From Feral Lotta to Friendly Robin: One Cat's Journey
A longish post contributed by Vicky:
I was planning to bring my feral cat in before the cold snap because I'd seen some signs of improvement in Lotta lately, though she still maintained a distance of 10 feet at all times (unless a fence was between us), only appeared after dark, and sometimes ran up to the food I was setting out and swatted my hand (I thought it progress that nails ceased to be used lately).
I just barely trapped Lotta on the 12th in blizzard-like conditions, and released her in my bathroom (to be moved to laundry room later). I was somewhat resigned to the idea of having a semi-feral slinky cat in my basement from now on, much like Terren's cat. (Terren: My cat and I resent that. I have a half-tame low-slung cat adding a spark of life to the basement.)
Long story short (see pics): this cat has changed! And I finally noticed that "Lotta" is a boy ... now Robin. So I'm really surprised. He does not want to go back outside. I guess I have worked very hard at caring for him. He has been getting 2 cans of wet food a day since October, and handwarmers in his shelter at night...but I'm still shocked. Maybe it was the blizzard?? Or just him seeing me with my happy cats??
Robin is spending a bit of time in a spare room for assessment. We expect to put this gorgeous green-eyed tabby patch up to adoption in the new year!
THEN
Lotta out in the wild
Scared Lotta in bathroom
3 comments:
What a cutie. Clearly a smart cat who knows how to recognize a good thing when he experiences it.
Thats a lotta Lotta, well,lotta Robin. Point being, I have the most gorgeous feral tabby mama in my colony ever fursure! When we trapped her for Rabies shots the Vets argued with us for presenting a feral cat b/c NO FERAL could possibly be that healthy! Good job Vicky
It brings up a question I've been debating with myself for weeks: what percentage tame is a feral who greets you at the door when you get home (from inside - he's been inside longer than out now I think), comes out to investigate guests eventually, and apart from preferring loaf-of-bread poses to the sprawl of the fully domestic cats seems pretty purely a house cat... but only lets me touch him while he's eating. Somewhere between 75 and 90% I think, but I can't decide.
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