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A couple of months ago my hubby and I went to Petco to buy aquarium supplies to work on building a pretty new tank. While I’m looking at water conditioners and all that boring stuff, my hubby went over to visit the homeless kittens.
Back Story:
When my hubby was a kid, him and his little sister had found a three day old Tortie kitten lying under a tree in the middle of nowhere. They took her home, bottle fed her, and today she is a healthy, fat, grouchy 16 year old cat who still lives with my mother-in-law.
When I was very little I wanted a kitty very badly. My mom walked into the local humane society and said, “the first cat that comes over to me is the one I will take.” A tiny fluffy little Lynx Point ran straight over and nuzzled her leg. I named him Tom and he never left my side. <3At Petco, my hubby came running over to me and said that I HAVE to come see this one cat. I went over and in one of those clear plexiglass prison cells was a Lynx Point. The tag on her cell said that her and her sister were looking to be adopted together, the two kitties CANNOT be separated. What kind of cat was her sister? A Tortie! Our family cat had just passed away this past July and I wasn't sure I was ready for another cat yet. I told my husband that we should go home and talk about it.
A week later we went back to Petco to get some fish for the new tank. The kitties were still there. Was it meant to be? We thought so and adopted them.
Here are Fifi (lynx) and Spooky (tortie)!!
For the first couple of days they hid around the house and we let them get used to their new home. After a couple days, Feef came out and has been by my side ever since! No matter where I go she’s next to me. Whatever I am doing, she’s sitting on it. She’s my new best friend, I haven’t had a pet bond like this since Tom. She’s loving to everyone and has an amazing personality.
Here’s where I need advice:
Spooky is wild. Completely and undeniably FERAL. She hates everyone and everything. As soon as we walk into a room she’s like a cockroach, she runs and hides instantly. If anyone goes near her she hisses and kicks. EVERY night for about an hour I sit on the floor in a dim room and wait for her to come to me and give her treats or tuna. I can pet her and feed her from my hand, but no one else can come near her. At night she tears up my house. She has broken two lamps, MANY dishes, one of my kitchen cabinet doors, two house plants, AND SIX WINDSTONES. With that, I’m at wits end. What else can I do other than sit with her every night? It’s not working at all, no progress at all in two months. My patience is starting to wear thin. I suspect the lady at the adoption league knew this and didn’t tell us. She wouldn’t let us pet her or interact with her, she just threw her in a carrier and handed it to us.
How do you turn a feral cat into a loving addition to the family? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!It sounds like you are doing the best thing. Spending quiet time and trying to get her to come to you. If she is tearing apart your house, I would confine them to a room at night (removed of all windstones of course). If you can, try and tire her out with a laser pointer.
A product that has worked VERY well with my cats is Feliway. You can get a spray and a diffuser. It is synthetic kitty pheromones that let them know this space is theirs and helps calm them down. The cheapest place to buy it is on amazon. It can take a couple weeks to fully kick in, but it has helped my cats adjust to visitors and our new house.
Has she seen a vet since you got her? I find it odd that the two sisters would have such different levels of interaction. If you haven’t, take her to the vet, explain what is going on. Maybe she has anxiety issues? I would also contact the rescue and find out how she acted before you had her.
Also, does she have a lot of scratching posts/boards to mark her territory? Does she have places that she can climb up high? Make the tops of bookselves, etc available to her. Cats feel most secure if they can be up high. You can also check out some episodes of “My Cat from Hell” by the Animal planet. Amazon has episodes for a dollar or so each.
Good luck!
considering she lets you pet her, I’d think she wasn’t a feral…besides I offer a case like this with my little furry daughter, for years, she would only allow me to do anything with her, hissed and ran away from everyone else…well years later, hubby comes along, as usual, she’s all hissy…over time, usually since I was there and I had my husband give her treats, she eventually came to love him as much as she does me….
moving on, I think it would be best to confine her to one room and continue working on gaining her trust, I have a feeling she’ll warm up to you completely eventually…sadly though, cats do like to take their time which tends to make people give them back…but don’t give up on her….
besides if you send her away, the other one will look for her for sometimes years…this happened with my now deceased old tom, for awhile, we kept his sister(they were all abandoned kitties, we found the others homes but for awhile there, mom let us keep the sister too) but then someone else wanted to give her a home so we let them…my furry boy looked for her for literally years, I’d often find him calling for her with noises he used only for her….
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4. September Raffle Prize 2022 AHD Male GriffinI have not had luck with wild cats, but I know there is another forum member who has turned a feral cat into a loving house cat. I think it took her over a year. I will point her in your direction! 🙂
Watch on Animal planet My Cat From Hell . See what Jackson Galaxy does . He’s a miricle worker with cats .
Jackson Galaxy started with a slow blink to cats in a shelter where he worked . During a storm the cats were upset and he had hard a slow blink was a cat’s way of saying everything was fine . So he did it to the cats . They were soon asleep .
If you kitty is braking things . Play with him and ware her out . Do it til she knows to sleep at night .
I love watching My Cat From Hell . It’s on this Tues. night on animal planet . You can see some clips on the site too . Jackson will talk to you . He loves cats passionatly . He has saved many cats from death because someone thought the cat was to wild . He’s a wonderful person .You have a good heart. I agree with the forum member to watch my cat from hell. I had a cat who woukld not let me pet her for almost a year and suddenly one day she became affectionate. She finally realized that I was the one who fed her and kept her safe. being that said my sister had a cat for years that litterally hid all the time. I saw her once after 5 years living with my sister, Keep the faith
Ah, Wolfen pointed me to this thread 🙂 I’ve ‘tamed’ one feral cat, but she is still a work in progress and will probably still be for many more years. What beautiful kitties you have adopted, and so wonderful they were kept together!
Each cat is different, and my cat Mitten started as a truly 100% outdoor feral, so the way I worked with her would be totally different than how you’d work with your Spooky. I will echo everyone else and say that giving Spooky a smaller space (her own room) might help. A room with good, safe hiding spots and no breakables. If you only had the one cat, I’d suggest moving Spooky to her own room 24/7 for a while…I’m now sure how to work things since you don’t want her separated from her sister. Maybe take a good smelly piece of your clothing and set it under their food dishes to associate your scent with something good. And when you go in her room, I’d just go in with a book and read aloud so she hears your voice, but you aren’t actually actively trying to get her attention. I’d like you to post this on the forum I visited when I was starting with Mitten, there a are a lot of people who would know a lot more than I do about how to help Spooky. This is the stray/feral area of The Cat Site.
http://www.thecatsite.com/f/9/caring-for-strays-and-ferals
Some things you can try, don’t look Spooky in the eyes, it’s intimidating to cats. I’ve heard that harp music is especially calming to feral cats if you do keep her in her own room. I would also not approach her, let her come to you.
For Mitty, she was born under my steps. I took care of her and her dad Budders (food and outdoor shelter) for close to 2.5 years before Budders disappeared. 2 months after that, Mitten let me touch her for the first time. So…I saw her every day of her life and she was over 2.5 years before I even got a hand on her. I worked with her outside, eventually let her meet my cats through a baby gate and eventually let her start coming in on her terms. This has nothing to do with Spooky, I just say it to let you know that ferals take a LOT of time and patience. 1 step forward, 2 steps back. But they are SO worth it. So, first got to pet Mitten Feb 7 2011, she was fully indoor by May 23, 2011. She’s been indoors 9 months now and I still don’t get to touch her more than a few seconds at a time…and that’s ok. If she never gets past where she is now, I’ll be ok with that, because she’s safe. There is such pride looking at her and knowing she’s safe with me.
So please, don’t be too discouraged, there is still plenty of time for her to come around. Please do post this on that site I linked, I would love to see what the more experienced cat people have to offer. 🙂
I’ll tell you how I got my feral cat to stop acting crazy… (that thread is around here somewhere, too…) I just ignored him. He got attached to the other animals in our house before we even got to touch him and it took weeks to pet him. I would ignore that cat and kid proof your house. Also, I dont know how you feel about indoor/outdoor cats, but after about 6 months, we let ours go outside, since he was fixed anyway. I’ve had mine about 4 years now, and he is still not really friendly, but he is at least tame. We can pet him when he allows it, though most other people cannot.
Please don’t let him outside. It is illegal in a lot of places. Cats are killing songbird populations and it will mean much higher vet bills (for example, you will have to deworm all your cats much more often).
Edit: I mean don’t just let him wander. Keeping him on a leash or in a kitty pen are safe.
We have a very busy road in front of our house, so they’ll always be indoor kitties.
Believe it or not, she’s sitting by my foot as I type this! The reason I used the word feral to describe her is because at night when we’re having our quiet time if I so much as take a deep breath or shift my weight she disappears. Everything spooks her, that’s how we thought of the name Spooky for her.
Fifi loves toys! I think the laser pointer is her absolute favorite. While Fifi is chasing the laser pointer or playing with a scrap paper or a ball, Spooky just sits under a chair and watches her play. It’s very sad, because you know she really wants to play too.
I won’t give up though! I understand why they needed to be adopted together, I don’t think Spooky could handle being separated from her sister. I talked to the lady at the adoption league, she couldn’t tell me anything about them. Just that they came from a litter of four (three lynxies and just one tortie). It seems like they just took the kittens, vaccinated them, spayed them, and stuck them in that little cell. I get the impression that they’ve never been inside a house before, maybe it’s a lot to take in? Even the TV scares them!
Speaking of TV, I have watched My Cat from Hell once! I completely forgot about that show, especially since I now have a difficult kitty! I’ll start watching it whenever it’s on. Animal Planet always has something good on!
My hubby is trying something new. Last night we rounded her up and put her in her kennel carrier. Then he set the carrier facing him on the couch while he played hours of PS3. That way she has some personal space but she’s still around us. Maybe one day she’ll notice that we aren’t that bad. I don’t know if that will help, but I don’t think it could hurt her.Eleu, I’ll surf around that kitty site this weekend and see what I can learn!
I checked out the forum Eleu linked to, and found my way from there to this blog of some people who are taming a feral kitten, and posting their daily progress with her. She seems a lot like Spooky, really timid. But they’re making great progress with the approach they’re taking! I think you might like it!
I <3 Indy Kitty. Feral kitten to lap cat in 15 days-lol Just fantastic. 🙂 The younger they are when you start with them, the better! 🙂
Keep cat carriers around the house with their doors open. I had a feral that spent the first two years of her life with me hiding in a cat carrier whenever I was in the room.
Pick a room in your house to be her ‘safe’ room. For the one I’m currently taming, this is my closet. I didn’t choose it, she did. I feed her there, water her there and have a litter box near there. At night I close the door to my bedroom (where the closet is) and this keeps her from tearing around the house breaking things and eating my roomate’s flower arrangements.
My experience with ferals is that they just need time and a safe place to calm down in. I’ve tamed several (abused to feral and captured strays who have never lived in a house) and this has worked for me over and over. Recently a friend trapped an entire litter of half grown kittens in his garage. They all came to live with me. One of the black Tom’s and a gray striped tabby were untameable, and they went to live as barn cats at my aunt’s farm. Of the others the tortie was the hardest to tame and giving her a safe place to hide and get used to the odd noises of the house worked with her, it took a bit more than a year for her to calm down though, and she is still the most skittish kitty in the house, easy to spook and hard to medicate when she catches a cold.
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Sun Dragon Koi #3I have a nervous, anxious, clingy cat. Since we moved to a house in Idaho, things have been better for her. And one of the biggest reasons for this is because she has her own space. The space is the second bathroom. All her stuff is in there. Kennel, food, water, box, etc. We shut her in when we leave otherwise there are presents on the floor. And when she’s feeling unsafe, she’ll retreat to there. The baseboard is the safe line and both of us respect that. He noticed it helped to have all her stuff near each other on our way out here and the couple hotel stays we had. Wish we would have done it sooner, but the apartment didn’t really have the space. At first, I thought it was a little cruel to shut her up in there, but she goes in there on her own accord, so I’m all for it now.
-- Angie
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