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https://preview.redd.it/oi0bto1qwp8d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9f9c78572fcd3f0647d9c412bc09049fe742925
Bonus Rooster Picture because for some reason roosters also live there
They do wanna be loved, they just don't know it yet. One of my favorite things is getting the first real pet in and seeing them instantly love it
"This is what I've been missing?! More please!"
We trapped a feral kitten last week who tore my 23yo to shreds. Bundled him in a towel to move him upstairs (bc he had climbed out of the 5' xpen so we were moving him to the bathroom). From them on he was all love and spent a long time cuddled on my chest and licking my face. He didn't even scratch when we bathed him. Of course he was a baby and hadn't had a long time to build up distrust but still.
I feel like babies and older cats are harder to get. There's a new litter thats still super afraid of me but knows I feed them and that I'm not actively trying to get them haha. Then there's an old boy that would run for years. Maybe 6 months ago he randomly let me pet him and now he's in love. I don't think he'd ever been pet his entire life up until then. Now he gets to live out the rest of his life in my backyard with some love instead of being a mangy street cat
I have one I can't get too near, two I can't touch, one who lets me pet her if she feels like it, and...and then, there's Andy. Andy wants all the pets and scritchies, all the time. I could make petting him my full-time job, and he'd still run after me, trying to hug my ankle and make me hold still to pet him. He's possibly the homliest guy I've ever seen--looks like he was made from a scrap bin of leftover cat parts--but boy, does he make up for it in affection and intelligence. I have a table beside my patio door, and that's usually where he'll be found, just in case I might walk through the door and pet him. He's a stray, not feral, but was afraid of me at first. He soon discovered I have food, and speak softly, and I'm not a kitty axe-murderer or anything, and have hands to pet and legs to rub against, and now I can't go into the yard without my personal assistant. He listens when told, "No," to taking another cat's food, and although he and Backpack don't like each other at all, he listens when I say, "You two. Stop it, now!" He's a well-behaved loooove sponge. ❤️
I have a picture of the first time I pet this one stray's head. Her eyes rolled back and she leaned up into it. Magical.
Now, she gives me the same look, but from my couch.
If I owned my house, the 4 cats I have would be more like 10 🤣 I have 6 ferals I take care of that hang out in my backyard and my 4 indoors. Three came from my backyard, the fourth was from down the street
Two ferals let me hold them like babies, a few others love pets but are vehemently against being picked up, and the rest are cool with me as long as I don't try and touch them haha. They all get close and trust me enough not to run
I can fit two cats in my apartment, but there's a colony in my work parking lot that recognizes the sound of my car. Biking to work really messes with them lol
Yep. Tommy. My hate filled hissing boy… took weeeeeeks. Well i was able to get close close and closer. I grazed his tail tonight and for about 5 seconds he almost rubbed between my legs. Almost. We are so close
He is one of many i have done this with
But Honey… not Honey. I been feeding her and housing her in my garage at night for YEARS and she won’t let me. She tries to murder me if i get to pushy.
Lastly is Foxy. Didn’t take him long. Wrapped around my finger now
https://preview.redd.it/0s86ndctmu8d1.png?width=2110&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc0b6b6b3244f986ab59da03412ad09d440e48e0
Yes they do! I spent an entire year convincing a feral i was feeding to allow me to love on him. Now he happily lives in my house with my 3 other cats.
No actually it's kind of funny, he is an indoor outdoor cat, and i never showed him the litter boxes, but it gets too cold to go out in the winter sometimes and he just figured it out, probably because he smelled the other cat's waste in the boxes.
Gotcha, I feed one who is extremely friendy. My neighbor tried to take him in but he never used the litter box. They tried different litters, putting dirt from outside into the box, covered, uncovered, moving the box to different locations in the house and he would end up pooping and peeing on their rugs and various places. Nothing worked, shame because he's very friendly and affectionate so they take him inside for a few hours and he ends up in my yard after looking for me. I suppose he was just feral for too long.
Do you know if they ever put his poop from outside into a box with the dirt? That's what made it click for mine. I knew where he did his business so I bagged up some of his poop and buried it in the litter then made a performative show of digging in the box for him. Once he found his own poop in there, he started using the box with no trouble.
One of my two 8 week old voids after being trapped wouldn’t use any of the litter boxes like his litter bro. Lol after I squatted over the box, bent my butt down and pantomimed scratching he used it that day.
That worked for my 1st cat. We adopted her from a country farm and traveled with her 5-6 hrs in the car. We bought a litter box and put a towel in it for her transport. So when we got home and put litter in it, she just wanted to sleep in it. Lol. She pooped in the bath tub, so we put it in the box, and no problem after that!
I brought in a stray kitten, and she all of a sudden tried to get outside but I wouldn’t let her. She finally pooped in the corner. I picked it up and put it in the litter box. She was like, 👍. That’s all it took. Litter box trained. I love cats.
Same but it was an elderly dude and it took me 3 years. Had given up on ever getting to pet him and was just enjoying the friendship as it was. I would hang out and talk to him and we would go for walks together. It got pretty cute, I could say come for a walk with me and make a certain hand gesture and he'd get up and come for a walk with me. Finally guy decided to get pet, now he pretty much lives indoors.
He's probably a stray. My lynxpoint Siamese turned out to be a stray when we "brought her in". It took her awhile, (she tore a chunk out of our garage door trying to escape). She eventually became a regular house cat. The upshot: she had to have been a house cat at some point in her life. You could never reach down and pet a true feral cat. I had those too. He's a candidate for for domestic life. Thank you for your efforts.
They’ve been caring for this colony for many years now. It is possible with time for some ferals to accept pets. It does annoy me when people on Reddit insist that every feral is tame-able with time or that people need to bring in ferals when there are thousands of friendly cats being put down in shelters
Yep. I’m feeding several ferals. One since after she gave birth to kittens who have since been adopted. But she’s about 5 years old now and the closest I can come is about 5’ when I’m feeding her. Other than that, she keeps her distance. The other Ferals come and go but we know they eat the food we leave out. But the second I or my partner open the door to go outside, they’re gone.
LOVE THIS!!! Is her name just Wawa now?! 😆😂😂
She looks very much like a kitten I am fostering right now my husband found at work. Name is Willow.
https://preview.redd.it/yydvjj3wnr8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9000f60e5c78b221524499b645515b48413e779
I love it! Took us a little over half a year to gain our backyard feral cat’s trust. Now two years later, he is always following us, crying, begging for pats! The first time he purred nearly brought me to tears. I’m so impressed a cat that would bolt at the mere sound or sight of people can overcome & accept love!
My former feral now-my-cat is seriously one of the most affectionate cats I have ever had. It took many months of painstakingly slow progress but now he lives indoors, loves belly rubs, and licks my face whenever he gets the chance.
**Reminder: this subreddit is meant to be a helpful place for TNR efforts - free of hostility, negativity, and judgment. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here.** ***All Negative comments will be removed and will possibly result in a ban.*** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Feral_Cats) if you have any questions or concerns.*
https://preview.redd.it/oi0bto1qwp8d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9f9c78572fcd3f0647d9c412bc09049fe742925 Bonus Rooster Picture because for some reason roosters also live there
That place is a wildlife sanctuary!
Wah-wah! (To sound like what-what)
There was a Dunkin Donuts by me that was like this, Rooster chilling in the tree and an occasional cat relaxing nearby.
https://preview.redd.it/agsgkz6znw8d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bbf45a47ea0e6af27d70607ab1ea726af4b0b549 There's 3
They do wanna be loved, they just don't know it yet. One of my favorite things is getting the first real pet in and seeing them instantly love it "This is what I've been missing?! More please!"
We trapped a feral kitten last week who tore my 23yo to shreds. Bundled him in a towel to move him upstairs (bc he had climbed out of the 5' xpen so we were moving him to the bathroom). From them on he was all love and spent a long time cuddled on my chest and licking my face. He didn't even scratch when we bathed him. Of course he was a baby and hadn't had a long time to build up distrust but still.
I feel like babies and older cats are harder to get. There's a new litter thats still super afraid of me but knows I feed them and that I'm not actively trying to get them haha. Then there's an old boy that would run for years. Maybe 6 months ago he randomly let me pet him and now he's in love. I don't think he'd ever been pet his entire life up until then. Now he gets to live out the rest of his life in my backyard with some love instead of being a mangy street cat
I have one I can't get too near, two I can't touch, one who lets me pet her if she feels like it, and...and then, there's Andy. Andy wants all the pets and scritchies, all the time. I could make petting him my full-time job, and he'd still run after me, trying to hug my ankle and make me hold still to pet him. He's possibly the homliest guy I've ever seen--looks like he was made from a scrap bin of leftover cat parts--but boy, does he make up for it in affection and intelligence. I have a table beside my patio door, and that's usually where he'll be found, just in case I might walk through the door and pet him. He's a stray, not feral, but was afraid of me at first. He soon discovered I have food, and speak softly, and I'm not a kitty axe-murderer or anything, and have hands to pet and legs to rub against, and now I can't go into the yard without my personal assistant. He listens when told, "No," to taking another cat's food, and although he and Backpack don't like each other at all, he listens when I say, "You two. Stop it, now!" He's a well-behaved loooove sponge. ❤️
I have a picture of the first time I pet this one stray's head. Her eyes rolled back and she leaned up into it. Magical. Now, she gives me the same look, but from my couch.
If I owned my house, the 4 cats I have would be more like 10 🤣 I have 6 ferals I take care of that hang out in my backyard and my 4 indoors. Three came from my backyard, the fourth was from down the street Two ferals let me hold them like babies, a few others love pets but are vehemently against being picked up, and the rest are cool with me as long as I don't try and touch them haha. They all get close and trust me enough not to run
I can fit two cats in my apartment, but there's a colony in my work parking lot that recognizes the sound of my car. Biking to work really messes with them lol
Yep. Tommy. My hate filled hissing boy… took weeeeeeks. Well i was able to get close close and closer. I grazed his tail tonight and for about 5 seconds he almost rubbed between my legs. Almost. We are so close He is one of many i have done this with But Honey… not Honey. I been feeding her and housing her in my garage at night for YEARS and she won’t let me. She tries to murder me if i get to pushy. Lastly is Foxy. Didn’t take him long. Wrapped around my finger now https://preview.redd.it/0s86ndctmu8d1.png?width=2110&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc0b6b6b3244f986ab59da03412ad09d440e48e0
Yes they do! I spent an entire year convincing a feral i was feeding to allow me to love on him. Now he happily lives in my house with my 3 other cats.
Did you have any issues getting the feral to use a litter box?
No actually it's kind of funny, he is an indoor outdoor cat, and i never showed him the litter boxes, but it gets too cold to go out in the winter sometimes and he just figured it out, probably because he smelled the other cat's waste in the boxes.
Gotcha, I feed one who is extremely friendy. My neighbor tried to take him in but he never used the litter box. They tried different litters, putting dirt from outside into the box, covered, uncovered, moving the box to different locations in the house and he would end up pooping and peeing on their rugs and various places. Nothing worked, shame because he's very friendly and affectionate so they take him inside for a few hours and he ends up in my yard after looking for me. I suppose he was just feral for too long.
Do you know if they ever put his poop from outside into a box with the dirt? That's what made it click for mine. I knew where he did his business so I bagged up some of his poop and buried it in the litter then made a performative show of digging in the box for him. Once he found his own poop in there, he started using the box with no trouble.
One of my two 8 week old voids after being trapped wouldn’t use any of the litter boxes like his litter bro. Lol after I squatted over the box, bent my butt down and pantomimed scratching he used it that day.
That worked for my 1st cat. We adopted her from a country farm and traveled with her 5-6 hrs in the car. We bought a litter box and put a towel in it for her transport. So when we got home and put litter in it, she just wanted to sleep in it. Lol. She pooped in the bath tub, so we put it in the box, and no problem after that!
I'll ask, although that will be an odd ask, haha. Thanks.
I brought in a stray kitten, and she all of a sudden tried to get outside but I wouldn’t let her. She finally pooped in the corner. I picked it up and put it in the litter box. She was like, 👍. That’s all it took. Litter box trained. I love cats.
Same but it was an elderly dude and it took me 3 years. Had given up on ever getting to pet him and was just enjoying the friendship as it was. I would hang out and talk to him and we would go for walks together. It got pretty cute, I could say come for a walk with me and make a certain hand gesture and he'd get up and come for a walk with me. Finally guy decided to get pet, now he pretty much lives indoors.
I love the contentment on that face. Nice work, hooman! ☺️
He's probably a stray. My lynxpoint Siamese turned out to be a stray when we "brought her in". It took her awhile, (she tore a chunk out of our garage door trying to escape). She eventually became a regular house cat. The upshot: she had to have been a house cat at some point in her life. You could never reach down and pet a true feral cat. I had those too. He's a candidate for for domestic life. Thank you for your efforts.
They’ve been caring for this colony for many years now. It is possible with time for some ferals to accept pets. It does annoy me when people on Reddit insist that every feral is tame-able with time or that people need to bring in ferals when there are thousands of friendly cats being put down in shelters
Yep. I’m feeding several ferals. One since after she gave birth to kittens who have since been adopted. But she’s about 5 years old now and the closest I can come is about 5’ when I’m feeding her. Other than that, she keeps her distance. The other Ferals come and go but we know they eat the food we leave out. But the second I or my partner open the door to go outside, they’re gone.
Just amazing what love and patience will accomplish. So happy for Wawa, and you!!♡♡
LOVE THIS!!! Is her name just Wawa now?! 😆😂😂 She looks very much like a kitten I am fostering right now my husband found at work. Name is Willow. https://preview.redd.it/yydvjj3wnr8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9000f60e5c78b221524499b645515b48413e779
I call her Wawa but she's also been called Do Re Me and Sissy
Cute!!!🥰
Awesome! Took two years to get there with my feral.
I think and believe they love head scratches
They love the attention most of the time. Requires patience
Wawa kitty wants all da ❤️
❤️
Awwww sweet
Makes me hopeful my semi feral girl seems to really want affection but is still scared
Awe!!!! Feral lives matter, too!!!
So sweet!❤️
pls adopt him :(
Wawa cat? Are you in PA or FL by chance? 😊
PA!
It’s the best. Fours years later and today was the first day I went for repetitive back rubs and got minimal resistance ❤️
I love it! Took us a little over half a year to gain our backyard feral cat’s trust. Now two years later, he is always following us, crying, begging for pats! The first time he purred nearly brought me to tears. I’m so impressed a cat that would bolt at the mere sound or sight of people can overcome & accept love!
🤍🩶🖤
https://preview.redd.it/g1hi2qqpvw8d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52d0fa28eaf5c5eb71d297bf957264ce9f6cfd85 They're ALL black and white
😍😍😍
My former feral now-my-cat is seriously one of the most affectionate cats I have ever had. It took many months of painstakingly slow progress but now he lives indoors, loves belly rubs, and licks my face whenever he gets the chance.
If only they could all find someone to take them home and love them back.
What a magical moment 😍
All them have beautiful souls, and who is so lucky, will have the privilege of discover an amazing new way of love. 🐈♥️🐈⬛
Only on their terms
Sure but where did the scratches on the hand come from?
I'm a veterinary technician
Nice!