The strays I feed on the back deck are always there waiting when I bring the
food out - not before, and they're never late!  ;>

Hugs,

CatNipped

All our pets have stopped whatever they were doing and walked over to lie
down by the sliding glass door at roughly 3pm every day.  That is about the
time the sun comes in and makes a warm spot there.  Of course they do it sun
or no sun, and no matter the season.  Its just about the time the kids come
home from school and I think that was once a trigger

Jo

I can only speak for one - Patches was a stray for nearly
three years before I realized he didn't belong anywhere (he
was still wearing a flea collar, and evidently managed to
freeload and hunt efficiently enough to be slightly on the
fat side).  Once he chose to adopt me, it didn't take him
long at all to develop his routines (and become "finicky"
about his food).

All our kitties, including former feral boy, Tucker, have locked me into a
morning ritual that takes 1/2 hour each and every a.m.
6 am - wake meowmie up and demand breakfast
I fix them their canned food.  Then,
3 of my cats get  2 sets of meds in the a.m., so I give them all a little
treat while I'm getting the 1st meds ready (a little dry food sitting on top
of the chicken-flavored Cosequin powder mixed with water-- actually, the
Cosequin is a supplement, I guess, not a med)
Then, while they're eating that, I get Omar his metranidazole and
amoxicillin and Tucker and Midnight their liquid clomipramine -- this is
icky-tasting so, of course, they get a few pieces more of the dry cat food.
But, of course, we can't leave anyone out so Robin and Oreo get these
treats, too. Giving Midnight hers is a ritual all in itself as we go through
the how-to-outsmart-the-human vs. how-to-outsmart-the-cat routine -- so far,
I've managed to prevail in the end.
This whole process ends finally and I have to go get the kids up for school.
Christine

Well, most of mine being strays (plus one former feral), I'd have to
say they adapt pretty easily to routines.  How long depends on the
cat.  I can't really recall with most of my strays, but my feral was a
different story since he was isolated and caged for the first few
months.  But he fell into his eating routine very quickly.  And once
he was introduced into the household, he adjusted very quickly.

Cats love their routines.  Interrupt one, and find out quickly how
much!  ;-)

Ginger-lyn

Home Pages:
 http://www.spiritrealm.com/summer/
 http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats)
 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy)
 http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against
                        Animals in Movies Website)