Can A Feral Cat Become A House Cat?

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Is it possible to turn a feral cat into a loving family pet? Can it be done with relative ease? Or is it simply too much of a challenge with no guarantee of success?

In this material we’ll dissect this topic and provide you with an abundance of information and several educational steps that can potentially place you on the winning side of this tough task.

Enjoy the video! We hope you find it beneficial.

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[marymeyer]

We had a very large orange cat around our farm. Never could get close to him. One night he fought another male. Screaming and rolling down driveway. The next am he was in the barn but really cut up. Long story short food and water and a bit of time passes. He is no longer running from us but he is missing an eye. Had him nurtured and he stayed with me till he passes from a tumor he had behind his eye. I was super sick for a couple of months and he slept on my head the whole time. Never left my bed. The most awesome cat in the world. He was always known as Orange Cat.

[elizabethmanning]

A feral cat showed up at our house. She was pregnant. We fed her daily on the porch. She had her litter of 4.
They too shared her food when they were weaned. I would talk to them when I set food down, never touching or getting too close. One day the Orange cat of the litter showed up at the kitchen window & meowed at me. So I started feeding him outside the window always telling him "Its okay" repeatedly. Even petting him once before. I went inside wearing long gloves. Sure enough he came to the window every day & let me pet him once before I went inside. It started getting cold, so I put his food just inside the enclosed porch & told him "Its okay." When it was too cold on the porch, I moved the food just inside the front door all the while telling him it was okay. He was petrified of every little noise. I left the door ajar when I set down food & had put a litter box on the porch the first time he came in to eat. Always left the porch door ajar so he could roam outside. When the good weather came I sat outside & would call "Kitty, kitty" & eventually he'd show up. I told him over & over "Its okay" always in a soothing tone as I petted him once or twice. Every time I petted him from the very first time on he would purr. Purr, purr, purr.. He eventually stayed in the house permanently. (Our other cat considered him an intruder.) Still skittish, he finally settled in and after 2 yrs of giving him lots of loving always telling him in a soft tone "Its okay". he is a lap cat. It took a lot of patience, but it was worth it. (His mother & 3 siblings had been captured & adopted when he showed up at the kitchen window.)
So yes, a feral kitten CAN be socialized. 👍👍

[trevorpsy]

I have domesticated 4 or 5 feral cats over the last 15 years.

Several points: I found that about 70 percent of feral cats will domesticate, although it can take several years in some cases and as short as a few months in other cases. Male ferals may be easier to become domesticated.

They domesticate themselves on their schedule. All you can do is be loving and patient. Your attitude should be that they're welcome in your house even if they never domesticate themselves.

The feral that never becomes domesticated will still develop an affection for you. They will learn their names and respond to you with a meow when call them. It's not so much that their "wild"; they're just afraid. Some ferals just can't adjust to be touched. But they eventually they will welcome your presence.

Ferals don't cause trouble with your other cats. They co-exist just like domesticated cats.

Also, ferals use the cat box by instinct. I've never had a problem in this regard. It's helpful when domesticated cats have used the box.

Perhaps the most important factor in domesticating a feral is having it live among several domesticated cats. Watching you interact with domesticated cats may indicate that you can be trusted. It also gives the feral a chance to trust other cats in peaceful, secure circumstances. You are a part of those circumstances, which may help them to trust you.

Feeding time is a good opportunity to communicate with a feral. Fairly quickly, it will come out to eat with its domesticated brothers and sisters. Keep praising it when it's eating. Keep the eating experience as unchanging as possible: same time of day, same method for disbursing food, etc.

In the beginning, your feral is going to spend a lot of time under the bed or hiding elsewhere; coming out at night to play with their domesticated cousins or to explore. Eventually they will poke their heads out during the day. Whenever you see them, talk to them. Talk to them even when you're petting another cat. Talk, talk, talk.

By the way, we don't domesticate feral cats; they domesticate themselves by coming to trust you.

There's a another factor to consider: Some ferals have led relatively peaceful lives. Other ferals have been traumatized or have come close to starving. The former are better prepared to develop trust. Young adult ferals have had fewer opportunities to be traumatized.

The video mentions eventually picking up a feral. This may be too much to expect, but you can certainly get to the point where you can pet them and have them sleep at the foot of your bed while you're asleep. I recall one feral who became a lap cat. Don't expect this.


Having a feral in your house is NOT a "nightmare situation." They hide at first and when they do come out they're extremely shy. Just don't push your luck. They're scared.

They will always be wary and spook easily, but they make devoted pets.

[jerimcgee]

A neighbor boy pulled a feral Siamese kitten out from under my house. The kitten bite the crap out of him. I kept it in a hamster cage for about a week. I put on heavy gloves to pet it every few hours. One day as I was petting it it turned around and looked me in the eyes like he suddenly recognized me. He raised up to pet my chin and started purring. From then on he loved me till the day he died. His name was Sting.

[judyfabion]

The love of my life is a feral who adopted me. He was so feral he had to learn to meow from my other rescues. He is the best companion I could ever have. 💘

[maryhirsch]

I recently took in an old semi-feral Tom cat who was badly injured. I say semi-feral because I found out that someone had fed him but didn't have any physical contact. He was a mess! His whole tail was bloody and parts of it were falling off! I believe a car ran over his tail. I cried every time I fed him because he wouldn't let me touch him to get him help. Over time, he got friendlier and friendlier and let me pet him so I kept doing that for a while until he got used to that. Then one day I slowly picked him up while he was eating and got him in a cat cage. I took him to the Humane Society and they did everything to fix him up and I mean everything. He got neutered, dewormed, antibiotics, they killed the zillion lice and fleas he had, shaved him, Rabie shot, 2 baths, the works! He had been itching so bad that it looked like he was having a seizure. They had him for four days and they charged me NOTHING but I donated a couple hundred. He is now in a large cat cage on my back porch recovering. I am still working on training him to the litter box. If I succeed at that, I will attempt to bring him inside. I give him lots of loving during the day and he purrs and pushes his head into my hand now. Lots of comforting and gentle talk and massaging as he went through a lot of stress at the Humane Society but for his own good. His tail is healing up nicely and no more bleeding or itching. I sure do love this "Pretty Boy" and I am so grateful to the Humane Society for saving him. A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I don't have to cry over him anymore. All it takes is a lot of patience and time. It can be done!

[kathistriggow]

I guess I am very fortunate. My feral cat who has a clipped ear ran into my house on November 19, 2018. We had talked a number of times. It was awful weather that day. I am so happy that she trusted me! She has been the best little kitty ever! A huge part of my life❤! Very smart little girl! From what I can gather, she's about 7. It is possible, and I'm so grateful for her blessing my life❤❤

[loneyhearts]

I have 2 kittens born of a ferral cat, they were 4 weeks old when I got them. I fed them bathed them and litter trained them. They are my children. I had them fixed when it was appropriate, and they have been in my custody since May 2012. The story of their being raised by me is one I cherish, I am so glad I have them.

[mamacat]

Mooshie took 3 years to tame. He had my back bedroom. He his in corners. I filled the corners with furniture dressers etc. I would go in and sit and just talk to him. After a while he started coming out. The day he let me scratch his chin with 1 finger while I was offering a dish of canned food was a breakthrough. He is still a little skittish. Just recently he started begging for attention. He also likes to plop on me in the middle of the night. Love cures all. He also purrs which he didn't do in the beginning. He loves my other cats and plays like a little kid.

[tanjarepside]

I adopted my feral cat at age 14. And I was patient. Now is 16. And after 8 months every day sleeping with me, huging me.

[carlosbonilla]

My one former feral cat wouldn't let me get within 3 feet of her for the first 10 months, but she loves and learned from my other cats. Still doesn't let me pick her up very much, but she sleeps on me now and wants touching and attention all the time.

[trevorpsy]

I have something else to add. In my backyard for the past several months are two male cats. One is a stray and other is (was) definitely feral. Both are adults. When I put out their food, the stray is starving for affection, so I pause for a minute to pet and talk to him. (If I didn't have so many cats already, I would take him in.) Until very recently, the other cat kept his distance and backed away whenever I got too close. The more I fed them the closer the feral would come, until about month ago when he got close enough to smell my hand. I offered my hand for a couple weeks, and then I touched the top of his head. He instantly pulled back and took a swipe at me. I went back offering my hand. Then he got close once again and I touched his head. He was shocked but quickly realized that what I was doing was pleasurable. Long story short, he's now spoiled, wanting me to drop everything and pet him. (Now the the cats are jealous of each other, and I have to be careful about giving them equal amounts of attention.)

My point is that all cats, including ferals, are different. Some ferals can be domesticated. Some after a year or two, and some after a month or two. As I said before, male ferals seem to be less of a challenge.

One other point, I believe that I was able to domesticate my backyard feral so quickly is because the stray cat modeled domesticated behavior and wasn't harmed in doing so.

[ndAgapewank]

I rescued a feral at my work place. She was about 6 months old. And she WAS VIOLENT. Made all of us at work leave her, bloody and bruised. Yes bruised. We were bloody n bruised, not her. We named her Rhonda after Rhonda Rousse, the boxer. I spent the next 2 mths spending time with her. I finally trapped her. Had her spayed and then kept her at work in the heated garage to recover from the spay. It was winter time in New England. She stayed in the garage from the week of Thanksgiving til Memorial Day the following year. She hide the entire time. We fed her and gave her water. She used the litter box but preferred the speedy dry. She wouldn’t even leave, with the garage doors open nor the loud tractor trailers running being worked on. She left Memorial Day weekend came back the next week during a down pour. She finally let me pat her. I took her home and she never even tries to leave to go outside. Sits along side of my other 2 kitties. Did I mention she is a Tortoise/Calico, known to be obnoxious at times.

[zachmatt]

I've attempted taming about 10 feral cats over the last 20 years. The success rate wasn't high, but three were tamable. One stayed at a shelter and eventually became a friendly shelter cat that loves people. I brought two home with me after having been scratched and charged at (they were ferocious). But after a few months, I gained their trust, and within a year became extremely loving pets. I still have one of them, and she snuggles and sleeps with me. She loves head bumps, and greets me by licking my face if I lie down on the floor with her. Again, I couldn't make headway with most of them, but a few efforts were very successful.

[parkerposey]

I am taming a black pair of now five month old kittens. The girl, Molly, escaped by busting through the screen door within 60 seconds of being brought in the house. The boy, Tom, I released into a bedroom. Every couple hours I would sit with him. Touch him. Pick him up. Hold him close while scruffing the back of his neck and half meowed and cooed at him. Within two days he was out in the living room hanging out on the huge cat tree that I threw a blanket over. I had food, water and litter box set up a few feet away from it. He spent another three or four days hanging out, watching every movement, listening to every sound. I went on as usual. Not trying to be quiet. Just life. Meanwhile, I had set up a feeding station outside the shed I was suspecting she was hiding in. Inside the shed I took the door off one of the carriers with a plush throw blanket. I set up a camera to see if she was the one eating the food. Yup! It was her! My three legged, seven year old, male ginger was spending a lot of time in the shed and I came in and startled the kitten. They were snuggling in the carrier. 😂 I had been calling and cooing for her constantly. Finally one night she called to me from the roof of the shed. This was two weeks after busting through the screen door. I talked to her. She sounded so scared and lonely. At this point Molly knew Tom was in the house. Once he ventured from the living room to the entire house, he spent a lot of time in the laundry room window that faced the shed. So he knew Molly was out there. After three nights of chatting with her on the shed roof, I finally got a ladder and some Kitty pate. She ate right in front of my face. I reached out and gently ran my finger down her neck. She backed up, looked me right in the eyes, then head butted my finger and continued eating. I started stroking down her back. When she finished eating, I slowly grabbed her by the nape of the neck and held her close to me. I got her inside and in the bedroom. Luckily ginger cat was in there sleeping. I set her down and she ran right up to him! Then her brother came in. All hell broke loose! She apparently was pissed at him! 😂 I had no idea cats could jump straight up walls! She hit the ceiling! Of course, it never occurred to me that she could bust through a screen door! It has been a month now. Tom is adjusting way better than Molly but they both are sweet and gentle kitties! They have never bitten or scratched me. Even in play. Tom has already caught two mice! I don’t know if Molly has yet. The reason I rescued them is because I had to put my torty down a couple weeks before and the rodent population boomed!!!! OMG! I suppose I could have just released them but I wanted them to be tamed enough for vet care, fun little companions and so that when I leave this property they could come too. I wasn’t emotionally prepared for two more cats but I had to humanely get the rodent population back to reasonable and there’s always room in my heart for ALL the critters! I do love them! I love watching them play and do their rounds! They’re a team! It’s so beautiful! If you need any extermination services, The Pantera Twins Pest Control is open for business! Lol! Tom Cat and Molly at your service, 555-555-5555!!!!

[hassadah]

I have a feral cat that comes over. He befriended my own cat. We used to see him for years around the area buy he is so fearful. With food over time he came closer to our door. Then when no one was in the living room He came in and jumped on the couch one day. He only feels safe on the couch in our house. At first he was extremely fearful of being touched. But he was never aggressive... just paralysed by fear. But over time eventually we heard him purr a tiny bit. Now as he got comfortable with us, he is happy to give us his belly for rubs (loves belly rubs). Before he only came in the house very rarely.... but as his trust grows it's becoming more frequent. The past week or so He's been staying in the house for the whole night to sleep on the couch. He still feels most safe on the couch. He won't be approached anywhere else. But if I sit on the couch and call his name, he'll come over to snuggle up to me and for affection. It's a long process and lots of patience.

Not sure if we'll ever FULLY domesticate him. Currently he won't drink water from a bowl ... he goes outside to drink from a puddle. And has zero interest in the litterbox. One night he peed on my mum's bed because he didn't know where to go and we were all asleep.

I tried putting him in the litterbox once ... but again paralysed by fear and run out and straight on the couch because he feels safe there.

I put the litter box in the living room where he spends the most time, hoping he might sniff around and detect that my other cat uses it.

That would be ideal. It's cold where we live and we don't like the idea of him being in the cold and wet all night... but also not ideal if he needs to pee and doesn't know where to go.

We definitely have made a lot of progress with him. The fact that he's staying the night and coming over for affection is really good. I'm literally tip toeing around him so I don't spook him somehow.

[cleot]

My son has raised nine cats. The first four were found on the street as kittens, and they grew into very loving pets. The next three lived in our apartment complex. Their mama had been producing kittens there for years. My son started feeding them, and eventually he was able to pick them up and bring them home. They are a bit more skittish than the others but they get along well. Number eight came to us as an adult when her parents split up. Number nine lived on the street after his family moved away. He seemed to want to move in with us so we took him in. He's a great cat. Raising a feral kitten or a stray adult is possible. You can save a life. Some will be more loving than others, but they're cats! Be patient and be prepared for vet bills. We think it's worth it.

[andrewlangcake]

Interesting, the one time we semi domesticated a feral cat, said cat was about 8 yrs old .Having no idea about the process, we started by providing food and a box for shelter in our garden, progressed to being able to approach him (Again with food ) and eventually he moved in of his own accord .We think he came from a nearby farm colony and simply decided to retire to an easier life .Coming indoors took 3 months and he lived with us for another 3 years, until sadly illness took him .We were never able to treat him like a pet, he wasn't having all that soppy petting or picking up stuff, but he also never attacked us, just made his boundaries clear .In the light of this i'd say it's very possible to live with a feral cat in your house, as long as you accept that they are probably never going to be a snuggly lap cat .

[jimdep]

Yes, as an indoor / outdoor cat, but to keep a once feral cat as a strictly indoor cat is tough on both the kitty and the owner.

[czinnikas]

I live in a state where cats are considered wild animals and free roaming. We have a colony at work and I was recruited for some feeding. The back colony is pretty feral and we try to keep everyone fixed. We have one that primarily lives in front about 7 years old. She is confident and social not afraid to flirt for some treats. She is an anomaly but very happy. We consider her our work mascot.