How to? pick up/lift up a semi-feral?

Kitty Farrell has been living indoors with me since mid-October now, and she's still coming along very nicely and has come to trust me enough to jump up into my bed, and will sleep with me, as well as enjoying petting and playing.  Now, I'm beginning to think ahead to the future. 

I'd like to be able to pick her up and physically relocate her (pick her up and out of my path, or set her on a different surface) sometimes.  I realize that I may never be able to do that, but I'd like to give it a shot.  When I pet her, she will not sit in my lap or put her paws on my legs, but is happy to play "London Bridges" and walks under my legs when I've got them bent while seated on the floor.  She's not as comfortable with me when I'm standing up; she will rub on my legs, and will allow one hand to scratch her head or cheek, but only for a minute, and then she moves away.  I figure she sees me as "big" when I'm standing up and over her.

So, how might I begin to ease into being able to hold her, or lift her, up off the ground?

I ran into a similar problem with Ritz, who lived the first four to six months of her life on the streets after she and her litter mates were abandoned--before a 20 inch snow storm.  Yeah, she has some trust issues.  I should say Ritz is my first cat ever.  So we've learned together.  I still don't quite know how to hold a cat.

Some cats just don't like to be picked up.  That said, the baby steps I've taken with Ritz are as follows:  when she is on my lap and I have to get up, I lift her a little off my lap, give her a big fat kiss, and set her down beside me on the sofa.  She tolerates this well.  My next step would be, lift her up from my lap and set her down on the floor.  Sometimes I do this, depending on the circumstances.  She kind of looks at me, but goes along with it.

Theoretically, my next step would be:  as I *casually* walk from one room to the other, reach down, pick Ritz/your cat up just a little and immediately set her down.  Depending on how she reacts, give her a treat afterwards.  And then gradually increase how high you lift your cat.

I say 'theoretically' because Ritz gets immediately suspicious when I hover over her, crouches and just acts really scared.  Not worth it to me or her.

If Ritz is really in the way, as in I might trip over her, I tell her to MOVE!  And she does.

When I have to take her to the vets, I scruff her around her neck, hopefully when she is half asleep on my lap, and immediately put her into her cat carrier.  It's not graceful or pretty, but Ritz doesn't squirm or try to get out of my arms.  That's what's important.

I had a similar problem as well.  Marvin, the stray/feral I brought inside the house in late May has major trust issues.  He loves to be pet, brushed and played with and will even jump up onto my lap, but when I have tried to pick him up, he goes stiff as a board and his claws come out.  Marvin still has his safe room where he sleeps at night and is placed there when no one is at home.  He and my other indoor cat are not to the point of being left alone yet.  So there are times when he is out and about and I need to put him in his room.  At first I would just try to bribe him with food, but after awhile he caught on!  I then started holding him very firmly and carrying him far away from my body so he couldn't scratch me.  I hated doing that to him.  I then looked up on the internet on how to pick up a cat.  It showed to put one hand under their belly and the other supporting their bottom.  At first this was really awkward for me.  I started practicing when I was sitting and he would walk over to me.  I would bend down and try it out.  I believe my putting my hand under his bottom, it keeps his back legs tucked under him.  I have been using this technique with him for a few months now.  I am now starting to pick him up and hold him close to my body.  He is doing so much better.  I can now pick him up downstairs and carry him up to his room if needed.  He still stiffens a bit, but generally relaxes after a few seconds.  Who knows if he was ever held or picked up before in his life.  He is almost 4 years old. 

Try looking on the internet, you might even find a video to demonstrate.

My formerly feral boy does not like being picked up yet, but I learned through necessity that he tolerates it. In the beginning he wouldn't even come near the house to eat and after feeding him for nearly a year we could pet him while he ate. One day he came to the house and was clearly sick. I tried to lure him in with food and he would not come. I knew I had to help him so I picked him up and put him in our cat-carrier. He has been indoor ever since. We have taken him to the vet to be treated twice for infections, and once to be neutered and vaccinated. We got the news that he is FIV positive. We will still love him and care for him and make all his remaining days worth while. I know I kind of got off topic by telling our whole story, but my point is that you might just have to try it and see if she will let you. I have to pick our boy up every once in a while and, though he had scratched or bitten me on other occasions, he has not scratched or bitten me when I picked him up. I tried to hold him once; he was not a fan. I don't rule anything out at this point though. In the month since he has been indoors he has climbed into my lap, hopped up on the bed and couch for attention, and learned to properly use a litter box- each of those new developments caught me by surprise and have brought me such joy!

Thought I'd follow-up, if only to say I've not really had any success because I'm still trying to ease into this!  I am practicing occasionally getting both hands around her chest as I'm petting her, and just gently holding her for a few seconds. Then I give her a treat, and tell her what a good girl she is.  Oddly, I have the best luck with handling her when she is under the covers in bed with me!  She will sometimes put her paws on one of my legs while I'm petting her there.  Somehow I think she feels safe under the covers.

Oddly, I think since I've not held a cat in decades, I'm feeling rusty at it, and since she is a tripod, I think I'm a bit overly cautious worrying about her squirming away and hurting herself.  I need to get over my own fear and insecurity!

In general, she still REALLY is cautious about more than one hand on her at any time, so I'll have to move quickly and decisively, and just expect i may get hurt, although she's never lashed out at me yet.  I'll keep practicing, and hopefully next post I'll have actual progress to report.  Thanks for all the good tips and tricks.

You are a wise woman to take it slowly.  She will let you know if and when she is ready to be picked up.  Thanks for the update!