Two years ago I posted on this site asking for help with a neighborhood feral I had taken in. I named her Mia. She was an adult who had already had one or two litters, been trapped and spayed by a TNR, and returned. She had attacked two neighborhood cats when she had kittens; their owner is a former vet tech and the one who trapped her.
Over several months of feeding her outside, she grew to trust me enough that she went into a crate for her food. I closed it and took her to the vet's. After she spent the night there, I brought her home. She hid from me in the ceiling of my basement, then in a basement closet. I posted here in a panic a few days after she disappeared into the ceiling. I got wonderful advice which countered the feelings of a friend who thought I should trap her and put her back outside (well-meaning; she had worked with feral colonies, took two feral cats in herself, and thought this one wouldn't adjust). After a month and a half of hiding, she finally came out. A month or so after that, she was coming upstairs although whisking back down at any noise. Since it was Covid lockdown time, it was a very quiet house with just me and my dog. She wouldn't show herself to anyone but me.
Fast-forward to today. Mia is a well-adjusted love bug. She sits on my books when I'm reading and demands attention. She wants to be on my lap when I'm at my desk. She has several friends whom she adores and will come running when she hears their voices. She grooms Buckley, the dog. She sleeps on my bed. She waits at the window when Buckley and I go out for a walk. Although she crowds the door when we come back in, it is to make sure we have returned. She has never shown any desire to go back outside. The only whiffs of her former feral life are her anger at seeing another cat outside in what used to be her territory (she will whack Buckley in her frustration, much to his confusion) and her food anxiety at dusk, which is when I used to feed her outside. But both behaviors could be of any cat, not just a former feral.
I thought everyone here would like to see pictures of her, now the queen of the house. Thank you all again for your encouragement and advice. We really can change the lives of ferals.
Over several months of feeding her outside, she grew to trust me enough that she went into a crate for her food. I closed it and took her to the vet's. After she spent the night there, I brought her home. She hid from me in the ceiling of my basement, then in a basement closet. I posted here in a panic a few days after she disappeared into the ceiling. I got wonderful advice which countered the feelings of a friend who thought I should trap her and put her back outside (well-meaning; she had worked with feral colonies, took two feral cats in herself, and thought this one wouldn't adjust). After a month and a half of hiding, she finally came out. A month or so after that, she was coming upstairs although whisking back down at any noise. Since it was Covid lockdown time, it was a very quiet house with just me and my dog. She wouldn't show herself to anyone but me.
Fast-forward to today. Mia is a well-adjusted love bug. She sits on my books when I'm reading and demands attention. She wants to be on my lap when I'm at my desk. She has several friends whom she adores and will come running when she hears their voices. She grooms Buckley, the dog. She sleeps on my bed. She waits at the window when Buckley and I go out for a walk. Although she crowds the door when we come back in, it is to make sure we have returned. She has never shown any desire to go back outside. The only whiffs of her former feral life are her anger at seeing another cat outside in what used to be her territory (she will whack Buckley in her frustration, much to his confusion) and her food anxiety at dusk, which is when I used to feed her outside. But both behaviors could be of any cat, not just a former feral.
I thought everyone here would like to see pictures of her, now the queen of the house. Thank you all again for your encouragement and advice. We really can change the lives of ferals.
You have done a wonderful thing and deserve a medal...Thanks so much for saving her and working so hard to let her adjust and be loved and warm inside. It is not an easy thing to do but you persevered and did not give up. 
