feral "reverting"

For almost a year, we've had an adorable TNR cat hanging out at our house.  She's tabby and white and has a clipped ear, so we know she's been trapped and spayed at some point.  We call her "Orphy," (short for The Orpheline) and started feeding her - canned food, twice a day, so she eats it all up and we pick up the dish so we are not leaving food out 24/7 (we have a problem with skunks, possums, raccoons, and even the occasional coyote in our neighborhood).   She's very personable, and after many weeks, started to seek our attention, we could pet her, and she was curious and friendly.  We set up shelter box for her, which she used daily.  We even were able to coax her inside, into the kitchen, a few times to eat, but she was very nervous about it.  We have never trapped, cornered, or picked her up.   Then, after we were away for a few days (we did leave a feeder hidden under the back stairs for her, and she knew where it was; we had done this several times before), when we got back, she was gone.  We did not see her for almost two weeks, which was worrisome, as she had been like clockwork - 5 AM and 4 PM, every day, for months.  Then she reappeared (we were so happy to see her!), hung around for a couple of days - and  then disappeared again.  A month went by.  I took down her little house.  Then, a few nights ago, there she was, in the front yard, with a new friend - a big gray longhaired ragamuffin.  I took food out to her, talking to her as we always did, and she was completely skittish, nervous - wouldn't let me anywhere near her.  I set the food down and once I was about 20 feet away, she ate eagerly, but constantly glancing around.  After almost a year of being friendly and approachable, up to a point, she seems to have reverted to almost totally feral behavior.  We were very happy to see that she was still alive and looking healthy, but we are quite sad that she is as afraid of us as though we were total strangers.  Any ideas what might have happened with her?  We will keep an eye out and of course try to feed her if we see her, but it seems like she has abandoned us altogether and reverted to wildness.  Poor Orphy.  She is so cute (see photo) and was so sweet... for a while. :-(

Julie & The Orpheline

This is true feral like behavior.  When you left her world changed and that was frightening for her.  I have had so many of my feral cats do the same thing when I travel.  They do not like a change in routine.  Also the feeder could have attracted other wildlife which could have eaten the food or kept her away from the feeder.  I set up an automatic feeder once too.  I had surveillance cameras to see what happened.  First off when the feeder went to drop the food, the sound was very frightening.  Secondly raccoons came and tore the feeder apart.  My feral had no food and was petrified of the feeding area for weeks.

My guess is she was frightened and went off to seek food.  She most likely found another feeding area thus the friend she is now with. 

It may take awhile to regain her trust and she may decide that she must move on.  One of my feral boys was so afraid of the pet sitter that he left for weeks.  He must have found another food source as he was gone for 2 weeks.  He came back and ate a bit, but never stayed.  He has since moved on. 

If she does come back, I would just bring her food and then sit a distance away and talk very quietly to her.  Keep her gaze down ( no direct eye contact).  You can also try to up the ante and offer something extra delicious.  Try plain cooked chicken or some tuna. 

When working with ferals it's always one step forward and many steps backward.  Just give her time. 

She's a very sweet looking cat.  Are you not interested in socializing her, making her an indoor cat, to get her safely off the streets?  It appears when she met that other cat, that cat became her world for a few weeks.  Is that other cat coming along with her, or just Orpheline? 

We would love to socialize her, and had made progress - we could pet her, etc. and we would be happy to have her move in with us.  She was always very cautious, though, and if we petted her too long or touched her without her permission, she would back away or even give us a measured, gentle - but emphatic - prick with claws.  We always were very careful not to pressure her, corner her, or exceed her comfort zone.  But it seems that when we were away, she must have felt abandoned or decided we were not to be relied on, so she went elsewhere.  Her friend, who we called the Troubador because he would sometimes come and sing to her, was never approachable - he would run away if we even made eye contact.  She must be living somewhere in the neighborhood, and we're willing to "start over" if she will let us.  But she's been more or less away from us for at least 6 weeks, so I'm not sure she will come back.  :-(    It's funny - one of our cats is a big gray longhaired male (neutered), who was VERY interested in her - they would touch noses through the fence and even touch paws.  And her current boyfriend is a big longhaired gray cat too - that must be her type of guy.  Our Werewolf is disappointed, though.

Julie & Orphy

How I got Suzie who was a feral to get used to the in of doors, I would have my patio door open with a bowl of food within site of the back yard where she was at.  I myself would be sitting a ways back from the open patio door, talking to her gently, calling her by name, coaxing her to come in.  Each day she would come into the house a little further, looking around, exploring the inside.  She would go over to the bowel of food and eat after a few days.  The object is to get her used to the inside, but always remember to leave that door to the outside open so that she knows she can escape if she starts to feel the walls closing in so to speak or feel spooked.  It's a gradual process, but it works!!

Yes, that's pretty much what we were doing with the kitchen.  Propped the door open, bowl of really yummy food, standing back and talking gently.  She did come in a few times, but was very uneasy - would eat and scurry out again, and we always left the door open and an escape route available.  Also more difficult because we have 5 cats already (we would shut them away when we invited her in), so acclimating her to that bunch would be an additional challenge!  Well, we will keep an eye out for her and hope for the best.

Looks like you are doing everything right.   I idea is to get her used to you and your husband, and the indoors.  It's a process, this will take time, but I am sure you can see a difference in her confidence level as time goes on.  Introducing her to your feline family comes later.  Continue.  You may want to add a litter box in the area, one that is not being used by the rest of your feline family and see if she understands what that is for, something more for her to explore at this early point.  Keep up the good work.   How I got Suzie used to "litter" was to mix a little litter with some dirt or potting soil with a piece her refuse in it if you can manage that, other wise, just the potting soil mixed with litter.  I made the mistake by placing Suzie straight into the litter box with potting soil, but no familiar bm that had her scent on it in the box, so all she did is make a dash out of that box so fast, dirt all over around the box.   I think you will have better success with her understanding sooner what the box is intended for if you can include her scent.  Anyway, maybe try this a little down the road.