We have a feral who was estimated to be five years old when we brought her inside during below zero temps fifteen years ago. She had been hanging around our bird feeder for several weeks prior and DH started putting food out for her. We had to get a humane trap to catch her and it took several days.
She escaped out of the wire kennel we had put her in two night later. She found a weak weld and forced her way out! It took two of us to catch her in a 10x12’ bedroom for her first vet visit. She literally ran up and around the walls! She lived in that room for 3 months behind a futon and when we introduced to the rest of the house, she promptly went under the sofa and lived there, coming out at night.
Ferals are cautious: they don’t make noise and bury everything well for to hide any scent. They have to in order to survive. We heard this weird screeching sound one night and realized it was her finding her voice. She has no interest in balls or cat toys and viewed most of them with suspicion and still does.
We moved from NY to FL and she now stays in the bedroom/office/playroom during the day, only venturing out at night to the rest of the house. In the past eight years, she started coming out to be petted and if it’s too much, she escapes to under a table or into her wicker carrier. It began eight years ago when our grandson was learning to crawl and went into her wicker carrier with her. She always comes out whenever he is in the room, which is a lot since his Legos are in that room. She trusts him and also our two year old dog. She jumps on DH’s lap when he is on the computer and she wants petted. Actually she is pretty insistent about it.
. Me? I cut her nails, brush her and take her to the vets. I’m viewed as okay, but a necessary evil, along with our other cat. The jury is still out on the new kitten yet.
She is twenty now and will always be cautious, that won’t change. My biggest disappointment is our enclosed screened pool cage. Our other two cats love it, it’s basically a huge catio and is the next best thing to being outside. I thought she would love it, but she immediately runs back inside as soon as she can whenever we have taken her out there. She has zero interest in it.
She’s content with the window in her room.
We called her Prudence but she is now known as Prunes since that was what the grandkids could say when they were younger. We love her dearly, she is a gentle girl and we have learned to accept her cautious ways.
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