Taming a stray cat - please help

For all your feline miscellany - any interesting stories, news or subjects that do not fit in the other sections.
Post Reply
Rainbow22
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:20 pm

Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by Rainbow22 »

Hi,

I’m hoping someone can give me some advice regarding a stray cat I’m trying to tame.

I first started feeding her about a year ago. At that time she was very, very thin and had several bald patches on various parts of her body. I’m happy to say that in the last year she has put on a lot of weight (she’s now a normal weight for a domestic cat), and no longer has bald patches. I’ve also managed to have her spayed.

When I first started feeding her I would leave a bowl of food outside on my bedroom windowsill. Over the year I’ve managed to get her to come inside and eat in my bedroom. I can leave the bowl anywhere in the room and she will go to it. I can even put it on my chest while I am lying in bed and she will approach and eat from it. However, she is still extremely timid. She will allow me to stroke her (provided I’m lying down and the bowl of food is on my chest), but she merely tolerates this while she is eating. As soon as she’s finished, she moves away back to the windowsill where she grooms herself and then leaves through the open window. Sometimes she will even take a nap for an hour or two on the floor below the windowsill. However, if I make any kind of movement, she will leave immediately.

There are other cats in the area, and I think she is very frightened of them. If she hears the slightest sound outside while she is eating, she bolts for the windowsill and is gone.

The problem is that I’m moving in a couple of months and I won’t be able to take her with me. My sister has agreed to take her if I can tame her. However, I’m not sure that she can be tamed. An officer from the local society for protection of animals suggested that I should trying playing with her with pieces of food, but this hasn’t worked.
I’ve read that some people have tamed wild cats by capturing them and keeping them locked in a room, which they visit periodically to allow the cat to become accustomed to them. The problem is that I’ve already captured her once (when I was having her spayed) and she didn’t react very well to it all. After the operation I kept her in my bedroom in a locked cat carrying box supplied by the vet. However, she was so distressed that she started ‘fighting’ with the blanket inside it. I released her from the box into my bedroom, but kept the windows locked. However, she cried all night, and in the morning I found her hiding behind a wardrobe. She was absolutely soaked with sweat from the anxiety of it all. I had to release her immediately because it looked as if she just couldn’t take any more. Thankfully, she returned again a couple of nights later and we are now at the stage I described above where she will come into my bedroom and even eat from a bowl on my chest while I’m lying in bed.

Can anyone give me any advice on where I should go from here? As I said, I have to move house in a couple of months, and I know that she will return to the terrible condition she was in before I started taking care of her if I can’t tame her before I leave.

Ray
Rainbow22
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:20 pm

Re: Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by Rainbow22 »

I should add that she looks to be under 2 years old and has had one litter that I'm aware of.
User avatar
Judy Barnett
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 161
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:25 pm
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: Stoke on Trent

Re: Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by Judy Barnett »

Hi Ray, my husband and I started feeding a stray eight years ago. Eventually after a few months we were able to handle him enough to take him to the vets to get him checked out and to see whether he was micro chipped. He was. We phoned the owner who told us his name was Elvis, (we have been calling him Yowlee because he's so vocal), long story short. They moved, he moved out, got lost, found a couple of saps, moved in. The old owners were happy for us to keep him. Now, we have been very lucky with Yowlee because although he was a stray for some time, for a long time before that he was a very well loved pet right from the start which made him very humanly sociable, not all cats have had that experience. Also it comes down to the personality of the cat. Sometimes they are people cats, sometimes they are not, no matter what you try to do for them. Also if she was born wild she must be handled within the first three months after birth or else she will always be wild in nature. The good news is that you have done a wonderful service to her by getting her spayed. Now at least if she doesn't become domesticated she won't be dragged down by the burden of having litter after litter, which will damage her health and shorten her life. A fit healthy cat is remarkably resilient. They are not like dogs that we have bred to be reliant on us, they have inbred qualities that enable them to hunt even if you don't want them to! (thank you Georgia for the two dead goldfinch fledglings you brought me last spring). Personally, I wouldn't try forced captivity on a cat, its ok if that's all they've known from birth, I have a friend who has a 'house cat' that probably wouldn't thank you to be put outside now. But when they've known freedom I think its a little unkind. But I wish you all the luck with her. Please let us know how you get on. x :)
Rainbow22
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:20 pm

Re: Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by Rainbow22 »

Thanks very much for your reply Judy.

I think I'm going to try to capture one more time and see if I can do something for her. I completely understand what you're saying about it being unfair to keep a wild cat inside. But I'm hoping that once she gets used to humans my sister will be able to let out her be outside for most of the day.

It's great to hear that she'll be able to take care of herself if my attempt to tame her doesn't work, but the problem is that she didn't seem to be having much of a life before I started feeding her. When I first saw her I thought she was deformed in some way. Her legs looked really odd. It turns out that she was just so thin that her legs looked that way. Now that she's a proper weight her legs look fine. I'm very nervous that she'll go back to being that way.

I'm very interested in your opinion. If you really think this isn't the way to go, I'd like to hear from you.

Thanks again, Judy.


Rayy
User avatar
bobbys girl
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 3095
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:58 pm
No. of cats in household: 5
Location: Co. Fermanagh

Re: Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by bobbys girl »

My darling Tommy came to us as an adult 'stray'. We know nothing of his former life. He was really quite wild when he came to us.

But given enough space and time he became a real cuddle bunny. Willow has been with us almost from birth. I was the first person she saw. She is a little baggage - 'I didn't say you stroke me,how dare you!' :roll:

Basically, you never can tell. Best leave it to the cat.
User avatar
Kay
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 1961
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 2:50 pm
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: West Wales

Re: Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by Kay »

it might be a good idea to ask around your current area to see if there are any neighbours who would be happy to look after her in the same way you are doing, as a fall back in case you cannot improve her interaction with people
User avatar
Judy Barnett
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 161
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:25 pm
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: Stoke on Trent

Re: Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by Judy Barnett »

I agree with Kay, there's bound to be other cat lovers in the area that will look out for her. We have a battered old stray that timidly comes in to our garden from time to time. It won't let me come too close, but close enough to feed it. If I get up early enough I often find it on my cats day bed in the greenhouse. Sometimes that's all wild cats need, a food supply and shelter. Yours has the added bonus of not being burdened with offspring.
Rainbow22
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:20 pm

Re: Taming a stray cat - please help

Post by Rainbow22 »

Thanks everyone for your replies.

There isn't anyone locally who would have looked after her. There is a very large colony of strays close-by and they're seen as pests.

On the bright side, I've actually caught her and the socialising process is going quite well.

You can follow her progress here, if you like: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/331979/need ... st_4174497

Thanks again for your kind advice,

Ray
Post Reply