[DCMerkle]

I have taken in strays. You know when you have a house cat that was abandoned because they come right up to you and just beg for a nice comfy home to stay in, but ferals are a harder nut to crack. The sad thing is that there shouldn't be feral cats, but the people that just get a cat because the kids wanted one or they need one like a pair of shoes really need to think twice, if they can count that far.

I had a large colony of feral cats that lived in the woods near my apartment. Every night you could see them sitting in the shadows of the trees. I would buy large bags of cat food and leave it out for them. They would come out late at night, eat as much as they wanted and them dive back for the woods.

There was one small orange tabby that even though he could hold his own, he was always the last to get to the bag or bowl. I knew that I had to have him. I knew what I was in for, but sometimes he would watch me through the trees. I knew that he was curious about people, he didn't show fear just a better safe then sorry attitude if someone tried to approach him.

I managed to trap him, actually I bribed him in with canned cat food. He would come no further than the inside of my apartment door. I would leave the door propt open so he could leave when he was finished. After awhile he would be wait for me to come home and follow me at a distance. I would place the can just a little farther into the apartment.

I set up a box with a blanket for him when I had him in as far as my kitchen for him to notice. He would sniff it, mark it as his, but would never step in it. I would talk to him as quietly as I could when he came in. He had such expressive ears and eyes. I knew that he was getting use to the tone of my voice, by the way he would move his ears around. Straight up, he was listening, one ear back and he was thinking about what I was saying. If I asked him if he would like to stay, both ears would go back the eyes would squint like I had just maybe insulted him.

Well, I did eventually get him to resign to the indoor life. We had issues of whether or not he wanted to be touched, but I cured him of that. He would hiss and spit and try to back me up in a corner. As crazy as this sounds, but I would take a small step back out towards him and hiss and spit back! He didn't know how to take that.

He would sit by my feet in the evening. I could reach down and slowly pet him, but he would not let me pick him up. I decided to take my own life in my hands one night. I made sure that I had thick long sleeves on and long enough that I could wrap my hands into the sleeves.

I bent down and slowly put both hands around his mid-section. He started to growl, but I ignored that and continued to pick him up. I turned him around so we could have eye contact. He was twisting, hissing and spitting. I just held him at arms length and talked to him gently. I knew that if we didn't get him past the "I don't want to be held" part then I would never get him to a vet.

I never would let him break eye contact. This kept up for about 2-3 minutes. Then I could feel his body start to relax, the hissing stopped and the growling started to lower in sound. He was listening to what I was saying to him.

I lowered him into my lap. He hunched up as if ready to spring off, but he stayed for another 2-3 minutes letting me pet him. When I let him go he ran to sit across the room from me and just stare at me for the rest of the night. He was not a happy cat, but he didn't want to leave the room either. He would usually hide under my bed to sleep when he was tired, but that night he waited until I went in first. I kept this up for another two weeks until I could pick him up and settle him in my lap with no fuss.

I was eventually able to take him to the vet for a check-up and his shots. The vet thought that he was a house cat until I told him that he had been a feral. Orangie (my name for him) didn't like to be touched by someone that he didn't know and the vet made sure that he moved slow around him. After awhile though the vet was another one that Orangie allowed to pet him.

I eventually married and raised a family. Orangie didn't know how to take my hubby, but my hubby had a love for animals as well and just let Orangie decide if he would like him or not. Orangie had no problems when I had my children, but I could still see the ears fly when they did something that he didn't know what to think about it.

I had Orangie for 17 years. He became a big, well fed, well loved cat. I had him neutered and even though I've heard that some cats will become complacent and lazy when they have been fixed, not Orangie. He was very active. He took over watch cat duties and would growl when something was going on that he didn't like. He had a rough time when we moved, but he eventualy settled down to his new home.

He would go outside with me, but would never wander far away from the front door. He never wanted to stay outside by himself. He was like my shadow.

He developed heart problems and one night he went in his sleep. He slept on our bed and when I woke up he had cuddled in between my hubby and I and just went to sleep. I was devasted. I felt like I had lost my heart.

I always knew that I never wanted another feral cat. Orangie was one in a million. It was pure luck that I had found a feral cat that I was able to work with. Orangie has a picture that hangs on the wall with my other family pictures. He was loved and learned what love was.

DCMerkle

[nancyjw3]

i have been reading some of the posts on this board and am appalled at the degree of ignorance and misinformation some posters on here have.
it is also apparent that some of you are not cat lovers.
then get the u kno what off this board.
allow me to set the record str8 on "feral cats"
ALL cats are domestcated animals.
the term feral refers to cats that have little or no socialization w/humans.
their mothers may or may not have been socialized.
feral cats do not carry rabies.
i have been rescuing stray,abandoned,abused,unwanted feral cats for over 25 years.
currently i have 3 that would have qualified as feral.
of the 3, 2 of them are extremely affectionate w/me.
they love 2 b petted,purr etc.come to me,sleep w/me etc.
it took 2 1/2 years for one of them to allow me to pet her.
the other has always allowed petting but has gotten more and more affectionate.
i have to be careful how i approach them as not to startle them.
they are the sweetest least aggressive of all my cats.
they are healthy happy and are incredibly good pets.
they are also the least destructive of all of my cats.
it is very rewarding to see them respond.
the 3rd used to let me pet her initially.
she was very skittish,and terrified of the other cats and would hiss and growl when they approached her.
eventually she bonded w/the other cats and now prefers them to me.
i figure she may come around again some day.
all are very happy and content.
almost all strays are fearful at first,that does not mean that they are feral.
it is difficult to determine just how they will respond 2 u
untill u take them in.
having them spayed/neutered will always help them adjust more quickly.
especially the males.
do not be discouraged from adopting a stray.
they are all companion animals and not wild.
wolves are wild.cats are not.

[KCOA08]

DCMerkle, what a beautiful story! It reminded me of the beautiful nature of animals and how it's not necessary to give up on them because they don't meet our "human standards". Sounds like you brought the best out of Orangie.

I just recently adopted a feral cat as well..however she is very young. Maybe 9 months, and so the adjustment is a little smoother ride than if she was older.

Thanks for your inspiration! There is a light at the end of the tunnel...and no, I guess it's not a train.

[10 critters]

I recently adopted a stray cat. He appeared on my patio about three weeks ago. I started leaving out food and water. He was here every morning. Since this is Texas and we are already up in the mid nineties in temperature, I knew I had to do something about him. Some neighborhood children said his family had recently moved and deliberately left him. I already had 9 indoor cats, most originally strays ( I would never buy a cat that been born to sell) So the first thing was to get the feline leuk test, turned out fine. Then I had him neutered and all his shots. my next plan was to take him to Vaps a local cat organiztion that displays strays each week-end at PetsMart for adoption. I decided to keep him for few days so he could recuperate, and guess what? he turned out to be a lap cat. So he is now cat #10. He obviously had been a house cat. I cannot imagine how anyone can drive off leaving their pet behind. He gets along very well with my other cats. Plese do not be afraid of strays. All of mine came to me when they were not wanted anymore, and they are all loving pets.

[marta]

This is a never-ending subject; I wouldn't jump on anybody because they call a stray 'feral', maybe sometime from now I would but right now there's so little common knowledge about it it is very hard to be judjemental(sp).
I deal with it everyday, my husband and I do TNR, manage a feral colony have prospective colonies to get feeders & caregivers going and of course the strays in our neighborhood, etc, etc. I volunteer for a cat rescue org as foster home too.
We have 6 housecats_all but one were ferals or strays_and are fostering 5 (so for practical purposes we have 11 indoor cats, tons of work! but we love it)
I understand your stories, each is special. The strays are the saddest of the bunch though b/c they had a home once. Ferals rough it up but fall prey to any disease any cat can catch and yes, I agree. They are domestic cats.
I don't agree with the poster that said that a feral could be a cat that hadn't had human touch in a long time. That is a 'hard stray' IOW it would take years to tame him if ever. The closest to a true feral you see today is a cat that was born in the wild from a feral mother. If the mother was a pet, not afraid of humans she'll teach that to her litter even if they are born outside; we adopted out 3 like that last year and have 1 foster like that.
A real feral should be one that was born in the country from a feral mother and never, ever saw people.
Marta