Hi all! I'm new to this site and totally new to feral taming, but my SO and I have decided to take in a feral (or possible stray) that we have been feeding for the past 4 months at a casino parking lot. There is a colony living there and compared to the other ferals, this cat seemed much more friendly and trusting of us. Yet at the same time, she has never rubbed up against us or approached to be pet (nor have we ever tried) so it's hard to gauge her level of friendliness. She's comfortable eating a foot or less away from us. In fact, the very first time I noticed her, she was waiting right next to my car door to be fed...my door was open and she rubbed her cheek against the corner of it with my feet maybe 5 inches away. I was surprised that she wasn't scared/skittish like the others. So I thought perhaps she was a stray and not part of the colony. Another reason we think she might not be part of the feral colony is that she's usually alone, hanging out under parked cars. The colony cats seem to prefer hanging out in the empty grassy lot adjacent to the parking lot. They will dart out from the bushes or under the fence to eat. They also have no qualms about sharing their food with each other...if there's a pile of kibbles out, there will be 2-3 cats huddled around eating it. This kitty however rarely ever joins in, she always watches from a few feet away and waits for them to finish and then eats the leftovers. Of course, I make sure to make a new pile just for her and if another cat tries to join, she tends to hiss at them or back off sometimes. Although lately she has been tolerating sharing food, probably because she was too hungry from being pregnant!
The casino management had done some TNR on the colony a few months ago, but obviously missed quite a few cats. We informed them of the pregnancy situation, but they didn't seem to be bothered to start trapping again. A volunteer from a rescue I contacted offered to help trap her and it was then we discovered that 2 more cats were pregnant as well! The cats have all been spayed earlier this week and my SO & I have decided we want to take this particular kitty home rather than release her back.
Now here is what concerns me...when trapping her, we had to use the drop-box method since the volunteer ran out of cage traps. Transferring the kitty from the drop-box to the cage trap was extremely difficult! She would not budge and the two of us had to use wooden sticks to pretty much poke & prod her into the cage, with her hissing and attacking the sticks every time it came near her. I realize she must've been terrified, but she was so vicious, it was like a totally different cat! It took probably about 20 minutes to force her into the cage. The volunteer, an experienced cat trapper & feral tamer, said she has never had such difficulty transferring a cat. Makes me wonder if this kitty has possibly been caged before? She has been with the volunteer for the past 3 days, recovering from being spayed, and she's described as a feisty one. The volunteer still recommends that I give taming a try though and if the kitty shows no progress after a month, she can be returned to the colony.
So now my question is...do I have any hope in taming this cat based on the behaviors I described above? Does she sound more stubborn than the typical feral/stray? Please give me some insight & reassurance!
The casino management had done some TNR on the colony a few months ago, but obviously missed quite a few cats. We informed them of the pregnancy situation, but they didn't seem to be bothered to start trapping again. A volunteer from a rescue I contacted offered to help trap her and it was then we discovered that 2 more cats were pregnant as well! The cats have all been spayed earlier this week and my SO & I have decided we want to take this particular kitty home rather than release her back.
Now here is what concerns me...when trapping her, we had to use the drop-box method since the volunteer ran out of cage traps. Transferring the kitty from the drop-box to the cage trap was extremely difficult! She would not budge and the two of us had to use wooden sticks to pretty much poke & prod her into the cage, with her hissing and attacking the sticks every time it came near her. I realize she must've been terrified, but she was so vicious, it was like a totally different cat! It took probably about 20 minutes to force her into the cage. The volunteer, an experienced cat trapper & feral tamer, said she has never had such difficulty transferring a cat. Makes me wonder if this kitty has possibly been caged before? She has been with the volunteer for the past 3 days, recovering from being spayed, and she's described as a feisty one. The volunteer still recommends that I give taming a try though and if the kitty shows no progress after a month, she can be returned to the colony.
So now my question is...do I have any hope in taming this cat based on the behaviors I described above? Does she sound more stubborn than the typical feral/stray? Please give me some insight & reassurance!