Would anyone ever adopt a semi-feral?

ziggy'smom

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I've got a one-year old foster kitty that I've had since she was three months. She was completely feral when I got her but I took a chance on her because I knew that if I could tame her she'd be very adoptable. She was also doing horribly at the shelter and I had other kittens her age.
Anyway, she never did get completely tame. Sometimes, on rare occasions, she will let me and the hubby pet her, mostly the hubby. She likes being petted and once you start petting her she will stay there but as soon as your hand gets to close to her head she takes off. She usually will move away when we humans come walking close to her but she's fine as long as where a few feet away from her. She does great with the other cats though and for the most part she's just one of the cats. She even sleeps on the bed at night by our feet with some of the other cats. She's also fine with our dogs. I actually think it's odd that she's so much more afraid of me than she is of our little dog that sometimes will try to chase her.

I realize that most semi-feral cats would never be adoptable but I'm hoping that maybe this girl will be the exception. She is very beautiful with long white fur, light orange on her head and tail and gorgeous yellow/green eyes. She looks very much like a Turkish Angora and everyone that sees her comments on how beautiful she is.

So far I haven't even tried to place her and she's not listed anywhere. The hubby thinks that I should try to "push" her actively though and hope that there is someone out there that wants a pretty cat to look at even though they may not be able to touch her. She does well with other cats so he thinks someone that is looking for a companion for their cats may want her.

What do you guys think? Everyone here are cat lovers and I'm sure many would be okay with adopting a cat with flaws. But, would you ever consider adopting a cat like this one? I'd really like your honest opinion.
 

carolina

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OMG, of course!! Hope is an ex-feral/ semi-feral kitty, and I know many others here have adopted semi-ferals and ferals... I adopted her through a rescue, and fostered her to help socializing her, as she was reaaaaaally bad at the time... But I fell in love with her and couldn't let her go so she is a failed foster, who became a permanent part of the family!

I think there are plenty of cat lovers out there, ready to give kitties like her a home... My Hope has attached beautifully to Lucky, and I can not imagine one without the other!

I am sure other people can help you with ideas on how to adopt her... I can only tell you how lucky I am to have found my little wild girl!
 

icklemiss21

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Yes, and Autumn was much older when I took her home too.

Some purebred cats act very aloof like you mention she is so there are definitely homes out there, you just need to screen that little bit harder than you would for a really loving cat to ensure they understand her (no young children in the home etc)
 

strange_wings

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Her "selling points" so to speak are that she's cat and dog friendly, not many cats being offered are both. A new cat owner wanting something cuddly would never consider her... though those types usually want kittens anyways.
Those with cats, and even a dog, already would consider her.

I wouldn't call her semi feral, though. She sounds more like she's just still skittish. Semi feral is more like the male cat I have outside. My husband and I can only pet him a little when giving him his wet food, otherwise he keeps quite a bit of distance.
 

rosiemac

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My Jack was semi feral. He was 6 weeks old when the Cats Protection found him with his Mum and siblings so they had to seperate the kittens straight away to get them socialised.

I think that's why he's still jumpy now with people, even me if i move too quickly
 

ladyhitchhiker

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Linus was completely wild when I got him. He was so wild he was scared of hands. I think he was about 2 and a half to three months old when I got him. After a year he was still rather wild. I called him my wild man and he would wake me up every 20-30 minutes for at least the first year I had him chewing on my feet and head. He turned into the biggest mush-head in the world after I learned how to communicate with him. He was too smart to think I knew what I was talking about until I taught him tricks. He learned sit before my dog even did.

At the end, Linus could officially do on command:

* Fetch
* Beg
* Give paw - although you had to put the treat into the center of his paw so that way he could pop it into his mouth like a piece of candy
* Chuff - a noise that a lot of the big cats do when they are happy, he would make on command.
* the “F” game - when we would deliberately say an F word, like “Food” or “Frisbee”, etc.,. he would go Fff… He had his own “F” word.
* Speak - although when he spoke it would be in strange dolphin-like cries. He would make dolphin-like chattering noises when he was overly excited.
* Jump
* Beg
* Dance/Snake charm - he would sway back in forth in the beg position, in a dance move. My husband called it snake charm, because he looked like a snake being charmed, but I called it dance.
* The Bear - walk around like a circus bear, with his arms tucked in.

So yes, I would take a cat who was semi-feral. He turned out to be the best cat I've ever had. Not to say that I haven't loved my other cats, but Linus was my wunderkind.

After I was able to teach him to sit - he was about a year old then - I was within 6 months able to finally teach him the word no. Eventually he realized that whatever I was saying no was important about and that I was protecting him.

Whenever I was sick, he would perch on my shoulder.

Whenever I would cry - until he stopped being such a wildman - he would chew on my feet and bounce around until I started laughing. He lived for my joy.

He never really opened up to new people. He was always jumpy around new people, reluctant. He would watch them, but never really open up.
Except for repair people.
For some reason he was overcome by an absolute irrepressible joy when someone would come over to:
Work on the computer
Work on the toilet
Fix cabinets
Hook up cable
Etc.,.
He absolutely adored the fact that they were going to ignore him for the most part and he could throw his body against them, nearly violent for attention, and try to fit his 14.6 pound furry butt into their tool belt, and be a general adorable nuisance. Their lack of interest meant that he really was given a chance to shine, in all his glory. He really needed to have them love him. He must have thought they were trying to play hard to get! And even if they didn’t even put a hand on him, to stroke his back, since he was so generous, he was never insulted. He just tried harder. In a sense, he loved those the most who came to help me. It’s a good thing he didn’t come with me to get my car fixed, or there would have been cat fur in all the parts on my cars!


I hope this gives you a little bit of hope. Linus was a ray of sunshine, even if he started out as the terror of all terrors. And yes, I would adopt someone definitely who started out feral. They seem more grateful - the rescued ones - sometimes than the ones who've always had it good.
 

kailie

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Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely advertise her!
I am the adoption facilitator for an organization that deals primarily with feral cats/kittens and there ARE people out there who will take the time and have the patience to deal with feral kitties. This one in particular sounds like a real doll. Like others have said, I wouldn't call her feral when advertising though, I would call her "shy". Say she really needs someone out there to show her how wonderful love is.


My Elliott was a feral barn kitten who's mother was killed by a dog. for the first 6 months we had him he would hide under the kitchen table and had nothing to do with us. Today, although he's not a lap cat and HATES to be held, he'll lay right beside us, purrs like CRAZY and loves nothing more than a good belly rub.
 

ncommander

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I know that if I weren't already up to my eyeballs with cats, I'd be willing to adopt a feral or semi-feral, so you should be able to find people without too many issues.
 

mbjerkness

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I just rehomed my semi-feral girl a few months ago. It took a while but it was worth it. She now happily lives with a family, who wanted a good mouser. My boy Gus was a feral , he is a snuggle bug, when he wants of course. He runs and hides when strangers come.
 

ritz

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Yes, I did, and I had never been exposed to cats before. A friend of mine rescued a litter of four (two DSH, two part coon, same litter!), approximately six months old at the time, and socialized them. I helped a little. After one month Ritz had to be fostered out suddenly because her litter mate was going into heat. I agreed to try it. She had me with her first meow.
It is interesting to note that Ritz really blossomed when it was just her and me; I could give her individual attention and Ritz had to rely on me alone for fun and food, instead of competing with three other sisters/brother. And, for better or worse, Ritz went into heat within two days after fostering her, so she was REALLY needy. Within one week, Ritz was sleeping with me and laying on my lap. (And, yes, she has been spayed.)
 

c1atsite

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Hi Ziggy'smom - Penny was feral. I got her at 6/7 weeks. I assume Penny's mom was part of a colony. If not, then she was definitely at least a field cat (semi-feral), making Penny the same.
 

white cat lover

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And see, I would say no - in my area no one would ever adopt a semi-feral. That's why I gave up & kept Gumby - she's not very friendly (I can pet her but no one else can & she's most comfortable in one room). She's also a black DSH, which are a dime a dozen. After 6 months, I just adopted her. People would come meet her & she'd flip - and be much worse off behaviorally (fearful of even me) afterwards.
 

strange_wings

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^That's why I gave up and kept my three kittens. There's lots of people giving away tame kittens in my area for "free", so who's going to want a skittish one with a fee? Especially if they can't be a family cat. Though they are more tame than Gumby sounds, they still don't like strangers and dive under the bed. The difference is that they're curious enough that after 20 minutes I'll see a couple kitten heads poking around a doorway.
They're also friendly with other people in the home.
 

mtbee

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Yep I have 4 of them!!
They are quirky yes, but still the same love as a "domesticated since birth kitten". Can anyone touch them other then me and my husband? Well no. Are they loyal to the ones they love? Yes, they are. I wouldn't trade them for anything! The were saved feral cats. I did a good thing by taking them in. No one else would
 

hissy

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My home is full of them, and they are all happy, healthy and contented. The main reason- I understand they will never be "tamed." They are socialized and there is a vast difference between the two. You cannot tame a cat once they have experienced abuse or trauma from people and have not been handled with loving hands in the crucial first two weeks of birth.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by hissy

You cannot tame a cat once they have experienced abuse or trauma from people and have not been handled with loving hands in the crucial first two weeks of birth.
I don't believe that is true all the time. Sometimes there are some pretty amazing kitties.
Though tame has some different meanings - I keep reptiles, some only once removed from the wild (captive bred, but their parents were wild). They're as tame as those species can get but make semi-feral kitties look far more social.


Even though my skittish kitties don't tend to like strangers, I would be willing to make a bet that I suspect holds true for a lot of skittish kitties. Get the right person in the home and they will come out in investigate. For example: I bet my gang would come to check out hissy if she was in my home... she'd probably have to pry Tomas and Tanna off her legs.


To the right person, those with patience and love for animals, these cats are wonderful. I wish more people had such patience.
 

momofmany

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All of my cats were born feral, and the ones that are the best socialized to people are those rescued at a very young age. The 4 friendliest cats in my house were all bottle fed by me. Generally, the older the cat was before I started to socialize them, the more scared of strangers they are. And there will always be exceptions to this generalization.

I wouldn't advertise her as "semi-feral" if she was simply found homeless. Explain that she was found homeless, is shy of people and may never come out of her shell. As Hissy said, if a cat was traumatized by humans (and you never know what happened to homeless cats), she may never come around. I have kind-hearted friends who have taken on cats like yours, simply because their story tugs at their hearts. But it takes a special person to adopt them. Be entirely honest about her behavior or she may be returned to the shelter.
 

icklemiss21

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I got lucky with Autumn, she settled so quickly with us, but I honestly did not expect it when I took her home, I expected fights with the other cats, hiding, hissing and all the rest. But that never put me off taking her home - like Natalie however, she was in the shelter and I took her home more to save her than because I wanted her (although she was always one of my shelter faves)

But even the shelter have had great adoptions of semi feral cats. I remember one cat who it took us 3 days to get into a carrier to take to the vet (and I am talking all experienced shelter workers here and the cat is a room so he couldn't get far from us), he was adopted by a lovely woman who wanted a cat but not a clingy one, she was busy and just wanted someone to come home to, but not a cat she would feel bad about leaving - he needed a home and I wasn't going to adopt out a friendly cat who needs that love.

It wasn't too long after that she sent me a pic of him sitting on her bed with a note that he was coming around with lots of treats and now enjoys grooming, and she couldn't imagine life without him
 
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