Feral to tame cat stories?

[ILoveDaffy]

Hi, so I came into possession of a feral cat a few months ago. She was about 8 months old and starving. Came to the door, started meowing, scarfed down food and curled up in my lap sound asleep. That cinched it, and she got named Lola. Long story short, a few weeks of "presents", cuddles, dishes, and house later, she was found to be pregnant. She is a natural hunter and generally loves the outside, so she stays outdoors, roams, and comes when she sees or hears somebody for food and snuggles. Two weeks ago, Lola had her kittens, hiding them in a neighbor's yard. I am going to tell said neighbor later today, and offer to go check if they'll allow me, so I can move her and babies somewhere safe on our property if he'd like. We are moving soon, around the time the kittens will be six weeks. I am bringing her and her babies with us as she relies on us and is part of the family. Anyway, she's had days where she stayed nearby and ate and drank quite a bit, and one or two where we didn't see her at all and she didn't eat. Is this normal behavior? Is it reasonable to think that she may come bring her kittens home in a few weeks? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and stories!

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Lola, a few days ago after kittens. It's Mama time now!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Hopefully you tried to find her family first and couldn't as she's not really a Feral cat, she's domesticated. I think it's awesome that you're moving her and kitties with you. Feral is a different subject. I have feral cats and I have a indoor cat. Feral cat's are very territorial and you don't typically move them yourself. While there are 3 levels of Feral, none will lay in your lap. If she was truly Feral, you'd want her registered with your local Feral cat society. They would adopt her out as a barn cat. Being domesticated like she is, yes there is a good chance she will pick them up and move them one by one to your house. If not, scoop them up in a box. She's beautiful.

 

[Azhtann]

Her hiding the kittens on a neighbor's property sounds like one of my outdoor cats. They, also showed up one day, demanding food. It took them a little longer to let me touch them, but if I don't scratch one tummy and gently tug the other one's tail before doing anything outside, I'm tripping over them. One of mine also had kittens before I could get her to the vet to be spayed. She chose a neighbor's yard to do it in. Apparently they had a better porch. She did bring them to my house before they were fully weaned though. But the sooner you get the kittens and get them used to being handled, the friendlier they will be.

Also, depending on how far she chose to have them, she might not want to leave the kittens too long to get food and drink. As long as she doesn't look starved, she should be fine. Good luck with her and the babies!

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Hopefully you tried to find her family first and couldn't as she's not really a Feral cat, she's domesticated. I think it's awesome that you're moving her and kitties with you. Feral is a different subject. I have feral cats and I have a indoor cat. Feral cat's are very territorial and you don't typically move them yourself. While there are 3 levels of Feral, none will lay in your lap. If she was truly Feral, you'd want her registered with your local Feral cat society. They would adopt her out as a barn cat. Being domesticated like she is, yes there is a good chance she will pick them up and move them one by one to your house. If not, scoop them up in a box. She's beautiful.

I did go look, and no, no family. The only human connected to her was a lady who feeds a ton of neighborhood cats and doesn't interact with them other than setting out food. People in the neighborhood had attempted to touch her, but she'd run away. A cat nearly identical to her but bigger has dropped by on occasion, but she has never allowed any sort of human contact. I believe she is Lola's mom. Anyway, Lola definitely comes from a colony of feral cats that, yes eat food that people put out, but don't interact with people. She did have her kittens and brought them back to me. I started handling them at two weeks old, as was suggested to me, and they have turned into beautiful sweet kittens and are already getting their mom's great hunting instincts. Their names are Pudding, Murray, Alice Cooper, Daisy and Biscuit. Daisy and Biscuit are the only girls.

 

[Azhtann]

They are beautiful!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

There are so many feral cats here it’s not funny. When we first moved here every time we would attempt to clean up one of the scrap metal piles left here by the previous owner we would find a cat that would bolt. Shortly after moving they seemed to all vacate. Then one day a striped one shows up. If she even so much as saw us looking at her out the window she would take off. Eventually she got used to us looking at her out the window, but as soon as we opened the front door she would take off. Eventually she got used to the front door opening, but we couldn’t get within 50ft of her without her again taking off. She started to sit off in the distance watching us while we were outside. Over the last 3 years she would come closer and closer. Now she will let us pet her sometimes, but does not like being picked up. I call her our little free loader because she will show up extremely pregnant, have her kittens in our barn and then take off as soon as her kittens are eating cat food. With this last batch I was hoping to get her into the vet as soon as the kittens were starting to be weaned and what did she do? She dropped her kittens off with another mama cat that had her kittens in our barn around the same time and took off again. We won’t see her for months then she shows up again heavily pregnant to have her kittens. Every time I tell her that I’m not running a daycare She lets us handle the kittens when their eyes open which is good because my kids then play with them and get them used to human interaction enough so we can rehome the kittens. She showed up very pregnant again one week ago, two days ago she milked up and yesterday I noticed her losing her mucus plug. I coaxed her into my garage and closed it. I am hoping to keep her and the kittens in there until they are weaned so I can take her into the vet to get her fixed before she takes off again. I tried box trapping her a few times when she was off and about, but I only caught skunks

 

[ILoveDaffy]

There are so many feral cats here it’s not funny. When we first moved here every time we would attempt to clean up one of the scrap metal piles left here by the previous owner we would find a cat that would bolt. Shortly after moving they seemed to all vacate. Then one day a striped one shows up. If she even so much as saw us looking at her out the window she would take off. Eventually she got used to us looking at her out the window, but as soon as we opened the front door she would take off. Eventually she got used to the front door opening, but we couldn’t get within 50ft of her without her again taking off. She started to sit off in the distance watching us while we were outside. Over the last 3 years she would come closer and closer. Now she will let us pet her sometimes, but does not like being picked up. I call her our little free loader because she will show up extremely pregnant, have her kittens in our barn and then take off as soon as her kittens are eating cat food. With this last batch I was hoping to get her into the vet as soon as the kittens were starting to be weaned and what did she do? She dropped her kittens off with another mama cat that had her kittens in our barn around the same time and took off again. We won’t see her for months then she shows up again heavily pregnant to have her kittens. Every time I tell her that I’m not running a daycare She lets us handle the kittens when their eyes open which is good because my kids then play with them and get them used to human interaction enough so we can rehome the kittens. She showed up very pregnant again one week ago, two days ago she milked up and yesterday I noticed her losing her mucus plug. I coaxed her into my garage and closed it. I am hoping to keep her and the kittens in there until they are weaned so I can take her into the vet to get her fixed before she takes off again. I tried box trapping her a few times when she was off and about, but I only caught skunks

I did worry that after babies, she wouldn't be as cuddly, or would leave the kittens with us and run off, but no. Even after the move and her kittens are almost entirely weaned, she's still snuggly and likes most people. She's gotten used to my friends and they are allowed to pet her, but no strangers. At the moment all presents are for her babies and not for me, thankfully.

 

[TropicalBabies]

There are so many feral cats here it’s not funny. When we first moved here every time we would attempt to clean up one of the scrap metal piles left here by the previous owner we would find a cat that would bolt. Shortly after moving they seemed to all vacate. Then one day a striped one shows up. If she even so much as saw us looking at her out the window she would take off. Eventually she got used to us looking at her out the window, but as soon as we opened the front door she would take off. Eventually she got used to the front door opening, but we couldn’t get within 50ft of her without her again taking off. She started to sit off in the distance watching us while we were outside. Over the last 3 years she would come closer and closer. Now she will let us pet her sometimes, but does not like being picked up. I call her our little free loader because she will show up extremely pregnant, have her kittens in our barn and then take off as soon as her kittens are eating cat food. With this last batch I was hoping to get her into the vet as soon as the kittens were starting to be weaned and what did she do? She dropped her kittens off with another mama cat that had her kittens in our barn around the same time and took off again. We won’t see her for months then she shows up again heavily pregnant to have her kittens. Every time I tell her that I’m not running a daycare She lets us handle the kittens when their eyes open which is good because my kids then play with them and get them used to human interaction enough so we can rehome the kittens. She showed up very pregnant again one week ago, two days ago she milked up and yesterday I noticed her losing her mucus plug. I coaxed her into my garage and closed it. I am hoping to keep her and the kittens in there until they are weaned so I can take her into the vet to get her fixed before she takes off again. I tried box trapping her a few times when she was off and about, but I only caught skunks

I did worry that after babies, she wouldn't be as cuddly, or would leave the kittens with us and run off, but no. Even after the move and her kittens are almost entirely weaned, she's still snuggly and likes most people. She's gotten used to my friends and they are allowed to pet her, but no strangers. At the moment all presents are for her babies and not for me, thankfully.

Please, please, please, get mommas and babies fixed. They will have much better lives for it. Try humane society or cat rescues to have it done cheap or free.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Hi, so I came into possession of a feral cat a few months ago. She was about 8 months old and starving. Came to the door, started meowing, scarfed down food and curled up in my lap sound asleep. That cinched it, and she got named Lola. Long story short, a few weeks of "presents", cuddles, dishes, and house later, she was found to be pregnant. She is a natural hunter and generally loves the outside, so she stays outdoors, roams, and comes when she sees or hears somebody for food and snuggles. Two weeks ago, Lola had her kittens, hiding them in a neighbor's yard. I am going to tell said neighbor later today, and offer to go check if they'll allow me, so I can move her and babies somewhere safe on our property if he'd like. We are moving soon, around the time the kittens will be six weeks. I am bringing her and her babies with us as she relies on us and is part of the family. Anyway, she's had days where she stayed nearby and ate and drank quite a bit, and one or two where we didn't see her at all and she didn't eat. Is this normal behavior? Is it reasonable to think that she may come bring her kittens home in a few weeks? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and stories!

Congratulations on the new family members ♡♡ How did the move go and the adjustment for kitty and co? Did you keep any kittens? ♡♡♡

I do a lot of kitty rescue, fostering, trapping (TNR), etc. I currently have 7 fuzzy children. All of them found as houseless kittens w/ exception of 1 trapped older feral disaster.... Girlfriend

Who escaped and became our fuzzy child by default, and who is now quite charming, but with a side of weird ♡.

And I currently, 11 foster kitties.

I was really happy to see your post and that you took in momma and gave her a safe home. Kitties are wonderful. I hope you have some more stories for us, maybe inspire others to take on a feral themselves. Kitties love to have a home base and people who care about them. Don't let that independent and aloof creature tell you otherwise ♡. There is no love like that of a kitty. They are little furry angels that share themselves with us. We are blessed to have them.