Success story
Over the past 3 or 4 years, we had a little feral female cat living in our barn. She was too smart for live traps and we were never able to catch her and spay her. That meant that she was giving us two litters a year, which we captured as early as we could find them, even if that meant bottle feeding them for a number of weeks. As time went on the little female got better and better in hiding her litters and it became more and more difficult for us to find them. She finally disappeared at the first of the year leaving us with a pair of weaned and wild 6-8 week old kittens on our hands. The male, Furball, tamed down quickly. But his sister Mia was a struggle. She wouldn’t let anyone touch her and even though she’d come into the garage in the evenings, she didn’t have anything to do with any of the other cats except her brother.
I’ve been constantly working with her, talking to her, petting when I get the chance and generally showing her that we aren’t all bad.
Finally, over the past month, she has started to talk to me and come up to be petted on her own. This afternoon she was lying on a bench on the porch and Eileen sat down beside her. Usually she’s still shy with Eileen, but this time she stayed put and Eileen was able to pet her with no worries. She still doesn’t like being picked up, but overall she has turned into another little sweety.
Popularity: 7% [?]
LoriO wrote:
Oooo look at those eyes! Are they really a different color or is that a trick of the light? So glad to hear she’s come around.
Posted on 25-Jul-03 at 9:20 am | Permalink
Jerry wrote:
I didn’t notice until you mentioned it. Nope, a trick of the light. She does have very pretty eyes anyway.
Posted on 25-Jul-03 at 11:38 am | Permalink
edub wrote:
Jerry,
Your feral cat is so cute. We rescued a little feral female who had been hit by a car last summer. She was about 3 weeks old, and it was touch and go for the first 2 days. She was in such bad shape they couldn’t amputate her leg until she’d had 48 hours of IV antibiotics. While she was recovering from her surgery, she had no choice but to let us pet her, since we had to hand feed her and change her bandages and put on medicine. As soon as she was well enough to be allowed the run of the house, she bonded immediately with one of our cats, who mothered her, licked her wounds, and batted her on the head from time to time to teach her manners? But she has never willingly allowed us to touch her and it’s so heartbreaking when we long to shower her with love and pet-pats, like we do our other two cats. I can see her watching us play with the others with a kind of longing of her own, but her instincts are so strong she just can’t let us touch her. We love her anyway, and hope someday she’ll trust us enough to let us stroke her.
And also, your WIP is so beautiful!
edub in Los Angeles
Posted on 25-Jul-03 at 11:42 am | Permalink
edub wrote:
Sorry, didn’t mean to hit the button twice.
Posted on 25-Jul-03 at 11:43 am | Permalink
Jerry wrote:
No problem… See.. The extra comment all gone. I love being able to control my own software.
Good luck with you little kitty. With a bit of luck, persistence and love, you’ll win her over.
Posted on 25-Jul-03 at 11:57 am | Permalink
Diana wrote:
She is so gorgeous! I love tuxedo girls, because you just don’t see them as often as tuxedo boys, or girls with other colorways. <—knitting and catting have officially merged.
-Diana
Posted on 25-Jul-03 at 2:18 pm | Permalink
Karen in AZ wrote:
Jerry:
She’s beautiful! (Notice how we all responded to the cat! LOL) Mia’s coloring is a lot like a cat we had when I was growing up - in Hillsboro. (I perked up when I saw Washington Co. Fair and thought, “No, it can’t be..” but then I saw the reference to Oregon a couple of entries later. What a small world! I was raised there and graduated from Hilhi.) We called her Mittens.
Our current cat was also a ferral cat. She settled in, but was very independent and still “birds” at 13+ years. She is, however, a lot more affectionate - for say the last 3 years or so. Similar coloring also - but gray instead of black. Name? Friskey - and she earns it daily!
Karen in Arizona
Posted on 25-Jul-03 at 8:13 pm | Permalink
Lora in NC wrote:
Jerry she is adorable! I foster 35 feral/abandoned cats and all but 4 I am able to touch and pet. Your kittie is beautiful and with time and patience I am sure she will come around.
Good Luck!
Posted on 26-Jul-03 at 8:12 am | Permalink
Jerry wrote:
Cat colorways… I love it..
Posted on 26-Jul-03 at 9:40 am | Permalink
Rene wrote:
Jerry, she’s gorgeous! We have two cats; one was caught in the woods 2 days before we got her, and spayed the DAY we got her. For two weeks, she wouldn’t come out from under the furniture; we couldn’t even tell if she was eating or not. She wouldn’t let us look at her, much less touch her. The day she decided to sit in the same room with us was sort of a triumph. She still hides when people come over, but she’s sitting on my lap right now. We’ve had her less than a year– my fingers are crossed that maybe in five she’ll even like company.
Posted on 27-Jul-03 at 9:58 am | Permalink
Joan wrote:
Yep, all you have to do to see if anyone is watching is post a cat picture. Works every time!
Can’t wait to see you model the guernsey, you’ll probably find out who is watching then, too.
Posted on 28-Jul-03 at 4:06 pm | Permalink
Jerry wrote:
I’m actually *really* glad there’s this many cat people out there. We’ve been working with ferals on and off since about 1990 and it’s always a rush when I get one to respond on it’s own. I think little Mia will come around completely. She really likes being petted - she purrs up a storm - and I’ve been working on getting her used to being picked up. I can now pick her up and carry her for maybe 30 seconds before she becomes too uncomfortable.
Posted on 28-Jul-03 at 7:21 pm | Permalink
susan wrote:
My cat, Maurice, is a sort of feral success story. He was rescued from a feral family where he was rejected by his mother (he was the runt of the litter). I think that made him a little more well-disposed towards humans since they were his only big source of love and affection. He’s still rather skittish, hides when strangers come over, and so forth, but he loves to be held and to snuggle next to you on the couch. He’s my first cat but my boyfriend, who has lived with lots of cats, says Maurice is one of the most affectionate he’s ever met. It hasn’t always been easy but our patience with him has really paid off. I think in most cases feral cats will reward your patience abundantly over time, though some just never seem to come around.
Posted on 30-Jul-03 at 12:07 pm | Permalink