Stray/Feral Help!

Hi,

I just joined this forum looking for help with a stray or feral that I have rescued named Cruiser.  Background: I previously have rescued a different stray, a Calico that is named Patches (unique, eh?).  She was already TNR'd but I acclimated her and she is now a family cat.  She is an indoor/outdoor cat and she is very fond of the people she knows and very interactive (easily handled, etc.). 

Now, on to Cruiser.  I have been caring for Cruiser as a stray/feral outdoors for about a year+, he is a young black & white.  He had be-friended Patches and I was feeding him regularly on the porch.  He is very skittery about humans.  But I got to the point where I could feed him deli turkey (delicately) by hand.  Well, about 3 weeks ago, I trapped Cruiser.  I have a Vet friend who did "the works" on him: neuter, shots, blood work, nails, Frontline, etc.  He is negative for all diseases and quite healthy.  I have kept him inside the house with the intent of making him a house cat with Patches (I am in New England and it gets pretty nasty in the winter here).  Cruiser is eating and drinking and using a litter box.  He is in a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom (where the litter box is), but he stays under the bed all day.  I can lay next to the bed and offer him food, he will eat deli turkey from my hand.  The first couple weeks, I could actually pet him and scratch him really good behind the ears and so forth.  But he is a bit less accepting of that lately, swatting at my hand and hissing.  When everyone goes to bed and it is dark and quiet, he will come out at night and investigate (I stay up much later and monitor his movements while I am quietly on the computer).  He does meow a lot and investigates the (shaded) windows a bit.  Patches has not been quite the "integrator" that I thought she might be but they get along and I actually saw Cruiser the other night resting with her on a couch in the living room together.  But he is spending his life under the bed, not quite a great life, though possibly better than out in the elements with predators.

So I am posting to you, asking for help/advice/tips on how to better integrate Cruiser into a house cat, if it is possible.  I have read about strays and ferals and he seems to be a stray that was slipping into the feral category.  Anyway, any help with this matter is greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Dave

Hi all, just wanted to give you an update, though it is modest.  Cruiser is a little more trusting of me, I can lay next to the bed and he will sometimes not move from just a foot away from me.  If I go to pet him, he will either take it (usually not) or move somewhere else.  His claws are coming back and he has gotten me a couple times but recently it is more of a swat than a scratch.  He is more apt to move about the room while I am laying next to the bed.  But if I move or make any attempt to get up, whoosh, right back under the bed.  The other day I did catch him pawing at the window as if to get out, kinda tears at my heartstrings.  I spoke with Alley Cat Allies and they felt I should release him (after a short re-adjustment phase).  But that is not going to happen during the winter.   I find it hard to believe that a cat indoors is worse off than outdoors in the winter, with predators.  Plus he is showing no signs of respiratory distress from stress..... so he stays indoors, my decision.  I don't think right now is a good time to remove the bed frame or block it off, it is his only hiding/quiet place for now.  Plus it is not my bed and hence not my call to make.  But I am trying to spend more quiet time in there with Patches and him.  Then he gets to roam the house at night.  Finally he is eating, drinking, and using the litter box just fine.

Thanks,

Dave