Originally posted by SpencerTheLion:
My there favorite feral cat sites: http://www.alleycat.org/front.html www.feralcat.org www.amby.com (also has lots of anti-declaw info)

Feral kittens are much easier than adults to tame than adults. Fostering a tuxedo (with a little Siamese) that's was a bundle of fear at 4 mo. that comes to me and other cats 3 mo later. An adult mom cat took two years to get to the lapcat threshold. Some of the things that help: 1) First few days ignore them and don't stare at them - give them distance. 2) Pet them with a feather on a stick - again keeping your distance. 3) Keep the room lighted, not dark. 4) When the cat can be picked up, don't give the cat hiding places and allowing a long chase to terrorize it. 5) If it's around other cats, make sure they are friendly, not bully or scardy cats.

Concerning the feral momcat, her first friend was a Chinchilla Persian mix. She is some character, afterwards, when thumbing through a magazine, she sits on it - with the only picture of Princess Diana! Most of the other cats hers are as modest...

Thanks for the sites. I adopted Evie when she was about 2 years old. She must have been someone's cat at one time but found herelf out on her own. I'm sure she hooked up with the feral cats for help. It took her a long time to find her voice again as she had learned from them not to draw attention to herself by humans. Her rescuers found her when part of her face had been ripped open by something. She is as good as new now, I'm happy to report. She still loves to "kill" those small toy stuffed mice - one of her favorite things. I've had her for nearly a year now, and she is a most gentle, kind cat. She no longer hides at the foot of the bed on the floor concealed by the bedding. I think she likes it here and feral cats do like to have other cats around. My other cat, Millie, who is about 13 makes a good companion for her. Millie doesn't take any crap and she is the head cat of the house, and Evie understands this. They are both asleep on the bed right now - just like babies - quiet and peaceful at the moment