Friendly feral now inside.

My husband and I started feeding a feral female cat who was pregnant. Eventually, she had kittens and when they appeared outside, we had 3 of them trapped, neutered and found great homes for them. We were unable to trap the mother and one of the kittens so we continued to feed them, made a shelter for them and were able to trap, neuter and release them back to our area. They had become so attached to us. The mother was as friendly as her feral nature allowed. We could not pet her but she would play with us with a ball and cord and she would come as close as 6 inches and sleep under our chairs but would not allow us to pet her. Her kitten (who we named Cuff) loved to be petted, purred loudly, played with us, just like a housecat. When they saw us get out of the car they would come running down the street to greet us. Needless to say, we fell in love with mom (Gold) and Cuff.  Unfortunately, Gold was hit and killed by a car while chasing a male away from Cuff.  Cuff started to act very recklessly without her mom so we found a home for her which didn't last because she was terrified of resident cats. So, we took her inside and put her in a huge cage with food, litter box, lots of toys and a place to hide and she calmed down after a month. Now, she acts like she wants to get out of the cage but when I opened the door, she jumped out, walked around my apartment a bit, came face to face with one of my other cats who is a sweetheart and I did not see any aggression in either cat. My other cat, spits at her in the cage but that's it. Again, I opened the door and she jumped out but this time the same resident cat chased her a little and now Cuff doesn't want to come out of cage at all. Is this going to take much more time or is she doomed to never wanting to leave the cage. She lets us pet her still like she did when she was outside but she seems a little skittish. However, she is in love with my husband and kneads her blanket when he comes near her a rolls around and around when he pets her. 

Does anyone have any tips or advise on helping her adjust, how long it could take and how to handle letting her out of cage.

Also, I believe she witnessed her mother getting killed.

She will definitely get used to the changes. Introductions between a cats need to be taken slowly, so do not rush things. Is there a room you can give Cuff for the duration? She can get used to being inside before having to adjust to the resident cat and the rest of the house.

Plus, until she is vetted, it is best to keep her away from the resident cat. And once she is spayed, she will calm down considerably.

Even if she saw her mom being killed, it would not traumatize her the way it would a human. She may be wary of traffic now but that would not be a bad thing.

Thank you so much for helping her.

I had to take in some ferals I was feeding too.  And I believe one of them saw his sibling with whom he bonded fairly closely, get trapped by the city and taken off to be killed.  Very sad.  It took him a while to adjust.  What helped him is having the other kitties (from another littler that ate together on my back porch).  It just takes time to adjust.  I'd say let her explore the room she is in by herself for a few days, then slowly introduce her to your other cat, then another room or two, then slowly the rest of the house one room at a time if possible.  I think ferals always remain a tad skittish.  Mine have.  With cats, no matter whether tame or feral, patience is the word.  Lots of it!

Yes, patience is definitely the word. Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it.

Yes, she has been to vet as soon as I brought her inside. So she has no health problems and had all shots and been dewormed, etc. She was neutered while she was still outside as part of TNR.

She was with her mother every day. They were never apart. Mother never had any other litters.

She is really such a sweet cat. She is not aggressive at all.

jokur said:

 
Yes, patience is definitely the word. Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it.

Yes, she has been to vet as soon as I brought her inside. So she has no health problems and had all shots and been dewormed, etc. She was neutered while she was still outside as part of TNR.

She was with her mother every day. They were never apart. Mother never had any other litters.

She is really such a sweet cat. She is not aggressive at all.

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You're certainly welcome!  

I'm so sorry the kitten saw her mom die.  That's so sad.  I recall Oreo was a bit depressed at first, in fact he threw up the day his sister went missing and he'd never been sick before.  Now he's better - that was 11 years ago after all.  I hope your little sweet kitty adjusts quickly!  It's precious how she loves your husband!

What a sweet thing you did! Cats do mourn, but generally not as long as humans do. And as far as socialization -patience really is the key!! You didn't tell us how long the time frames are ---when did Cuff start showing up? Then how long till she started running around inside? And now that she's in - how long has kshe been in her cage now? And how old is Cuff ---and how old is your resident kitty?

Is her cage you're keeping her in in its own room (guest room, office, etc)? If so, I'd leave her cage door open 24/7. It's her safe haven right now. But for a few weeks I'd start feeding both your kitty & Cuff on opposite sides of the closed door. Also add a tad bit of a super yummy treat -like tuna or mackerel to the bowls on each side. They'll smell each other, but this way they're learning to associate each other with good things

Eventually -once they can do this without growling, start cracking the door a bit (just a bit - so they can see each other & get a bit of their paws through but NOT their heads/bodies! They can't get to each other to hurt each other, so do this till there's no growling at all (and keep giving them "high value" treats like tuna.

Once that's good -let Cuff out, but supervised! Make sure Cuff has somewhere to go where he feels safe in case he wants to "bail". As soon as you let them out, again put a "high value treat" in front of them (the goal is that they associate each other with that extra yummy item!). You also might try a little "scent swapping"--take a blanket, towel etc that your resident guy sleeps on a lot & switch it with something Cuff sleeps on. Gets them used to each other's smell quickly! Switch the items back & forth periodically.

Know that you'll still have SOME picking on each other (they have to develop a pecking order - so they have to figure that out on their own, unfortunately.

But they WILL figure it out! Just keep it slow, and don't give up! It WILL work out--they may not be best of buddies right away --but in time I bet you see them curled up together!

Good luck & keep us posted!!!!

We started feeding Gold (mother) while pregnant. Then a few weeks later she brought 4 kittens out. My friend trapped 3 kittens but could not trap Gold or Cuff. She found homes for all three.  So, Gold and Cuff started coming to our house. Gold was a completely feral cat. Anyway, we gave them food, treats, a shelter if needed and eventually Gold would come very close, she would play with us and also her and Cuff would play together. They stay with us almost all day and night. In fact, Gold would chase any other cats or dogs away from the front of my house.  Gold died this past August.  We had been taking care of them for 2 years. Cuff is a about 2 1/2 years old and has only been an indoor cat since August 2015. She is doing pretty good for a cat who started out feral. 

I will follow your advise and let you know how it goes. Thank you so much.

She has been in cage for almost 2 months.

I may have missed it - but is the cage Cuff's in in a separate room - like a spare bedroom - that can be closed off? If so, I'd definitely start letting her out of it, (with the room door closed) & begin the feeding on opposite sides of the door with your established guys. And then move forward as I suggested. I'd hate to see her get so used to the cage that she, ironically, panics at being outside of it (shelters usually call this "cage bound").