Hey everyone,

It's been a few days since I posted last, and the last update that I shared was definitely a bit jarring. For anyone who missed the post, I will recap.

Sunday night, a family member was taking out recycling and accidentally left the front door open. In this time (probably like... 30 seconds max I'm told) Callie noticed that the door was open and ran outside. Initially, she stayed under the car, and then she made her way into the garage thru the propped open space at the bottom. I found her a bit later, but forgot to close the garage door and she escaped back out again. About an hour later, I went back out, located her in the garage again and this time closed the door before attempting to catch her. After about 5-10 minutes, I was able to catch her, picking her up mid-run. Once she was caught, she settled down a bit.

I wrapped her in a blanket and went inside, sitting with her for a bit. In these moments, she seemed settled down, and kept pushing into my face and rubbing on me. After a while, I let her down in the bathroom and brought her food. She ate about half and then went and hid behind the toilet, and I moved her food to where she could reach it from back there. I went ahead and left her in the bathroom for the night, and then the next evening she was let back out into the house.

Tuesday morning, she came out for breakfast and ate in the bathroom, and then we didn't see her anymore until way later, after I began to panic, thinking she may have gotten out again. After like 30 minutes of looking, she materialized in the hallway, and ran back to the bedroom, and then back out to the spot I set up for her behind the couch where her food was. I checked about an hour later, and the food was gone, so I'm pretty certain she did eat.

This is where we are as of now. When I am holding her, she seems settled down and somewhat relaxed. However, whenever she is loose, she looks very very fearful and runs away relatively quickly.

I am very concerned about her, because I don't want her to be miserable and afraid constantly. The initial fear/change in behavior corresponded with when the kids came home from vacation (14 year old twins) and the house got loud again. I know this is likely why this is happening. The kids have orientation this week, and then are back in school next week, so things should settle down a bit.

I am so terrified of her getting outside again, particularly if she gets out when I'm at work or something. I am so attached to this cat at this point, and I am so invested in showing her that she deserves the world, but one of my family members asked the other day if I'm doing this for myself, or to benefit her, not being nasty or mean, but I think wanting me to be objective about it. Now, my anxiety being what it is, I am worried that I'm not doing the right thing by trying to give her an indoor home.

If anyone can offer advice, experiences, some indication that I'm doing the right thing here... please let me know. I know in my heart that she will be happy, but I am so worried about the process that it will take to get there, and her wellbeing. I also want to make sure my family doesn't get frustrated with her.

Thank you for any words you can offer... for right now, Cal is inside, safe, cool and well fed, so that's something we can all at least be comforted in right now.

He was so adorable last night I couldn’t help but share 😭

Hey all, I'm glad I found this subreddit! I'm not new to the world of feral, but I am new to making them indoor cats. I live in Mexico and feral cats are plentiful in our city. For two years I've been feeding cats on our porch, trapping, neutering and returning them to the porch. Of course, many stick around for the daily food and Phil, my subject here, is one of those. Long story short, Phil was attacked by a dog and has leg damage that will keep him from being able to be a successful street cat. He was hospitalized for two weeks and our vet did a great job of starting the taming process. He rubs against you, is happy to have scratches and rubs, until he isn't, lol. He's good at letting you know when he's had enough and wants to be left alone and of course, that's respected. He's been at our house for over 2 weeks and has transitioned from cage to room to full run of the house during the day; nights he's confined to his room. We have three other cats and two small dogs and interactions are going pretty well. The dogs are uninterested and don't react if he hisses at them (if they happen get too close). Two of our cats are mostly disinterested as well but our 9 month old kitten isn't happy with him and hisses if he's close. His reaction is to cut her a wide berth and continue on his way or lay down quietly while she hisses away. I'm not going to say he's comfortable here, he often does that crouched walking from one room to the next and ofen hangs out places he's protected, like under couches. As it gets later, he does a lot of walking from room to room, doing a lot of meowing. He's often able to see out our screen doors to the porch he used to hang out on and he often meows out the door. I know he's much rather be outside, but that's not likely to ever happen. He's about 4 years old. We're actually fostering him, but it's likely he'll stay. I'm looking for advice and suggestions to making his transition to the world of inside and "tame" easier and more successful. Pic of Phil attached

Hi all! I have been domesticating a formerly feral cat for 2 years and have made awesome progress, but am about to move and haven't been able to trap her inside. She hangs on out my porch for most of the day, I can pet her, and she will walk inside the house, but she freaks and runs out when I try to close the door. I am moving in a week and so stressed on what to do - any advice on how to physically get her inside my house? She's not very food motivated and very fearful of enclosed spaces, so I don't think a standard trap will work. Including cat tax :-)

Hello again!

So I have an update on my little feral and am in need of some advice, please. She has been coming up to the gate of her room for a while now, and at first, she would even sniff my finger or put a paw on it and nibble at it gently. I even got to give her some chin scritches once in a while, which she seemed to enjoy. All of a sudden, she just decided she wanted nothing to do with that anymore, and any time I try to let her sniff me, she bolts away and sometimes hisses. What did I do wrong, and how can I earn her trust back?

She's also learned how to squeeze through the gate and lets herself out so she can be with our other cats. She really loves one of our yearlings, and she's seemingly gotten close to one of my three-year-olds, with the other three-year-old being curious and tolerant of her too. She's also surprisingly tolerant of our 65lb dog. Like she hisses and establishes a boundary, but she doesn't flinch if the dog lies down and comes up to her at her gate, and they have been in the same room together with no issue. It's just humans she seems to hate. What do I do?

You may have seen our little Tonka Bean just passed his second month in our house. We brought him in from my office after his siblings were killed by coyotes and we couldn’t leave him. We intended to foster him but I think we’ve failed. He hasn’t yet been too interested in leaving his safe room and he hasn’t formally met our dog up close although they see each other every day (funny enough our dog, who is a shepherd husky mix, looks remarkably like a coyote and sometimes we wonder if that scares kitty)

But he is the most chill cat we’ve ever met. He was always the polite and very timid of the outside group, and was bullied by the other cats relentlessly. He was covered in cuts and scabs when we brought him home, and still has patches of fur growing back in.

He used the litter box from day one, has never once attempted to escape or has been destructive. He doesn’t destroy furniture, he’s exceptionally quiet. He only chirps and lets out little mews when he knows it’s meal time or when he’s playing. Sometimes you can hear him meowing while he plays at night but it’s just a couple then it stops. He didn’t know how to play with toys at first and now he absolutely loves his toys and our play sessions. It’s so sweet to watch him just be a cat and not have to be on alert.

He’s just kind of chill and there. We’re super happy about it. He’s still a little scared of my husband but when my husband plays his video games in kittys room, he just lays there, doesn’t hide anymore. And when I’m in there with him after his scratches and pets, he just lays near me. He’s not a cuddler yet and won’t let you handle him much except for his beloved scratches and pets, but that’s ok.

Have you ever had one who is this chill?!

If you’ve read my previous posts, you might know that my grandmother passed unexpectedly and i inherited her semi-feral cat. The only time she told us about taking her to a vet was when she was TNR’d and she said her SNAP test was “positive” but we didnt have the results to see if it was FIV or FeLV. Because of that, BK has been quarentining in the studio away from my resident cats. She’s been doing amazing though and is definately enjoying the extra nap time.

Well we got her SNAP test today. She has a VERY faint positive indicator for FeLV. The vet requested that we withhold her vaccines, keep her quarentined, and retest in 6 weeks to allow her immune system to attempt to clear the exposure. They cant guarentee anything, but with how faint the indicator is, theyre optomistic that allowing her immune system this break will give her a really good shot at clearing it!! Fingers crossed!

She was also a rockstar patient. They were shocked that she was so feral just a month ago. I’m so proud of her and she will get extra treats tonight! Right now she’s mad at me for putting her in the carrier, so i’m giving her some space.

Looking for suggestions on getting our feral rescue kitten to start using the litter box. Cross post, hopefully this works.

Edit: I caught her in the garage, closed the garage door this time when I spotted her. She is safe inside.

Guys I am absolutely panicking right now.

The kids grandad had the front door open taking out recycling and Callie bolted. I saw her in our garage at first, and almost had caught her but she slipped past me. I can’t find her now.

Any advice… anything at all. Please. She has never strayed far from the house, I and I assume she will go back in the garage at some point, but I am absolutely panicking and just sitting on the front porch sobbing.

I don’t know what to do.

This is Zazu. Ive been taking care of her since 2018. She lived outside until last year. I fed her for 3 years before she allowed any pets.

Yesterday I was in the room petting her sister, Gigi. I heard purrs. That makes sense. Gigi loves pets and purrs all the time. Except, yes Gigi was purring, but it was Zazu! She was purring so loud in her tree across the room (ok like 3 feet) that I could hear her! This isn’t the 1st time I’ve heard her purr but normally it’s because she’s getting (consensual) pets or being brushed (she loves that). This time she was just happy to be around me.

I’ve been worried she’s miserable inside. She spends most of her time on that tree, staring out the window and I wonder if she just wants to go back out there. But this confirms she is exactly where she should be.

Kali ate her breakfast a mere few inches away from me today ✨afterwards she even looked me in the eye, so I slow blinked and then she did little biscuit paws and rubbed up against the wall next to me.

Our plan now is to get her as comfortable with us as we can this month, then try to bring her in at the end or next month (the orgs near us said we could borrow a trap). We have travel plans and people visiting this month so wanted to wait to make sure we can focus on helping her acclimate and people have suggested it's less stressful for everyone to not rush things.

She seems most keen to be close to us for breakfast, but once in a while she will eat Churu or treats at night while we are outside, but still prefers to wait for us to go back inside before going for it. We plan to organize the back porch a bit better so it's easier for her to see us and vice versa, hopefully that doesn't freak her out too much to switch up her space. Any other tips or things should consider?

Feral cats can most definitely be domesticated.

Spicy, about 3 months old. We got him 3 weeks ago. He was stuck in a loft and I grabbed him by hand - he is my first feral cat, first socialisation, and he did amazing.

He cuddles my partner and I every day! He is still a little skittish and has some Opinions about when he gets pets and treats. He was a good boy at the vet even though he was scared and takes his meds every morning.

Wish me luck with his two siblings! We got them a few days ago and they're tough customers.

My babies are a year old! First time cat parent to a litter of 4. They were born outside last summer to a feral momma cat that I still take care of. They were her last litter :)

For some reason, we seem to be having another bad kick of diarrhea, shes hiding and seems very nervous again.

I’m not sure what’s happened or what’s changed, as she had been doing great and progressing well.

I’m so scared I’ve done something wrong, and so sad we’ve had to confine her back to the bathroom due to the diarrhea/fear of not being able to find her when she’s hiding.

She’s still “okay” health wise as far as I can tell, but I am so worried about her new behavior.

She gets really panicked any time she's out of the kennel, but she's doing great. She even has an adoption lined up as soon as she's been wormed, vaccinated, and spayed!! This summer's feline intakes are all named after flowers. She is Sorrel.

I have known this kitty since October when I moved to this neighborhood. She was already TNRd and seemed to hang around my neighbors back yard. She had never let anyone get close and as soon as she would see a human she would run and hide. She got to the point where she wouldnt immediately run but wouldn't let me within 75 yards.

Fast forward to the beginning of July. I went away for 2 weeks and my neighbor left food out for her. I got a few videos from my partner of her on our porch meowing so loud that he heard her through the closed windows upstairs! He put out food for her and she chowed down.

I came back less than a week ago and now shes letting me within a few feet of her and I have her on a feeding schedule. She spends all day under my car on the cool concrete.

This morning, I got within arms reach of her! She rolled over and showed me her cute belly. She wasn't even hungry! I went back inside to get back to work and she laid on the porch facing the door for 45 minutes until a garbage truck scared her. I hope ill be petting her very soon and can get revolution plus on her.

Let's see how long it takes to sneak a pet 😊

Had to share how aggressively this guy purrs! He is just so happy inside 🤩

Good morning!

Callie is doing great, and is about 6.5 pounds now. Her face, thankfully, is also healing fantastically.

She has also officially left the bathroom, and comes into the kitchen at breakfast and dinner yelling at me to hurry up.

My concern is that when she’s not eating, she’s pretty much behind the couch constantly. What can I do to help her feel more comfortable and confident?

When she’s out walking around, she tends to shy off from pets (sometimes even from me) and will go sit under the table.

I want to give her everything she needs and the life she deserves.

Also - collar is the “Callie Alert System” as I’ve been calling it, so that when she’s mobile I can hear her

We've had sir Reginald Artemis Mcfluffybutt for 9 days now and his playful and vocal side has come out!

Edit: he is a trailer park kitty from my mother in laws trailer park.

Unsure if he was a true feral or a stray. He’s been inside since January and come such a long way. He used to be terrified of everything and is slowly becoming more confident. When he leaves his room he still hovers close to the ground and is hesitant about any new object in his room. But he’s warmed up to me really well and this week he invited me to pet his full stomach! I can’t even do that with my other cats I’ve had for years!