what's the age limit on taming a feral cat?

[sweet sally2]

Update on my little feral.  Asha, her name, has turned some kind of corner where she wants to be with me all the time and will let me pet her from above.  She is even beginning to lie down in the livingroom with us in the evening.  She has no interest in leaving and, I think, she is going to just get sweeter and sweeter.  She will always hide from strangers, many cats do, but I am amazed at how much progress she is making by leaps and bounds these days!
 

 

[bastfriend]

Thank you ShadowsRescue, your support means a lot.

Congrats Sweet Sally on Asha!  That's exactly how Patches (my indoor feral) began to warm up.

 

[merstockgto]

We trapped a feral on July 7, 2011 when we realized she was pregnant and we had our home up for sale and moving out of state. Sox as we call her, traveled across country well with our other 4 kitties and now Sox is no longer terrified of us and lays around in the room we are in and comes for her treats and is a very sweet cat. If a stranger comes in our home she hides but with my wife and I she is very comfortable. She even follows me if I leave where she is to see what I am doing. She doesn't want us to touch her yet but she does not growl or hiss and not agressive. She seems very humble and she is very content and happy in our new home. She has the run of the house now and gets along with our other guys/gals. We have a lot patience and we give her space and don't force ourselves on her and it has all paid off. We got her fixed and micro-chipped when we got her. I know some ferals never come out from under the bed and I would feel bad if that were the case but Sox has adapted well. She has a safe place now and never has an empty tummy.

 

[sweet sally2]

Socks sounds just like Asha.  She was pregnant too, poor little thing.  Here is how I got her to let me pet her. I would sit on the floor, put some yummy wet food down and hold out my hand.  Little by little, it began to work.  Now she runs upstairs every morning to get her pets!  Like Sox, Asha too is pretty meek although she adores our old Flaco and they spend a lot of time together.  She loves to rub her head against his.
 

 

[chrisand edd12]

I have a number of ferals, some like you to stroke them some dont. The last kittens i caught were about 3 months ol, there now 12 months old, tigger tabby boy is so friendly sleeps with us, but his sister lets you stroke sometimes runs away. Took 3 months to worm her because she went absolutely beserk when we tried to hold her, we ended up having to put her in a crush cage and we succeeded dreading the next 3 months when we need to do it again, but its worth it we love her we also have mum and another kitten she had before these two mum is so friendly,she went mad first and her kitten so we put them in a large dog cage in the bathroom nice and warm, food biscuits and water. after a few weeks gradually introduced them to my bedroom with my other cats. There still here now the mum is so loving she sleeps on me every night and her kitten runs away, she lets you stroke her for a second thens runs so now the family of four have taken over my room but i love it the mum is poppy and the kittens are called ruby daisy and tigger all been neutured and spayed and are now house cats and hope very happy

 

[merstockgto]

Sweet Sally, Thank you for the reply. Your idea is fine but if I put my finger out to her she runs from me. I remember when she was feral we had a neighbor who would shoo her off everytime she came near his property. He lived next door and I saw him one day when I was talking to him and Sox was around and he yelled and shooed her away. I felt bad for her. Sox may have had a real bad experience with a human but anyway we feel good that we took her in and she is very happy and content. She has taken to one of our other cats and his name is Ben. We adopted him and the others from Petsmart who get their pets from the local animal shelter in Orlando. Anyway Ben is such a ham. He is so mellow and he is deaf and he is the sweetest cat.  Every time Ben is walking around and Sox sees him she runs up to him and puts her rump right in his face and tries to rub against him and he is clueless. If I were a female puss I would like Ben too because he is so sweet.

 

[chrisand edd12]

Hi

Its not crazy to taking that kitty in, i have taken a number of older ferals in over the years, first ones i captured i bought a shed and put it in my yard and made it into a cat house.

i enclosed my yard with fencing so they couldent get out, they stayed there for about 4 years but about 10 wouldent let me near them for a while but then started to let me stroke them.

I eventually took the shed down and turned my dinning room into a catroom with a bunkbed so they watch us humans go past them instead of stuck in the shed there is 3 of them that wont let you near them. Last year i caught 2 kittens about 3 months old a boy ang girl, they are now 12 months old the boy is so friendly and loving sleeps on me in bed, but the girl will not let you pick her up took us 3 months to worm her, all cats are different, when i caught her mum and another kitten, they went mad i had to put them in a cage for a while, then they gradually started coming out the cage well the mum did not so much the kitten, i gradually moved them into my bedroom and took away the cage. Now the mum is so loving and friendly she sleeps on me but the kitten just about lets you stroke her. Bring that little one in and put him in the cage till he gets to know his surroundings he will soon settle down and realise he is in a warm place with somebody who cares and feeds him you have nothing to loose i have about 35 cats and they are all fine including a number of ferals let me know how you get on x

 

[catlady35611]

I don't think it is ever too late to tame a stray cat. I have a female that was at first very frightened of people for the first year that she lived here. It took a lot of patience, yummy wet food, and sweet-talking to tame her. She is now an indoor kitty and would rather have petting than to eat. She sleeps with me and seems to really enjoy being an indoor kitty now.
 

 

[kylier]

I totally agree that there isn't an age limit and that it's all about the cat's innate personality and temperament. Three of my four furbabies were either feral or wild. Maverick (kitty in my Avatar pic) was around 6 months old when I trapped him. He had been dumped/abandoned as a young kitten and survived due to the kindness of his 'neighbours' who left food out for him. Nobody could get close to him though, and if you did, he would hiss, spit and run away. I hired a humane trap, caught him and took him home. This was my first experience with a cat that wasn't already socialised so I kept him in a large cage in our garage and would sit and talk to him and feed him treats. Within a few days, although still very nervous, he would step out of his cage and onto my lap and seemed to really enjoy my company. After about three weeks I took him to the vet for a check-up then moved him into the house - our ensuite first, then the bedroom and gradually the rest of the house. I introduced him to our other cat Ali (abuse case from local shelter). They got along fine and Mav settled into being an indoors-only cat very easily. Early on he was terrified of anyone other than myself or my husband, but fast-forward 7 or so years and he is a lot more chilled and brave around visitors. With us, and people he knows (like my male friend who used to cat-sit for me when I was away) - he is a total sook, kneading, meowing (very vocal - has some Tonkinese in him I think...) - he gets so sooky he even dribbles sometimes - and he has the most amazing personality to boot. He's quite the character. My next resuce was a mama-cat around 10 months old and her three 12-week old kittens. She was completely wild and her kittens very timid at first. I kept her in my garage in a larger cage - away from her kittens who were in our ensuite bathroom - and at night, for ages, she would just howl and howl. She would scratch and bite me if I got too close and would stare me down whenever I came near. It turned out she was pregnant again when I trapped her and she had another four kittens - which were successfully socialised and rehomed to great families. Missy (mama-cat) eventually started settling down, especially after she had her kittens and after a few months I moved her inside too. Considering she went completely mental when I first let her loose in my ensuite (after she was trapped), she integrated really well. That was Feb 2010 and now she is quite a loving, if not shy and slightly nervous cat. She doesn't like to be picked up and doesn't like you to come at her, but when you're settled somewhere and quiet, she'll rub against your legs and even sit on your lap and let you rub her tummy to the point where she's rolling around like crazy. Of her original three babies, I rehomed two to the same person and at last check, they were doing okay - not lap cats by any means, but they were settled. I kept the third kitty (Roly) who initially came around and was so tame he would sleep on my head and roll over on his back for tummy rubs. Something happened though and he reverted to being very fearful of everyone (me included sometimes) - even hissing every now and then. If you can gain his trust, he will on occasion let you give him a pat, and oddly, rub his tummy - and he's in heaven when you do - but it's always on his terms. He'll often come and sit in the loungeroom with us at night, but at more of a distance and will take off if you go to get up. All my cats are indoors with a cat door to a large outside run.

I'd love to hear how you got on and what ended up happening to your boy.