Pre-winter cat rescue

[procon]

5. Give him constant exposure to people.

I had an inquisitive young stray cat come inside my house through an open door and when I finally noticed him and tried to shoo him out, he hid in a closet. Anyway, long story short, I decided to keep him. I borrowed a large wire dog cage from my SIL and lured him into it with some tuna. I moved the cage into the living area where he could watch and listen to everything and be greeted with lots of tidbits dropped in his bowl as we passed by his cage. We sat by his cage while he ate, talked to him. Eventually he would sniff our fingers, then allow some petting through the wire. He also got acquainted with my other cat and the cage kept them both safely separated.

We were soon able to open the cage door without him hissing and he improved rapidly and stopped swiping at hands and allowed more contact as he came to trust us. He remained shy of strangers, but he become a happy and purring member of the family.