Taming a Stray Cat

Any cat including a feral cat can be tamed, but it does take time and you must be patient.  My husband and I trapped a stray cat that had been injured and needed veterinarian care. This cat had been living in the woods by my home and we had assumed it was feral. We quickly learned that was not the case because the trapped cat was meowing. Feral cats will hiss, snarl and spit but they do not meow.

We took this stray cat in and oversaw the socializing/taming of this cat. The cat was terrified of us, had behavior issues such as marking and was suffering from stress.

Socializing a stray cat that has lived outdoors for several years takes time and patience. The cat has to learn to live indoors and to not fear humans. We have to teach the cat manners, to use a litter box, not scratch the furniture, and to also allow humans to pet the cat without the cat scratching or biting.

Before we could socialize this cat we needed to take him to the veterinarian. The cat was tested for FIV and FeLV, given vaccines and was neutered. The veterinarian also stitched up a wound on his paw and give the cat an antibiotic shot.

When we brought the cat back to our home we put him in the cat safe room where he would reside until he was dependent upon me and socialized to live indoors and to be nice to humans.

View this video to learn more about a cat safe room.

We tamed this cat by spending time with the cat daily. We also used the product Feliway classic diffuser that goes in the electrical outlet. This product is very good for calming a cat that is feeling stress. Feliway is a clinically proven formula that comforts cats in your home and decreases urine marking, scratching on furniture and hiding.

Whenever we are socializing a cat we make a point to spend quality time with the cat. I will take my laptop and work in the same room as the cat, or I will read a book. The cat knows you are there, and at first, the cat will hide from you, hiss at you from afar. But soon the cat will start to trust you and each day your bond with the cat will grow stronger.

Feeding the cat at the same time daily is important. Also never leave food bowls for the cat to snack on. You want the cat to look to your for food, to be dependent upon you. We feed all cats a mixture of canned and dry kibble food and provide the cat with fresh water twice daily. The water stays in the room at all times.

Most cats become dependent upon people quickly, it took this stray cat 10 days. One day I walked into the room with the food and the cat came out to greet me. He was sitting where I set the food bowl.

When the cat was sitting waiting for its food my husband tried to pet the cat. The cat was fearful and scratched my husband. Then the cat hid behind the chair.

I do not recommend that humans make the first move when socializing/taming a stray cat. The cat will have to make the first move, normally they will roll around on the ground or floor and show you their stomach. In the cat world, this means “I feel safe with you and I trust you”. Or the cat will rub their body on you, they are putting their scent on you as if to say “you are my person”

“I think it is best to wait for the cat to accept you rather than to corner the cat, make it feel uncomfortable” “The stray cat will let you know when it wants to be petted”.

I suppose the black and white cat that we rescued must have been abandoned longer than we thought because it took a good six months for this cat to let down his guard down.

Now the cat lets me pick him up, pet him and he will sit on my lap. He is very talkative and will come to sit next to me when I am reading a book.

We never force a cat to accept humans but instead wait for the cat to let us know when petting is okay.

Now, this cat is ready to be adopted. His leg is fully healed and he is walking better. My neighbor that helps us with the cats did sponsor this cats vaccines and neuter and told us she loves the cat. So he adopted him and the cat went to his forever home.

Learn more about Feliway Classic here.

When Feral Cat Cannot be Socialized

A few years ago I rescued a kitten that was abandoned by the feral queen cat because neighbor deemed her a nuisance and Animal control took the nursing mother cat away and did not care about her kitten. I was lucky that the den was close by and could hear the kittens distress meow.



So husband and I went out into the woods to find the kitten and when I got her I brought her home. My husband I took care of this young kittens needs, We bottle fed her then weaned to KMR kitten formula mixed with blue buffalo kitten food.



We assumed that this kitten would accept being socialized to live with humans because we rescued her at such a young age but she resisted and to this day (3 years later) she is still feral..



Some feral kittens adjust to being tamed, not Notti. Well that is not entirely true, this feral cat will allow us to pet her when she wants to be petted, when it is time to stop the cat will bite us gently on our hand or tap us with their paw. If we continue to pet we will get hissed at.

This feral kitten let us into their life, but only on her terms.



Brushing this adult cat is out of the question. However this cat will not groom themselves. Grooming to Notti is pulling her hair out. I took Notti to the veterinarian and they gave me three choices, medicated her with kitty Prozac, feed her Royal Canin calm cat food or release the stressed out cat back into the wild. Releasing was not an option.



The feral cat was fed the calm cat food for 40 days and in that time she refused to allow the other cats to groom her. Back to the veterinarian feral cat did go. This time her long lustrous coat was shaved because her backside was matted.



While at the veterinarians I was told that releasing Notti to outdoor cat colony was not recommended. According to our veterinarian we should continue to feed Notti the calm cat food, and also continue using the feliway behavior modifier. In addition she will need to be professionally groomed every 3 to 4 months.



I was told that some feral kittens / cats can never be trained to live with humans.. I think never is too strong of a word, sometimes it takes longer. will keep working with her and hoping for the best.




Here are some photographs of Notti when she was a kitten. 

Notti on top she is playing with other kitten

Notti outdoors with her feral mother, a week before mother cat trapped

Adult Feral Cat Bonds with Colony Caregivers

Training an adult feral cat that resides in a colony is not easy however if the caregiver is  around the cat on daily basis and cares for for the cat for years, the cat will bond with the human and allow you to be a part of their world.

As a colony caregiver I have seen the inside of a thicket den while a feral cat stood on the upper branches and looked down on me. The cat could have hurt me but it did not because this cat was Lucy and she has bonded with me.

This winter I have not seen much of the feral adult cat that I call Lucy.  I put out food and fresh water for her every day but I see her rarely.  I think she is hiding because of the weakness in her paw that was injured last summer.  

My neighbor that resides across the street from me reported that Lucy is sunning herself on his deck in the afternoon and her sponsor he tells me that Lucy visits him often and that he feeds her and puts out fresh water. 

 Since Lucy’s spay she is staying close by and is not venturing too deeply into the woods.  My colony helper and I have agreed that Lucy is welcome to come indoors however we both respect her and feel she wants to live outdoors for the rest of her life then we will respect her and continue to care for her at the colony.

Lucy knows that she is safe at my home and that my shed-shelter  has warm insulated bedding for the feral cats.  That my pond never freezes over and that the small fountain has fresh clean water poured into it daily.  

There is always a bowl of food at three different feeding stations.  Yes Lucy feels safe at my home, and she also feels safe at the other caregiver’s homes.  It will be a tossup as to who she chooses to be her full time indoor caregiver.

This month Lucy is hanging out at Bruce’s; he has acres of densely wooded land and all of the feral cats find his land to be appealing to their needs. However, recently the feral cats are on edge because Bruce rescued a Bombay cat named Shirley.  

House cats generally do not get along with feral cats as they have no respect or manners.  

Lucy would prefer that she was the only female cat and has made it quite clear to Shirley that she is not welcome; from chasing Shirley up a tree and biting her tail to hissing fights and showing Shirley her razor sharp claws.  Then last week Lucy could take no more as the house cat tested her patience by eating out of Lucy’s food bowl.  

Lucy took off after Shirley; she was determined to chase Shirley out of the yard.  Shirley leaped to the top of Bruce’s back steps, ran inside the door, slid across the floor and jumped onto the table.  

Lucy did not hesitate she came inside after Shirley.  Of course when Lucy realized that she was indoors she did stop on all four paws and retreated to kitchen door, but instead of running away she stopped to rub all over the door.  She put her scent on the door as if to say this is my door and not yours, a message to all of the other colony cats. 

Bruce spoke softly to Lucy in a reassuring voice and thus Lucy was not afraid of being indoors.  For a feral cat this is a huge accomplishment, not one person forced her to come inside, Lucy came indoors on her own.