict - is releasing her the right thing to do? Would she be unhappy as an indoor cat? I do have other cats and a dog. I have been trying to get her to not be so afraid of me during the months she's been with me. I try to put treats down starting far away and putting them closer to me, I sit in there and talk to her every day, I try to stay in the room with her while she's eating. She will eat in front of me on occasion but more often than not she will wait until I leave to eat despite how long I wait. She will eat her treats in front of me, she will give herself a little bath in front of me as long as I stay still, but she is definitely still afraid of me if I move too quickly and will hiss and hide. She plays with me on occasion with one of the long stick toys. Does a true feral play with humans like that? If I did release her I would make her a shelter and continue to feed her and care for her. Some things I read say that it is cruel to keep a feral inside and they will never truly be happy. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again