my special kitty

hi everyone...

one of the feral cats i feed had his tail chewed off about three weeks ago. he is one of the most social and lets me pet him, so i was able to catch him by hand and get him to the vet. the vet had to cut off his tail, and he is recovering fine. he had already been nuetered. i have never tried to 'tame' a feral cat and ive been reading all up on it, on the net. i was very hopeful at first because he was already letting me pet him, and he would sit in my lap and purr. but it seems he is not becoming any more happy in the house. he and my other cat have made friends, but mostly he hides out on the top floor. he doesnt come to me like he did when he was outside, but if i pick him up from his hiding spot, he seems happy to be getting attention. he likes to be petted and brushed once i get him, and purrs alot. it has been about 3 weeks. do you think he will come out of his shell? should i be picking him up when he is hiding, or should i wait until he is comfortable enough to come to me? any ideas to help him be more comfortable?

hugs and kisses

JEN

'conditioned to self interest with emotions locked away, if thats what they call normal then I'd rather be insane'

Janet the friendly circus midget wrote:

Hi, Jen, It sounds to me like you're doing everything just fine with this cat. He already is comfortable with you and seems to enjoy being handled. If you want him to come to you more often, you can hang out near his hiding place and read out loud to him. Have a few treats handy. Try putting out a sleeping bag and sleeping there a few times. Three weeks is not a very long time at all. He's still just checking out the territory. Cheers,

Took my little feral, Sasha, 6 years before she trusted me enough to let me pick her up!! Petting was ok, she liked that. Just didn't care to be held. Now I can, and it was sure worth the wait. Even DH picked her up once. Too scary for him, though. He's seen her turn into a tiger once too often. LOL You are doing a great job with your new fur baby. Ferals need lots of TLC, much more so than a regular kitty. Even if from a distance. Eventually they all come around and I have some real hard headed ferals that have become so loving. Cyndy

(snip) i have never tried to

It was two months before I could touch Rosie and that was after I let her touch me first. It was several months after that before I could pick her up. Now she is the sweetest, most gentle, most loving cat you could imagine. She loves hugs, but is too energetic to be a lap cat for very long periods. I suspect she'll slow down some when she gets older.