My husband and I started feeding a feral female cat who was pregnant. Eventually, she had kittens and when they appeared outside, we had 3 of them trapped, neutered and found great homes for them. We were unable to trap the mother and one of the kittens so we continued to feed them, made a shelter for them and were able to trap, neuter and release them back to our area. They had become so attached to us. The mother was as friendly as her feral nature allowed. We could not pet her but she would play with us with a ball and cord and she would come as close as 6 inches and sleep under our chairs but would not allow us to pet her. Her kitten (who we named Cuff) loved to be petted, purred loudly, played with us, just like a housecat. When they saw us get out of the car they would come running down the street to greet us. Needless to say, we fell in love with mom (Gold) and Cuff. Unfortunately, Gold was hit and killed by a car while chasing a male away from Cuff. Cuff started to act very recklessly without her mom so we found a home for her which didn't last because she was terrified of resident cats. So, we took her inside and put her in a huge cage with food, litter box, lots of toys and a place to hide and she calmed down after a month. Now, she acts like she wants to get out of the cage but when I opened the door, she jumped out, walked around my apartment a bit, came face to face with one of my other cats who is a sweetheart and I did not see any aggression in either cat. My other cat, spits at her in the cage but that's it. Again, I opened the door and she jumped out but this time the same resident cat chased her a little and now Cuff doesn't want to come out of cage at all. Is this going to take much more time or is she doomed to never wanting to leave the cage. She lets us pet her still like she did when she was outside but she seems a little skittish. However, she is in love with my husband and kneads her blanket when he comes near her a rolls around and around when he pets her.
Does anyone have any tips or advise on helping her adjust, how long it could take and how to handle letting her out of cage.
Also, I believe she witnessed her mother getting killed.
Does anyone have any tips or advise on helping her adjust, how long it could take and how to handle letting her out of cage.
Also, I believe she witnessed her mother getting killed.