what to do with adopted feral

[booandrue]

three days ago i adopted a cat from the shelter (estimated 8 months old, 4.7 lbs). she isn't aggressive, and at the shelter she was willing to approach me to eat treats out of my hand and sniff my knee. she's been spayed and given all her shots. however, after bringing her home, i realized that she is a feral cat from a colony. i'm not sure what is best for her now.

i created a "cat den" out of a 2x3x2 dog carrier, which i've supplied with litter, food, and water. it's currently covered with a sheet in a quiet room. however, when i was cleaning her litterbox, she ran out and is now is hiding under my christmas tree. should i let her stay there or just let her remain in her hiding spot? i've been feeding her treats while she's under the tree. she is still willing to eat out of my hand and occasionally let me pet her while she eats.

i reached out to the shelter again, and they told me i could bring her back to the shelter but there is no guarantee she would be re-released. they also were unable to provide me with the original location where she was captured from. they told me that she was captured with two other cats (4yrs old and 1yr old) both of whom have been released. i feel terrible! by adopting her, i prevented her from being released back to her old home. should i try to find another managed colony to release her to? if i did, would she spend all her time trying to get back to her original colony? should i try to tame her / rehome her?

here is a video of her at the shelter:

 

[fionasmom]

Welcome to The Cat Site! I am sorry that there was confusion at the shelter about the adoption of this cat. From your video, I can tell that while she may have the label of "feral" because of her origin, she is exhibiting potentially sociable behavior. I have worked primarily with ferals, everyone in my house right now as an indoor only pet was a feral at one time. Ferals who are not ever going to become sociable to people react much differently than the cat you have.

What did the shelter mean by there not being a guarantee that she would be rereleased? They would not bring her back to where the two other cats are, or they would euthanize her? Or keep trying to adopt her out? The shelter made the decision to offer her for adoption, so they must have felt that she was workable.

Personally, I would give her time to see if she becomes accustomed to you and her new home.

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You have given her a safe place, which is great, and she is still responding to you. If you could get her away from the tree it would be a good idea only because there is a lot on a tree that can be a danger to a cat, including very friendly ones. This is a process which takes time but is very workable.

Releasing her on her own is the same thing as abandonment, not that you intend to do that, but she will be completely lost and have no support or source for survival.

 

[booandrue]

thank you so much for your reply! this is so helpful. it gives me a lot of hope to hear you say that she seems workable.

i don't think the shelter realized she came from a feral cat colony when they let me adopt her. they only realized that she and her colony-mates were feral after i adopted her, which is when they released the others. however, one of her colony-mates had blood in his stool (and diarrhea) and they still decided to release him, which makes me feel concerned about their quality of life. i wouldn't mind going through the process of getting her accustomed to the indoors, even if it takes a long time, but at the same time, i worry that it's cruel to keep a wild animal indoors.

how old were your ferals when you brought them in? sophie (the nickname i've given my feral) is estimated to be 8 months old but could potentially be as old as 1yr.

i also have two other kittens (4 months and 2 months). given proper introductions, would they be able to live together indoors?

the shelter told me they couldn't guarantee anything if i brought her back. basically, i have no idea what would happen to her. i called a few other shelters in the area (technically "no-kill" shelters) but none of them promised me they would not euthanize her. i think i'll try calling some shelters again to see if i can get more information. i know that under my care i could keep her safe, but i'm worried that the stress of being inside will make her life miserable.

 

[fionasmom]

I have brought ferals inside ranging from 4 weeks to about 5 years. The supposed cut off of 8 weeks really does not mean anything as far as I am concerned.

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My avatar was born under a house in my neighborhood, to a feral mother and father. She and her sister were brought in at about 2 years old and are both completely transitioned to domestic life.

No kill shelters are under no obligation to adopt out every animal or to keep them forever if they are not adopted. They are allowed to determine that an animal is not adoptable for medical or behavioral reasons and to euthanize them. They just won't do it as quickly as a city or county shelter which might have a limited hold period.

The timeline on the story that you are getting about how the cats were not considered feral at first is odd, especially if they were trapped as ferals. Then the sick ones were released. This is not your problem to figure out, but it is a strange line of reasoning. I never once had to figure out after the fact that a cat was feral and it makes me wonder if these were only shy cats who were labeled feral and then released because it was the easiest thing to do with them.

I would give this some time and try working with her. Don't feel that you have to introduce her to your others yet; let her get used to her new home and let the others start to figure out that there is another cat on the premises. There is even the time tested idea of using vanilla on their tails so that they all get the same house smell.

Vanilla extract