Poor old girl!

I recently renewed an old friendship, and went to visit them, a mom and daughter, this morning. There was this raggedy old female cat sitting outside their door. Apparently someone had moved away and left her to fend for herself. She is blind in 1 eye, and may be hard of hearing. She is spayed, and was obviously someone's pet. She is now so afraid of people, she can't be touched, even though you can tell she longs to be petted. She will sniff at an offered hand, and has recently started sitting right inside the door if it is left open. They have fed her since she showed up, and are trying to gain her trust. They have a cat of their own that is pregnant, but the 2 cats get along great. They are on a fixed income, and were saving to have their cat spayed when she got out. She had been a strictly indoor kitty, but since she is already pregnant, they allow her on their porch, mostly to keep the old girl company, and try to help her find a place in the family so they can better care for her. I have decided to try and help them with the cost of spaying after the kits are born, and gave them the food I keep in the car for feeding the ferals at the shop. I feel so bad for this poor old girl. Is there anything anyone can suggest that we can do for her to make her a pet again? They are willing, but clueless, and I have limited time to spend with her. I am going to try to get her to the vet if we can figure out a way to get her in the carrier. Several neighbors put down food, so the humane trap did not work. She will not get hungry enough to go after food in it. We would really like to see her inside on the couch to live out her life in comfort.

Have the place the food dishes closer and closer to the open door. After a while bring it to the inside of the door, then along the wall farther into the room. Once she is used to coming into the house it's a matter of closing the door.

I would place a shirt they have worn and sweated in under the food dish so their scent will be associated with good things.

It's a matter of building trust with the ol' girl. Food is definitely a good place to start. If they can, when they feed her stay in the vicinity when she's eating. Teresa's suggestion of putting down dirty clothes that have their scent on it under the food bowl should help too. That way she associates good things with them. I'm sure she's been through the wringer, having trusted before and been hurt by it (physically or emotionally).

You're a wonderful person to help them and their cat(s) Rebecca. Earning bigger kitty wings all the time.

Feeding is the way to go. That's how my Grandma got all her babies. Sometimes she was the only one they'd let near them, but they did get owned again.

I hate it when I hear stories like this. I feel that people who abandon animals should be drawn and quartered. Or at the very least get treated in the same manner. Dump a few of them out of a moving car and see how fast they recover in the wild.

They feed her regularly, and she has free access to the house most of the time. When you talk to her, she purrs and wiggles, like she REALLY want to take the next step and allow a little petting. They are going to do the smelly shirt thing, and hopefully it will help. Their goal is to try to get her in the house before it gets too hot and they need to keep the doors closed. Thanks for the advice and the kind word, I'll keep you posted on her progress.