Need advice on taming a feral cat - please help

Good news! She ate something last night.

The bad news is that she took a poop on my pillow while I was lying in bed! I couldn't help but laugh at the time and think 'fair enough' given what I've been putting her through. However, I'd like to make sure it doesn't happen again. I don't know why she didn't use the cat litter. It's at the bottom of my bed. It's out of my line of sight and she regularly walks through it to get to the window, so she must be aware of it.

She seems to be taking out her frustration on the curtains on the window. She attacks them occasionally and some rips have appeared.

She spends a lot of time pacing in an agitated way around the room and wailing. Should the wailing stop soon, or does that depend on the cat.

As always, your advice is very much appreciated.

Sounds like a dirty protest. Remember to use an enzymatic cleaner to remove all the smell.

It sounds like everything is progressing normally, you'll still just have to wait and see if she's a shouter.

Thanks Pegleg. The dirty protest comment made me laugh.

Ray

"Should the wailing stop soon, or does that depend on the cat."

I didn't have problems with wailing but my two feral cats progressed at different speeds. I had a problem with a little kitty that wanted to be an escape artist for a couple of months were her brother settled in rather quickly. My experience was no two cats are the same. Even now, after 7 months inside. I have them inside the building I work at and they allow some of my co-workers to approach them but not the same people for both cats. It is like they prefer different people. I would guess the wailing will stop but I don't think anyone could tell you when.

I also had a poop mishap but was more fortunate than you. The first night they used the blankets I had on the floor instead of the litter. Next day I took the blankets out of the room and put the litter where the blankets were and no more mishaps since. Not that you could use that advice as I don't imagine you want to switch the pillow with litter. I am fortunate because the litter training was critical for them to remain in the building. I read up on litter before trapping because it was critical to keeping them. Some of what I read said to start with dirt in the litter as the cat would be more used to going in dirt. Could be the litter box (size / height) or the location of the box. So there is the type of litter (unscented, scented, dirt, etc), the box, and the location to consider. There are several things to try and I was fortunate mine was an easy fix.

Hope you get the litter problem solved quickly and wish you and the cat all the best.

All the curtain attacks, wailing, pacing, etc. is just her expressing her anxiety/frustration about not being able to do what she thinks she needs to do to survive.  She doesn't understand yet that there will always be food available without hunting - she'll hopefully learn and as her new reality sets in the anxiety/frustration should go away.  There are no guarantees... some cats are what some of us refer to as Rogues - they just need to be outside for some reason.  Hopefully she's not one of them.  You won't know for several weeks though, 3 weeks from capture is generally a good marker to see how she's progressing.

Make sure you put the poop from the pillow into the litter box so she gets the idea/scent

Shane - I've taken your advice and replaced the grit in the litter box with top soil. Thanks!

Thanks again JM Jimmy. All your posts make complete sense and are a great help.

Ray

P.S. Pictures please. People on The Cat Site like to see pictures.

My cats were 9 months old when I brought them in and I started feeding them when they were around 2 months old. I talked a lot to them while feeding them outside and called them with "kitty, kitty, kitty". I think it is easier to socialize them the earlier you get them so I would not expect you to have as easy a time as I did. I found it was a little bit of work, a lot of patience and a bit of one step forward two steps back. Well worth my time because I sleep better at night knowing the cats are sheltered and well fed.

I am at the point where I am able to put them in the car, drive an hour to the cottage and it is not stressful on them. I take them to the cottage so I don't have to drive back into the city to feed them.

Here are my two. Kitty on the left and Rusty on the right, at the cottage. Kitty tried for approximately two months to escape from me, now look at her.


As always Ondine has great advice because "Your best ally is patience." is so very true.

I have been following your trials with the new baby. One thing you might try with the litter thing is to relocate the poop to the litter box. Maybe she would take the hint from finding her smell in the box, same is true for pee. I have actually cut pee soaked fabric from a feral marking and buried it in the box to provide the scent.

Keep the faith on your baby....sounds like you are making progress

The pooping on the pillow tells me she feels safe near your scent, so in a way this is a good sign.  Drop the poop into the litter box and either get rid of the pillow or soak it with a good enzyme spray.

She may try it again, so be prepared.  She's learning how to be an indoor cat and will have a few  hiccups on the way.

Thanks Trudy and Ondine - It would never have occurred to me to put the poop in the litter box. I'll give it a try next time.

Shane and JM Jimmy, I'll try post pictures soon.

I have brought in 2 feral cats (at different times).  The first one took only 3 weeks to come out of his shell.  The 2nd one took a full 5 MONTHS of living under the bed in a spare bedroom before letting me pet him!  That guy is now a SHOULDER cat and LOVES attention.  I thought he would NEVER come around.  So don't give up.

Thanks Shouldercats. Your cat is beautiful. The news about your second cat taking only 3 weeks to take to his new environment  is very encouraging. I'm really hoping that it won't take five months to socialise mine.  She is letting me pet her, so  fingers crossed it  won't take that long. The hard part is not caving in when she looks so distressed. I keep having to remind myself how much better her life will be if I can get her to come round.. 

She wailed again for most of last night, however she's much more confident in the room. She's continually climbing onto my bed while I'm in it,..

I've taken the curtains off the window. For some reason she seemed to find them stressful and would attack them.

It's hard to take any pictures of her to post as she's usually moving about or in her hiding spot.

Ray

I forgot to mention that she's developed some obsessive rituals. She goes to the window, checks if she can get out, walks backwards across the windowsill, climbs down onto a chair beside the window, jumps to the floor and  walks across to a bookshelf and climbs it back up onto the windowsill. She can do this 5 or 6 times in just one minute.

That's more anxiety/frustration... however, the repeated nature of it can lead to unwanted behaviours down the line.  Try distracting her with a toy as fast as you can when as she starts this routine.  Refocusing on prey can help deal with her desire to get out and hunt while breaking the obsessive cycle.  If you have to, bring out a treat if that is what it takes to get her attention, however, try not to as you don't want the behaviour to be rewarded. 

@Raywalsh22

"The hard part is not caving in when she looks so distressed." 

I know what you mean. At times I felt guilty forcing the two I have to stay in the building. When I first brought them in they jumped straight at a window not realizing what glass is, I was afraid they were going to break their necks. A couple days later Kitty pulled the cover off a heating duct and went down it, I had to take a section of duct work out to get her. I put a 55 pound counterweight over the cover so she couldn't do it again.

They are very bonded with me now. A few weekends ago I was at work and had the day to hang out with them. I figured if they took off on me outside I would have the day to get them back. It was cold outside with snow on the ground. I opened the door and the smaller cat Kitty backed away from the door as soon as she felt the cold air hit her. Rusty put a paw in the snow and came back in. They spent last winter outside and it seems they don't miss it at all. Exactly what I was hoping for. They know they got it good here, I would imagine yours will to after a bit of time.

@JMJimmy

That is as far as Rusty got. My house cats are the same. I don't let them roam but do go outside with them, I don't let them out of my sight. They don't like the snow at all.

@ShoulderCats

This is my wife and her orange shoulder cat name Taz.

Taz is a beautiful shoulder cat !   Do you use anything to help support Taz on your shoulders?

Deb

@ShoulderCats

Taz jumps on her back when she bends over so she just stays a little hunched over so he doesn't fall off.