Bringing Stray Cat Into My Home

Kokopuffs1997 · Dec 1, 2017

About two months ago i found a cat outside a local grocery store. The workers there believed she had been living there for over a month. I looked and nobody had claimed her so i took her in as my own. Im concerned because it has been two months and she is terrified of me , she gets along well with my other cats and will play but whenever i try to go near her she runs away and hides. How long should it take for her to become comfortable with me? Is this normal behaviour?

shadowsrescue · Dec 2, 2017

It can take some stray cats a long time to readjust to humans. She also may never be that cuddly, love to be pet kitty. The best way to approach her is to sit on the floor at her level. You don't want to loom over her. Sit on the floor and try to coax her over with some yummy treats. I used to toss one her my cats direction and then each treat would get a bit closer to me.

I also made a "pet petter" in which I took an old rod from a cat toy and covered the end with a soft sock and/or piece of flannel. The rod part was 24-30" long. I added a tiny bit of cat nip to the end. I would use this as a toy and then gently start to pet the cat. It often worked best if the cat's back was to me.
Here is a picture of one I used