Last May, I began feeding a very skinny feral Siamese Tom hanging around our house in the woods, and two months ago, was able to trap him and have him neutered, vaccinated, de-wormed, etc. Our vet estimated him to be about a year old and cautioned that we might never be able to tame him or integrate him with our three indoor cats.
Since then, he's been living on our 8x12 screened cat porch where he has a 'cave' to hide in and shelves to climb onto and find refuge. In the beginning he was terribly wild, and while I don't think he's absolutely feral, it's apparent that he's had little socialization. I've been patient and persistent, letting him set the pace. I go out onto the porch to read, sing and talk to him and just hang out several times a day, so he can become more comfortable with me.
For a long time he only came out to eat or use the litter box at night, so we named him 'Ghost'. Then, when he did begin coming out, he was terribly anxious and frightened, spitting and hissing if I got too close. He's clearly very conflicted about how to interact with me. He acts like he'd like to engage but also frantically paces, treads, rubs and scent-marks. With regular feeding and care, he's blossomed into a gorgeous cat and about two weeks ago, we finally had a little breakthrough. I've gotten him to start playing with a feather lure. He clearly enjoys this and I can see that he's starting to associate me with positive things: food and play. Since then, he's grown more tolerant and I've been able to move his food dish closer to where I sit each time I feed him until the dish is now at my feet. Over the past few days, I began offering him wet food on a long-handled spoon and last night we graduated to a regular spoon. This morning, he ate with my hand right next to the spoon's bowl, so he kept rubbing his muzzle and head against my hand as he ate. This was the first real contact and gave me hope.
All this to say, we're making progress, but very slowly. However, he still charges me when I first come out onto the porch to feed him, hissing and occasionally swatting. (He's never actually scratched me.) I tell him "No" in a quiet, firm voice, refuse to be intimidated and wait until he calms down to feed him. I'm not sure what this threat display is about, only that it accompanies him being much more assertive about coming out or down off his shelf for food and me making him have to come close to me to get fed. He gets Solliquin, which our vet suggested, to help him relax and I've considered Feliway, but on a screen porch, I think it would dissipate too readily. I'd welcome any suggestions about how to get this beautiful boy to 'warm up' and relax.
Since then, he's been living on our 8x12 screened cat porch where he has a 'cave' to hide in and shelves to climb onto and find refuge. In the beginning he was terribly wild, and while I don't think he's absolutely feral, it's apparent that he's had little socialization. I've been patient and persistent, letting him set the pace. I go out onto the porch to read, sing and talk to him and just hang out several times a day, so he can become more comfortable with me.
For a long time he only came out to eat or use the litter box at night, so we named him 'Ghost'. Then, when he did begin coming out, he was terribly anxious and frightened, spitting and hissing if I got too close. He's clearly very conflicted about how to interact with me. He acts like he'd like to engage but also frantically paces, treads, rubs and scent-marks. With regular feeding and care, he's blossomed into a gorgeous cat and about two weeks ago, we finally had a little breakthrough. I've gotten him to start playing with a feather lure. He clearly enjoys this and I can see that he's starting to associate me with positive things: food and play. Since then, he's grown more tolerant and I've been able to move his food dish closer to where I sit each time I feed him until the dish is now at my feet. Over the past few days, I began offering him wet food on a long-handled spoon and last night we graduated to a regular spoon. This morning, he ate with my hand right next to the spoon's bowl, so he kept rubbing his muzzle and head against my hand as he ate. This was the first real contact and gave me hope.
All this to say, we're making progress, but very slowly. However, he still charges me when I first come out onto the porch to feed him, hissing and occasionally swatting. (He's never actually scratched me.) I tell him "No" in a quiet, firm voice, refuse to be intimidated and wait until he calms down to feed him. I'm not sure what this threat display is about, only that it accompanies him being much more assertive about coming out or down off his shelf for food and me making him have to come close to me to get fed. He gets Solliquin, which our vet suggested, to help him relax and I've considered Feliway, but on a screen porch, I think it would dissipate too readily. I'd welcome any suggestions about how to get this beautiful boy to 'warm up' and relax.