 Have you adopted a feral cat? (Long)
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 | 
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