Tips on Caring for a Feral or Scared Stray Cat

Feral cats are outdoor cats that are not tamed or used to human contact. They do not have socialization skills so it makes it harder for them to have as pets. A person who is taking in a feral or very scared stray cat needs a lot of patience and time to make the cat more comfortable and sociable. I am also writing about my personal experience taking in a feral cat so you might find that helpful as well.

A few years ago, I took in a feral kitten who was living on the streets. It was a cold and icy wintry day and I just could not bear to see this poor kitten being out in the ice and snow. I trapped the kitten with a trap cage, which I got from an animal shelter. I immediately brought the kitten to the vet, as scared as she was, to have her checked for any diseases and to find out how old she is and if she needed any shots.

The vet had to put a towel over her head to calm her down. She was very wild, jumping all around the treatment room. I felt so bad for her, but I knew in my heart I wanted to save this kitten from a life on the streets. The vet said that she seemed healthy and he administered her a shot. He also checked her teeth, which he said, is how he could tell her age. She was four months old.

A feral or scared stray cat who was living outdoors for a long period of time, will most likely take longer to socialize than a kitten under the age of two months. The longer the kitten or cat is out in the wild, the more time it has to adapt to it's environment and be unsocialized or untamed.

If you have taken in a scared stray or feral cat, the first thing to do is confine the cat to one room. If you let the cat have free run of the house, it might end up hiding for days and you will lose out on time trying to socialize it. I had an extra spare bedroom in my house when I took my feral kitten in. I put her in that room and kept the door shut at all times.

I put fresh water and food in there for her. Whenever I would walk into the room with her water or food, she would hiss or run away from me and hide under something. I made a point to keep going into the room several times throughout the day to get her used to me. I would bring food, water, cat treats and cat toys in the room with me. This way she could see that I wasn't going to hurt her but I that I wanted to help her and take care of her.

I brought in a cat toy with a string and feather attached to it and gently glided it across the room. I swished it back and forth on the floor to see if I could get a reaction out of her. In the beginning, she would not even look at it. She was just too scared. Then after a week or so, she started staring at it like she wanted to chase it.

I feel that playing with a cat is a bonding experience and it may help to make a cat more comfortable around you.
Eventually after going in that room day after day and week after week with the cat toy, my feral kitten starting coming out of her hiding spots to catch it and play with me.

A few times she got close enough for me to pet her and as tempting as it was, I held back, because I didn't want to scare her and start all over again. I waited until she was so comfortable with me, playing and eating in front me first before I would try and pet her.

I knew this kitten needed to be spayed too, but I wanted to wait until she was a little more socialized so that I could get her into the cat carrier. The trap cage I had originally caught her in went back to the animal shelter. They let me rent it out to capture her when she was on the street.

I called the vet to set up an appointment for her to be spayed. They suggested that I throw a towel over her and pick her up and place her in the cat carrier because she was a feral kitten. I went into the room the day of her appointment scared but yet determined to get this kitten into her carrier. I tried to coax her into the carrier by placing a trail of food on the floor leading into the cat carrier. I thought she would follow the food and go into the carrier and I would just shut the door, but that didn't happen.

Sometimes I think cats just know when they are going to the vet. She didn't want to budge. She was hiding under a small table and I could see her eyes opened real wide. I put on a pair of gardening gloves so that she wouldn't scratch my hands or arms and then I picked up the table and threw a towel on her. Right after the towel was thrown over her, she went stiff. She didn't move. She was probably paralyzed with fear so I picked her up in the towel and immediately placed her into the pet carrier and locked it shut.

I drove her to the vet and came up with an idea for when she came home. Since she would be in the cat carrier when she got home and probably feeling tired and groggy, I would be able to pick her limp body up. I have an old dog cage that I bought for my dog when he was a puppy. It was a nice size, not too small. I set the cage up, put a small litter box in there, food and fresh water. I also threw in a few toys.

When she came home from the vet, she was very lethargic after her spaying. I picked her up and placed her in the dog cage and locked it shut. I kept her in this cage for a few weeks to socialize her. The cage was in my living room because I felt at this point she should be around other humans so that she can be even more socialized.

This made it easier for me to find a way to pet her. First, I started off by getting a long plastic stick from her cat toy, and I would stroke her back with it and around her head. I could tell at first she was very scared and she even hissed at me, but then after a few days of doing this, I could tell she was enjoying the feeling because she would close her eyes and rub on the stick.

After a week of using a plastic stick to pet this cat, I wanted to pet her with my hand. I put on an arm length gardening glove and open the door of the cage slightly. I used the glove so that my hands would not get torn up or scratched. I would then put my gloved hand in the cage and start to stroke her soft fur.

I felt around her cheeks and under her chin. I started to hear her purring. I think I cried at this point. I felt that we were bonding and she was starting to enjoy human interaction. It was a touching moment.

I kept petting her through the cage for a couple more weeks to get her used to me and the feeling of being stroked and pet. Then I thought it would be time to let her out of the cage and into the house. I let her free. She ran up the stairs to the old bedroom that I kept her in when she first came home. She hid under the same table. I thought all that effort was for nothing. Until a few days later.

She started coming down the steps into the living room to look for me. When I saw her, I would go and grab one of her toys so that she would be occupied by doing something entertaining and enjoy the time she had when she was with me.

Weeks and weeks went by and I moved her food and water bowls from the bedroom into the kitchen. I would sing a little tune whenever I fed her so that she knew it was time to eat her wet food. She would run down the steps and into the kitchen and rub against my legs and start to eat her food.

Months and months went by and she finally came out of her cocoon. That little scared hissing kitten became a beautiful, loving, purring, social butterfly. She loves being pet and she enjoys the company of my other family members. She even loves strangers! I would have never thought that she would come around like this. It took a lot of time and a lot of patience but it was well worth it and quite rewarding.

Here are some tips when taking in a feral cat. Make sure to confine the cat to one room in the house if you can. If not, try purchasing or borrowing a large dog cage to keep the cat in one place so that you can see it all times. This will help you to socialize it more and get it used to being around humans. Try to invite people over to your house or have your family members walk around the cage so that the gets used to people and noises.

If you feel the cat is very scared in the cage, you can put a towel or sheet over the cage to make it feel more covered or protected. A cage may not sound like a nice place for an animal to live, but it is much better than living on a cold, scary street. It is only temporary until you can tame the cat.

Another thing you can do is call a vet or animal shelter for some advice on how to handle a scared or unsocialized cat. If you really feel that you can not handle the responsibility of owning a feral cat, then try to see if you can get the shelter to come and take it or see if you can take it there yourself.

You may get upset or frustrated that the cat is not like a regular house cat and it may bite, hiss or scratch you, but you have to realize that the cat does this because it is scared and not because it is mean. You will have to be patient and have understanding and eventually you will probably see some progress.

Feral cats can become loving house pets. It just takes time and determination to get them to that point. For me, it was well worth the time I put in to saving my cat's life from the street. I worked a full time job and had my own responsibilities so at the time it was a little hard, but I made sure that my feral kitten was properly cared for and socialized each day until she became the little darling cat she is today. Now I appreciate her affection even more because I know how hard it was in the beginning for her to show it.