Living with a feral: is socialization/bonding delayed?

Hi everyone.

Two weeks ago my girlfriend and I adopted a feral cat. He is about a year old and his rescuer had been keeping him in an isolated room with his mother and siblings for at least a few months before we got him. The rescuer had been handling him once a day by forced petting and holding, so he was not completely feral when we got him---just very scared.

Now, we have him living with us in our master bedroom. I have read lots of literature online about socializing ferals and it seems that everyone recommends putting the cats in a room of their own and slowly introducing yourself into the room by spending more and more time in there each day. We have no choice but to keep him with us in our room right now. Is the socialization process much less effective this way or does it not matter?

He seems to be doing okay after these two weeks. We have seen progress in his behavior. He eats, drinks, uses the litter boxes, and comes out to explore and play at night while we are in bed, but during the day is always in his hiding spot under my desk whenever we are in the room.

Since I am new to feral cats (and to cats in general), I am no expert on their behavior. What I am really trying to ask here is: am I doing any damage here by trying to socialize him in my own bedroom? Will he come to recognize this as his own territory or will he always see himself as trespassing a predator's turf?

Originally Posted by peadalo

Will he come to recognize this as his own territory or will he always see himself as trespassing a predator's turf?

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A very intelligent question. It may be something in what you think...

As I thought in to 5 minutes ago(!) the main reason why to have the fostered feral/semiferal in his own room are mainly practical reasons.

a) as a quarantene. Most cat rescuers are owners of own homecats or dogs. And it is of course very important they dont meet before the feral is checked up, vaccinated, devormed, deparasitated - and the vaccinations need also some time to be fully effective.

b) When taking in such new catched feral/semiferal, it is usually highly stressed, sky-high with adrenaline, and thus may either have strong defensive aggresiveness, and or - usually being very afraid/shy. It is necessary to let it be in a room with shelter/hiding place by itself, so it will cool down, stress down, and see there is no harm awaiting.

Your hypothesis may be in some point correct, and would be the c)

But your cat, however, dont need any quarantene. And isnt no freshly catched, and dont need the same amount of stressing down.

Thus I believe you dont need to worry too much. In the opposite, it may even be a plus.
However. I think your idea of a revire is a very wise one. Now, it doesnt need to be a big revire. His place under your desk should suffice. Does he have a hiding place there? Very important. A cat igloo, or a sideturned cardboard box (with something to lay on) is good. Let him also have a scratch post.
Let the process take its time. Dont hurry. Dont force.

You know about this not too looking directly at a cat? Staring is hostile in feral cats world. Do slowly blink if you look directly.
You can also try to yawn, and even strech on yourself standing on all four, like friendly cats do.

Good luck,
you are doing well.
Keep coming with new questions and keep us informed!