Question:
>You and many rescue organizations have had good luck with this method. You >have to force the cat to be near you to understand you are not going to hurt >them. Confining a true feral is the best and quickest way to get them used >to people.
I tend to agree with this. I have a *true* 6th or 7th generation feral cat, that I rescued as a 8-10 week old kitten. She is currently 8 years old and still retains the *feral* instinct. I never forced her to be with us, she bonded with my other kitties. It’s just been the last 2 or so years that she would let us even pet her. Now she sleeps on my pillows in bed at night. I think if I had caged her in the beginning she would have been a much friendlier kitty years ago.
Response:
You and many rescue organizations have had good luck with this method. You have to force the cat to be near you to understand you are not going to hurt them. Confining a true feral is the best and quickest way to get them used to people.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a >space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for >the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you > It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house > has the same effect. > That said, I’ve socialized a number of ferals and more often than not > start with this method. > I had very good results with a fellow anmed Archie. He was perhaps six > months old when we took him in. We kept him in a large wire cage, > covered with a balnket, in the living room. For the first few days he > could hear the activity around him but still "hide." > Gradually, we rolled the blanket back a little each day until the cage > was exposed. Then we started touching him and hand feeding him. When > he came to tolerate that, we left the cage door open. It took him a > couple of days, but he began to venture out for a few minutes at a > time. All in all, it took weeks, but he finally joined the household > and became a fine pet. He was just adopted out a couple of weeks ago. > On the other hand, there was a guy named Rascal who we kept in a spare > bathroom. He wasn’t truly feral, but he wasn’t sociable either. We > could pet him, but we always had to drag him out from behind the > toilet to get to him. After more than a month, I gave up on him and > let him out into the main house. Lo and behold, he turned into a > totally different creitter. Here’s still here awaiting adoption, but > he is a treat to have around – the class clown who is always poking > into things and getting into trouble. > They’re all different, but there’s nothing inherently detrimental > about starting them out in a confined area. Overall, I’ve had more > successes with the method than failures. > Dick Evans
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Eeeh …. this sums it up perfectly:)
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->There’s nothing more rewarding than >seeing the change that comes over them after a while. > I’ll second that. I’ve socialized perhaps a dozen in the last several > years and they ran the gamut from taking a few days to taking several > months, from becoming loving pets that were eventually adopted, to > pets that loved only my wife and I but not strangers, to lost causes > who eventually were placed as barn cats. > The only consistent success factor has been age at time of > socialization: The longer they’ve lived in the wild, the harder they > are to turn around. Kittens up to three months are no trouble at all. > Three to six months takes some dedicated effort. Six to twelve months > can go either way. After spending their first year in the wild, they > are pretty much wild creatures and likely to stay that way. > (I’m not talking about abandoned pets who’ve lived in the wild, just > ferals who were born to that life.) > Dick
Response:
> I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! 
> P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats.
Our family took in a stray that was born outdoors and lived her first year outside in our garage. i finally was able to grab her and get her to the vet. She is now the princess of the house (we have four cats). Here is how we did it…. Do whatever she wants you to do!! If by "other cats" you mean her kittens, it might be time to separate them (mommy cats grow tired of kittens pretty quick) If she only comes out at night and in the dark, let her. REMEMBER, being indoors is a whole new world of sights and sounds that she has never expeirenced before. She should start to be a bit more friendly the more she realises that you are there to help her and not to hurt her. If possible, Let her see that YOU are feeding her. Let her get used to hearing things like people walkng aound, talking, Telivisions, etc. and all the other things she has never heard before. DON’T tiptoe around her! Do what you do everyday. It might take a very long time! Our little princess hid under a bed for almost seven months every time a human entered her room before getting friskie enough to venture out on her own. BE PATIENT!! She will shock you one day when she just comes out rubs your leg and purrs!! It’s one of the best "cat owner moments" you can expirence! Good luck! — REMOVE "invalid" to E-mail me
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>There’s nothing more rewarding than >seeing the change that comes over them after a while.
I’ll second that. I’ve socialized perhaps a dozen in the last several years and they ran the gamut from taking a few days to taking several months, from becoming loving pets that were eventually adopted, to pets that loved only my wife and I but not strangers, to lost causes who eventually were placed as barn cats. The only consistent success factor has been age at time of socialization: The longer they’ve lived in the wild, the harder they are to turn around. Kittens up to three months are no trouble at all. Three to six months takes some dedicated effort. Six to twelve months can go either way. After spending their first year in the wild, they are pretty much wild creatures and likely to stay that way. (I’m not talking about abandoned pets who’ve lived in the wild, just ferals who were born to that life.) Dick
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Just had to weigh in on this. Three of my six cats were completely feral when I trapped them with a humane trap. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing the change that comes over them after a while. All three of mine finally tamed up real well. One has been slow, one was very fast, and the other sort of in between. The fastest took a month, the slowest about 8 months. None are 100 percent normal, in that they’re much more alert and easily startled by sounds or movements than my other cats, but they’re just as loving and wonderful to have around. Two of them have become lap cats, and the third is getting that way slowly. Dave
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. I sincerely > appreciate it. I’ll definitely give the mom some time to adjust to me and the > other cats. She is part of my family now, and I love her just the way she is. > So, if she ever does decide to become close to me and the others, that’ll just > be a wonderful bonus for us. Again, thanks everyone for sharing your advice. > Cheers, > Irishman
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> Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms >cats down.
If you go the the Purina website–www.purina.com and order the kitten package (free) they send out a CD of pet music with it. I played it yesterday for the kitties and they did listen to all the birds and waterfalls along with the music. Cyndy
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The reason I posted what I did was, my sister in law had a very wild cat. The cat would hide all day long, and only come out at night to prowl. When my sister in law had to move, she could not catch the cat. Her grandson came over and caught it and suffered a severe bite on the hand, that landed him in the hospital for 3 days on IV’s and ended up with animal control getting involved and ordering the animal destroyed. Had she worked to tame her cat, all of this could have been prevented. Momma cat doesn’t have to interact, she has a place to hole up away from the things she is afraid of, she has access to food at night so she doesn’t have to interact when she eats… she isn’t associating her human with food, only with fear. This is why I suggested, and still stand by my suggestion, to force her into a situation where she has to depend on her human. When you tame a feral, the first opening to that animal is food, that is what brings the animal close enough to begin contact, if lack of food isn’t an issue, the feral doesn’t **need** a human as far as she knows. Although the kennel may sound cruel, ( I can’t stand the thought of a cat in a cage), it would give a sense of comfort if it were draped with a towel most of the day(kind of cave like). If the poster had a bathroom or another room without much furniture to hide under, that would also work, but the kennel would allow the cat to be in the area of activity, but feel safe at the same time.
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Hahahaha So my feral Mama was more easily acclimatised to the domestic situation that your Grumpy:) …. and I thought 9 months was a long time! Mama also never really became a loveable, huggable cat and although she was a real sweetheart in her own way and did actually settle down with the rest of the clan, the only way she ever actually showed affection was to take your hand in her mouth ….. wash up and down each finger in turn, turn it over and wash up/down bla bla on the palm side …. turn you over again and wash up and down your forearm and then repeat the whole process on the other side …. when she’d done the whole lot, she’d tolerate a quick pat and then she’d simply disappear again….. and somehow, even when you were busy and wanted to get some work done, a reaction such as this was so positive and loving that it made everything worthwhile and formal "work" almost felt incidental …. ach, well, it’s only money … and. in some respects, my best indication of how one of the animals has wheedled his/her way into the household is when I want some sleep and don’t think twice about flinging them off the pillow, duvet, under the duvet, whatever…. but if the blasted animals are back again 15 minutes later or have taken to sleeping in close proximity, I reckon they’re ok … but, in all seriousness, she will let you know when she’s ready to be part of the family….. just give her awhile Morag
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it > until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the > day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity > in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much > time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you > have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I > suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their > humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult > it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. > If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into > the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… > forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
Now, although this does sound superficially almost barbaric, it is, I think almost what Mama did to herself when she went to live up the chimney…. and it does almost replicate my behaviour when I poked my head up this dirty tunnel a hundred times a day to say "hi, how are you, look what you have for dinner tonight" or "hi Toots I’m gonna be making a bit of noise ’cause I have to work, but don’t mind me etc etc" … mind you, I never got to the stage of feeling the necessity of sitting up the chimney with her Morag – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
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>It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house >has the same effect.
8 square feet compared to 1000 square feet. big differance. With any cat I have ever dealth with they will choose confined spaces because they feel more comfortable but absolutly hated being force into a confined space they could not escape from. But like I said, it was a personal opinion. I said in the post *I* disliked the idea, and I told them why. That’s all. We’re both entitled to our opinions ::grins:: Jessika WARNING! Does not advocate the torturing of cats, dogs, hamsters,guinea pigs,flys, or any other of gods creatures for filming or animal testing… "5000 years ago, cats were treated as gods. 5000 years later they are making sure we don’t forget it"
Response:
>as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it >until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the >day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity >in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much >time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you >have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I >suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their >humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult >it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. >If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into >the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… >forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you 2) Forcing a cat into being tame is impossible. It has to be on her time and her scheduel. A feral cat lived with us when I moved into my dads house. Her brother would come around us, her brother would come nowhere near us. Forcing her to be around us would not work. For about 10 years she wanted to be nowhere near us. Her and her brother never SEEMED to interact but when he died, she bacame lonely and started to come around us. IF we forced her to she went right back into seclusion, it had to be on her time and her conditions. I’m not saying get rid of the kittens to make her come out, what I am saying is I would not recomend this situation. I feel the cat will resent you more than it will tame it. Jessika WARNING! Does not advocate the torturing of cats, dogs, hamsters,guinea pigs,flys, or any other of gods creatures for filming or animal testing… "5000 years ago, cats were treated as gods. 5000 years later they are making sure we don’t forget it"
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>There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a >space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for >the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you
It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house has the same effect. That said, I’ve socialized a number of ferals and more often than not start with this method. I had very good results with a fellow anmed Archie. He was perhaps six months old when we took him in. We kept him in a large wire cage, covered with a balnket, in the living room. For the first few days he could hear the activity around him but still "hide." Gradually, we rolled the blanket back a little each day until the cage was exposed. Then we started touching him and hand feeding him. When he came to tolerate that, we left the cage door open. It took him a couple of days, but he began to venture out for a few minutes at a time. All in all, it took weeks, but he finally joined the household and became a fine pet. He was just adopted out a couple of weeks ago. On the other hand, there was a guy named Rascal who we kept in a spare bathroom. He wasn’t truly feral, but he wasn’t sociable either. We could pet him, but we always had to drag him out from behind the toilet to get to him. After more than a month, I gave up on him and let him out into the main house. Lo and behold, he turned into a totally different creitter. Here’s still here awaiting adoption, but he is a treat to have around – the class clown who is always poking into things and getting into trouble. They’re all different, but there’s nothing inherently detrimental about starting them out in a confined area. Overall, I’ve had more successes with the method than failures. Dick Evans
Response:
Hi, Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. I sincerely appreciate it. I’ll definitely give the mom some time to adjust to me and the other cats. She is part of my family now, and I love her just the way she is. So, if she ever does decide to become close to me and the others, that’ll just be a wonderful bonus for us. Again, thanks everyone for sharing your advice. Cheers, Irishman
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My cat has a similar temperament, around other cats. But his name is Ilia. He’s a Jeckyll and Hyde cat, completely. I got him at the pound, or as I tell him – the orphanage, when he was nearly a year old. He didn’t meow for 3 whole days, not a single sound. That was 3 years ago. He’s still afraid of plastic, newspaper, all kinds of weird stuff, plus he’s afraid of my pet rat. With a lot of patience, he now sits on my stomach for a minute or two, if I’m laying flat on my back and not looking. Still doesn’t like being picked up and he’ll never be a lap cat, but that’s okay. And he has his talking moments and seems to really like it when I say his name over and over. Around other cats, he’s a demon in a cat suit. Sounds like an exorcism. Makes sounds I didn’t think were possible. — To send email replace "antispam" with "sprint"
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read the other posters. I’d just let the cat stay in the closet. Primarily because forcing affections on a cat can actually make the cat dangerous TO YOU; by biting, scratching, etc., to get away anad back to the closet. Feral cats haven’t learned how to trust humans, so they can get territorial if they are forced into anything. Also, feral cats are very much aware of their surroundings. So the cat, believe it or not, is "watching" you, checking out the house, hearing every single solitary little itty bitty sound there is to hear. So just stick with it. She’s listening. I’d sit by the closet, read outloud or just talk to the cat. 10 minutes a day. Let the cat understand that you are great to be around. I think the cat is scared of the kittens because of the change in her environment. Feral cats just take a long time and lots of patience. But eventually they come out to check things out. When she does, just let her be; don’t pick her up, don’t touch her, just let her walk around unmolested. Let her come up to you. It’ll take longer; could take months to a year. . . but it’s worth it to have a cat that really knows it can trust you completely.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi Angel, > Thanks for the advice! I paid to have them trapped, spayed and neutered, and > given their shots. They are all doing well except the mother (actually, the 4 > month old feral Siamese kitten won’t let me pick her up yet either, but she does > get close to me, and she plays with her siblings and runs all over the house). > I’ve had them all since just after Christmas. The Mom is still afraid of me, and > doesn’t seem to know her own kittens. She was extremely close to them before she > was trapped and taken to the vet. So, I don’t know why they frighten her now. > She doesn’t cry to go outside, and seems quite content in the closet, (except > when I open the doors, that is), but I feel really guilty that she doesn’t get > to play and socialize anymore. So, you think I should just give it some more > time then? Is there anything I can do to help her along? She is 9 months old > and has been living primarily in the closet for over a month now. Coming out > only at night to eat and go to the bathroom. Anything else you could suggest > would be extremely appreciated. Thanks so much for answering my questions. > Cheers, > Irishman > how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? > Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her > in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even > slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her > against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with > feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners > (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when > given time. > Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms > cats down. > Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help > mother cat to become more docile. > It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder > if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors > world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe > wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of > like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. > file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; > she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you. > > Hi, > > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > > appreciated. Thanks so much! > > Cheers, > > Irishman > > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > > Remove NOSPAM to email
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> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman
I don’t really know if it’s any diferent for fully grown cats. When I found Grumpy (what’s in a name) in my yard in june 99 she was still very young but not exactly a newborn. Trying to catch her she bit me twice (once real badly). I kept her inside but she escaped on new years eve. (because of the fire crackers noise) and went missing for over two weeks. Finally she was spotted by a neighbor. She apparently didn’t even realise she was so close to home. She didn’t want to be touched or even talked to. All she did was hissing and growling (hence the name). When ever she saw me : run and hide. This summer more then one year later she started to give up her defence. And now another six months later, she sleeps on my comes to the front door to greet me and likes to be cuddled very much. I took the risk to open the cat flap…..and no problem this time. She goes out but when I’m at home I notice she seems to prefer staying inside anyway. So the answer to your question is LOTS OF PATIENCE. When I was getting despetate just over a few weeks time she finally came around. She still will run away when I try to pick her up. But when she lying somewhere she allows to be picked up. Only a few weeks ago I got my final reward. When pretend to groom her rubbing my chin over her back and head she started purring. That’s new. If this process persists I might have to charge her name Good luck.
Response:
as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
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> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats.
Hi, I reckon I’d probably say "just give it a bit of time". I’ve never adopted more than feral mum plus 1 baby at any one time but our Mama actually lived up the chimney downstairs for 9 months and the only way we knew she was still alive and ticking was because the food and water (which we had placed on the hearth), disappeared and when we looked up the chimney, all we could see was this big pair of eyes. (We had separated Mama and Babatjie from the rest of the cats and placed them in a separate "cat free" wing of the house because she was so obviously terrified ). I actually never pushed her at all and simply talked away (although, at the time I felt as if I was talking to myself) whenever I went into the room …… and presumably the rest of our feline population also used to chatter to her from the other side of the door. Over a period of time she settled down a bit and every now and again I would catch a glimpse of her when I came into the room and she would be legging it back to her hidey hole. Eventually she decided that she wanted to investigate the rest of the house and integrate with the rest of the household – she was a bit tentative at first, but after a day or so, decided that sunning herself on the kitchen counters or snoozing on our bed, was preferable to living up a chimney Good luck Morag – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Remove NOSPAM to email
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Hi Angel, Thanks for the advice! I paid to have them trapped, spayed and neutered, and given their shots. They are all doing well except the mother (actually, the 4 month old feral Siamese kitten won’t let me pick her up yet either, but she does get close to me, and she plays with her siblings and runs all over the house). I’ve had them all since just after Christmas. The Mom is still afraid of me, and doesn’t seem to know her own kittens. She was extremely close to them before she was trapped and taken to the vet. So, I don’t know why they frighten her now. She doesn’t cry to go outside, and seems quite content in the closet, (except when I open the doors, that is), but I feel really guilty that she doesn’t get to play and socialize anymore. So, you think I should just give it some more time then? Is there anything I can do to help her along? She is 9 months old and has been living primarily in the closet for over a month now. Coming out only at night to eat and go to the bathroom. Anything else you could suggest would be extremely appreciated. Thanks so much for answering my questions. Cheers, Irishman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? > Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her > in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even > slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her > against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with > feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners > (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when > given time. > Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms > cats down. > Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help > mother cat to become more docile. > It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder > if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors > world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe > wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of > like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. > file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; > she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you. > Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > Remove NOSPAM to email
Response:
how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when given time. Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms cats down. Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help mother cat to become more docile. It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > Remove NOSPAM to email
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Hi, I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks so much! Cheers, Irishman P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. Remove NOSPAM to email
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>You and many rescue organizations have had good luck with this method. You >have to force the cat to be near you to understand you are not going to hurt >them. Confining a true feral is the best and quickest way to get them used >to people.
I tend to agree with this. I have a *true* 6th or 7th generation feral cat, that I rescued as a 8-10 week old kitten. She is currently 8 years old and still retains the *feral* instinct. I never forced her to be with us, she bonded with my other kitties. It’s just been the last 2 or so years that she would let us even pet her. Now she sleeps on my pillows in bed at night. I think if I had caged her in the beginning she would have been a much friendlier kitty years ago.
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You and many rescue organizations have had good luck with this method. You have to force the cat to be near you to understand you are not going to hurt them. Confining a true feral is the best and quickest way to get them used to people.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a >space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for >the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you > It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house > has the same effect. > That said, I’ve socialized a number of ferals and more often than not > start with this method. > I had very good results with a fellow anmed Archie. He was perhaps six > months old when we took him in. We kept him in a large wire cage, > covered with a balnket, in the living room. For the first few days he > could hear the activity around him but still "hide." > Gradually, we rolled the blanket back a little each day until the cage > was exposed. Then we started touching him and hand feeding him. When > he came to tolerate that, we left the cage door open. It took him a > couple of days, but he began to venture out for a few minutes at a > time. All in all, it took weeks, but he finally joined the household > and became a fine pet. He was just adopted out a couple of weeks ago. > On the other hand, there was a guy named Rascal who we kept in a spare > bathroom. He wasn’t truly feral, but he wasn’t sociable either. We > could pet him, but we always had to drag him out from behind the > toilet to get to him. After more than a month, I gave up on him and > let him out into the main house. Lo and behold, he turned into a > totally different creitter. Here’s still here awaiting adoption, but > he is a treat to have around – the class clown who is always poking > into things and getting into trouble. > They’re all different, but there’s nothing inherently detrimental > about starting them out in a confined area. Overall, I’ve had more > successes with the method than failures. > Dick Evans
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Eeeh …. this sums it up perfectly:)
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->There’s nothing more rewarding than >seeing the change that comes over them after a while. > I’ll second that. I’ve socialized perhaps a dozen in the last several > years and they ran the gamut from taking a few days to taking several > months, from becoming loving pets that were eventually adopted, to > pets that loved only my wife and I but not strangers, to lost causes > who eventually were placed as barn cats. > The only consistent success factor has been age at time of > socialization: The longer they’ve lived in the wild, the harder they > are to turn around. Kittens up to three months are no trouble at all. > Three to six months takes some dedicated effort. Six to twelve months > can go either way. After spending their first year in the wild, they > are pretty much wild creatures and likely to stay that way. > (I’m not talking about abandoned pets who’ve lived in the wild, just > ferals who were born to that life.) > Dick
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> I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats.
Our family took in a stray that was born outdoors and lived her first year outside in our garage. i finally was able to grab her and get her to the vet. She is now the princess of the house (we have four cats). Here is how we did it…. Do whatever she wants you to do!! If by "other cats" you mean her kittens, it might be time to separate them (mommy cats grow tired of kittens pretty quick) If she only comes out at night and in the dark, let her. REMEMBER, being indoors is a whole new world of sights and sounds that she has never expeirenced before. She should start to be a bit more friendly the more she realises that you are there to help her and not to hurt her. If possible, Let her see that YOU are feeding her. Let her get used to hearing things like people walkng aound, talking, Telivisions, etc. and all the other things she has never heard before. DON’T tiptoe around her! Do what you do everyday. It might take a very long time! Our little princess hid under a bed for almost seven months every time a human entered her room before getting friskie enough to venture out on her own. BE PATIENT!! She will shock you one day when she just comes out rubs your leg and purrs!! It’s one of the best "cat owner moments" you can expirence! Good luck! — REMOVE "invalid" to E-mail me
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>There’s nothing more rewarding than >seeing the change that comes over them after a while.
I’ll second that. I’ve socialized perhaps a dozen in the last several years and they ran the gamut from taking a few days to taking several months, from becoming loving pets that were eventually adopted, to pets that loved only my wife and I but not strangers, to lost causes who eventually were placed as barn cats. The only consistent success factor has been age at time of socialization: The longer they’ve lived in the wild, the harder they are to turn around. Kittens up to three months are no trouble at all. Three to six months takes some dedicated effort. Six to twelve months can go either way. After spending their first year in the wild, they are pretty much wild creatures and likely to stay that way. (I’m not talking about abandoned pets who’ve lived in the wild, just ferals who were born to that life.) Dick
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Just had to weigh in on this. Three of my six cats were completely feral when I trapped them with a humane trap. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing the change that comes over them after a while. All three of mine finally tamed up real well. One has been slow, one was very fast, and the other sort of in between. The fastest took a month, the slowest about 8 months. None are 100 percent normal, in that they’re much more alert and easily startled by sounds or movements than my other cats, but they’re just as loving and wonderful to have around. Two of them have become lap cats, and the third is getting that way slowly. Dave
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. I sincerely > appreciate it. I’ll definitely give the mom some time to adjust to me and the > other cats. She is part of my family now, and I love her just the way she is. > So, if she ever does decide to become close to me and the others, that’ll just > be a wonderful bonus for us. Again, thanks everyone for sharing your advice. > Cheers, > Irishman
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> Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms >cats down.
If you go the the Purina website–www.purina.com and order the kitten package (free) they send out a CD of pet music with it. I played it yesterday for the kitties and they did listen to all the birds and waterfalls along with the music. Cyndy
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The reason I posted what I did was, my sister in law had a very wild cat. The cat would hide all day long, and only come out at night to prowl. When my sister in law had to move, she could not catch the cat. Her grandson came over and caught it and suffered a severe bite on the hand, that landed him in the hospital for 3 days on IV’s and ended up with animal control getting involved and ordering the animal destroyed. Had she worked to tame her cat, all of this could have been prevented. Momma cat doesn’t have to interact, she has a place to hole up away from the things she is afraid of, she has access to food at night so she doesn’t have to interact when she eats… she isn’t associating her human with food, only with fear. This is why I suggested, and still stand by my suggestion, to force her into a situation where she has to depend on her human. When you tame a feral, the first opening to that animal is food, that is what brings the animal close enough to begin contact, if lack of food isn’t an issue, the feral doesn’t **need** a human as far as she knows. Although the kennel may sound cruel, ( I can’t stand the thought of a cat in a cage), it would give a sense of comfort if it were draped with a towel most of the day(kind of cave like). If the poster had a bathroom or another room without much furniture to hide under, that would also work, but the kennel would allow the cat to be in the area of activity, but feel safe at the same time.
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Hahahaha So my feral Mama was more easily acclimatised to the domestic situation that your Grumpy:) …. and I thought 9 months was a long time! Mama also never really became a loveable, huggable cat and although she was a real sweetheart in her own way and did actually settle down with the rest of the clan, the only way she ever actually showed affection was to take your hand in her mouth ….. wash up and down each finger in turn, turn it over and wash up/down bla bla on the palm side …. turn you over again and wash up and down your forearm and then repeat the whole process on the other side …. when she’d done the whole lot, she’d tolerate a quick pat and then she’d simply disappear again….. and somehow, even when you were busy and wanted to get some work done, a reaction such as this was so positive and loving that it made everything worthwhile and formal "work" almost felt incidental …. ach, well, it’s only money … and. in some respects, my best indication of how one of the animals has wheedled his/her way into the household is when I want some sleep and don’t think twice about flinging them off the pillow, duvet, under the duvet, whatever…. but if the blasted animals are back again 15 minutes later or have taken to sleeping in close proximity, I reckon they’re ok … but, in all seriousness, she will let you know when she’s ready to be part of the family….. just give her awhile Morag
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it > until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the > day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity > in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much > time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you > have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I > suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their > humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult > it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. > If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into > the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… > forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
Now, although this does sound superficially almost barbaric, it is, I think almost what Mama did to herself when she went to live up the chimney…. and it does almost replicate my behaviour when I poked my head up this dirty tunnel a hundred times a day to say "hi, how are you, look what you have for dinner tonight" or "hi Toots I’m gonna be making a bit of noise ’cause I have to work, but don’t mind me etc etc" … mind you, I never got to the stage of feeling the necessity of sitting up the chimney with her Morag – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
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>It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house >has the same effect.
8 square feet compared to 1000 square feet. big differance. With any cat I have ever dealth with they will choose confined spaces because they feel more comfortable but absolutly hated being force into a confined space they could not escape from. But like I said, it was a personal opinion. I said in the post *I* disliked the idea, and I told them why. That’s all. We’re both entitled to our opinions ::grins:: Jessika WARNING! Does not advocate the torturing of cats, dogs, hamsters,guinea pigs,flys, or any other of gods creatures for filming or animal testing… "5000 years ago, cats were treated as gods. 5000 years later they are making sure we don’t forget it"
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>as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it >until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the >day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity >in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much >time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you >have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I >suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their >humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult >it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. >If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into >the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… >forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you 2) Forcing a cat into being tame is impossible. It has to be on her time and her scheduel. A feral cat lived with us when I moved into my dads house. Her brother would come around us, her brother would come nowhere near us. Forcing her to be around us would not work. For about 10 years she wanted to be nowhere near us. Her and her brother never SEEMED to interact but when he died, she bacame lonely and started to come around us. IF we forced her to she went right back into seclusion, it had to be on her time and her conditions. I’m not saying get rid of the kittens to make her come out, what I am saying is I would not recomend this situation. I feel the cat will resent you more than it will tame it. Jessika WARNING! Does not advocate the torturing of cats, dogs, hamsters,guinea pigs,flys, or any other of gods creatures for filming or animal testing… "5000 years ago, cats were treated as gods. 5000 years later they are making sure we don’t forget it"
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>There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a >space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for >the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you
It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house has the same effect. That said, I’ve socialized a number of ferals and more often than not start with this method. I had very good results with a fellow anmed Archie. He was perhaps six months old when we took him in. We kept him in a large wire cage, covered with a balnket, in the living room. For the first few days he could hear the activity around him but still "hide." Gradually, we rolled the blanket back a little each day until the cage was exposed. Then we started touching him and hand feeding him. When he came to tolerate that, we left the cage door open. It took him a couple of days, but he began to venture out for a few minutes at a time. All in all, it took weeks, but he finally joined the household and became a fine pet. He was just adopted out a couple of weeks ago. On the other hand, there was a guy named Rascal who we kept in a spare bathroom. He wasn’t truly feral, but he wasn’t sociable either. We could pet him, but we always had to drag him out from behind the toilet to get to him. After more than a month, I gave up on him and let him out into the main house. Lo and behold, he turned into a totally different creitter. Here’s still here awaiting adoption, but he is a treat to have around – the class clown who is always poking into things and getting into trouble. They’re all different, but there’s nothing inherently detrimental about starting them out in a confined area. Overall, I’ve had more successes with the method than failures. Dick Evans
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Hi, Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. I sincerely appreciate it. I’ll definitely give the mom some time to adjust to me and the other cats. She is part of my family now, and I love her just the way she is. So, if she ever does decide to become close to me and the others, that’ll just be a wonderful bonus for us. Again, thanks everyone for sharing your advice. Cheers, Irishman
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My cat has a similar temperament, around other cats. But his name is Ilia. He’s a Jeckyll and Hyde cat, completely. I got him at the pound, or as I tell him – the orphanage, when he was nearly a year old. He didn’t meow for 3 whole days, not a single sound. That was 3 years ago. He’s still afraid of plastic, newspaper, all kinds of weird stuff, plus he’s afraid of my pet rat. With a lot of patience, he now sits on my stomach for a minute or two, if I’m laying flat on my back and not looking. Still doesn’t like being picked up and he’ll never be a lap cat, but that’s okay. And he has his talking moments and seems to really like it when I say his name over and over. Around other cats, he’s a demon in a cat suit. Sounds like an exorcism. Makes sounds I didn’t think were possible. — To send email replace "antispam" with "sprint"
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read the other posters. I’d just let the cat stay in the closet. Primarily because forcing affections on a cat can actually make the cat dangerous TO YOU; by biting, scratching, etc., to get away anad back to the closet. Feral cats haven’t learned how to trust humans, so they can get territorial if they are forced into anything. Also, feral cats are very much aware of their surroundings. So the cat, believe it or not, is "watching" you, checking out the house, hearing every single solitary little itty bitty sound there is to hear. So just stick with it. She’s listening. I’d sit by the closet, read outloud or just talk to the cat. 10 minutes a day. Let the cat understand that you are great to be around. I think the cat is scared of the kittens because of the change in her environment. Feral cats just take a long time and lots of patience. But eventually they come out to check things out. When she does, just let her be; don’t pick her up, don’t touch her, just let her walk around unmolested. Let her come up to you. It’ll take longer; could take months to a year. . . but it’s worth it to have a cat that really knows it can trust you completely.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi Angel, > Thanks for the advice! I paid to have them trapped, spayed and neutered, and > given their shots. They are all doing well except the mother (actually, the 4 > month old feral Siamese kitten won’t let me pick her up yet either, but she does > get close to me, and she plays with her siblings and runs all over the house). > I’ve had them all since just after Christmas. The Mom is still afraid of me, and > doesn’t seem to know her own kittens. She was extremely close to them before she > was trapped and taken to the vet. So, I don’t know why they frighten her now. > She doesn’t cry to go outside, and seems quite content in the closet, (except > when I open the doors, that is), but I feel really guilty that she doesn’t get > to play and socialize anymore. So, you think I should just give it some more > time then? Is there anything I can do to help her along? She is 9 months old > and has been living primarily in the closet for over a month now. Coming out > only at night to eat and go to the bathroom. Anything else you could suggest > would be extremely appreciated. Thanks so much for answering my questions. > Cheers, > Irishman > how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? > Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her > in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even > slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her > against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with > feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners > (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when > given time. > Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms > cats down. > Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help > mother cat to become more docile. > It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder > if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors > world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe > wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of > like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. > file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; > she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you. > > Hi, > > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > > appreciated. Thanks so much! > > Cheers, > > Irishman > > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > > Remove NOSPAM to email
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> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman
I don’t really know if it’s any diferent for fully grown cats. When I found Grumpy (what’s in a name) in my yard in june 99 she was still very young but not exactly a newborn. Trying to catch her she bit me twice (once real badly). I kept her inside but she escaped on new years eve. (because of the fire crackers noise) and went missing for over two weeks. Finally she was spotted by a neighbor. She apparently didn’t even realise she was so close to home. She didn’t want to be touched or even talked to. All she did was hissing and growling (hence the name). When ever she saw me : run and hide. This summer more then one year later she started to give up her defence. And now another six months later, she sleeps on my comes to the front door to greet me and likes to be cuddled very much. I took the risk to open the cat flap…..and no problem this time. She goes out but when I’m at home I notice she seems to prefer staying inside anyway. So the answer to your question is LOTS OF PATIENCE. When I was getting despetate just over a few weeks time she finally came around. She still will run away when I try to pick her up. But when she lying somewhere she allows to be picked up. Only a few weeks ago I got my final reward. When pretend to groom her rubbing my chin over her back and head she started purring. That’s new. If this process persists I might have to charge her name Good luck.
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as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
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> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats.
Hi, I reckon I’d probably say "just give it a bit of time". I’ve never adopted more than feral mum plus 1 baby at any one time but our Mama actually lived up the chimney downstairs for 9 months and the only way we knew she was still alive and ticking was because the food and water (which we had placed on the hearth), disappeared and when we looked up the chimney, all we could see was this big pair of eyes. (We had separated Mama and Babatjie from the rest of the cats and placed them in a separate "cat free" wing of the house because she was so obviously terrified ). I actually never pushed her at all and simply talked away (although, at the time I felt as if I was talking to myself) whenever I went into the room …… and presumably the rest of our feline population also used to chatter to her from the other side of the door. Over a period of time she settled down a bit and every now and again I would catch a glimpse of her when I came into the room and she would be legging it back to her hidey hole. Eventually she decided that she wanted to investigate the rest of the house and integrate with the rest of the household – she was a bit tentative at first, but after a day or so, decided that sunning herself on the kitchen counters or snoozing on our bed, was preferable to living up a chimney Good luck Morag – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Remove NOSPAM to email
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Hi Angel, Thanks for the advice! I paid to have them trapped, spayed and neutered, and given their shots. They are all doing well except the mother (actually, the 4 month old feral Siamese kitten won’t let me pick her up yet either, but she does get close to me, and she plays with her siblings and runs all over the house). I’ve had them all since just after Christmas. The Mom is still afraid of me, and doesn’t seem to know her own kittens. She was extremely close to them before she was trapped and taken to the vet. So, I don’t know why they frighten her now. She doesn’t cry to go outside, and seems quite content in the closet, (except when I open the doors, that is), but I feel really guilty that she doesn’t get to play and socialize anymore. So, you think I should just give it some more time then? Is there anything I can do to help her along? She is 9 months old and has been living primarily in the closet for over a month now. Coming out only at night to eat and go to the bathroom. Anything else you could suggest would be extremely appreciated. Thanks so much for answering my questions. Cheers, Irishman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? > Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her > in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even > slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her > against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with > feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners > (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when > given time. > Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms > cats down. > Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help > mother cat to become more docile. > It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder > if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors > world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe > wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of > like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. > file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; > she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you. > Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > Remove NOSPAM to email
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how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when given time. Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms cats down. Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help mother cat to become more docile. It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > Remove NOSPAM to email
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Hi, I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks so much! Cheers, Irishman P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. Remove NOSPAM to email
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>You and many rescue organizations have had good luck with this method. You >have to force the cat to be near you to understand you are not going to hurt >them. Confining a true feral is the best and quickest way to get them used >to people.
I tend to agree with this. I have a *true* 6th or 7th generation feral cat, that I rescued as a 8-10 week old kitten. She is currently 8 years old and still retains the *feral* instinct. I never forced her to be with us, she bonded with my other kitties. It’s just been the last 2 or so years that she would let us even pet her. Now she sleeps on my pillows in bed at night. I think if I had caged her in the beginning she would have been a much friendlier kitty years ago.
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You and many rescue organizations have had good luck with this method. You have to force the cat to be near you to understand you are not going to hurt them. Confining a true feral is the best and quickest way to get them used to people.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a >space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for >the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you > It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house > has the same effect. > That said, I’ve socialized a number of ferals and more often than not > start with this method. > I had very good results with a fellow anmed Archie. He was perhaps six > months old when we took him in. We kept him in a large wire cage, > covered with a balnket, in the living room. For the first few days he > could hear the activity around him but still "hide." > Gradually, we rolled the blanket back a little each day until the cage > was exposed. Then we started touching him and hand feeding him. When > he came to tolerate that, we left the cage door open. It took him a > couple of days, but he began to venture out for a few minutes at a > time. All in all, it took weeks, but he finally joined the household > and became a fine pet. He was just adopted out a couple of weeks ago. > On the other hand, there was a guy named Rascal who we kept in a spare > bathroom. He wasn’t truly feral, but he wasn’t sociable either. We > could pet him, but we always had to drag him out from behind the > toilet to get to him. After more than a month, I gave up on him and > let him out into the main house. Lo and behold, he turned into a > totally different creitter. Here’s still here awaiting adoption, but > he is a treat to have around – the class clown who is always poking > into things and getting into trouble. > They’re all different, but there’s nothing inherently detrimental > about starting them out in a confined area. Overall, I’ve had more > successes with the method than failures. > Dick Evans
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Eeeh …. this sums it up perfectly:)
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->There’s nothing more rewarding than >seeing the change that comes over them after a while. > I’ll second that. I’ve socialized perhaps a dozen in the last several > years and they ran the gamut from taking a few days to taking several > months, from becoming loving pets that were eventually adopted, to > pets that loved only my wife and I but not strangers, to lost causes > who eventually were placed as barn cats. > The only consistent success factor has been age at time of > socialization: The longer they’ve lived in the wild, the harder they > are to turn around. Kittens up to three months are no trouble at all. > Three to six months takes some dedicated effort. Six to twelve months > can go either way. After spending their first year in the wild, they > are pretty much wild creatures and likely to stay that way. > (I’m not talking about abandoned pets who’ve lived in the wild, just > ferals who were born to that life.) > Dick
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> I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats.
Our family took in a stray that was born outdoors and lived her first year outside in our garage. i finally was able to grab her and get her to the vet. She is now the princess of the house (we have four cats). Here is how we did it…. Do whatever she wants you to do!! If by "other cats" you mean her kittens, it might be time to separate them (mommy cats grow tired of kittens pretty quick) If she only comes out at night and in the dark, let her. REMEMBER, being indoors is a whole new world of sights and sounds that she has never expeirenced before. She should start to be a bit more friendly the more she realises that you are there to help her and not to hurt her. If possible, Let her see that YOU are feeding her. Let her get used to hearing things like people walkng aound, talking, Telivisions, etc. and all the other things she has never heard before. DON’T tiptoe around her! Do what you do everyday. It might take a very long time! Our little princess hid under a bed for almost seven months every time a human entered her room before getting friskie enough to venture out on her own. BE PATIENT!! She will shock you one day when she just comes out rubs your leg and purrs!! It’s one of the best "cat owner moments" you can expirence! Good luck! — REMOVE "invalid" to E-mail me
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>There’s nothing more rewarding than >seeing the change that comes over them after a while.
I’ll second that. I’ve socialized perhaps a dozen in the last several years and they ran the gamut from taking a few days to taking several months, from becoming loving pets that were eventually adopted, to pets that loved only my wife and I but not strangers, to lost causes who eventually were placed as barn cats. The only consistent success factor has been age at time of socialization: The longer they’ve lived in the wild, the harder they are to turn around. Kittens up to three months are no trouble at all. Three to six months takes some dedicated effort. Six to twelve months can go either way. After spending their first year in the wild, they are pretty much wild creatures and likely to stay that way. (I’m not talking about abandoned pets who’ve lived in the wild, just ferals who were born to that life.) Dick
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Just had to weigh in on this. Three of my six cats were completely feral when I trapped them with a humane trap. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing the change that comes over them after a while. All three of mine finally tamed up real well. One has been slow, one was very fast, and the other sort of in between. The fastest took a month, the slowest about 8 months. None are 100 percent normal, in that they’re much more alert and easily startled by sounds or movements than my other cats, but they’re just as loving and wonderful to have around. Two of them have become lap cats, and the third is getting that way slowly. Dave
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. I sincerely > appreciate it. I’ll definitely give the mom some time to adjust to me and the > other cats. She is part of my family now, and I love her just the way she is. > So, if she ever does decide to become close to me and the others, that’ll just > be a wonderful bonus for us. Again, thanks everyone for sharing your advice. > Cheers, > Irishman
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> Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms >cats down.
If you go the the Purina website–www.purina.com and order the kitten package (free) they send out a CD of pet music with it. I played it yesterday for the kitties and they did listen to all the birds and waterfalls along with the music. Cyndy
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The reason I posted what I did was, my sister in law had a very wild cat. The cat would hide all day long, and only come out at night to prowl. When my sister in law had to move, she could not catch the cat. Her grandson came over and caught it and suffered a severe bite on the hand, that landed him in the hospital for 3 days on IV’s and ended up with animal control getting involved and ordering the animal destroyed. Had she worked to tame her cat, all of this could have been prevented. Momma cat doesn’t have to interact, she has a place to hole up away from the things she is afraid of, she has access to food at night so she doesn’t have to interact when she eats… she isn’t associating her human with food, only with fear. This is why I suggested, and still stand by my suggestion, to force her into a situation where she has to depend on her human. When you tame a feral, the first opening to that animal is food, that is what brings the animal close enough to begin contact, if lack of food isn’t an issue, the feral doesn’t **need** a human as far as she knows. Although the kennel may sound cruel, ( I can’t stand the thought of a cat in a cage), it would give a sense of comfort if it were draped with a towel most of the day(kind of cave like). If the poster had a bathroom or another room without much furniture to hide under, that would also work, but the kennel would allow the cat to be in the area of activity, but feel safe at the same time.
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Hahahaha So my feral Mama was more easily acclimatised to the domestic situation that your Grumpy:) …. and I thought 9 months was a long time! Mama also never really became a loveable, huggable cat and although she was a real sweetheart in her own way and did actually settle down with the rest of the clan, the only way she ever actually showed affection was to take your hand in her mouth ….. wash up and down each finger in turn, turn it over and wash up/down bla bla on the palm side …. turn you over again and wash up and down your forearm and then repeat the whole process on the other side …. when she’d done the whole lot, she’d tolerate a quick pat and then she’d simply disappear again….. and somehow, even when you were busy and wanted to get some work done, a reaction such as this was so positive and loving that it made everything worthwhile and formal "work" almost felt incidental …. ach, well, it’s only money … and. in some respects, my best indication of how one of the animals has wheedled his/her way into the household is when I want some sleep and don’t think twice about flinging them off the pillow, duvet, under the duvet, whatever…. but if the blasted animals are back again 15 minutes later or have taken to sleeping in close proximity, I reckon they’re ok … but, in all seriousness, she will let you know when she’s ready to be part of the family….. just give her awhile Morag
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it > until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the > day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity > in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much > time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you > have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I > suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their > humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult > it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. > If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into > the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… > forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
Now, although this does sound superficially almost barbaric, it is, I think almost what Mama did to herself when she went to live up the chimney…. and it does almost replicate my behaviour when I poked my head up this dirty tunnel a hundred times a day to say "hi, how are you, look what you have for dinner tonight" or "hi Toots I’m gonna be making a bit of noise ’cause I have to work, but don’t mind me etc etc" … mind you, I never got to the stage of feeling the necessity of sitting up the chimney with her Morag – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
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>It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house >has the same effect.
8 square feet compared to 1000 square feet. big differance. With any cat I have ever dealth with they will choose confined spaces because they feel more comfortable but absolutly hated being force into a confined space they could not escape from. But like I said, it was a personal opinion. I said in the post *I* disliked the idea, and I told them why. That’s all. We’re both entitled to our opinions ::grins:: Jessika WARNING! Does not advocate the torturing of cats, dogs, hamsters,guinea pigs,flys, or any other of gods creatures for filming or animal testing… "5000 years ago, cats were treated as gods. 5000 years later they are making sure we don’t forget it"
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>as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it >until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the >day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity >in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much >time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you >have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I >suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their >humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult >it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. >If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into >the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… >forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you 2) Forcing a cat into being tame is impossible. It has to be on her time and her scheduel. A feral cat lived with us when I moved into my dads house. Her brother would come around us, her brother would come nowhere near us. Forcing her to be around us would not work. For about 10 years she wanted to be nowhere near us. Her and her brother never SEEMED to interact but when he died, she bacame lonely and started to come around us. IF we forced her to she went right back into seclusion, it had to be on her time and her conditions. I’m not saying get rid of the kittens to make her come out, what I am saying is I would not recomend this situation. I feel the cat will resent you more than it will tame it. Jessika WARNING! Does not advocate the torturing of cats, dogs, hamsters,guinea pigs,flys, or any other of gods creatures for filming or animal testing… "5000 years ago, cats were treated as gods. 5000 years later they are making sure we don’t forget it"
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>There are a couple reasons I really dislike this idea. 1)confinng the cat in a >space she does not want to be in with no way to escape. This is unhealthy for >the cat and will most likely make it backfire into her disliking you
It depends. You could argue that just confining the cat to the house has the same effect. That said, I’ve socialized a number of ferals and more often than not start with this method. I had very good results with a fellow anmed Archie. He was perhaps six months old when we took him in. We kept him in a large wire cage, covered with a balnket, in the living room. For the first few days he could hear the activity around him but still "hide." Gradually, we rolled the blanket back a little each day until the cage was exposed. Then we started touching him and hand feeding him. When he came to tolerate that, we left the cage door open. It took him a couple of days, but he began to venture out for a few minutes at a time. All in all, it took weeks, but he finally joined the household and became a fine pet. He was just adopted out a couple of weeks ago. On the other hand, there was a guy named Rascal who we kept in a spare bathroom. He wasn’t truly feral, but he wasn’t sociable either. We could pet him, but we always had to drag him out from behind the toilet to get to him. After more than a month, I gave up on him and let him out into the main house. Lo and behold, he turned into a totally different creitter. Here’s still here awaiting adoption, but he is a treat to have around – the class clown who is always poking into things and getting into trouble. They’re all different, but there’s nothing inherently detrimental about starting them out in a confined area. Overall, I’ve had more successes with the method than failures. Dick Evans
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Hi, Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. I sincerely appreciate it. I’ll definitely give the mom some time to adjust to me and the other cats. She is part of my family now, and I love her just the way she is. So, if she ever does decide to become close to me and the others, that’ll just be a wonderful bonus for us. Again, thanks everyone for sharing your advice. Cheers, Irishman
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My cat has a similar temperament, around other cats. But his name is Ilia. He’s a Jeckyll and Hyde cat, completely. I got him at the pound, or as I tell him – the orphanage, when he was nearly a year old. He didn’t meow for 3 whole days, not a single sound. That was 3 years ago. He’s still afraid of plastic, newspaper, all kinds of weird stuff, plus he’s afraid of my pet rat. With a lot of patience, he now sits on my stomach for a minute or two, if I’m laying flat on my back and not looking. Still doesn’t like being picked up and he’ll never be a lap cat, but that’s okay. And he has his talking moments and seems to really like it when I say his name over and over. Around other cats, he’s a demon in a cat suit. Sounds like an exorcism. Makes sounds I didn’t think were possible. — To send email replace "antispam" with "sprint"
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read the other posters. I’d just let the cat stay in the closet. Primarily because forcing affections on a cat can actually make the cat dangerous TO YOU; by biting, scratching, etc., to get away anad back to the closet. Feral cats haven’t learned how to trust humans, so they can get territorial if they are forced into anything. Also, feral cats are very much aware of their surroundings. So the cat, believe it or not, is "watching" you, checking out the house, hearing every single solitary little itty bitty sound there is to hear. So just stick with it. She’s listening. I’d sit by the closet, read outloud or just talk to the cat. 10 minutes a day. Let the cat understand that you are great to be around. I think the cat is scared of the kittens because of the change in her environment. Feral cats just take a long time and lots of patience. But eventually they come out to check things out. When she does, just let her be; don’t pick her up, don’t touch her, just let her walk around unmolested. Let her come up to you. It’ll take longer; could take months to a year. . . but it’s worth it to have a cat that really knows it can trust you completely.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi Angel, > Thanks for the advice! I paid to have them trapped, spayed and neutered, and > given their shots. They are all doing well except the mother (actually, the 4 > month old feral Siamese kitten won’t let me pick her up yet either, but she does > get close to me, and she plays with her siblings and runs all over the house). > I’ve had them all since just after Christmas. The Mom is still afraid of me, and > doesn’t seem to know her own kittens. She was extremely close to them before she > was trapped and taken to the vet. So, I don’t know why they frighten her now. > She doesn’t cry to go outside, and seems quite content in the closet, (except > when I open the doors, that is), but I feel really guilty that she doesn’t get > to play and socialize anymore. So, you think I should just give it some more > time then? Is there anything I can do to help her along? She is 9 months old > and has been living primarily in the closet for over a month now. Coming out > only at night to eat and go to the bathroom. Anything else you could suggest > would be extremely appreciated. Thanks so much for answering my questions. > Cheers, > Irishman > how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? > Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her > in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even > slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her > against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with > feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners > (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when > given time. > Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms > cats down. > Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help > mother cat to become more docile. > It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder > if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors > world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe > wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of > like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. > file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; > she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you. > > Hi, > > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > > appreciated. Thanks so much! > > Cheers, > > Irishman > > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > > Remove NOSPAM to email
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> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman
I don’t really know if it’s any diferent for fully grown cats. When I found Grumpy (what’s in a name) in my yard in june 99 she was still very young but not exactly a newborn. Trying to catch her she bit me twice (once real badly). I kept her inside but she escaped on new years eve. (because of the fire crackers noise) and went missing for over two weeks. Finally she was spotted by a neighbor. She apparently didn’t even realise she was so close to home. She didn’t want to be touched or even talked to. All she did was hissing and growling (hence the name). When ever she saw me : run and hide. This summer more then one year later she started to give up her defence. And now another six months later, she sleeps on my comes to the front door to greet me and likes to be cuddled very much. I took the risk to open the cat flap…..and no problem this time. She goes out but when I’m at home I notice she seems to prefer staying inside anyway. So the answer to your question is LOTS OF PATIENCE. When I was getting despetate just over a few weeks time she finally came around. She still will run away when I try to pick her up. But when she lying somewhere she allows to be picked up. Only a few weeks ago I got my final reward. When pretend to groom her rubbing my chin over her back and head she started purring. That’s new. If this process persists I might have to charge her name Good luck.
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as cruel as this sounds, I would get a large kennel cage, and put her in it until she loses her fear of you. Keep a blanket draped over it most of the day, but for a couple of hours a day leave it off so she sees the activity in the house and grows accustomed to the sounds and movement. Spend as much time as you can talking to her, and letting her smell you, put something you have worn into the cage so she gets used to your scent. The only reason I suggest these things is cats can hide in closets for years avoiding their humans, the longer she is allowed to segregate herself, the more difficult it will be to get her to come out and be part of the tribe. If the kennel seems to extreme for her behavior, I would suggest going into the closet with her for as much time every evening as you can manage… forcing her to get used to you will probably be the only way to tame her.
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> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats.
Hi, I reckon I’d probably say "just give it a bit of time". I’ve never adopted more than feral mum plus 1 baby at any one time but our Mama actually lived up the chimney downstairs for 9 months and the only way we knew she was still alive and ticking was because the food and water (which we had placed on the hearth), disappeared and when we looked up the chimney, all we could see was this big pair of eyes. (We had separated Mama and Babatjie from the rest of the cats and placed them in a separate "cat free" wing of the house because she was so obviously terrified ). I actually never pushed her at all and simply talked away (although, at the time I felt as if I was talking to myself) whenever I went into the room …… and presumably the rest of our feline population also used to chatter to her from the other side of the door. Over a period of time she settled down a bit and every now and again I would catch a glimpse of her when I came into the room and she would be legging it back to her hidey hole. Eventually she decided that she wanted to investigate the rest of the house and integrate with the rest of the household – she was a bit tentative at first, but after a day or so, decided that sunning herself on the kitchen counters or snoozing on our bed, was preferable to living up a chimney Good luck Morag – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Remove NOSPAM to email
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Hi Angel, Thanks for the advice! I paid to have them trapped, spayed and neutered, and given their shots. They are all doing well except the mother (actually, the 4 month old feral Siamese kitten won’t let me pick her up yet either, but she does get close to me, and she plays with her siblings and runs all over the house). I’ve had them all since just after Christmas. The Mom is still afraid of me, and doesn’t seem to know her own kittens. She was extremely close to them before she was trapped and taken to the vet. So, I don’t know why they frighten her now. She doesn’t cry to go outside, and seems quite content in the closet, (except when I open the doors, that is), but I feel really guilty that she doesn’t get to play and socialize anymore. So, you think I should just give it some more time then? Is there anything I can do to help her along? She is 9 months old and has been living primarily in the closet for over a month now. Coming out only at night to eat and go to the bathroom. Anything else you could suggest would be extremely appreciated. Thanks so much for answering my questions. Cheers, Irishman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? > Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her > in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even > slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her > against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with > feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners > (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when > given time. > Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms > cats down. > Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help > mother cat to become more docile. > It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder > if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors > world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe > wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of > like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. > file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; > she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you. > Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > Remove NOSPAM to email
Response:
how did you get the mother and kittens into your home? Feral cats take a lonngggggg time to tame. Go slowly. Yes, I’d feed her in the closet, wherever she is. May take her months to come out and be even slightly friendly. Never pick her up against her will. Never touch her against her will. Let her see that she can trust you. My experience with feral cats taught me that they take longer to trust their human owners (longer than a tame domesticated cat) but that they can become tamed when given time. Play Mozart symphonies (instruments only, not the singing parts). Calms cats down. Important to have the cats spayed/neutered. Spaying might actually help mother cat to become more docile. It sounds wierd that she’s scared ofher kittens. I wonder . . . I wonder if it has something to do with being "separated" from her former outdoors world and being in a strange place. OR maybe that’s what mother cats inthe wild do when it’s time for the kittens to take care of themselves; kind of like a mother bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest? just a thought. file. // In any case, I’d let her see that you’re being nice to her kittens; she will notice and appreciate it, and feel kindly towards you.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens > are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only > comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid > of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts > back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a > feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much > appreciated. Thanks so much! > Cheers, > Irishman > P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should > I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. > Remove NOSPAM to email
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Response:
Hi, I adopted four feral kittens and their mother. All of the kittens are doing extremely well, but the mother hides in my closet and only comes out after I turn the lights out and get in bed. She is afraid of her kittens as well. When they try to get close to her, she darts back into the closet. If anyone has any information on how to tame a feral cat, please let me know. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks so much! Cheers, Irishman P.S. Should I be putting her food and water in the closet or should I try to make her come out and eat? She’s afraid of the other cats. Remove NOSPAM to email
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