Caught a cat in a Hav-A-Hart a few days ago. We're not close to other houses. I haven't seen it before. I'm guessing the cat's a male from the size. Looks to be in good condition. Well fed. Coat's shiny. Ears not tore up.

Probably not more than a few years old at most. It's in a larger cage now. Growls when you go near or exhibits signs of fear.

Any ideas? There's no humane society in this area. I would like to get it shots and neutered but taking it to a vet is going to be dicey. I understand they have a medication that's given to animals to calm them when traveling. How well does that work?

-- Darren (df1@infi.net), January 20, 2002

Answers

How large is the cage that you have it in now? Can you get it into your car and to the vets? If not, use the same hav-a-hart trap to transport it. In my experience a feral cat is never "tamed". But if it becomes dependent on you for food they do get friendlier. But not sit in your lap kind of stuff. By all means get him someplace to be neuterd. Look in your phone book, or call a humane society somewhere to get the name of a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. I know people here that trap feral cats and have them spayed and given rabies shots, I commend them. Lynelle in southwesterVA

-- Lynelle (x2ldp@aol.com), January 20, 2002.

Darren, This is just my opinion and sure most wont agree with me. I much prefer to have the wild cats around the barn then " house cats". If he is in good condition then obviously has been taking care of himself. I always have barn cats and most of the time they go off and have a litter and by the time we find them the kittens are 1/2 grown and wild. They are the ones that seem to be the best mousers. They always have feed out for them and fresh water. I dont have a problem with mice or rats. I would let him be and just give him food and water. If you want a pet, find a kitten to raise.

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), January 20, 2002.

I have found, what I thought to be feral cats- took them to the vet for shots, spay and checked for Feline lukemia (sp)--brought them home and some stayed and some returned to the wild. I found that if I keep them in a cage for several days after bringing them home--with a sand box and food and water they seem to stay more often than not. It is a chance you take with any animal. They do make great 'barn' cats.

-- Debbie T in NC (rdtyner@mindspring.com), January 20, 2002.

Yes you can try to tame them and No it doesn't always work.

I have close to a dozen barn cats. Most were born here, but a few strays have managed to call this place home. Those few we captured, took them to the vet for observation, luekemia tests, got them their shots and rabies. The males we had neutered and the females spayed.

One or two took off never to be seen again and one or two stayed and are happy campers. I'd never, ever try to introduce one into the home. First off my big cat would take one swipe and a fight (you could sell tickets for) would be underway. That's not how to treat them..try kindness.

-- matt johnson (wyo_cowboy_us@yahoo.com), January 20, 2002.

all ferel cats get tamed the smae way around here.. either in a kill trap,,or a 22

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 20, 2002.

With the cat being well fed and a shiney coat, I would think that it was someones pet. If your around dogs their odor is on you which might be why the cat growls when you approach. Try putting up found cat signs before doing anything permanate.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), January 20, 2002.

YES! it is possible, here is how I have done it. I trapped the cat (I've done it with several cats at various ages) in a carrier sized cage, cover the cage completely so that the cat can not see out, because if they can see 'it' they may hurt themselves trying to attack 'it', and any pain they experience is your fault in their mind, and they will not bond with the face that causes them pain,

Next leave them alone, they are in terror and need time to calm down, the best place for this is in the dark and quiet, you can go and peek several times a day, but just a peek and don't even talk for the first day or two,

The cat will claim down enough to get hungery, and need water by then, put the food and water into the door just inside and just enough to so that they will be gratefull not satistfied, if the cat is calm you can side a dirt tray in with the food and water, but don't bother if the cat is too agressive, Now talk to the cat, some times peek, some times pull off the cover say "Hi kitty" and cover it back up, if/when he doesn't hiss, your making progress, always give a little food and water [enough for a full drink now] but not enough food to get full, when the cat looks and streaches up his head to see if you have food you have reached a mile stone, he may still hiss, but he is "LESS" likely to attact you, and other people can talk to the cat along the way, but they should not tease etc, You can scratch the outside of the cage etc., but not when they can see you, if they see you and feel fear they will not tame. If the cat shows agression at any time cover him up, and come back a few minutes later, it takes longer for older cats to adjust,

When you can change the dirt, feed and water without the cat lashing out at you, (it will sit backed into the far corner, without hissing) you can open the door and talk without food etc, then cover him up, he will be missing something to do by now, if you are the only act in town so to speak, he will get attached,

When he shows that he likes you bringing food etc, give him a full feed, talk to him while eating, they may regress at this point, just go back to the covering him up, don't let him think he can scare you away, there is no way to tell now long it will take, but evenually the cat will purr when he sees you, {you should wear good gloves for all of this,} and you can try petting his head, Don't try petting any other part of the cat first, cats greet by touching noses and going for another part is not a frendly gesture to them,[talking about wild ones]

When you can touch the face, before feeding, and even while eatting, move him to a bathroom or other small often used area, that has a hiding place, like behind the toilet, if the cat shows agression, put him back in the covered cage, once the cat is safely living in the small room and no longer shows dangerous fear to other people, basicly no more than big eyes while backed into a corner leave the door open to the rest of the house, the small room is now the 'safe place'were food water and hiding place is, and you basicly have a tame cat, acceptance of petting and handling come while in the small room at each feeding, as does acceptance of other people and all the sounds of a household.

I have tamed several tom cats this way, one would later take baths with me and bring me prey he had killed, all learned to accept me handling in any way I chose to, bathing , toenail clipping, checking teeth and ears, but to be completely honest, once tamed, showing aggression to me or a small child becomes a near death experience for any animal in my house, and NONE have tried it a second time.

Yours may only accept the person that feeds it, but I would try the covering up, cats get bored, and are more receptive to new behavior when lonely, if it is getting all the food it wants it has no reason to change it's behavior. But it can be done.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), January 20, 2002.

I had a ferral cat I would see crossing my property occasionally, and put out feed for him. It took 3 years, but he finally slept on a box on a woodpile and would let me pet him. One morning I went out and he was in his box all chewed up from a fight with a raccoon, I presume. He lay in the box without eating or drinking, but licking his wounds. The third day he hobbled down, limped into the sunroom, checked out all the house, and settled down on the couch in the sunroom, and decided to join the pampered cats that live in the house. That didn't last much longer than a trip to the vet to neuter him and take care of an abcess, and he prefers to live outside but will come in once in a while merely to check out the house. He is very friendly to me, a good mouser, and with regular feeding he is a beautiful cat, never bothers the ducks or chickens, and they just ignore him. I know it can be done, just takes patience.

-- Duffy (hazelm@tenforward.com), January 20, 2002.

Caught one in a Have a Heart Trap. After a vet trip in the trap to get neutered, and lots of patience, it now lives in the house with me, a dog and two other cats. She has a fear of going outside and staying too long now, maybe because live was tough and food was hard to come by. She loves to be stroked, but absolutely will not come cuddle in my lap as the others do. That's her choice and I love her dearly. She invents her own games and runs and plays and play fights with the other cats, hiding behind doors until they walk by whereupon she jumps out at them and chases them all over the house. She is a fun cat, always up to something! I love to watch her little mind working on the next thing she will get into... she is a little troublemaker!!

-- Carole (carle@earthlink.net), January 20, 2002.

First of all I guess I have been reading the postings to long as I entered this one to realy scream at you as I read it first as does anyone tanned feral cats. Glad that wasn't what you were asking. I too have a stray cat that has just showed up but mine I am sure was just dumped in the country no longer wanted at home. I agree with the other posts in regards to it taking a long time and my suggestion would be to just treat it well and see what happens. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef@getgoin.net), January 20, 2002.

Well, Gail, we have someone in Australia who does just that.

We have enormous problems with feral animals, and cats are an extremely efficient predator of our small native wildlife, and their eggs. I have, and will always given the opportunity, use Stan's solution on feral cats. They prey on poultry, they steal domestic cat's food, and they fight and cripple domestic cats - particularly when a queen is in heat. And they kill AT LEAST one animal, generally native, per day. I mind one feral tom I killed some decades ago now - biggest cat I've ever seen. Had been preying on our young poultry. One-shot kill. Clean hit. Thing took off running, covered over a quarter mile, cleared a netting and barbed-wire fence, scaled a hollow stump and hid in it, then realised it was dead. Those were the days: I kept close enough to see where it ended up. Weighed about two stone (28 pounds), and all bone and hard muscle.

I've also seen a photo taken during an army exercise in Northern Australia. Someone in a platoon had shot a feral cat. The area was fairly remote, the animals had probably been breeding under pure survival of the fittest conditions for two or three hundred years (could have come in with Malay traders before white settlement). There were a big group of men (say more than a dozen). One of them (not the tallest, but towards the top end, was holding this dead black feral cat by the tail, about six inches of tail above his fist, fist above his head, cat's nose touching the ground. That makes nose to tail tip about six-foot six or more. Rump was just below the guy's armpit, so that makes nose to rump about four feet or more. These guys were fit soldiers, and the guy holding the cat was supporting the elbow of the arm with which he was holding the cat with his other arm. That makes a feral cat that's a fair pinch-hitter for a panther. We NEED to control feral cats.

Back to our feral cat-tanner. He tries to rehabilitate areas for Australian wildlife. This is a major undertaking, but the work has to be done or we'll have major extinction of native species. Most because of predation by feral cats, but some because of feral foxes, and some by feral dogs. He has to acquire huge tracts of country with native vegetation, fence them (at least six-foot fence, better 2 metres or even eight feet, solid netting over wire, buried netting at foot, barbed wire top), then exterminate feral animals (predators as above, but also competitors like rabbits or hares or goats or donkeys or horses or camels, or feral pigs which are actually a combination of competitor and predator). Can't remember his full name, but he has a full doctorate in Science (not just PhD), surname Walmesley or Wolmesley. He asserts that he has the only valid use for feral cats - he makes cat-skin hats (like coon-skin). Of course, cats are smaller than raccoons, so he uses more of the skin - the front of his hats have a fairly flat cat-face snarling at you. Looks fairly grisly, but it gets great publicity, he's right even if monomaniacal, and the publicity contributes to conservation of Australian wildlife.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), January 21, 2002.

I've tamed, trained, and turned around more critters ~ domestic and exotic ~ than I can count, for myself, other folks, pet shops and the zoo (some use critters in classroom situations). To be able to hold a feral cat and have it purring, takes me about an hour. I use the bathroom, since the critters can't get under anything nor get hurt. No drugs are used. No food is used. Once the cat is tamed down, it's not a problem taking it in a carrier to the vet for a check up.

Do you have a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center near you that could help you?

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), January 21, 2002.

Great advice thumper! i would also use mr/ms rogos' advice on opening the cage in the bathroom to limit hidey holes & all.

i have caught 4 & tamed 3 feral cats, & pretty much did it the way ms/mr thumper did it.

2xs they came out of the cage purring & ready to make friends, one cat was rabid & i had to have him put down. the third cat was cool w/ eveything but being picked up & would come when called w/in a week. that cat was the best mouser i ever saw in my life.

once i was herding a very large rat-[norwiegian? -pack?] out of an old building, none of the other cats would go near it, for which i was greatfull since this rat was huge.

had the blighter in the mudroom, almost outside it dived onder some lumber, i cussed, & a streak of b&w went under the lumber after it. i was certain i was going to lose a cat or have a big ole vet bill!

well that little bobtailed cat could not get a neck breaking hold on that fat rat & they went round & round with the cat finally strangling the rat. i had to pry open that rats mouth to free the cat! boy was she hissing & spitting when i took the rat away, but i had to take it to the vet to have it checked for rabies to be safe.

speaking of rabies, you know that it does not always look like a raving mean 'cujo' kind right? an overly friendly mellow-but scared and in pain one is more likely to be displayed by an formerly aggressive feral cat. the original temperment does a 180, so nice becomes mean & mean becomes nice. to a point, since they are in pain & afraid, nice ones will still strike & bite, they will just purr afterwards.

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), January 21, 2002.

I have tamed feral cats by both trap and by time. If you trap them after a week or two of feeding them and talking to them in motherese (the kind of voice you would use to coo a baby) they will be rubbing up to you. If you have a cat that comes to where you feed them just standing as far as you can without the cat running away and gradually getting closer and then using that motherese will usually finally gain you a friend for life. My Sassy cat was wild and know she just rubs up against me and in my arms all the time. Good luck, Terry

-- Terry (elipe@fidnet.com), January 21, 2002.

I have a feral cat. I found it in my driveway, when it was only a little kitten. It had been mauled by an animal (probably a dog). I took it to the vet. $400 later, we took the little kitten home to recooperate. She allowed us to hold her, feed her, and nourish her-- she even played with my young daughter. She is grown now, but she will not allow you to hold her...and if caught, she will get away as soon as she can. Yes, she is dependent on us, thus, she stays around, but she is somewhat wild (hunts, roams, etc.) foremost. She will never be a "domesticated" cat in the sense of

-- lori Ward (wardlcward@aol.com), January 21, 2002.

Interesting that this post happened just when there was a big spread on feral cats in the Wisconsin State Journal. Local vets received a $62,000 grant from some outfit in California to capture, neuter, and spay feral cats but RELEASE them back into the wild. With traps, vet fees, etc., this will cover about 1,000 cats out of an estimated population of 80,000! If those 80,000 cats catch just one songbird per day to survive, that's 29,200,000 per year in this county. 72 counties in Wisconsin and my calculator won't go that high. Housecats are not native to North America. Feral cats are not housecats. They are wild animals just as are skunks, raccoon, 'possums, etc. I won't mention how many feral cats ended their short life here but I value the native songbirds more than the introduced predators that they are not prepared for. I am NOT a cat hater. Had a beautiful "dumped" Burmese show up in 1984, neutered and declawed and actually caught in a leghold trap. Finally buried Silver 16 years later. Then a lovely Abysinian type female that took a long time to tame and lots of vet bills. In the wild for too long and carried all sorts of diseases and only had her about 5 years. Currently have a beautiful black & white female that was in the neighborhood for about a month and full of burdocks. Nobody could get near her until she found my livetrap. Two nights in there and she was looking for any friend. No more hisses and snarls then. Into the house and she discovered that this must be Eden and I am God. If I pick her up and try to take her outside, she'll tear up my shoulder trying to get back inside. She's had enough of the jungle! But her life may also be short depending upon what diseases she's been exposed to. All animals, especially dogs and cats, will try to get burdocks out of their hair. The burrs come apart and the hooks get into the throat. Thus she will forever have a "cough" as vet says that the hook is too deep to get at. And even as I type this, there is a tiger striped tom in my trap caught last night. Only got one snarl out of him. I have a friend who will take any nice cat that I catch and they are returned to housecat status. This one may be a keeper but I will only know after 2 or 3 nights confined in the trap. If it meows for help to get out of a bad predictament, it enters the system for either return to, or entering the housecat status. If all it wants to do is take off one of my fingers, Remington .22 short. Drastic? Yes. But when the average life of a feral cat is only about 3 years, I'm just eliminating the suffering since they don't visit a vet on their own.

Marty

-- Martin Longseth (paquebot@merr.com), January 22, 2002.

I have trapped many cats and believe strongly in release to the wild. It is not our choice as some have so elegently mentioned to use a 22 or anyother method of death if the cat does not respond the way we like. The best you can do is have it tested, fixed and give it food and if you feel that you can give it a home take it from there. Sorry to argue, but death by human hand is not a option unless the cat is very ill. There are many ferel group how can advise you, try Ferel Friends. Org. The quality of life is to be taken into consideration. After 12 weeks the animal is used to a has freedom. At this point it is time consuming and very difficult to tame a ferel cat if at all. Cats live in colonys, and for each cat removed, one cat will take its place. Removing the cat from its enviorment will not cut down on the size of the colony. This cat is used to the hunting grounds, the dangers and the other cats. Try to release the animal in the same place as soon as possible. There is a huge commitment in trying to tame a cat. this animal will be with you for years and anyone who is thinking of trying to tame a cat needs to be prepared for the commitment. They will not be a lap cat. Do what is best for the cat, not what the human desire is. As far as the comments of shooting cats. I feel sorry for those with that kind of violence in there lifes.

-- michelle clive (2chapter@mailcity.com), April 21, 2002.

Michelle, you are certainly with in your right to say what ever you belive, I will have to disagree, some of your comments come very close to calling those of us with once wild lap cats, liers.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), April 21, 2002.

I think it must be possible. I mean, cats became domesticated somehow, didn't they? ;-)

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 22, 2002.