Will a semi-feral cat who chooses to approach you BITE?

I have some kittens in my house that I 'stole' from the feral mom - mainly because she wouldn't let me near them and would hiss at me and scare the crap at me, lol!  She's been spayed and released and then, to my surprise, she's actually not quite as feral as I thought when not protecting her kittens - she will come toward me when I have food.  She will hiss, but then meow, and I think if I let her, she'd come right up next to me.  I'm afraid of her, though.  Should I be?  I wouldn't want to reach out to her, but if she, say, rubbed her body on my leg or something (not sure if she would), does that mean it's safe to try to pet her? 

I have an insane deductible, so a trip to the ER would be out of pocket

Just wondering what you all think.  I'm new to cats so have no idea.  I was afraid to even touch the kittens for many weeks!  I just fed them and took a slow approach at taming them.

If she approaches you, offer your fist. It will look like a cat asking for a head bump (a friendly greeting). She may rub against it, she may not. We have a semi-feral who swats at any hands, yet he literally begs to be petted. I finally got a wooden spoon and petted him. He loves it!

Do not offer an open hand. This looks to a cat like you are trying to catch her.

Allow her to set the pace. If you are really frightened, don't get too close. They can sense your fear and will be nervous - they won't know they are the source of the fear. After all, they know they are harmless.

But they will know something is to be feared and may spook (and possibly scratch and hiss) in response.

You really have your hands full! Please try to be as calm and patient as you can. It will pay off!

Thanks for the advice.  I know it's silly to be scared of her - I felt at first when she came back that she would be 'mad' at me for taking her kittens and try to take her revenge on me!  Then I started with the soft food meals each night, so I think she sort of got over it, but she might just be waiting for her chance!

No, no revenge. Cats don't think like that.

She is a once owned cat who was likely dumped at some point and reverted to a more feralish state due to lack of human interaction.

She won't bite you, why? You offer her food she would not be acting like a cat if she bit you.

She has hissed out of fear because she is not used to people, yet meows because part of her remembers people, and good things associated with them.

Talk to her, be her friend, don't be afraid! Trust me, she is more scared of you then you should ever be of her.

Talk lots to her in a sweet, unthreatening voice, and she will quickly befriend you.

Cat woman is 100% correct.

Think about it this way. The probable reason she is in her current situation was that her previous owners most likely attributed human emotions and skills to her. They allowed her to breed (oh her heart would be broken if she doesn't have at least one litter).

Then they abandoned her (what a tramp, running away when she's pregnant). I've actually heard someone say that and he meant it!

It may seem silly but most of our problems with animals come when we do not treat them like they are the cats (dogs, dolphins, elephants, etc.) they are.

This is what you are doing. This is normal and understandable, actually, but you can stop doing it. She doesn't hate you, she is not plotting revenge and with time and patience, she may very well relax and get friendlier.

Just remember, all you are doing for her is making a critical difference in her life. Thank you!

When she was spayed, did she also receive a rabies shot? If she is rabies vaccinated, then the worse case scenario if she bit you would be an infection if you didn't clean the wound thoroughly, and you'd need antibiotics. Ironically, the only time I was bitten hard by a cat and required antibiotics was when I was giving my fully domesticated indoor cat medicine.  If you feed a cat, the cat will not want to seriously hurt you. If the cat feels threatened or bothered by something you are doing, it will hiss, swipe at you, or nip as a warning, and then you heed the warning and back off.  Does she allow you to sit close beside her while she's eating? Sometimes I'm able to sneak a quick pet on the cheek of my outdoor feral while he's eating chicken breast and too preoccupied to hiss or swipe, lol.

Ferals don't meow unless they are fighting, making mating calls, or in some kind of real distress. If this kitty is meowing in your presence, then she's likely semi-feral and can be re-socialized again.    

Thanks for the encouragement.  Maybe tonight I will sit on the step and watch her eat her dinner and she what happens.  I won't reach out to her or anything just yet. 

What I think happens too much where I live is people allow all the 'barn cats' to just breed, some of which are getting a bit of human contact but not a lot.  It really discourages me because it seems to be a HUGE problem!  I thought of making flyers and going door to door just to let people know about the very inexpensive spay clinic that they may not know about - I think a lot of people just don't care.  A friend of mine who is married to a farmer and lives just 2 miles away told me her father-in-law, who is a retired farmer, goes out to his barn and feeds 'his cats' daily.  She said this spring there were at least 3 litters of kittens!  It'd be GREAT for him to do what he's doing if they were all FIXED.  It's frustrating!