A friend who owns an animal shelter told me about 2 months ago that she had 2 kittens she thought I should take. Here's a pic when she first got them.



They're 6-8 month feral siblings that she started socializing while she had them, a cat with a potential ringworm infection came in so she couldn't take in or adopt out any more cats till that was cleared up (it ended up being negative.) Yesterday I brought them home, they stayed in the carrier the rest of the day (I put in the bathroom along with some food & water, and the 2 litter boxes that are already in there), and when I got up this morning they were curled up together at the bottom of the stairs. He took off when I went down, she hissed & spat but let me pet her and pick her up without any problems. This afternoon when I got home from work she was still down there, he was nowhere to be found (I later found him under my bed, inside the box spring.) I sat down next to her and talked to her, got the hiss & spit treatment, but she let me pet & hold her again without much squirming.



The other cats are handling it well, I've only heard a little bit of hissing and no fighting. Being ferals they may never become lap cats or snugglers, but to me the important thing is that they have a good home. If they never jump up on my lap that's OK. I'm going to try to get the male out from under my bed soon, and start getting him used to being held as well.

Good luck with the socialization. That is quite the task you've undertaken. Good for you!

Pretty cats.

Always good to hear of critters finding a good home.

My brother got one over at the mines he worked at OP. It stayed hid all day and would come out at night when they went to sleep. It finally wanted to start playing with them at night and now it's not afraid of anyone. Just takes time.

Yep, when you figure what they've been through - being yanked out of their home in the shelter, with all its familiar smells, sounds, cats, and people, spending 2 hours in a carrier during my drive home, and finding themselves in a new place with strange smells, sounds, cats, and people - it's no wonder they hide for days.

That's great, taking them in!    My two are rescues.  Could't live without them.

My kitty's a feral and while she doesn't like to be held...or share the bed with me...she does loved to be petted and brushed.

Congrats on your two new babies.

Jasper is doing well, he still has a lot of feral instincts and will NOT let me pick him up. I can understand that, since being seized is generally a bad thing for wild animals. I'm working on him, putting a hand under his belly and lifting the front paws off the ground then immediately giving him treats. Its taking a long time, though, but then again it's probably the primary survival instinct I'm trying to modify. Here he is, from about a week ago.



Jasmine disappeared a few months ago, she got out one night and I haven't seen her since. No kitty corpse on the roadsides or down into ditches as far as I could see, it's possible a predator got her but I don't hear coyotes or fishers and there's nothing else around here big enough to take her. The friend I got her from said to put food out at night, being feral she's going to be active at night, which is why I don't see her (if she's still alive.) I also have a trail cam on the porch to see who comes up for the food, besides whichever ones of my 5 that avoid coming in at night there's a family of raccoons. No Jasmine, though. I'm remaining hopeful, stranger things have happened.

He's a beautiful cat.     Hope Jasmine turns up ok.

Thanks. The other night my brother told me he'd seen a shaggy cat crossing the road in front of my place, and that it wasn't my big tuxedo cat Domino (who is shaggy.) None of my other cats are shaggy (I don't consider Jasper shaggy), but Jasmine is, so maybe it's her. I moved the camera to a tree maybe 30 feet from the road and put a pile of food down last night, some of the food is gone (so I know it wasn't the raccoon family because they would have eaten every last bit) but for some reason the camera didn't get any pics. I'll give it another shot tonight and see what came by when I get home Sunday.

Cute kittys.