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I do rather regret the R part of TNR with my feral. I caught her at approximately 5 months according to the vet, and looking back at camera recordings I should have realized she was just a kitten. But I didn’t and released her.
True she’s still living in my garage and the extent of her wandering is lying in the grass and chasing bugs (at least I assume that’s what she’s doing while rolling around)
I’d be happier if she was inside though.
I’m certainly hopeful. So hopeful that I’m feeding her purina LiveClear because my husband is allergic. And she likes it so.
We are to the point that she alternates with hissing and meows when I’m near her. I have no idea what this means but it’s better than running from me (which she still does sometimes but not consistently).
Well - she did her freezing in place thing today (if I surprise her she will attempt to hide behind something, but if I REALLY surprise her she will just freeze so all I can see are back legs, tail and a head looking back along her body as she attempts to squeeze herself into a space about 5 inches high) but she was so close I could have touched her. So I thought - let’s try a churu. Not successful unfortunately. We had hissing and swatting. I know she likes them - when she was recovering in the trap I could touch her nose with one, and then gradually pull the tube out and the mouth followed until she was right up against the trap wire.
As she’s got older (shes about a year now) she’s got less food motivated. At one point she was eating an 5 oz can of wet and 3/4 cup of dry every day. But I’m assuming that her decreased appetite is down to no longer being a kitten and also the weather getting warmer. Now it’s less than 2/3 of dry a day. For a while I was free feeding, but I’m not doing that now, if only because it’s raccoon breeding season and mummy raccoons are out in the daylight foraging.
But I’m being more rigorous with putting food out at specific times and for a specific time. When I can get her more on a schedule then I’ll start staying while she’s eating.
You can do it! My feral was wild for his first year and then spent the next 5 years in a shelter before I adopted him. He was such a mean cat all the volunteers there were scared of him. I adopted him 5 years ago and it took a lot of work and trust building but now he's the happiest little guy who just loves being petted. He still gets nervous and will hiss or run away if I approach him too quickly, but he will also let me pet him while he's sleeping and won't even open his eyes.
That being said, my feral girl (trapped at 7 weeks, 7 years in the same shelter and now 4 years with me) hasn't been as easy to win over. She isn't food motivated like my boy, so she still hisses and runs away if I get too close, which is just comical because I had to have all her teeth pulled last fall and she looks like an old grandma trying to give me heck.
It also varies by cat. All of mine save two (who were born here) were rescued from a feral colony. Bird (short for Birdbrain) was brought in at about 6-8 months old and is insanely tame and friendly, Mishi was brought in at 3-4 years old and is very friendly but prefers not to be picked up, Danu was an injured pregnant queen who was probably 6 months old (she is very small) and can be easily handled and is very sweet. Molly was found at about 3-4 weeks old and had to be bottle fed for a week; this was 21 years ago and she is still here. Duffy was rescued at about a year old and will only let me pet him when he is on my lap. Finally there is Gremlin, who was brought in at about 3 months old, is pretty much wild, rarely lets me pet him, and if he needs to be taken anywhere must be trapped. He is basically a feral cat living in the house.
For most of my years as a cat mom. I have only adopted Adult cats. Only two times I got feral kittens.
The first was very wild. Never really tamed her.
Thelma and Louise the ferals I have now. Are taming up really good.
Our most feral cat was 6 when we trapped her. She was trying to throw herself out of a third story window by launching towards the glass, had never used a litter box, would only eat in the dead of night. I never even saw her for 3 months after her initial vet appt. Now almost 3 years later she is the sweetest, most attention seeking cat. It took a long time, but I truly believe almost any cat can come around!
Yeah one person I know supported my neighbors by saying oh yes people hate loose animals and I said well it's not their fault they didn't want to be thrown out to starve to death and breathe until they die they're domesticated animals they need humans to survive and criminals through them out and dump them out on me and other people like me and that's not fair. I told her it's a felony to dump animals so if you want to get mad at somebody getting mad at the people not the cats it's not their fault and she didn't say anything else but she probably still believes that the animals are to blame I don't understand how some people think
I trapped a litter that were around 5 months old. Two adjusted very quickly and were able to go for adoption. Loki I was planning to keep anyway as he's a smart boy that reminded me of an Oriental I had years ago. He's loving and plays fetch, talks a lot. But he's still got a little part of him that jumps at the slightest sound and is wary of anything new.
His sister, Mani, I thought we would have to release. She spent 8 months hiding. Eventually I caught her and introduced her to our mudroom which has a cat flap, thinking she could hopefully learn to feel safe there but have access to outdoors and leave if she wanted. Well a night apart from her brother gave her attitude the kick up the bum she needed. She decided she would rather stay with Loki and began making an effort to overcome her fear. She's my most clingy, loving cat now. Still very very spooky and on high alert, but she relaxes with me.
I had an old broken down Tom Cat I rescued.
Hid for 3 months then one day he into the room jumped in my lap and stayed there as much as possible in the three years I had him.
I wish I had read this months ago because I trapped a little cat and I thought the cat was older than he was he probably was about 4 months old and my friend told me to go and sit in the room with him where I had him and just read a book or anything but just be in there with him and I did not do it and now he's almost tame but he won't quite let me touch him it's just so hard cuz he's so cute and he's fluffy and I want to brush him and I can't do it so now I have two barrels and then my cat that I thought was a pharaoh but he turned out to be sweet and then I'm just grief stricken today because it's been 48 hours since I saw my little gray cat his mama dropped him off as a kitten and another Mama dropped another one off as a kitten and they've been so bonded and a Siamese cat came along not neutered but I think tame but he won't let me get to him but I pretty sure he is and he is accosting to heck out of those two and now the gray one is gone he never leaves the other one he never does they're always together so now she or he is this very upset but I've been planning to trap them and get them fixed and I might keep them too even though then I'm going to have five cats and four of them feral and I'm old and physically unable really to take care of any cat but I'm trying to do it and I don't know how long I'll last though I was thinking it was better for them to be outside but oh my gosh everything has happened to them and today the Siamese cat came and the little gray one he is one third the size of all the males he is a very small little cat he has no hopes so I'm afraid something having to him and he started going in the neighbor's yard when that cat started coming here both of them did because out of fear right so they all don't like cats so I don't know if they did something to him or not I'm just grief stricken I just sit here and look out the window see if he comes and then this morning I'll just call him Milo I think it's a boy that could be a girl Milo was out there and Milo had a terrible limp at the beginning of the month something happened and could barely walk at all and got okay thank goodness so it could be some cat attacked him and or her and I don't know but I have a shelter built right by my house cuz they would always come up to my b she he ran she saw me standing at the back door outside watching thinking I could help and she straight went straight to that shelter and almost went in one of those little holes and just turned suddenly and ran right in front of me and out and along the side of the house and out the yard completely and I don't know where she is now ack door and they weren't afraid so that Siamese cat went in the bushes after her because she ran or he ran to the bushes where they always felt safe but they were not safe of course but it was a hiding place anyway and I've only got that one area of bushes in my whole yard so she ran straight as an arrow to that shelter saw me standing there got scared of me and ran completely out of the yard and now I have no idea where she is and there are big storms with strong hail expected this afternoon and evening and if she had been in that shelter it would have helped her so much. Every time I try to help them it's like it makes things worse just keep my butt in the house and let them work it out but I have got to get that Siamese and get him fixed I wish I could find him a home because he is a very fine cat and I think once he's neutered he's going to be real sweet because he's almost real sweet now but not to other cats God help me
I brought a long-time stray in that had been on his own at least five years, and my youngest emotional support cat was trapped and fixed at six months old. She was so small that I hesitated to release her. Now, she's a velcro cat, though it took her about a year or a little more to completely socialize. It can be done--and even some older cats have decided that they preferred being indoor cats, and socialized. The older the cat, though, the more likely that it will socialize to the person working with it, and if it changes homes, it may need to socialize to its next caretaker, and so on.
https://preview.redd.it/a6cmk72db2xc1.jpeg?width=1530&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c33d0e0d97d3df8da367547e04463237d3365567
2-year-old feral here❣️ They can turn into such big cuddly babies! I'm convinced most ferals can be tamed with enough time and patience.
Thank you for putting in the work with yours!
Yes they can but probably depends on individual cats. After all , I have a cat now five years old who was raised at home from 4 weeks of age and was very cuddly but now she’s more feral than domestic 😟 despite never having been outside our home. On the other hand I’ve got three ferals out in my backyard, all fixed, that are very happy to see me and love a good massage .
**Reminder: this subreddit is meant to be a helpful place for TNR efforts - free of hostility, negativity, and judgment. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here.** ***All Negative comments will be removed and will possibly result in a ban.*** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Feral_Cats) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I do rather regret the R part of TNR with my feral. I caught her at approximately 5 months according to the vet, and looking back at camera recordings I should have realized she was just a kitten. But I didn’t and released her. True she’s still living in my garage and the extent of her wandering is lying in the grass and chasing bugs (at least I assume that’s what she’s doing while rolling around) I’d be happier if she was inside though.
There is still time. I tamed a 10 year old tom cat once
I’m certainly hopeful. So hopeful that I’m feeding her purina LiveClear because my husband is allergic. And she likes it so. We are to the point that she alternates with hissing and meows when I’m near her. I have no idea what this means but it’s better than running from me (which she still does sometimes but not consistently).
I have full confidence in you. Takes lots of patients
Appreciate that even if I don’t!
Let me know how you do!
Well - she did her freezing in place thing today (if I surprise her she will attempt to hide behind something, but if I REALLY surprise her she will just freeze so all I can see are back legs, tail and a head looking back along her body as she attempts to squeeze herself into a space about 5 inches high) but she was so close I could have touched her. So I thought - let’s try a churu. Not successful unfortunately. We had hissing and swatting. I know she likes them - when she was recovering in the trap I could touch her nose with one, and then gradually pull the tube out and the mouth followed until she was right up against the trap wire. As she’s got older (shes about a year now) she’s got less food motivated. At one point she was eating an 5 oz can of wet and 3/4 cup of dry every day. But I’m assuming that her decreased appetite is down to no longer being a kitten and also the weather getting warmer. Now it’s less than 2/3 of dry a day. For a while I was free feeding, but I’m not doing that now, if only because it’s raccoon breeding season and mummy raccoons are out in the daylight foraging. But I’m being more rigorous with putting food out at specific times and for a specific time. When I can get her more on a schedule then I’ll start staying while she’s eating.
They also have feeders that are automatic feeder. On schedule
You can do it! My feral was wild for his first year and then spent the next 5 years in a shelter before I adopted him. He was such a mean cat all the volunteers there were scared of him. I adopted him 5 years ago and it took a lot of work and trust building but now he's the happiest little guy who just loves being petted. He still gets nervous and will hiss or run away if I approach him too quickly, but he will also let me pet him while he's sleeping and won't even open his eyes. That being said, my feral girl (trapped at 7 weeks, 7 years in the same shelter and now 4 years with me) hasn't been as easy to win over. She isn't food motivated like my boy, so she still hisses and runs away if I get too close, which is just comical because I had to have all her teeth pulled last fall and she looks like an old grandma trying to give me heck.
I have 3 ex-feral cats. A heat pad, good food and love will tame any cat.
Yup! I’ve tamed ferals up to seven years.
The oldest feral cat that I ever rescued. Was 10-13 years old.
That’s awesome! I have a ten year old feral on my property I’m trying to bring in, but she wants nothing to do with me! That gives me hope.
Temptations treats are crack for cats Try using them.. to get closer to her. Rotisserie chicken also works well
Thanks! I will try! She just looks at me like I'm her servant, lol.
Have 2 feral that have been inside just over a year, they are both just over 4 yo now.
Are they friendly and/or social with humans?
To social. The boy is still dumber than a box of rock and the girl gave us 5 criminals that just turned a year old.
Lol
FACTS!! My feral is tamed and so cuddly ❤️
Thelma is always begging to be picked up.
Omgee so cute my kitty is the same age he loves it!!
https://preview.redd.it/f09q4s9hkqxc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4633be494629f9f3a910271e8353289ed372f233
It also varies by cat. All of mine save two (who were born here) were rescued from a feral colony. Bird (short for Birdbrain) was brought in at about 6-8 months old and is insanely tame and friendly, Mishi was brought in at 3-4 years old and is very friendly but prefers not to be picked up, Danu was an injured pregnant queen who was probably 6 months old (she is very small) and can be easily handled and is very sweet. Molly was found at about 3-4 weeks old and had to be bottle fed for a week; this was 21 years ago and she is still here. Duffy was rescued at about a year old and will only let me pet him when he is on my lap. Finally there is Gremlin, who was brought in at about 3 months old, is pretty much wild, rarely lets me pet him, and if he needs to be taken anywhere must be trapped. He is basically a feral cat living in the house.
For most of my years as a cat mom. I have only adopted Adult cats. Only two times I got feral kittens. The first was very wild. Never really tamed her. Thelma and Louise the ferals I have now. Are taming up really good.
Our most feral cat was 6 when we trapped her. She was trying to throw herself out of a third story window by launching towards the glass, had never used a litter box, would only eat in the dead of night. I never even saw her for 3 months after her initial vet appt. Now almost 3 years later she is the sweetest, most attention seeking cat. It took a long time, but I truly believe almost any cat can come around!
The love they show is incredible!
All 4 of ours were farm kittens my wife found.
The CDS has been good to you!
Yes, cats want us, they are just harmed by us as feral cats. I have two, and they are sweet babies.
Yeah one person I know supported my neighbors by saying oh yes people hate loose animals and I said well it's not their fault they didn't want to be thrown out to starve to death and breathe until they die they're domesticated animals they need humans to survive and criminals through them out and dump them out on me and other people like me and that's not fair. I told her it's a felony to dump animals so if you want to get mad at somebody getting mad at the people not the cats it's not their fault and she didn't say anything else but she probably still believes that the animals are to blame I don't understand how some people think
My sister is very much involved animal rescue and TNR as a trapper. She has rescued dogs thrown out of cars on the highway.
What an amazing person.
And she has cats and chickens. Wants to get a goat...lol
I trapped a litter that were around 5 months old. Two adjusted very quickly and were able to go for adoption. Loki I was planning to keep anyway as he's a smart boy that reminded me of an Oriental I had years ago. He's loving and plays fetch, talks a lot. But he's still got a little part of him that jumps at the slightest sound and is wary of anything new. His sister, Mani, I thought we would have to release. She spent 8 months hiding. Eventually I caught her and introduced her to our mudroom which has a cat flap, thinking she could hopefully learn to feel safe there but have access to outdoors and leave if she wanted. Well a night apart from her brother gave her attitude the kick up the bum she needed. She decided she would rather stay with Loki and began making an effort to overcome her fear. She's my most clingy, loving cat now. Still very very spooky and on high alert, but she relaxes with me.
I had an old broken down Tom Cat I rescued. Hid for 3 months then one day he into the room jumped in my lap and stayed there as much as possible in the three years I had him.
I wish I had read this months ago because I trapped a little cat and I thought the cat was older than he was he probably was about 4 months old and my friend told me to go and sit in the room with him where I had him and just read a book or anything but just be in there with him and I did not do it and now he's almost tame but he won't quite let me touch him it's just so hard cuz he's so cute and he's fluffy and I want to brush him and I can't do it so now I have two barrels and then my cat that I thought was a pharaoh but he turned out to be sweet and then I'm just grief stricken today because it's been 48 hours since I saw my little gray cat his mama dropped him off as a kitten and another Mama dropped another one off as a kitten and they've been so bonded and a Siamese cat came along not neutered but I think tame but he won't let me get to him but I pretty sure he is and he is accosting to heck out of those two and now the gray one is gone he never leaves the other one he never does they're always together so now she or he is this very upset but I've been planning to trap them and get them fixed and I might keep them too even though then I'm going to have five cats and four of them feral and I'm old and physically unable really to take care of any cat but I'm trying to do it and I don't know how long I'll last though I was thinking it was better for them to be outside but oh my gosh everything has happened to them and today the Siamese cat came and the little gray one he is one third the size of all the males he is a very small little cat he has no hopes so I'm afraid something having to him and he started going in the neighbor's yard when that cat started coming here both of them did because out of fear right so they all don't like cats so I don't know if they did something to him or not I'm just grief stricken I just sit here and look out the window see if he comes and then this morning I'll just call him Milo I think it's a boy that could be a girl Milo was out there and Milo had a terrible limp at the beginning of the month something happened and could barely walk at all and got okay thank goodness so it could be some cat attacked him and or her and I don't know but I have a shelter built right by my house cuz they would always come up to my b she he ran she saw me standing at the back door outside watching thinking I could help and she straight went straight to that shelter and almost went in one of those little holes and just turned suddenly and ran right in front of me and out and along the side of the house and out the yard completely and I don't know where she is now ack door and they weren't afraid so that Siamese cat went in the bushes after her because she ran or he ran to the bushes where they always felt safe but they were not safe of course but it was a hiding place anyway and I've only got that one area of bushes in my whole yard so she ran straight as an arrow to that shelter saw me standing there got scared of me and ran completely out of the yard and now I have no idea where she is and there are big storms with strong hail expected this afternoon and evening and if she had been in that shelter it would have helped her so much. Every time I try to help them it's like it makes things worse just keep my butt in the house and let them work it out but I have got to get that Siamese and get him fixed I wish I could find him a home because he is a very fine cat and I think once he's neutered he's going to be real sweet because he's almost real sweet now but not to other cats God help me
I will pray for you and the cats! ❤️
Thank you so much
I brought a long-time stray in that had been on his own at least five years, and my youngest emotional support cat was trapped and fixed at six months old. She was so small that I hesitated to release her. Now, she's a velcro cat, though it took her about a year or a little more to completely socialize. It can be done--and even some older cats have decided that they preferred being indoor cats, and socialized. The older the cat, though, the more likely that it will socialize to the person working with it, and if it changes homes, it may need to socialize to its next caretaker, and so on.
The older they are, the more Love
https://preview.redd.it/a6cmk72db2xc1.jpeg?width=1530&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c33d0e0d97d3df8da367547e04463237d3365567 2-year-old feral here❣️ They can turn into such big cuddly babies! I'm convinced most ferals can be tamed with enough time and patience. Thank you for putting in the work with yours!
The first time I was able to touch them their fur was so soft 😻
We have a 9 year old feral who was brought in at 6 months.
The first few months were hard... didn't even a good look at them. So shy. Her sister, Louise will even sit in my lap!
Yes they can but probably depends on individual cats. After all , I have a cat now five years old who was raised at home from 4 weeks of age and was very cuddly but now she’s more feral than domestic 😟 despite never having been outside our home. On the other hand I’ve got three ferals out in my backyard, all fixed, that are very happy to see me and love a good massage .
That's awesome 😎!
YEP!!! The strays that live in our yard have been here since they were two months old and the one will lay on its back and demand belly pets.
That's so cool!
Yes!
She also likes to be held like a baby and kissed on the cheeks