How do you train a feral cat to be domestic?
By crittercare in Cats on November 22nd, 2009
I’m assuming that this is very hard to do but how exactly? How do you teach a cat that is feral to be more of a house cat, than an outside cat?
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11/22/2009 at 11:12 pm
The cat will always be feral at heart, but food is the key as well as time. Be careful though as they can carry alot of diseases, so if you have other pets around make sure they have had all there vaccinations from the vet.
11/22/2009 at 11:18 pm
well first of all, you should give the cat its space, if it doesnt come around after around a month, then try to start coaxing the cat over to you, with treats, food, etc. I have had 2 cats I have taken in that were feral / stray, and both ended up coming around and being Great pets.
11/22/2009 at 11:18 pm
most of the time this cannot be done even with vacination. Where i live wherehave the Feral cats group. they trap kitties and take them in get them spayed and shots and send them back out to either where they found them or in a new location. If it is a kitten there is a possibility you can tameher. We own a feral kitten she hisses and spits when you get near her while she is eating. Also bath time is very fun. Either take it to the vet and get it spayed and shots and release it or take it to the vet and get it spayed and shots and keep him as an outside kitty dont force him to stay inside or it will tear up your house pee everywhere and be very unhappy.
11/23/2009 at 12:00 am
I think it is very hard to do but if it was me I would have it in its own room and socialize with it as much as possible, make food available at all times, and water….I would also try to sleep in the same room with it… I am no expert, but I have many a cat and my cats are very loving animals
( everyone tells me that! )
11/23/2009 at 12:58 am
I’m no expert, but the Humane Society says they can’t be domesticated.
11/23/2009 at 1:16 am
unless you start with at kitten less than 6 weeks old, you are fighting a losing battle. a feral cat, is a feral cat, I’ve worked with 3 and they all had to be put down. you can teach it to live in your house with you, but it would never be your pet, and you would rarely, if ever see it. touching it would be out of the question. the kindest solution for feral cats is to capture them, sterilize them, and return them to their colony, where at least they won’t be able to reproduce.
11/23/2009 at 1:50 am
Depends on how wild it is. If it won’t even let you touch it, then there’s no point. My sister has a feral cat and it pretty much lives it’s life under her bed. She had to trap it to even bring it inside. It gets along with her other cats, but she can’t pet it or have it sit on her lap. Her veterinarian said it would never domesticate.
I have a cat that lived outdoors most of its life. My mom-in-law gave it to us. It is not friendly. She doesn’t hiss or swat at me, but if I try and pet her, she ducks out from under my hand and leaves.
It’s sad, but I have never heard of anyone completely taming a wild animal unless they got it as a kitten. If it was a stray, in other words it had a home before, then maybe it’s possible.
11/23/2009 at 2:39 am
You have to be very patient & give them treats they like & food they like.
Only let ppl who live in your home feed them.If you already have a pet cat,let the feral cat watch you pet,feed,& talk nicely to your pet.
I have a feral tom,we call Poor Pathetic Boy,because he is the most beat up thing you ever saw,but he is very petable now & has a soft voice.He won’t come in yet,or let you pick him up for long,but he is no longer afraid.
11/23/2009 at 3:23 am
You need to get the cat used to anyone who will be inside with it as a first step
You need to feed it and make friends with it yourself as a first step
Many cats don’t mind going inside if there is a cat door and they can be feed inside
They can get used to the house without feeling trapped or a screen enclosure area or even garage as is possible
An apartment is tough although I suppose that if the cat is friends with you and you are the only one there he might be willing to come in to be feed by you
Good luck!
11/23/2009 at 4:22 am
Feral cats take more time to train than the ordinary cat. They have to go at their own pace and patience in this matter is a virtue. Just let the cat be, if he doesn’t want to stay in the house, don’t force the issue. Just keep feeding this cat and taking care of it. Try to approach it to pet it, but, slowly. Talk to this cat calmly so it will pick up the tone of your voice. You will get to the point where you will be able to pet it and get close to it. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It is possible to get a feral cat to mellow out. How long it will take? Can’t put a certain amount of time on it tho. When the cat is ready, and when the cat knows you won’t hurt it, it will come around. It might not be the lovey dovey lap cat that you want. Then again, it just might, it depends on the cat. It’s going to take a long time to tame this cat down and to make it trust you. Just take it one day at a time and let it go at it’s own pace.
I hope this advice helps you out a bit. Good luck!
11/23/2009 at 4:23 am
It all depends on just how feral the cat is. And that will depend on how close you can get him (I will use the he term, although it could be a she) to approach you. You want to sit down and talk in a normal voice. Curiosity will take over. Don’t make sudden movements. You sit down to reduce your size over his. Let him sniff your fingers. (Don’t put any food on your fingers though….) See if you can then touch him, either by getting him to rub his mouth on your fingers, or maybe being able to rub his chin or the top of his head. If successful, the next step is to try and pet him from the top of his head to his tail. That will mimic how his mother cared for him. She cleaned him by licking him from head to tail. Your hand movements must be slow and measured.
If he still seems reluctant to approach you close enough to touch, you could try a toy like feathers on a stick to lure him.
11/23/2009 at 5:11 am
My moms cousin saved a feral cat from the pound. He is kind of one of those cat horader type people. It was one that had had its ear clipped because it was wild and had been fixed and released. I dont know how, but that particular cat was tame within a few months. Maybe it was a house cat in its past or something, but i was pretty amazed.
11/23/2009 at 5:41 am
Feed the cat, name the cat, talk to the cat in a soft voice during feeding and give it time to adjust to indoors. After about 3 months of feeding and verbal communication, you should see some signs of domestication. Then, gradually make friends with the animal by gently stroking it’s back while speaking to it and progress to grooming it gently, with a comb. You may have to exercise some spanking if and when it tries to scratch or otherwise attack you. When the animal understands that you are bigger, stronger and smarter, it will change it’s approach to you. At that time, if you switch back to kindness, you will no longer have any problem with that cat.
11/23/2009 at 6:25 am
We have done this with several cats we have found running wild and eating out of garbage cans or anyplace else they could get a meal.
It takes a lot of time and patiences. We started by putting out food and water in a spot the cat was around a lot, at the same time everyday and leaving the area. Pretty soon you can leave the food and just back off a bit and it will start getting use to you being around. Remember to always talk to it even if you don’t see it.
This has to go on for a while. Pretty soon the cat will be waiting for you to come with the food. It will be skiddish for a long time but soon you’ll be able to pet it a little bit. Never try to pick it up. When the cat is ready to accept you you’ll know it. After you’ve calmed it enough to get it on a carrier get it to the Vet and have it fixed.
Keep it in the house after that until it is well healed. The first time you let it out it will probably bolt but we have always seen them come home for food in short order.
You could just try to trap it but you may tramatize it and it might never take to you very well after that happened.
Soft words, slow movements, good food and water.
If they cat is really, really wild you may not be able to do a thing with it. You’ll be able to tell whether it’s responding to your efforts. It probably wants a good home as much as you want to give it one. You just have to get to know each other.
Good luck!!
11/23/2009 at 6:47 am
My cat is an outside cat. So it isnt strange question to ask. First, you must gain each other’s trust. This can take some time. Once this is accomplished, you can try calling it bby rolling ur tongue in to a meow. Next, introduce it to ur home. remember, this cat probably has never in its life seen this b4, so it will get curious. If it doesnt want 2 go, dont make it.
Let it explore. Everywhere. make sure there is food, water, and a litter box.
Once the cat is done. try to see if u can pick it up and put it to the litterbox, if it itself has not already found it.
If u have gained its trust to the max, and decided that it CAN be ur pet, take it to the vet, for its shots. Warning: the cat wont like the shots one bit. Talk to it tho. soothingly. this will help.
once the shots and training are all done, u have a cat that is now urs!!!!!
11/23/2009 at 7:05 am
Man there is SO much great advice on here! The only thing I can really offer is my experience. I did most of these things. Offered food and water. Gave it a place of solitude. Approached it regularly and with a calm voice. I also offered a brand new litter box that no other animal had ever used. I also gave her one of my old shirts to sleep on so she would get use to my smell even when I wasn’t there. After a couple of weeks I moved her to my room. (I love the idea of it sleeping in there with you as long as you will not get hurt at night) My bed was near a window and she loved sleeping on the sill. That was really when she warmed up to me. She was always a little skiddish with strangers but that was one of the best cats I was ever owned by. Best of luck to you. BTW she also went outside. We lived in a rural area and just couldn’t keep her in all the time. I don’t know what to do about that.
11/23/2009 at 7:26 am
I think it’s impossible.
11/23/2009 at 7:58 am
Absolutely do not believe anybody who says that an outdoor, undomiciled cat cannot be socialized into being an indoor cat. I am not a cat rescuer, but I have done volunteer work with three grassroots cat rescue groups in NYC that have rescued literally thousands of undomiciled, unsocialized cats, and adopted them into homes and apartments in NYC.
The old wives tale that a “feral” cat is forever feral in his soul so keep an eye out is pure bullpucky. It is also the reason that people who fear cats and attribute evil powers to them do so. So please do toss that notion out.
It is true that some, very, very few rescued cats never socialize. Many of these have had terrible experiences with people when they were in the streets. A few, maybe one out of a hundred, just never trust, not ever.
The difference between a ‘feral’ cat and a socialized cat is that the socialized cat trusts people and has learned to accept nurturing from humans, whereas the feral cat, oftentimes very justifiably, fears humans.
Unless you live in a true rural area, and have a barn nearby where you milk cows and keep grain and a hay mow and so, lots and lots of barn mice and wonderful, sweet-smelling shelter from the elements, any outdoor cat lives a life of pure hell. The average life expectancy of a ‘feral’ cat is four years. The food ain’t good or regular; there is danger everywhere: from food, from poisons, from predators like raccoons and dogs and nasty people and cars and horrible diseases like feline aids and leukemia.
When you pluck a cat out of the street and bring him inside, you take him out of an environment that he knows, and bring him in to one that he doesn’t. And you are something else that he doesn’t know. He has to learn, first, to trust you, and after that, he has to learn his new territory: your home.
People often bring in a cat from the outside and plunk it down in their house, and then are distressed when the cat runs behind the washing machine or under the bed, and won’t come out for anything until everyone is asleep. Eventually, most cats come around after a couple of weeks of this.
But the best way to socialize a rescue is to put them in a cage for the first week or so. With a little potty and food and water and a nice clean little rug or a pile of soft cloths for a bed. Cover the cage on all sides except the side where the door is. This way, the cat will feel secure. Let him watch you, watch the rhythms of his new territory, adjust to its scents. Don’t sneak up behind the cage and scare him or make any fast moves. Talk to him. And every time you open that door, let it be to give him something nice: food, a catnip toy, to clean his potty. Teach him that he can trust you. That you mean only good, no harm. He may hide at the back of the cage for a few days, or he may come around right away. Every cat does it a little differently, and usually, a younger cat comes around a little sooner than a seasoned cat. But when the come to the front of the cage and rub against it, when they smell the food or see you coming, you’ve begun to win the war.
Every time you open the door to put in food or do something nice, say his name, so he comes to know it. After he starts to come to the front of the cage, give him another day or so, then open the cage, and let him explore just one room. When he is comfortable with that, let him experience all his new territory.
Be sure and keep his front claws trimmed so he doesn’t scratch furniture or you when he is playing. Teach him the word “no”. Never, ever hit him (use a water pistol and the word ‘no’, and after a while, just the word no will do). Get him a good sisal scratching post. Feed him good quality food. Get him to the vet for his basic care. And just be trustworthy.
Get him one of those little ledges or window seats that attach to a window sill and put it in a window where there is action outside: a tree with birds, people passing; be sure the window is screened, so he can sniff the breeze and never, ever escape.
Most rescued cats are thrilled with their good luck and unbelievably loyal. What you are thinking of doing is a very good thing. You will never regret it, and your initial assumption is very, very wrong. It is easy, and it is so satisfying. Enjoy!
11/23/2009 at 8:31 am
It’s not an easy job. We have had some feral cats come into our animal shelter and one had to be euthanized because there was just no way to tame him. We have many others on the other hand, that have come around. When you pet the cat, try not to move your hand to it’s face to quickly. Bring your hand up from behind the cat and pet it. Give the cat a lot of attention. Love it, if it will play, play with it. Every chance you get where the cat wants to play, play with it, and every chance it wants to love, love on it. It may take a long time, but it’s worth it in the end.