- Joined
- Dec 31, 2016
- Messages
- 39
- Purraise
- 4
Hi,
I’m hoping someone can give me some advice regarding a feral cat I’m trying to tame.
She has had one litter of kittens that I’m aware of, and looks to be under 2 years old.
I first started feeding her about a year ago. At that time she was very, very thin and had several bald patches on various parts of her body. I’m happy to say that in the last year she has put on a lot of weight (she’s now a normal weight for a domestic cat), and no longer has bald patches. I’ve also managed to have her spayed.
When I first started feeding her I would leave a bowl of food outside on my bedroom windowsill. Over the year I’ve managed to get her to come inside and eat in my bedroom. I can leave the bowl anywhere in the room and she will go to it. I can even put it on my chest while I am lying in bed and she will approach and eat from it. However, she is still extremely timid. She will allow me to stroke her (provided I’m lying down and the bowl of food is on my chest), but she merely tolerates this while she is eating. As soon as she’s finished, she moves away back to the windowsill where she grooms herself and then leaves through the open window. Sometimes she will even take a nap for an hour or two on the floor below the windowsill and she has even slept at the bottom of my bed while I’m in it. However, if I make any kind of movement, she will leave immediately.
There are other cats in the area, and I think she is very frightened of them. If she hears the slightest sound outside while she is eating, she bolts for the windowsill and is gone.
The problem is that I’m moving in a couple of months and I won’t be able to take her with me. My sister has agreed to take her if I can tame her. However, I’m not sure that she can be tamed. An officer from the local society for protection of animals suggested that I should trying playing with her with pieces of food, but this hasn’t worked.
I’ve read that some people have tamed wild cats by capturing them and keeping them locked in a room, which they visit periodically to allow the cat to become accustomed to them. The problem is that I’ve already captured her once (when I was having her spayed) and she didn’t react very well to it all. After the operation I kept her in my bedroom in a locked cat carrying box supplied by the vet. However, she was so distressed that she started ‘fighting’ with the blanket inside it. I released her from the box into my bedroom, but kept the windows locked. However, she cried all night, and in the morning I found her hiding behind a wardrobe. She was absolutely soaked with sweat from the anxiety of it all. I had to release her immediately because it looked as if she just couldn’t take any more. Thankfully, she returned again a couple of nights later and we are now at the stage I described above where she will come into my bedroom and even eat from a bowl on my chest while I’m lying in bed.
Can anyone give me any advice on where I should go from here? As I said, I have to move house in a couple of months, and I know that she will return to the terrible condition she was in before I started taking care of her if I can’t tame her before I leave. Should I try to capture her again and keep her inside? If I do this, I will have to keep her in my bedroom as there is no other free room. I am in my bedroom most of the day as I’m a student writing a thesis.
Thanks
I’m hoping someone can give me some advice regarding a feral cat I’m trying to tame.
She has had one litter of kittens that I’m aware of, and looks to be under 2 years old.
I first started feeding her about a year ago. At that time she was very, very thin and had several bald patches on various parts of her body. I’m happy to say that in the last year she has put on a lot of weight (she’s now a normal weight for a domestic cat), and no longer has bald patches. I’ve also managed to have her spayed.
When I first started feeding her I would leave a bowl of food outside on my bedroom windowsill. Over the year I’ve managed to get her to come inside and eat in my bedroom. I can leave the bowl anywhere in the room and she will go to it. I can even put it on my chest while I am lying in bed and she will approach and eat from it. However, she is still extremely timid. She will allow me to stroke her (provided I’m lying down and the bowl of food is on my chest), but she merely tolerates this while she is eating. As soon as she’s finished, she moves away back to the windowsill where she grooms herself and then leaves through the open window. Sometimes she will even take a nap for an hour or two on the floor below the windowsill and she has even slept at the bottom of my bed while I’m in it. However, if I make any kind of movement, she will leave immediately.
There are other cats in the area, and I think she is very frightened of them. If she hears the slightest sound outside while she is eating, she bolts for the windowsill and is gone.
The problem is that I’m moving in a couple of months and I won’t be able to take her with me. My sister has agreed to take her if I can tame her. However, I’m not sure that she can be tamed. An officer from the local society for protection of animals suggested that I should trying playing with her with pieces of food, but this hasn’t worked.
I’ve read that some people have tamed wild cats by capturing them and keeping them locked in a room, which they visit periodically to allow the cat to become accustomed to them. The problem is that I’ve already captured her once (when I was having her spayed) and she didn’t react very well to it all. After the operation I kept her in my bedroom in a locked cat carrying box supplied by the vet. However, she was so distressed that she started ‘fighting’ with the blanket inside it. I released her from the box into my bedroom, but kept the windows locked. However, she cried all night, and in the morning I found her hiding behind a wardrobe. She was absolutely soaked with sweat from the anxiety of it all. I had to release her immediately because it looked as if she just couldn’t take any more. Thankfully, she returned again a couple of nights later and we are now at the stage I described above where she will come into my bedroom and even eat from a bowl on my chest while I’m lying in bed.
Can anyone give me any advice on where I should go from here? As I said, I have to move house in a couple of months, and I know that she will return to the terrible condition she was in before I started taking care of her if I can’t tame her before I leave. Should I try to capture her again and keep her inside? If I do this, I will have to keep her in my bedroom as there is no other free room. I am in my bedroom most of the day as I’m a student writing a thesis.
Thanks