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Anyone want a cat?

SmokeAndMirrors said:
Eesh... careful with that. Lots of animals wind up back in the shelter from wafflers. As much as I hate to say it, especially parents of young children. A lot of them just seem unwilling to teach their child how to treat animals and blame the animal for being shy or frightened instead.

My parents weren't like that, but the reality is I see a lot of one-year-old cats and dogs in shelters left there by parents who are.
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Adult cats will have learned behaviors that are very hard to change in them.

I have been caring for 2 ferals who were born feral in my neighborhood.

One of them is starting to trust me and lets me pet her and carry her.

The other one which is her twin sister won't let anyone get near her.

It took 3 years to catch them both and get them neutered.

The friendly one has recovered from the trauma of the capture and release.

The unfriendly one has not.

If a cat has been properly socialized with people as a kitten, he or she will eventually adjust to a new home.

If now however, then it never will. And in that case the adult cats keep going back to the shelters. Very sad but true.
 
Riveroaks said:
Adult cats will have learned behaviors that are very hard to change in them.

I have been caring for 2 ferals who were born feral in my neighborhood.

One of them is starting to trust me and lets me pet her and carry her.

The other one which is her twin sister won't let anyone get near her.

It took 3 years to catch them both and get them neutered.

The friendly one has recovered from the trauma of the capture and release.

The unfriendly one has not.

If a cat has been properly socialized with people as a kitten, he or she will eventually adjust to a new home.

If now however, then it never will. And in that case the adult cats keep going back to the shelters. Very sad but true.
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I think ferals are a completely different kettle of fish than domesticated cats who've had bad experiences.

Ferals are basically wild. In many cases, the best you can hope for is that they'll tolerate you. In rare cases you get really good results, like the one who lets you pet her. But often, you never will.

Traumatized domesticated cats are different. My cat was like that when I adopted her. She was used to living around humans, litter boxes, being fed, etc. But she had very high fear levels due to previous abuse. She was also an adult. Whereas a feral may go straight into "fight or flight," a traumatized domestic cat will often go into "curl up in the fetal position and shake like a leaf." They want to like humans, but they're afraid.

She calmed down substantially in less than 6 months. These days she's a lap cat. She doesn't even hide when new people are over.

It's true that either one will require a lot of work, and you need to lower your expectations with a former feral (i.e. you have to be happy just providing a cat a good home, rather than expecting them to become interested in humans). Neither is a good fit for a new cat owner, or someone who isn't prepared to spend a lot of time working on their cat's relationship to people.

But traumatized domestics can become like any other cat with enough work in most cases, whereas ferals are more of a toss-up.
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
I think ferals are a completely different kettle of fish than domesticated cats who've had bad experiences.

Ferals are basically wild. In many cases, the best you can hope for is that they'll tolerate you. In rare cases you get really good results, like the one who lets you pet her. But often, you never will.

Traumatized domesticated cats are different. My cat was like that when I adopted her. She was used to living around humans, litter boxes, being fed, etc. But she had very high fear levels due to previous abuse. She was also an adult. Whereas a feral may go straight into "fight or flight," a traumatized domestic cat will often go into "curl up in the fetal position and shake like a leaf." They want to like humans, but they're afraid.

She calmed down substantially in less than 6 months. These days she's a lap cat. She doesn't even hide when new people are over.

It's true that either one will require a lot of work, and you need to lower your expectations with a former feral (i.e. you have to be happy just providing a cat a good home, rather than expecting them to become interested in humans). Neither is a good fit for a new cat owner, or someone who isn't prepared to spend a lot of time working on their cat's relationship to people.

But traumatized domestics can become like any other cat with enough work in most cases, whereas ferals are more of a toss-up.
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Poor kitties !!

I see them as like beautiful little people with feelings, fears, thoughts, hopes, loves, plans, moments of happiness and contentment, and times of deprivation and suffering.

I wish more people would take care of them.

They work hard keeping the vermin population in check, which actually helps humans.
 
And so it ends, our drama with kittens. Abby (short for Ankle Biter) has a new home, and will be leaving our lives now. It's been a ride, we've never rescued kittens, makes me want a cat more. I've never cried homing animals before, and here come these two...
 
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