Feral literally means Wild and it is often used to refer to cats that are either born wild or were left, lost or reverted to wild life. The cats that do not live in domestic houses are called feral cats. They usually live in colonies where they can easily find food in good quantities.
These cats do not have any experience of human contact so they keep a distance from people and usually run away when you try to reach near them. Younger cats can easily be trained and can gradually turn out to be very affectionate pets. However keep in mind that this can be a very difficult and time consuming process where you need to gently persuade a feral cat to be part of your family and home.
It is required to be patient to take things as per cats pace of learning and also have a very good understanding of a cat’s behavior for anyone who wants to bring home a wild cat. Usually cats have a nature of learning by experience, so it is good to make their entire socializing process joyful, this will help them to be friendly with people and also gel in your domestic life. You can make your feral cat socialize by following several steps however each step may require several months or weeks to be completed and can also be needed to repeated in case there is a certain set back.
The first step is to facilitate your cat with a separate room which does not have any place to hide or escape. The room should have adequate stuff like litter tray, water, bedding and food etc. Let your cat be used to the place before you try to get friendly with it. They should feel safe.
Secondly you should spend some quality time with the cat without making an attempt touch them, only talk to them quietly. After some time you can try to attract them by offering them food with your hands. Try this daily until you feel that now the cat is getting friendly with you and if the cat is not afraid then you can try to touch and stroke it with your hands. In case the cat’s runs away don’t bother much and repeat the process every day. Do not look straight into cat’s eyes as it can be frightening for them look somewhere else or close your eyes half.
Gradually the cat will be accustomed to you and feel that you are friendly and not scary for them. Now you can let the cat move around the rest of the home and be friendly with entire house. Ensure that the other family members are also gentle and kind to the cat and offer treats like you do. The feral cat may take some time to be friendly with entire family.
In case you also have some other cats in your house then you should make sure that the feral cat gets used to their scent. This can be done as you rub the bedding of other cats around its living area. You should do this for other cats also. Generally feral cats give good response to other domesticated cats and this also helps them to socialize faster as they tend to learn more from other cats behavior.
Lastly when you understand that the cat is grooming well and is also happy using litter tray, it is now safe to allow them to explore the world outside your house. By now the feral cat must have become used to your home and your family and now they must have started considering your home as part of their territory and thus would come back for loving meals and comfortable bedding. A lot of feral cats become great pets and settle very well in domestic life.
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