Feral Cat

[DWBOX2000]

My wife volunteers with the local no kill shelter. She recently brought home a feral kitten about 3-4 months old. I feed the cat, I move to a more social area each morning (with a place to partially hide) and I hold the cat at night while watching TV. Repeat everyday. Now going on over 2 weeks and the cat would still run and disappear if it had a choice. Anyone do this before? Any tips? If I can't make it adoptable, they will just release back into the Feral community it came from which isn't the end of the world but I figure at least try.

I might just make it a garage cat too if I can't domesticate Feed, shelter. I feed it, it takes care of the rodents.

Thanks.

[GH85Carrera]

I sure hop you spay or neuter that cat before you release it back in the wild, if that is the bad choice you have to make.

[DWBOX2000]

Thanks Zeke. He's my second cat. 1st one had a feral mom which I guess they caught and then gave birth. We kept the litter for a month and adopted the runt. He's a great cat. I never even liked cats but this one has grown on me for sure.

The kitten has been neutered. Probably why it's pissed.

[DWBOX2000]

Now do you think I just let him have the run of the house and just leave out food and litter box or is his crate the way to go. He stays in his crate at night, in the morning I put him in area with an indoor fencing system. In the area he has his food, kitty litter box and a climbing post that he can hide inside if he wants. I Figure he at least has my wife and cat occasionally walking by versus just sitting in my daughters room all day (off at college).
Any help appreciated.

[beatnavy]

My wife volunteers for the county animal sheltering fostering kittens/cats. We've had more come through our house than I can possibly remember. Conventional wisdom is a kitten needs human contact before the age of about 6 weeks if it's going to learn to trust people and be very friendly with them.

My wife has done her utmost with many feral strays brought in to socialize them, and if they're over about 8-10 weeks, it's REALLY hard (maybe not impossible, but really hard). Some will tolerate human contact after a few weeks of trying to gain their trust. They may sit there with you while you stroke them, but they never seem to fully relax and will often retreat under a couch or bed as soon as you look away. Some won't even go that far. My wife ends up turning these cats back in to the shelter to become "barn cats" -- just trusting enough to not run away on sight but not enough to be lap or companion cat.

Contrast with a kitten my wife fostered and bottle-fed from about 6 days old earlier this summer. My neighbors have it now, and that cat is TOO friendly and dependent on people. It wants to be on you all the time. I actually prefer a cat that likes to be near but not on top of you. Or, as you say, a garage cat.

I think you're doing the right techniques to try to gain the cat's trust, to whatever degree it's possible. Time will tell, but again, it's largely up to the cat's personality at this point.

[stomachmonkey]

Took my feral about 5-6 years to stop running away when he saw me.

The whole time he was an awesome beast.

Clean, quite, never scratched a thing other than his scratching posts, no trouble at all.

One day he hoped on the couch and onto my lap.

No idea why or what changed his mind about me.

Mind you the entire time he was very affectionate with my kids.

Never ran from them and always sought their attention so just because he behaves that way with you does not mean he'll behave that way with others.

I suspect it was a size thing. When we got him I was the biggest one in the house and naturally the kids the smallest. Seems his attitude towards me gradually got better as the size equalized.

I know what it's like, we also volunteer for a rescue group specifically working to socialize cats so they are more adoptable.

Good luck.

[Bill Douglas]

It will come right. Cats average out their life experiances and how to cope. His life experiances so far have been to run to survive. After six months wh will be 99% fine. I took on a two year old feral Tom cat and really it wasn't long before he was sleeping on the end of my bed and following me around like a dog LOL

[Rodsrsr]

Keep doing what your doing. The fact that you're able to hold him is a good thing. I wonder how long the shelter had him because a true feral cat wont let you get near him at all. Just keep handling him as much as possible and he will start getting used to you. May not warm up to other people but to you he should.

[Tobra]

Mom has a rescue cat that she has had 10 years, took 5 years for it to come around her. My grandson was over there and it slept right next to him when he spent the night, only time it ever did that for anyone. He was telling me how soft the cat was, so I asked how he knew. It just cuddled up with him, weird.

Cats are funny

[Evans, Marv]

I tamed and acquired a junk yard cat at the age of six, so you should be OK. It took some time for me to get his trust but from then on he was my cat. He tolerated other members of the family and beat the hell out of neighborhood dogs. I'd get up early on weekends and go outside in the mornings & lie down on the lawn. He could come and lie on my chest and look at me while I petted him.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

He’ll be fine. Cats do things on THEIR terms, when THEY are ready, not yours and not when you are. They are wonderful and affectionate beings once they develop a bond with you and you’ve earned their trust. And yes, you must earn that trust. It won’t come easily, but that’s also what makes it so special and meaningful once you do.

You’re doing a wonderful thing giving him a loving home. Trust me, it’s not overlooked by him. Cats very definitely know, appreciate (in their own way) and keep track of all the things you do for them.

Don’t declaw. It’s extremely cruel.

Good luck! Pics?

[Halm]

You are doing great. Time is your friend.

5 years ago, we had a moment of insanity and adopted 3 kittens from the humane society. 2 females and a male. The females had a good history while very little was known about the male.

The females settled into our home effortlessly. The male, not so much. It became obvious to us that he was feral. After about 3 weeks, he suddenly wanted into my lap for attention. He stayed maybe 3 minutes.

Today, he is pretty much a member of the family, but spends most of his time alone and under a bed. But he does come out multiple times per day to see what is going on and for a head rub. An interesting point is that he is by far the best “lap cat” of the three in he curls up just right for mutual comfort.

So hang in there. The 2 of you will be fine.

[jhynesrockmtn]

These two nutheads were adopted from a feral colony at 5 months. Now mind you, my ex father in law would put food out on his deck for them and had put shelters out for them as well. They saw him daily but had never interacted with him. My son caught them in fishing nets and brought them to me. They came individually about a week apart. I isolated them and visited daily for several days. They would run and hide. A few days in I picked them up and they settled in, started purring and we were done. They have turned me into a cat guy. That was 2010. Sadly the short haired boy died a few years ago from leukemia. The girl Tilly is a total sweetheart and lap cat. She has adapted well to the new guy Oliver we got from a shelter a couple months after Toby passed. I did the same with him.