Is he a semi-feral?????

My question is about Sweetie, the cat I adopted from a very small shelter located inside a vet clinic in May last year. Sweetie was rescued as an intact tom who was very cold and thin two years ago. He was considered a stray and after being neutered was adopted by a family where he interacted with one or two people in the evenings when the house was quite. During the day he hid from the family's kids. He was with this family for only a year since they were no longer able to care for him due to a very serious human illness in the family.

After being back in the shelter for four months, Sweetie came to live with me. When he's alone with me, he's a normal cat, he's sweet, affectionate, and enjoys attention. The problem is that he's scared to death of other people, and hides as soon as he knows anyone else is around. After Sweetie was with me for 2 months, two family members with a key to my house came in when I was at work. They found Sweetie, and I was told when one person tried to hold him, he started to struggle more and more, and finally bit and scratched enough to draw blood. When he was finally released, he ran to a closed window and tried to escape.

These two family members consider Sweetie a semi-feral, and I consider him to be a normal cat who probably wasn't well socialized as a kitten. I would like your opinions about the semi-feral issue, and also, how do I socialize a cat who's so terrified of people? I would like others to be able to enjoy interacting with Sweetie too.

BTW, the vet clinic had Sweetie's birthdate listed as 1/1/06, so he's about 4 years old now.

Thanks

Just because he acts like that doesn't make him semi-feral. My TigerLily I got at 4-6 weeks, bottle fed her & her littermates a bit to get them over to dry food (they were a tad too young to be away from mom).

Do not try to touch her if she doesn't know you. She has, like Sweetie, reacted very badly & bitten people. Heck - she will let me & one other person in this household of 4 people touch her. She is just incredibly timid.

The real problem is not if Sweetie is an semiferal or not. Although many adopted ex ferals behave somewhat like that: sweet and nice to their nearest family, but very shy to strangers. So is btw one of our own cats.

Nay, the real problem is these two family members, who are visiting your place when you arent there, and taking advantages to your pet without permission nor any sense.

Did they chase him out, or did he in fact allowed them to lift him up? If the second - it was a BIG step which they destroyed.

Who knows if there wasnt more of such scenes with them, thus him being shy to strangers is completely justified??


Btw, the birthdate 1/1 is very common for "exact birthdate unknown". But their guess of year is prob correct.


Good luck!

Your cat is normal, heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s just not a very social guy. He reminds me of Capone, who like Tigerlily i got at 5 weeks. My Capone has attacked various people including me because he hates being picked up. When a stranger does pick him up, he will attacked until let down and then run and hide for an entire day or night.

I normally warn people about him because he WILL make them bleed that way its their fault if they get bit and they canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t complain to me lol. Of course, when i warn people they leave him alone.

Sweetie sounds just like Capone. Loves me to death but hides when people are around. Sounds like you have a very special cat who loves and trusts you deeply. Capone always makes me feel special because he only loves me. I love my other babies but they ho themselves out to anyone who looks their way LOL. My Capone only loves me .

Originally Posted by StefanZ

The real problem is not if Sweetie is an semiferal or not. Although many adopted ex ferals behave somewhat like that: sweet and nice to their nearest family, but very shy to strangers. So is btw one of our own cats.

Nay, the real problem is these two family members, who are visiting your place when you arent there, and taking advantages to your pet without permission nor any sense.

Did they chase him out, or did he in fact allowed them to lift him up? If the second - it was a BIG step which they destroyed.

Who knows if there wasnt more of such scenes with them, thus him being shy to strangers is completely justified??

Btw, the birthdate 1/1 is very common for "exact birthdate unknown". But their guess of year is prob correct.

Good luck!

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I think you've probably hit on the main reason. So many people, that don't have cats, don't really have a clue how to treat them.

Shoot, --- I have cats, and I'm careful to try and respect them, but, I still mess up. It's a learning process, and with each cat it's different.

Being shy of strangers is a great defense mechanism.

There could have possibly been a feral or semi-feral kittenhood, but the rest is just under socialization and him being a scardy cat. Make sure to drill it into everyone's heads not to push your cat - even if it makes them mad,

I have one that I found as a kitten at 10wks old. He was a very sweet trusting kitten. Sadly I blame the vet (not the one I use now) for his personality change. She was having problems hitting a vein to get blood and just kept poking. He bit the vet tech holding him but luckily his baby teeth didn't do anything. Right after that he started growling and running from anyone he did not know - as well as growling at strangers outside and guarding windows. He's difficult to take to the vet because he's so defensive.
With family he's known since kittenhood he's completely trusting and loving.

I have feral born tamed kittens who run from all sorts of things and what I consider a semi-feral boy outside. He adores and trusts me, mostly, and at least meows at DH and will occasionally allow him near enough for pettings. Anyone else and that cat is gone, completely hidden. He's a big squishy thing, though, with no aggressive tendencies (other words, I don't worry that he'll bite the vet).
Other true semi-ferals I've worked with had major trust issues even with me. Everything had to be bartered for - If I wanted to pet them, I better have had some can food with me and when they had enough I got smacked.

My parents have 2 cats that are extremely shy towards strangers. They are both lovable purry girls around the family (people they know), but they will hide if loud visitors come over. One of them will come out for visitors if it's not too loud. But each kitty is different.

To work on getting your kitty more social, I would just invite people more often - when you're home - and let your kitty come out on his own terms. That way he gets used to people but he can check them out when he is ready.

Many cats don't like being restrained or held... so it's no surprise he acted how he did when held by strangers. IMO they should have left him alone and if Sweetie came over to them, put a hand out to sniff, then perhaps pet, but they shouldn't have grabbed him and held him against his will. I would tell them to leave him alone next time...

Your kitty is normal. I don't think a label (semi-feral, feral, etc.) is helpful. He's just your sweet kitty that maybe is a bit shy around those he doesn't know.

Originally Posted by StefanZ

Did they chase him out, or did he in fact allowed them to lift him up? If the second - it was a BIG step which they destroyed.

Who knows if there wasnt more of such scenes with them, thus him being shy to strangers is completely justified??

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I'm not positive, but I think the family members found Sweetie sleeping and he allowed them to lift him up. I'll have to ask about this. And I've been at home all the other times these family members have come to visit, so I know this only happened once.

originally posted by killerapple

IMO they should have left him alone and if Sweetie came over to them, put a hand out to sniff, then perhaps pet, but they shouldn't have grabbed him and held him against his will[

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That is my thought too, and I was absolutely shocked when I found out what had happened. I think part of the reason this problem occured is because one of these people has a "theory" that goes something like this: "If you hold a feral long enough, it will eventually calm down and stop struggling." So they continued to held Sweetie in an effort to make him stop struggling. And this person is actually knowledgeable about cats, so their "theory" makes no sense at all.

Originally Posted by Lorie D.

I think part of the reason this problem occured is because one of these people has a "theory" that goes something like this: "If you hold a feral long enough, it will eventually calm down and stop struggling."

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Ah, family. Well, hopefully they won't do that again to your poor kitty.

He just sounds like a shy cat. I have feral born cats that sit on visitor's laps. And I've had "normal" born cats that hide from strangers. Every cat has their own personality, and if you think the term "semi-feral" will put a stigma on him, get that out of your mind.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

if you think the term "semi-feral" will put a stigma on him, get that out of your mind.

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The only time I think it matters is if you're taking a cat in to see a new vet or being handled by techs that don't know the cat - or if the cat is being boarded somewhere. At home it really doesn't matter that much.

When I took my kittens in for their first vet visit I let them know that these were feral born kittens as I didn't know if they would try to bite. I guess since they were actually behaving I wasn't taken very seriously and they had the little boy get away from them in back.

People never believe me when I tell them I have six cats because they've only ever seen two. Even the pet sitter has never seen Chester and has only had a glimpse of Josephine!

He's normal - it's the people who need help

Originally Posted by Ondine

He's normal - it's the people who need help

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Nicely said!

Originally Posted by Ondine

People never believe me when I tell them I have six cats because they've only ever seen two. Even the pet sitter has never seen Chester and has only had a glimpse of Josephine!

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That's fairly normal, though. If you were to be in my house you may eventually see one or two cats if you were quiet enough. If you were really lucky Tomas would peek around the doorway to the living room and growl at you.

Many cats in shelters are ferals, or kittens from feral parents.