I wanted to first off say a big thank you to everyone who posted advice on the best way to socialize Mama. Things with her went to the back burner when our oldest cat who we had 20 years nearly to the day (we think she was about 21) suddenly got sick and passed away. The house is very slowly finding its new "normal" without her....
A couple of weeks ago I decided to start letting the other cats in our house meet Mama very slowly by letting them into my room to sniff each other and interact. I let her kittens, Brother and Sister, in thinking they'd be the best first match. They were great with her, and Mama seemed to not pay them any mind. She only growled once at Brother who was too dense to pick up on the signals that she wasn't interested in playing.
She slowly got introduced to the other cats as well (even the dog!) and didn't seem to change her behavior at all. I started to leave the door to my bedroom open during the day when I was home, and let her begin to experience the smells and noises of the house, us, and other animals.
I gave her a few days doing that to adjust, and one night I left the door to my bedroom open hoping she'd explore the house. It didn't take long! By the next morning she was boldly in my sister's bedroom on the other side of the house sitting on a cat condo looking out the window. Of course she ran when my sister turned on a light, but we were pleased with her small steps. Over the past week or two she has really turned the corner. While she spends most of her time during the day in our garage, she makes nightly tours through the house, and has even tried to explore the kitchen (where the door to the garage is) during the day when it's quite and she thinks we're gone We catch flashes of her moving around the garage when we're cooking dinner and when she clearly knows we're close and making noise which I think is great. It would be all too easy for her to hide 100% of the time, but she chooses to sit in places that she feels safe in, but where we can clearly see each other. She's way more curious now about who we are and what we're doing, she's bold as brass coming out when she knows I'm giving her wet food for breakfast, and even ate treats in front of my sister which she hasn't done since she lived outside. It's remarkable progress in such a short period of time. Every day she makes a small step and she doesn't seem daunted by the vacuum, the dog, or when Brother bugs her wanting to play. For being a scared feral, she's got the most easy going personality!!
I'll try to write back in a few weeks and update everyone on her progress....
Alexandra
A couple of weeks ago I decided to start letting the other cats in our house meet Mama very slowly by letting them into my room to sniff each other and interact. I let her kittens, Brother and Sister, in thinking they'd be the best first match. They were great with her, and Mama seemed to not pay them any mind. She only growled once at Brother who was too dense to pick up on the signals that she wasn't interested in playing.
She slowly got introduced to the other cats as well (even the dog!) and didn't seem to change her behavior at all. I started to leave the door to my bedroom open during the day when I was home, and let her begin to experience the smells and noises of the house, us, and other animals.I gave her a few days doing that to adjust, and one night I left the door to my bedroom open hoping she'd explore the house. It didn't take long! By the next morning she was boldly in my sister's bedroom on the other side of the house sitting on a cat condo looking out the window. Of course she ran when my sister turned on a light, but we were pleased with her small steps. Over the past week or two she has really turned the corner. While she spends most of her time during the day in our garage, she makes nightly tours through the house, and has even tried to explore the kitchen (where the door to the garage is) during the day when it's quite and she thinks we're gone
We catch flashes of her moving around the garage when we're cooking dinner and when she clearly knows we're close and making noise which I think is great. It would be all too easy for her to hide 100% of the time, but she chooses to sit in places that she feels safe in, but where we can clearly see each other. She's way more curious now about who we are and what we're doing, she's bold as brass coming out when she knows I'm giving her wet food for breakfast, and even ate treats in front of my sister which she hasn't done since she lived outside. It's remarkable progress in such a short period of time. Every day she makes a small step and she doesn't seem daunted by the vacuum, the dog, or when Brother bugs her wanting to play. For being a scared feral, she's got the most easy going personality!!I'll try to write back in a few weeks and update everyone on her progress....
Alexandra
I am deeply sorry for your loss of your older cat. No matter how old they get and even though we know intellectually that they won't live forever, it still breaks our hearts. 
on Mama update 
