Bringing in Feral Cats: The Case of Simone

 For a few decades, we have rescued feral cats. In fact, with only one exception, our "domestic" cats have been ferals that we brought inside to join other ferals, already domesticated, as part of a bonded cat family. Right now, we have five cats (alas, Murjan, the single non-feral cat we had, died from cancer last fall), all of whom get along pretty fabulously.

Of course, all of that is easier said than done, and the bonding took time -- lots of it. Here are some of the things we did to create our cat family, some of which is not at all typical of what others have done, but it has worked for us.

• We don't trap the feral cats at all; we win them over and invite them in. We do this by feeding them a distance from the house and walking away, then moving the dish closer and closer to the house and walking less and less far away, until they are eating at our feet, at which point they will usually let us scooch or kneel beside them. To get to this point may take weeks. Getting to pet them takes additional days. And, then, like magic, they are almost always willing to come into the house if we leave the food inside the door. 
• We have never trapped a cat with a cage, though we do have to put the cats into a carrier (some vets are unhappy about not having feral cats in an open cage because they usually want to sedate them rather than risk being bitten -- I always offer to hold them, and, when allowed, the biting does not happen).
• Post vet visit, things can get interesting, especially if there are other cats; we are always careful in introducing a new feral cat into the family (that topic belongs in another post -- and we will get to that in the future).
• Feral cats tend to be shy; they do not immediately become lap cats, but, with patience, most do become attached, seek petting, and often do became lap cats. The trick is not to force the relationship too quickly and to realize that each cat is different.

In this post, I would like to provide one example: Simone. Simone is a beautiful Himalayan-tabby mix. The tabby shows a bit in her face, which has some of the pleasing features of the tabby cat face: some of the lines, the shape. Her coloring, very long shaggy white and off-white hair (it used to have some darker streaks - tabby influence perhaps - but after Simone's daily naps on the catio is mostly quite white), blue eyes, and non-prominent nose are very much the features of the Himalayan, and she would not be mistaken for anything else. 

As a kitten, Simone took up residence under our house and only came out to eat. We would put out a daily meal for her and when we went on trips (rarely), we would put out enough for a week, which seemed to work just fine. We caught some neighborhood boys taunting her once and gave them a lesson in how to treat animals, but that experience seemed to be enough to prompt Simone to remain in hiding.

Then, we moved to another house in another part of town. We stopped feeding Simone to see if she would seek food elsewhere, but she did not. She was attached, likely from fear and cautiousness, to living under our house and did not seem to have developed the skills (likely, our fault) to hunt for food on her own or even to look for other houses. We had not tried our usual method of enticing her into our house because we were renting and allowed only two cats and were at the maximum. So, for once, we tried the trap, but it did not work. She avoided it, did not act like she wanted any of the food. Clever cat, but too clever for her own good.

On our last day, everything having been moved out and the doors wide open, I came back from delivering our last load to the new house to make sure everything was clean enough for turning over the key to the landlord in the morning -- and there was Simone, smack in the middle of the house. I quickly closed both doors. No exit! Huit clos! And Simone went ballistic, careening from room to room. Eventually, she careened into the bedroom, and I shut the door behind her and went to the new house to get a big cat carrier. Simone would have nothing to do with it. She flew from one side of the room to the other, so I spent all night sleeping in an empty room so she could get used to being up close and personal with me. 

We both seemed to have slept well through the night, but in the morning, she was no closer to letting me put her in the carrier. Whenever I approached her, she would leap across the carrier to another part of the room. During one leap, fortunately, I was able to put my hand on her back and guide her into the carrier, leaving her stunned and hissing -- the condition in which she arrived at the vet's -- and to this day her records are marker FERAL in big red letters even though she is gentle and permits handling by vets.

After that, it was the patience game. She insisted on spending most of her time under the bed. So, we put a cat bed there. She would come out only to eat, at first, but over time, as in months, she stayed out longer, even paying attention to the television. She loved watching the ball fly across the screen during games of golf (she was the only one in the family who liked to watch golf) and would sometimes try to chase the ball with her paw (as the photo shows). Once, when the door to the house was accidentally left open next to her, she did not even try to wander out but rather sat at the door and looked out; she clearly had passed to the point of thinking of our house as her home. From our adopting her to her adopting us took three years, but the time invested was worth it.

It would take ten years for Simone to become a lap cat. She still prefers to sleep under the bed, but she will let me hold her and detangle her long curly locks, and she will initiate contact when she is in the mood. I have no problem getting her into a carrier, and the vet has no problem examining her. She is no longer afraid of people she knows, other cats (she grooms them and likes to be groomed by them), being inside, or being handled. Seriously, though, it took ten years to reach that point. I consider the time well invested.  

I imagine that few people would devote that much time to a shy cat. That is why the social cats get snapped up at shelters and the shy ones rarely get adopted. If owners will put in the time and be patient, though, they can experience the very deep intrinsic reward that comes from seeing a shy cat become your best friend, a member of your family, and a readily accepted member of a cat community.

As I finished this post, I looked up and saw Simone sitting at my feet, expecting a treat. So worth the effort to tame her! (Seems that Shakespeare wrote a book along similar lines, with some humor to it.)

In subsequent Caturday posts, I will provide examples of other feral cats we have rescued. They all have interesting, individual personalities.