Feral kitten

awww how cute, look at that face , :o))

ahh bless him >^. . ^<

Awwwwwww poor little thing, can't you persuade it to a garage or shed, Bb, where it could live/sleep ?

Bless him at least he is getting feed, and somewhere to sleep, feel so sorry for them out there.

Thanks ..it disappears at night Louise and returns each morning will snuggle up in the porch but if we approach runs out. We do as well Clarice cant see it go hungry but quite wild and wont tolerate approach.

So sad though Bb :-(
Has it been coming around for long, can you 'work on it' and coax it more and more with time ?

Aww bless! Over time it will start to trust you I think. We've had a few stray/feral cats over the years, two of them we managed to get homes for.

one of the cat santuarys have some, but they have outside pens, dont like to be inside with domestic cats, but its lovely that they are still looked after

Poor thing but at least your there for it.

At least it has you to feed it, poor little mite....

Feel so sorry for them, its nice to know it has you looking out for it!

Ginge my stray has just come in for his food he is nowhere near as feral Bonkersbon more like a gentleman of the road.He can be stroked and at the minute he is curled up near the fire.He sleeps in my small seed house.

No hope for the local mouse and vole population there then.

Louise...arrived at the start of the big freeze.18th December.Once managed to close porch door from outside but the poor kitten just went absolutely mad,rthrowing itself against the walls !
Thanks for all your suppportuve comments.Will keep on trying to gain its trust and feed twice a day !

Wagger ...we have lots of mice and voles in the adjoining churchyard wall,and there are already two feral elderly cats living around there.We feed the mice too and seems to be quite a healthy population.Mind you,there are also owls in the vicinity !
Mavis....he sounds almost domestic !

Perhaps they are breeding faster than the cats and owls can keep up with?

Lol Wagger.Its a fine balance out there !

Like me - I'm teetering on the edge - of insanity.

BB/Jane would the rspca come and catch the ferrel cats as sometimes they sterilze them and then bring them back to where they live.

that would be a good idea Clarice....will ring local branch on Monday.The kitten roams between our cottage and nextdoor (not the churchyard side) Think it may sleep in their small tree house which they built for the grandchildren !!!

Think its better than there being a load more kittens as not everyone will be as good with them as you are.

I know...............xx

yes your right carol i had a family living under my shed at old house, therspca put me in touch with a cat rescue who brought cage traps and rescued them

What became of them then Sandra ?

they made sure they were well and made sterile as carol said them released them near farm land, somewhere safe, the lady said they couldnt give them anyone as they dont want to be kept inside, they live wild and are use to it, sometimes if very young they can tame them

Hm...maybe thts best for this kitten.Certainly it went crazy on the one occasion we tried to catch it.Will just about tolerate you standing about 4 feet away while it eats in the porch..but thts about it.Jane tried many times to reachout to stroke it but just gets hissed at !Lol Grateful little creature !

I hear what everyone is saying and for the kitten it is maybe for the best , but ginge is an older cat and has survived on his wits this long so hopefully long may he reign.He has various food stops my friend always has bicuits and water out in her archway for him .He knows that I will let him in and find him some thing to eat.

maybe just call and get some info ray, then decide what you want to do :o) cats are great survivers

Yes,will do Sandra...there are already a couple of older feral cats nearby that wander into the garden on the way to the churchyard next door. Was worried about it in that freezing spell but was on doorstep regular as clockwork every morning whatever the weather.Even got a Christmas dinner !LOL

Mavis...agree with you.Old Ginge sounds like he has it all well sussed out.Bet he is a real trouper ! Lol

bet he enjoyed his christmas dinner, he sounds like he has it made right there near you two ;o))

Could be something to do with tattoo on forehead which reads " Soft Touch " ! Lol

hahahah i know that one ray :o))) you will get your reward in heaven

Yes Sandra....more hungry pets and birds lined up waiting to be fed ! Lol !

lol wouldnt that be heaven though, still looking after nature :o)) i think so

Yes it would : o ) )

The cattery where my granddaughter works sometimes has feral kittens bought in and they usually respond but it does take considerable time. Good luck with your little lodger, BB.

Thanks for that Gee.Maybe there is something in their genes which demands their total freedom. Certainly happy to continue to feed though..its hard to know what to do for the best..............

I still think this little kitten will come to trust you BB. Takes a lot of patience but will be ok in the end.

Hope so Skillen....certainly not short on patience ! Thanks......

Maybe the kitten is an offspring of the two elderly feral cats Ray , you worry as much about your kitten in the cold as I do my birds , have you given it a name ??
My daughter has a mystery involving mice ! she has a rabbit hutch and a guinea pig hutch both very nice they have upstairs and downstairs accommodation , the problem is they are over run with mice , she decided that she would have to put mouse traps out of the way under the cages , the mystery is that the traps keep disappearing , she has searched the garden which isn't very big and has a 6ft fence all round it , no sign of them ... any ideas ?

Oh Amy LOL...Dangermouse ????
Havent named him/her yet but when we do will be a sure sign of commitment !Lol.The kitten stayed in the porch most of this afternoon,but hotfooted it every time went out to top up feeders and dishes !

BB, I had a cat that had been found as a feral, but was too ill to be re-released after spaying. She took to no-one at the rescue centre until we turned up! We had her for about 8 years and she was very affectionate but was also more than capable of looking after herself in any situation!
Here, it is a local cat rescue that traps, neuters and releases the cats back into 'their' area. Worth a few phone calls... :o)

Thanks Pottyg...probably ring Cats Protection League. This one moved into the garden just as the freeze hit in December...it would have been impossible to ignore her at that time AND SHE KNEW IT ! Lol

Hi Ray/Jane, yet another mouth to feed, bless. I guess food is the most important thing to the feral cats, she doesnt seem to want a home as such, does she. Aren't cats just amazing.

Nice to have you back with us Dawn x

Yes Dawn...good to see you back ! She /he still in the porch this evening curled up on an old sweatshirt...so are leaving the outer door open for her/him as set to drop to -10 again tonight !

Has it got thumbs extra claws

Thumbs????Extra claws ????

http://www.messybeast.com/freak-feet.htm Wild cats have thumbs, as I use to go out with a farming familys grandson they had wild cats which had thumbs

Oh...didnt know that ! Thanks..doubt will let us get close enough to check !!! Lol

What a shame its lovely.

Come come now Bonkers, you should know that acting as it does ie taking advantage of your good nature and then hissing at you it must be a female.

Thanks 6d.....
Hadnt considered that Toto....explains a lot.I thought it was just me ! Lol

This reminds me of the Rock Kitties that used to live in the Rip Rap Rock at our local port at the waters edge. When my grands were toddlers we took them often to feed the Rock Kitties...you put food out at the edge of little cave like openings in the rocks and soon you would see little eyes pearing out and then bravely coming to snag and run.
When they decided to redo the area..they trapped them and had them all sterilized and then returned them to the wild some where else. Not sure where they let them go...That was many years ago, I would not be surprised to find them back in the Rip Rap again...should take some food down sometime and see if they are back.

Thanks for this tale Cat..funnily enough,we have called her Trogg...partly as she has made a nest like a cave under an old lawnmower cover in the porch...lined with an old sweatshirt...just like the troggs in the hills ! Also after the 60s group "the Troggs" who recorded a song called Wild Thing ! Isnt that strange ???

Do you like living dangerously, Toto? Has your nurse nipped off for a cuppa?

I love that name ....Trogg is perfect...are you sure it is a her? I guess Trogg can be for either at least....keep putting out the best food in the neighborhood ...and she will settle in.. :) ...

Hi Ray/Jane: Is she in the porch again tonight

Hi Cat and Dawn...peeked into porch and she came out...hissed..then went back into her "cave" ! Back door left open as she cant stand being hemmed in ! Daft or what ???

Aww bless, they can't help their natural instinct can they. Trouble is, she doesnt realise how fab it would be being a part of your home ... The Rtiz, if only she knew :-)

I think for her she is thinking it is the Ritz and she is having it her way!...lol Becoming the Boss

Both right !!! Lol !

ray i was telling a lady about casper today, then she told me about a ferral cat they looked after for 8 years, so i thought about you and jane, this lady said she use to feed each day and left her greenhouse open slightly as you have your porch,eventually the cat came to trust her but wouldnt go in house, was happy outside and in greenhouse, but would come over to her and trusted her but no other person could go near it, sadly one day it came one morning and in a poor state, it had been attacked and bleeding from a large open wound on its neck, the lady had to call rspca who came and took him away,, that was the last she saw of him,, he didnt make it,, i almost cried when she told me about her little ferrel cat ;o(

Aww Sandra...that is such a sad tale.At least the lady has some happy memories of her time with the feral cat....and it knew where to go when it was injured. They do have a hard life....this fear of being confined must be inbred in them.

yes im sure your right, we worry for them beimg outside all year but they are use to it and arent stupid, know exactly what to do, like yours has found you and knows now he has somewhere to sleep or eat if he needs to, think he is yours for life :o))

Think you are right Sandra...and welcome ! Just one more little mouth to feed !

'Trog'- I like it BB, it suits her. :~)).

Think so too Skillen !

I read recently that for a cat to become a tame house-pet, it has to be 'imprinted' on humans when it is still young. An older cat that was not imprinted when it was young will always fear humans. It's a bit like if you want to keep a cat and a dog together - the cat will not fear the dog if they were put together when they were young, but you can never expect a mature cat to accept a dog later in life. Your little one looks pretty young - I wonder if there is still time for her to become imprinted?

Oh dear...My Mary Jane has never imprinted to humans...I got her at 6 weeks old...raised her in my house...she only would speak to Larry and now is living at my daughters, won't speak to him or any of the cats or the humans...

I'm not sure what age is the 'cut-off' for impringing....6 weeks still sounds pretty young, but I suppose there's no hard and fast rule....like with human kids, each one is different.

Maybe Mary Jane needed to be imprinted at birth and never around cats then...lol..she is one ornery thing. Patience (my daughter) says she is always mad and will go out of her way to ignore people and other cats...even her Mentor Larry...she used to love to do battle with him and sleep with him too..lol..maybe she is jealous now as Larry is such a Social Butterfly and loves to visit everyone, dogs, cats, and people..lol

Maybe Mary Jane was just a born outlaw ;-) ....a wrong'un as my mum would say lol

Well there is that..! lol

hi Sid and Cat..Jane here..Ray wont be online for a while as he has gone to visit his Dad 250 miles away who is in hospital after a stroke.He may be gone a couple of weeks so have to make do with me for now ! Lol

Hi Jane - very sorry to hear that, hope Ray's dad makes a swift recovery. Sarah.

Thanks for your care Sarah...will pass on to Ray !

First off, tell Ray that he and his father is in our thoughts...

I also have acquired a stray cat.It arrived a few days before Christmas. Mine is solid grey and about as wide as it is long, so I started calling it Stumper. It took about 30 minutes to coax it into letting me pet it,so it must have been someone's pet at some point and time. No one in the neighborhood is claiming it so it looks like I have a new cat. My siiter-in-law said it was a gift from the Christmas angels being I'd just lost my beautiful little cat, Buffy in November due to acute renal failure.

Flc...just spoke to Ray...they are working things out.Pm d you not long back.What a coincidence..this one is completely wild and hisses at us when we feed her.She holes up in the porch and we feed her twice a day.Woe betide us if we are late..this angry litle face peers through the window..and demands her food.First appeared 18 th Dec.....just as the big freeze started. Reckon she saw the label on our foreheads saying "soft touch " and moved in! Will not tolerate t
ouch..can only get a few feet away...leave porch door open for her to sleep on old sweat shirt and woolen hat ! Lol x
Buffy wouldnt mind..........x

There's no doubt this cat is intellegent and recognizes a blessing when she's found one....:-). She probably thinking she's won the lottery and is now set for life. She wouldn't be wrong thinking it either...lol ! I bet she'll be putty in your hands before it's all said and done, just you wait and see.

Give Ray my good wishes for his Dad Jane...and thank you for taking on his massive job!

lol...maybe if you are able to start leaving the door open when the weather gets warmer and leave the food just inside the door she will start to get used to the idea of what humans are about..lol..

Thanks both for your good wishes which have just been passed on to Ray.
Flc...you are most probably right.She is very affectionate ! Hisses at me every time I feed her !!! Lol
Cat....the back door to the porch is permanently open for her but too cold to keep the inner one open at moment.As you say...when it warms up a bit...will do..one step at a time ! Lol

Pleased to hear that Trogg? has stayed put with you , like Ginge my stray they know where they are looked after. Ginge now meows at the door if he is desperate for a meal.

Aww Mavis...Ginge knows where he is well off.Trogg,we feel,is now a permanent resident...when she wants to be ! Lol

TROGG? Oh really, poor puss!!! lol

Lol Sid...it suits her !

always pondered the forces that compell certain animals to seek the company of certain humans!.... I think of all the cats I've lived with and only one (Sibby) was from a planned litter. Lucky was found on a rain soaked road in the dead of night...and it was his colour (mostly white) that saved his life in the headlights...Sibby from a friend's cat's litter...Barney was a foundling, he was left with five of his brothers and sisters in a basket on the doorstep of a friend, K.C. was half grown and was living in my garden shed... he had been harrassed by dogs so much that he never completely trusted dogs even after we adopted him with our two..
I think you've been blessed! granted there will come a time when she will leave you...but that is no reason to deny yourselves the joy of loving a little hissy ball of fur! Trogg is a lovely little creature regardless of the wild side...she will come around. She's young enough and you fed her when her need was greatest.
She faces some serious challenges...she has to get used to you and Ray(won't be difficult) and she has to learn to live in a house (sometimes) and if she is female...she will have the trauma of sterilization to get over as well... I'm thinking of the capture and the handling at the vet... she/he will mellow when it's done.
Congratulations, Trogg!
You can teach her to watch the squirrels...and sound the alarm to the birds if the hawk comes around, make her part of the team! You lucky people!

Thanks Lori..look forward to he twice daily hissing and spitting as I wait on her hand over fist.Cats have that effect .....make us feel they are doing us a favour by allowing us to feed them !!! She sits amongst the birds as they feed and does not seem to bother them Hope this continues ......

Looks like another lovely story to follow!

Thanks Lori.....think this cat is going nowhere !