How to get strays friendly with other people besides me, and is it even possible?

My main goal for the strays in my yard is to eventually find them permanent homes, as is probably the same with most of us on here.

So far the 2 spayed females have made the best progress socially, and I can basically do anything with them as I would do with my 2 cats I own.

They are strongly attatched to me, everytime they see me they run up to greet me meowing, they will follow me around the yard wherever I go, they let me pet,brush, and play with them, even wipe their rear ends with a damp paper towel if they get mud on their behind, they basically claimed me as family.

I have posted videos of them both on here so everyone can see, watch the video you'll see what I mean.

The trouble is I cant keep them as pets, not enough money or room, 2 cats is the limit, and I want them to get adopted by other people.

I have spend a year getting them this friendly, and caring for them everyday.

Prettyboy is helping me with the cats getting them fixed, and offcourse I mentioned to her about finding them homes. Nobody I know personally wants any more cats, so it would be up to a shelter to find them homes. Trouble is they wont take them because the cats only trust me.

If my family goes in the yard with them, they will stay in the yard but thats all. If they come inside when it's quiet, they will come up to the other members of my family.

But when prettyboy comes over they stay in the yard and dont come up to her. Prettyboy told me to keep working with them, trouble is I think I have done all I can with them, they are like housecats to me, thats the best I can do.

I figure there are 2 ways to get them to trust anyone to pet them.

#1. If prettyboy came over everyday to visit and tried feeding them and playing with them, that's how I got them to trust me. But she works and has other important things to do,and I dont think coming over everyday is an option. And it wont help if it's dark out either.

#2. Get someone to take my word that they are good adoption candidates, and foster them for around 3 days in a normal house setup.


I notice around my family they arent very nervous, I guess because they see them everyday and know them.

I also think being outside it's hard for them to be very calm, hearing all the noises. Inside my house they act differently, they are calmer.

Any other ideas how to help them? They are SO close to being perfect members of someones family!

Hello Keith,

The key is routine. Our ferals has became used to my parents even if they only visit us every third month and stay for a week. My mother can even feed the young ones by hand now. If your family comes over on a daily base have them help you feed the cats, play with them and spend time with you in the garden.
A possible adoption family need to know that it will take a while after the move before the cat gets friendly. More then three days.

Good luck
Malena

I'll see if I can get my family to help feed them then, so they get used to more people. If they cant help then i'll just have to be satisfied with what I have done.

Thanks for your help.

I second Malenas advices.

To use your family as help-fosterers is great.

But you can of course use others too. Some friend or neighbour. If it is more convenient for you.

As long it is on a regular basis....

In any case. It will be a lot easier for next owner.

I've adopted out similar cats and I always acclimate them in my house before I adopt them out. If they have to deal with both a change in environment as well as going from outside to inside, it could be too much of an adjustment at one time.

You also need to be absolutely honest with any adopter and let them know their background. You can explain in a way where people will be empathetic to their start in life and be more tolerant if they take a little longer to adjust to a home life. 3 days is not going to be enough and their adjustment might take months. If you set up an expectation that these are normal house cats, the adoption will fail. But they can become normal house cats if their adopters give them enough time.

And I agree with others who suggest that you get others to feed them for a while. The more humans they trust, the greater chance of adjusting to a new home.

I let them in my house sometimes so they can get used to house sounds(sink,tv,washing machine, etc..) and they are so comfortable they will lay down and just rest.


That has helped alot too so they recognize sounds not normally heard outside.


Offcourse if anyone wanted to adopt them I would tell them their from outside, if people dont want cats because they came from outside, then their probably not the best owners for them anyway.


I've adopted out similar cats and I always acclimate them in my house before I adopt them out.

This is the biggest problem, because I cant keep them in the house. (wish I could though) But I think letting them inside once in a while has helped them a bit, they already know the layout of my whole house! Amazing! They love to lay on rugs and to hide under sheets.

We saved our male cat when he was 4 months old from the farm. He had never been held or touched before I trapped him that night and brought him home. He was really scared at first then really attached to me. We took him everywhere when we first got him. At least once a week we would take him on a cat leash to the pet store, or to other people's homes. I even took him to work with me one day. He's 9 months old now and he is the BIGGEST lover you could ever find. Greets everyone that walks in the door with a hug. Just make sure you take your cat to socialize A LOT in the beging especially, that way he gets used to going places and thinks that's absolutey normal in your life. Good Luck!!!