- Joined
- Apr 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3
- Purraise
- 1
I read on another site about feral cats that this is a great forum to find a “support group” when you’ve taken in a feral cat, so here I am!
To try to make a long story short, last June I found a five week old kitten crying under my lawn mower. I ran into the house and cracked a can of cat food and he came right out eating his little heart out. He loved to be held and would just give the out the biggest purr you’ve ever heard. Rumely would even lick my nose, but he was supercharged. He would play full blast and never stop. One night I decided to let him play out all his energy and wear himself out, but after 4 hours I had to put him in his cage just to get him to rest. He loved to bite and use his claws. Because of this we had to keep him separated from our Himalayan and Persian. We worked with our vet and now almost a year later I have a question I hoped someone would know the answer to.
Rumely is completely bonded to me and only me, but he will tolerate my parents. If one of them is holding him, his eyes follow me wherever I go. He has to stay separated from our other two cats because he will not lose the desire to “hunt” them. They are very afraid of him because they sense the feral, but they will be in the same room with him if he is on his leash (he leash trained perfectly although I wish he could always be free). If he is free, he can only be in one room at a time because he literally bounces off the walls. I give him tons of interesting toys and play with him constantly because he bores easily and gets into mischief. He has his own big room when I’m not with him and at night he sleeps right on top of me. I also use a Thundershirt on him when we let him play free in other areas of the house and it does help a lot.
He can show me such unbelievable love. He looks at me with the sweetest eyes and the affection he shows me is so wonderful, but then when you least expect it he can turn. If I’m reading a book, he will come over and bite me almost like a tantrum. He will bite my parents and the bites are hard. If he bites me it’s not as hard and he doesn’t leave a mark, but he will draw blood on others. He will show them love, but he has a limit with them (and they are totally cat people and love him). When he gets in these moods his eyes change like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My sweet little boy suddenly looks like a panther ready to kill its prey. His eyes just go dark. After about a few seconds or a few minutes he will snap out of it depending on the amount of time it takes him to accomplish what he wants to do while he is in that mode. After he is done, you can tell he is sorry for what he did—he immediately acts sorry and wants stroked or petted. If he bites me, I say a firm “NO” and turn my back on him. He will make all kinds of “cute” noises and begs for my attention. His personality is so complicated.
Will he eventually grow out of his feral trait or is it permanent?
Thank you for your time!
To try to make a long story short, last June I found a five week old kitten crying under my lawn mower. I ran into the house and cracked a can of cat food and he came right out eating his little heart out. He loved to be held and would just give the out the biggest purr you’ve ever heard. Rumely would even lick my nose, but he was supercharged. He would play full blast and never stop. One night I decided to let him play out all his energy and wear himself out, but after 4 hours I had to put him in his cage just to get him to rest. He loved to bite and use his claws. Because of this we had to keep him separated from our Himalayan and Persian. We worked with our vet and now almost a year later I have a question I hoped someone would know the answer to.
Rumely is completely bonded to me and only me, but he will tolerate my parents. If one of them is holding him, his eyes follow me wherever I go. He has to stay separated from our other two cats because he will not lose the desire to “hunt” them. They are very afraid of him because they sense the feral, but they will be in the same room with him if he is on his leash (he leash trained perfectly although I wish he could always be free). If he is free, he can only be in one room at a time because he literally bounces off the walls. I give him tons of interesting toys and play with him constantly because he bores easily and gets into mischief. He has his own big room when I’m not with him and at night he sleeps right on top of me. I also use a Thundershirt on him when we let him play free in other areas of the house and it does help a lot.
He can show me such unbelievable love. He looks at me with the sweetest eyes and the affection he shows me is so wonderful, but then when you least expect it he can turn. If I’m reading a book, he will come over and bite me almost like a tantrum. He will bite my parents and the bites are hard. If he bites me it’s not as hard and he doesn’t leave a mark, but he will draw blood on others. He will show them love, but he has a limit with them (and they are totally cat people and love him). When he gets in these moods his eyes change like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My sweet little boy suddenly looks like a panther ready to kill its prey. His eyes just go dark. After about a few seconds or a few minutes he will snap out of it depending on the amount of time it takes him to accomplish what he wants to do while he is in that mode. After he is done, you can tell he is sorry for what he did—he immediately acts sorry and wants stroked or petted. If he bites me, I say a firm “NO” and turn my back on him. He will make all kinds of “cute” noises and begs for my attention. His personality is so complicated.
Will he eventually grow out of his feral trait or is it permanent?
Thank you for your time!