FINALLY got Daphne the feral cat trapped last night after a month of trying, yippee! (She’s ignored the tuna-baited humane trap for two weeks, and thwarted every clever plan we tried. I have a lot of respect for that damn little cat.)
She finally decided to go into the trap & eat the tuna.
I hauled a screeching, hissing, spitting furball in a cage to my vet at 6:30 am.
Now she’s sleeping it off, locked in a room with food, water, a bed & a litter box while she recuperates for a few days. She has been coming in & out through the cat door, so she sort of lives in my house anyway. She has a name, a bed, & now I’m listed as “owner” at the vet clinic. Damn, I guess I have another cat, but at least one that won’t breed!
how wonderful. i’m sure daphne will be a cuddle hog in no time. it is a major load off when you know the little fur face is warm, dry, well fed, and most of all safe.
How old is Daphne? How old can a feral cat be and still be domesticated? I’ve heard after a certain age they never really get cuddly, but I have no idea what that age is. How old does a kitten have to be before spaying?
(Oh, and good work by the way.)
Well, girl cats are not as cuddly as neutered males (on the whole) in any case. But they have their own, subtler ways of showing affection.
If this feral wasn’t too wary to come in the cat door, there’s probably a good chance she’ll come around to lap-kittiness in time. “Daphne” is a great kitty name, too.
She’s about 6-7 months old, I’ve been feeding her since she was very tiny, living in my woodpile & scrounging for dog food scraps on the back porch. Iams kitten chow; she’s pretty spoiled for a feral!
Boris: from what I understand, unless a kitten is socialised to humans by 7 weeks old, it’s very difficult if not impossible in most cases to tame them; they are, essentially, wild animals. She’s already lost half of one ear and has a scar on her nose! I think it’s some sort of “Man’s dominion over the wild kingdom” instinct in us humans that make us want to tame them. I haven’t particularly tried to tame her, though she is used to myself & friends in the house. My main concern was that she didn’t start having kittens.
BTW, I also caught a very grumpy feral male in the trap last week. Took him down to the vet to get his orchids removed, too.
