So a couple weeks ago, my neighbor friend and I are discussing how we are going to do our summer and fall deer food plots.  He happens to mention that his wife's cat just had kittens and they are now getting to the point where they need to adopt them out.  "Great!  I'll take two I said!".  Big mistake.

So a couple days go by until Friday PM two weeks ago yesterday and I stop to take a look at the kittens.  Figured since it was a pet cat, there would be pet kittens, right?  Yea FML.  Turns out momma kitty is a feral, it just happens to live under their house.  A search for the momma finds her in the yard but no sign of the kitties.  Too late now, I'm not going to go back on my word.  No biggie, I've socialized feral cats before.  But here we go again, it's a long slow process.

Saturday PM, two weeks ago, he comes on down to my house with Kitty #1 in tow.  Released it into my shop office, where I already have everything, including my feral kitty secret weapon (don't bother asking, my lips are sealed).  Next morning, he's back again with Kitty #2.

So I started my Feral Kitty (FK) protocol: basically first week all the free food they want; 2nd week I start limiting the food, but give it to them more often (unlimited water always). 

Yesterday, I started the "No Work, No Food" part of the process; i.e. they have to come out and eat with me in the room (+15 feet away, quietly sitting).  They don't come, they don't eat, except for a few little pieces I leave just to let them know who is giving them their food.

Finally tonight around 9 PM, Waffle comes out into the light, but not quite far enough to eat.

See if you can see him (or her):



Somewhere under that couch is his/her sibling, Grits.  Keep in mind, this is only the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen them since my neighbor let them loose from their traps two weeks ago.

I 'spect by this time next week, they'll be eating out of my hand, literally.

Thanks for reading!

Nice, they will come around and love you.  Two most awesome family cats were feral as kittens and one other cat from my past I captured from under a building after momma was killed by a car.. he was awesome.

Good luck, I've got one who still hides up inside my box spring till early evening and moves from cover to cover over a year after getting him. And don't even think of picking him up. He's affectionate enough when it's on his terms, he wakes me up almost every night when he gets on my chest to knead like crazy and purr his little lungs out. Pet him or rub his ears and he'll go into contortions of bliss, but don't envelop him if you know what's good for you. Withholding food wouldn't have worked here because I have other cats that would take exception to being hungry, plus I'm content to let him do what he's most comfortable with. I have a female feral who's even less socialized, the only time I can pet her is when she's rubbing against my cat that's her big buddy. But good luck!

Two of the cats we have now are kittens from a feral cat that wondered on to my mom's property.  Great cats.  Smart as hell.  The only two cats we've ever had that respond appropriately to "NO".  They immediately stop what they are doing and walk away.  First two cats we've ever had that didn't require a spray water bottle around to make them mind.

We had a couple years ago that were living under a building.  Their momma got killed (no idea how, just found her in the back yard dead.  The two kittens were hiding under the neighbor's shed.  They'd come out in the afternoon to sit in the sun and get warm and we'd sneak around the corner and grab them (they were tiny little things) and carry them to our deck where we'd feed them with meat scraps and a saucer of milk.  Then we'd carry them back to shed so they could snuggle up for the night in the "nest" their momma had made for them.  Eventually they started coming to the deck on their own to be fed.  After awhile we took them to the vet, got the female "fixed" and got them rabies shots and a check up.

After that they became indoor/outdoor cats.  They'd come in the house in the morning and eat, lay around and sleep.  When they wanted out they'd go to the door and paw at the door and we'd let them out for the night.  Repeat it again the next day.  The male disappeared first.  No idea what happened to him.  The female got hit by a car (we assume) as we found her dead in the culvert of our driveway.  

Now we keep our cats inside all the time.

Glad you saw the light, living near a highway is a death sentence to a cat or dog. We have lost a few beautiful Aussies to drivers (not me personally but foster homes) and we tend not to allow folks like that foster, no matter what the good intentions are.

In for updates.

Socializing feral cats under a specific plan or protocol like I'm doing requires that the feral cats be isolated from the other cats.  I have a total of 8 cats (4 normal, 2 semi-feral and these two new ferals).  Having them all mixed up right now would make the socializing part far more difficult, assuming, of course, they even stuck around.

I use my shop office, it's about 14'x36', a bit too big, but it's all I have that's not inside our house (not gonna happen per the wife).  Most sites that discuss socializing ferals use those wire cage things.  I won't, I just don't like the idea of leaving a kitty and/or cat in a cage all day every day.  In my office, there is plenty of room and places for them to hide and they can come out on their terms, when they are comfortable - puts more work and requires more patience on my part; but life is tough, then you die.

Well crap, sounds like I have a major problem then, since I live right on a major highway!

Here's a couple pics of it.  These were taken from inside my home office window a couple weeks or so ago.  The cat in the pic is one of my semi-ferals, Pancake.  Notice anything else in the pic?

I sort of have my own feral cat program.
I'm a sucker and feed them so they don't leave.

Started out with, run away and hide to "you are in my back yard, I kill you" attitudes.
Now I have "Dad's home, please pick me up or scratch my belly".
I feed them twice a day so they finally get the picture that I will not harm them.
One came around so well that she is an indoor only cat now.
She replaced another feral turned into house cat only that we had for 18 years.
Both ferals are the only cats that behave.
All the rescue cats are always on the counters and kitchen table.

Making progress:  After sitting for about a half hour this morning, they finally came out and fed this morning.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my phone, so no pics.    and  .

This afternoon, I did another session and they came our far more readily, only about 10-15 minute wait this time and this time I got pics!

Meet Waffle (orange tabby) and Grits (gray kitty):






It's hard to tell from the pics, but before this afternoon's session, I moved their food dish about a foot and half closer to the chair I'm sitting in, plus I moved the chair about a foot closer to the dish, for a total reduction of 3-4 feet.  Like I said, making progress!

They were far less jittery this afternoon and were far more tolerant of me moving: picking up a book, taking out my phone to take pics, etc.

All ferals were domestic breeds, so thekittens will be normal. They just need time.

I adopted two kittens from the shelter who were used to being handled by a lot of people, but when I brought them home they hid for a little while until they got used to things

I have a feral that I've been feeding for a while. She had 5 kittens I've been trying to catch them so they get used to me but no dice. 3 days ago, I'm watching TV and I hear what sounds like a bird in my front yard. I go out there and it's a little kitten, so I pick him up and take him to the back with his family. Well, the mom didn't want him anymore, started smacking him and hissing at him.
Poor thing was skinny and starving. I bought some formula and have been feeding him. Cool little guy. He did his first time in the little litter box I made from a box of cereal!
He's a yellow tabby that I haven't figured a name for yet.
Hes

Good on you!

He's going to be your best buddy. You saved him.

I forgot to mention that he follows me everywhere now.

He will be the most loyal pet you ever own.

I think so. I wonder if mom ran him off. I think he might be the runt of the litter. He sleeps on my chest after his bottle. He's a cool kitty.
ETA: I forgot to mention to OP, you got some pretty kitties!

Thank you!

Where are the pics of your new buddy??



Oh, to catch the other kitties, you probably need a "Hav-a-Heart" type trap.  For small animals like this, it would probably cost about $25 or so.

Here's Tractor Supply's version for $25:  http://www.gopjn.com/t/2-215656-43737-137077?sid=j3u517jmry00zk8a02lk7&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tractorsupply.com%2Ftsc%2Fproduct%2Fadvantek-select-18-in-single-hand-quick-set-trap%3Fcm_vc%3D-10005

I need to take some newer pics, the only ones I have now are when I just found him, so he looks a little ratty, hehe. I have given him 2 baths since he was covered, COVERED in fleas. Poor thing. Right now he's behind my huge bookshelf and he's pretty happy back there and can't be coaxed out.
Thanks for the link but I'm pretty sure I can get the kittens to eventually come to me since I can hold and pet the momma. They just look with intense interest from under my grill where they live, lol.

OK, good luck man!!!

Same to you! How old are your new ones? Mine could be a younger twin to your yellow tabby. He's tried to eat hard food but I think his teeth are still too small. He eats canned stuff no problem though. He's been a handful since he's got his health back!

Stimulate their prey drive with one of these.  They need to bond with you as their teacher.

Rescues make the best friends.

Good work OP

Yeah, I made one of those for my first cat with an old drumstick and 550 cord, still going strong.

I use a laser pointer; or will.  I haven't yet with these two.  They are now feeding about 3 feet away from me while I'm sitting on the floor.  Very skittish; it's gonna take some more work before First Touch.

Thanks!

I've got them within about a foot of me during this morning's feeding.  Time for them to come out from hiding started at around 20-25 minutes; it's now around 1 minute. 

Still very antsy but they are also checking themselves after their initial reaction.  It's almost like they're saying to themselves:  "Wait, why am I running again?  The big monster brings food every time he comes in here.  Oh yea, FOOD!"

It will be funny.. Oreo, the captured feral kitten I had a while back always took a few minutes to warm up to me or the gf at the time until he was no longer in my life(breakup).. but was an awesome cat.  he was the alpha, but a caring alpha.. almost like he was still in the survival stage of his life when we captured him and 5 of his siblings and rehome'd them.  But you would always wake up with him spooning with you.  He liked to be near buy, but was not an active get on you type of cat.

Yellow Tabby?  Name him Jonesy (the cat from Alien)

Now that I've gotten a better look at him, he isn't a true yellow. More like a creamy yellow or tan? He has the stripes and other markings, but isn't yellow-yellow.

This reminds me of 2 of mine, Roscoe & Snicker. Roscoe is about 1-1/2 years old, and was born under a friend's shed. When he was maybe 3 weeks old my friend found him alone under the shed, crying; mom must have moved his siblings and either forgotten about him or something happened to her. So my friend took him in, and I got him about a month later. He never had any real desire to socialize very much with me, he gets along great with the other cats but hides under my bed all day and doesn't usually come out till early evening. Talk about skittish, though! If you reach toward him he's gone, and don't even try to envelop him if he sits still and lets you pet him. When I'm in bed at night is when he's most friendly, but he's still very wary.

Snicker is a tiny girl, maybe 4.5 years old, that I got from a friend (Cathy) who owns an animal shelter (Lost My Way Animal Shelter in Claremont NH.) She does animal control for 5 or 6 towns, and Snicker is one of about 20 ferals & strays she trapped in an area. Snicker stayed at the shelter for over a year but just wouldn't come out of her shell. Cathy said that no matter how much she petted and loved Snicker she was always tense, most likely afraid of all the other cats. They live in large pens with plenty of hiding places, not small cages, so there's more interaction. I've had Snicker over a year now and can still barely touch her, and have only picked her up maybe 8 or 10 times. She trusts me to a degree, it's not too uncommon for me to wake up and have her curled up against my feet with her big buddy Domino. When she's with Domino I can usually pet her, too. She & Roscoe are both indoor cats so they're usually alone all day because the other 6 like to go out when I leave for work in nice weather.

Snicker.



Roscoe, a little over a year ago.



Roscoe & Snicker playing (Snicker is in the pyramid.)

Double tap.

First Touch achieved!

I moved their food bowl right next to me last night.  Still a little antsy but they went for it in less than a minute.  Got to briefly pet Waffle before he bolted.  Next, I got to pet Grits and he bolted as well.  Waffle would not come back but Grits did and I got pet him several times.  He got used to it fairly well over about 10 minutes still doing the "OMGWTFBQQ...wait, why am I running again?" dance. 

After it became clear the Waffle wasn't going to come back to the bowl, I made sure to leave enough food for him when I left.  Grits, on the other hand, ate like a pig.....


BTW:  "He/him" is used generically; I still don't know what gender they are.

Well both Waffle and Grits are doing great!  Both of them got fixed a week or so ago, and both of therm are boys!  For once, the boys out number the girls here on the farm (not counting the chickens!).

Waffle is definitely ahead of Grits in the socialization process, but he's coming along.  I've extended how long they'll stay in my shop office for another couple weeks since I need to take them back to the vet for immune shot part II.

I'll post some pics when I can get them over onto imjur.

Thanks,

Thanks for the update and I look forward to seeing photos of the two.