A feral cat success story, 51 weeks later...

Nearly a year ago, we trapped a kitten at my work. I work in a warehouse that, at the time, was adjacent to two massive construction sites. No other cats or kittens were to be found. We assume she was about 4 or 5 months old. My husband and I took the terrified cat home to our small flat and let her out in the bathroom. We named her "Emily Dickinson" because of her timidity. She inhaled all the food we gave her, used her liter box, but hid under the bathtub for weeks. We slowly allowed her access to the other 3 small rooms of our apartment. And would find evidence that she was exploring her new home, but would rarely see her. Wand toys and canned salmon were great lures and after a few months, she would spend an evening in the same room with us. We would pretend to watch dvds and she would cower under chairs. Slowly she stopped hiding so much, and seemed warily adjusted to us. We managed, with help from our local TNR charity, to retrap her and get her fixed. She started sniffing our hands and one night she decided she wanted to be petted. And from that point on she became a very schmoozy cat that would purr and cuddle. Now, nearly a year later, she is the biggest cuddle bunny. She steals my pillows and sleeps next to us. On cold nights, she burrows between me and my husband, past the hot water bottle and sleeps at our feet, under the covers. She is not yet fully comfortable with being picked up and carried. But we are making great strides with this. When we are cooking human dinner and haven't yet fed her dinner, she goes "ack ack ack" until we feed her. And she is kind enough to find things, like her catnip mice, pens and pencils, and put them in our bed for us.

Awwww she sounds awesome

I love reading success stories

Very nice!


Tx for sharing!


A real win-win situation.

How sweet! She sounds like a lovely cat, good job

What a sweet story . Emily Dickinson sounds like a little doll and the fact that she brings you things is a sign as to how much she loves you . I love stories about ferals like this one and thank you so much for sharing. They do make the most wonderful loving and loyal cats once they totally trust you. It just takes a very long time but is so worth the effort.

I LOVE happy endings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You couldn't have posted an update on your baby at a better time - several people are just starting the process of socializing their babies, and I know it'll bring big smiles to know that all that patience DOES pay off!

and some scritches for Emily!

Thank you so much for sharing Emily's success story! She's a lucky girl!

That is a wonderful story!! I've had a bit of a setback with my Luna today and reading your post sure did make me feel a little better!

I've only had her a month. I hope that over time Luna will trust me enough to come out of hiding.

Thank you! I was feeling rather sad, but your story has been a good pick-me-up!!

Good Luck

that is wonderful...... She is a lucky little kitty to have such patient parents!!!!!