I just had a breakthrough moment with the Feral I call Skittish Kitty.

[Siwsan]

She was sniffing around the food bowls as I headed out to do some weeding. She started to skedaddle, but stopped, turned and watched me. I made some 'kissy' sounds and talked really soft as I grabbed some dry food. She sat very patiently as I put it in the bowl, and waited until I headed into the back lot. When I came back, she started to flee but then stopped, turned and watched me, and now she's back at the bowl. I'm very chuffed.

[magicarpet]

1. Making headway... she trusts you mean no harm.

[blm]

2. 😻

[gab13by13]

3. I have 2 strays that have been with me for about 8 years now,

1 is totally kool with me and wife, and 2nd stray is really only kool with me, well I feed them. We were able to get them to the vet and fixed. We had a young 3rd stray show up last fall and he is similar to your cat with me. He used to run away when I put food out but now he only goes away a short distance. I made a little lean 2 for my back porch where he can eat in privacy. I don't know if he will ever come around like the other 2 did but who knows. I bought an extra heated cat house for him for the winter and when it got really cold he did go into it. Even feral cats rule I guess.

[spooky3]

10. +1

[Arkansas Granny]

4. I call my feral kitty Porch. I've been feeding her on the back porch for more than 4 years

and have never touched her. She is the last of a family of feral cats that have lived and been fed at my home for the last 10 years or so. None of them ever became domesticated.

She is very small, maybe 5 lbs, but it's not from malnutrition. She's had a regular diet since she was a tiny kitten.

She has never had kittens. There are tom cats in the neighborhood and a couple of them have even joined her for meals from time to time. I think she must be sterile. She's a very dark tortoise shell. She looks black in cold weather, but some rusty colored patches are visible when she sheds her winter coat.

Porch waits at the back door every evening to be fed. I give her a good quality dry food and a can of wet food. She cleans most of it up before the possums come out after dark. I've put 2 beds down for her, on front and back porch. She sometimes sits on the porch with me in the evenings, but she follows social distancing guidelines.

[spooky3]

11. +1

[Ocelot II]

5. A cat has recently taken up residence on my front porch,

where there is a comfortable chair with a cushion. I first noticed him sleeping on the chair about ten days ago, and he kept coming back, so I started putting food out for him. When I saw him drinking from the bird bath I added a bowl of water, and then it got cold at night again so I put a pet bed warmer on the chair. And now he lives there. I can't get close enough to pet him but I don't think he's feral, just shy. I can get within a few feet of him when I bring food out but he backs away if I get closer. My plan is to try to trap him at some point, get him scanned for a chip, maybe neutered and vaccinated, then try to find him a home. I think he's been on his own for long enough that he's a bit skittish around people, but since he doesn't seem to be that afraid of me he can probably be re-domesticated pretty easily. Unfortunately I can't keep him because my cat would raise holy hell.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. ❤ Kick. nt

[bearssoapbox]

7. It seems Skittish Kitty may have you just about trained.

Don't worry, he/she will know when your training is complete.

It's well worth the trust and love a feral can give.

My wife and I have been involved with feral rescues for 35+ years.

[IcyPeas]

8. slow and steady win the race.

[ailsagirl]

9. Excellent! 👍👍

[Ligyron]

12. Great work!

My roommates cat used to hate me. She was a car lot feral who got run over by a supposedly ramped vehicle my mechanic roommate was working on at the time. Feeling horrible he rushed the, what turned out to pregnant, feline to my SIL’s veterinarian clinic in really rough shape.

Not only does she survive but amazingly enough so do all the kittens.

“IDK, how I succeeded in stitching and gluing that kitty back together. Hell, her entire abdominal wall was separated as well as being split and torn in multiple places.” Talented and meticulous surgeon that he is, he modestly credits good aftercare for her amazing recovery as much as anything and the way my tough guy roomie melted and happily took care of her many needs really was touching. You know how difficult it can be to administer pills to unwilling felines.

I tried to help but she screamed and hissed at me for months until I posted in the Pet section here and got some amazing tips and advice that turned the corner and now she lets me pet her and even brushes up against my legs the way they do marking you as “theirs” or so I hear.

Yet even all these years later her initial reaction to any sudden movement somewhere, anywhere in the room is the start of that jump scare flight reaction like you described before checking herself with the old, “oh, it’s just you again” look and I doubt that will ever change.

[Useless in FL]

13. Mitty Kitty

I found a feral kitty at the edge of my side yard about 8 years ago. It had rained and she was soaking wet. She was so thin you could see every bone in her body. I walked down the hill to approach her but she ran off. I decided to put a bowl of food down there with the hope that she would return. As I walked up the hill I turned around to see her slinking back up to the fence and sniff the food. She devoured it. I fed her twice a day at the spot for a week and then I started moving the bowl closer to the house, slowly each day. Pretty soon she was eating at the front porch and then by the garage door.

About a month later, I sat on the bottom step of the porch right by the food and she came up to it and ate. I did this each day for a few days and then I reached out to touch her. At first she backed off, but then she turned to face me and let me touch her. Pretty soon she was rubbing all around me and one day she even got in my lap.

For a few months she slept on a rocking chair on the porch. Then, as it started to get colder, I introduced her to the garage. I held her as I closed the door, she flinched but she didn't bolt. For many years she slept on a bench with a pillow and blankets (she didn't like the pet bed I put out there) and then she got her own cat tower that she loves. One interesting thing, though. The first night in the garage, she didn't know what the litter box was for and she did her business under the car. I plopped her in the litter box and scratched around in it with her front paws. She got the hang of it and she never went outside of her box after that.

I always got her in the garage at night because we had problems with coyotes snatching our neighbors' cats, I had two of my own snatched .... and found their remains in the woods behind the house. Then we started to get bears prowling the neighbor hood raiding garbage cans.

I moved recently to another state and I couldn't leave her there so she has become and indoor kitty exclusively. She's adjusting well after having spent 2 weeks hiding under the bed. She's happy now and that's all I care about. She's even starting to play with my two other indoor kitties and my three pups! What a crazy life.