Indoor feral cat

[freckledimple]

My grandparents passed away and we inherited their cats. One of them is an older feral cat that has been around here for over 10 years. We had unseasonably cold weather this winter, so we live trapped him and he's been in the "cat" room since. We are moving to our new home soon, and have decided to keep him indoors since it is a rural area and he's old. I was wondering if anyone has any tips to make the transition a little less stressful for him. Also, we won't have a "cat" room like there is here, and would appreciate any ideas to make our house hospitable for a feral.

PS. He does use a litter box.

[Anikaca77]

http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehom...sourcelibrary/

I would try the link above, I've found this website very helpful when dealing with ferals.

Take care and thank you for taking this kitty with you.
Melissa

[catmandu]

Is there a basement where he can settle in, and have his own territory until he learns how to deal with Your Other Cats!

Thats waht wev did with Tubster Panther and taht worked out all right, as having a basement gave My Black cat a place where he would feel safe.

[Cataholic]

LOL, search for any of my posts on Minnie. She is going on 9 years now, living the indoor feral (or at least semi-feral life). She started out in the basement (her choice) in July 2001. When it got cold, she moved upstairs into a closet. She lived in that closet until my son came along and I relocated her to my bedroom closet, around 2005. In recent months past, she has really slowly came around a bit. She still lives under my bed, mainly, (she moved herself out of my bedroom closet years ago), and I petted her for the first time last week.

I can corner her and pick her up, she never bites or scratches, but, she remains curled up in a ball- terrified. I groom her, and as long as I am keeping a hand on her, she won't run away. She started purring and drooling years ago. The petting last week was the first time she allowed me to approach her without running under the bed.

So, it can be done, and in our case- it has been tediously slow and minimal advancements. BUT, she is fed, housed and loved from a far.

[Cataholic]

Melissa- WOW! That article was great! I wished I would have seen it years ago. I emailed Minnie's story to the author and asked if I should follow the plan, or if something else (given Minnie's age and longevity in my home) wouldn't work better.

What a fascinating read. Thanks for the link.

[GILL]

WE have 1 feral and 2 semi-feral. Sweety is our feral, she has been an indoor cat for the last 7 years. She will site and talk with her eyes all day, but we are only allowed no closer then 3 feet. Boots is Sweeties daughter. Came in the same time as Sweety, she was 3 months old at the time. I am allowed to pet for a couple of minutes once in a while.
Olive came from a feral colony and is a very sweet little girl she has been with us about 6 months and I am allowed to pet and once in a while pick her up for a cuddle. They all have full run of the house and we just go with their ways