Sounds like you are making very good progress. Don't try to pet her until
she offers herself, and don't do guantlets as that will just be scary. I
don't believe I would close the closet either. That will be a thing of
trust. If you get her into the room then close the closet you will be
effectively locking her out of the little space she calls hers and I think
it would be a set back. I say you are doing fine, don't rush and don't push.
Let her tell you when it is time.

I think you are doing fantastic so far! Here is what worked with my
feral (a bit long):

She had to live in a cage for 2 months. It wasn't planned that way,
it was what it took until I was sure she wasn't going to disappear
in my house and I'd never see her again. During the cage period, I
sat and talked to her a lot. She got socialized to one of my cats,
Shamrock. I think she saw that he was safe around me, and learned
from that. They adored each other. I spoonfed her, because you're
right, food=love, stablization to them. Plus, I had to put some
meds in it because I sure couldn't drop it in her mouth. I used
welders gloves to pet Bonnie, and the first time I pet her without
them, I was scared to death. She was too. She didn't tear my hand
and arm to shreds. When it was time for her to come out of the
cage, I put it in a room where she could be segragated from the
rest of the house, and I kept the cage covered so it was a hidey-
hole for her, yet the cage door was open. With Bonnie, all of the
reasons for keeping her available for me to capture her was because
she was still going through vet visits; shots, boosters, spay, worm
treatment, booster for that pill, etc. She also had suffered from a
URI after her spay, so I had to somehow get meds into her. I needed
to be able to get her to the vet. The easiest way was to put a trap
into the cage and get her to go into the trap on her own. It
worked, mostly, until she was getting comfortable here.

Then, one Friday night, since I was going to be home all weekend, I
let her out of her room. I had all of the other doors shut so she
couldn't hide, but she found the cat tree and decided that was safe
due to all of the posts and it probably made her think she was in
bushes with exits if she needed it. She made me so proud how she
kept finding some bravery inside herself. While she was in her room
I played with her with a feather toy on a rod and I used that when
she was out of her room, and it was familiar to her, and she played
with it even out of her room. It's been nearly two years now since
I trapped her and I still can't pick her up. But, she'll come sit
on my lap sometimes, and she'll sit at my feet (she had a foot
fetish as a newly integrated feral and she would reach out and
touch my feet before she would let me pet her). I was very touched
when she would jump on the couch next to me, even if she ran if I
tried to pet her. I let her go at her own pace. I was more touched
when she decided she liked sleeping on my bed with me. And again,
when she climbed on my chest when I was sleeping, and found her on
me when I woke up.

When you can tame, even a little, a feral cat to the point that
they start to trust you, it is probably the most amazing thing that
will ever happen to you. I'm serious. They are so wild, yet so
trusting if you give them time.

<snip>

Sounds like it's going well.  You're taking it nice and slow which is the
way to do these things.
One thing you might want to do is have one of your more cat-friendly cats
come in the room with you.  Even if they aren't interested in her, as long
as they are the type that won't hiss at her, that's good.  Pet the friendly
cat in front of Susie.  She will be fascinated by it, and in awe that that
kitty is letting you pet him and nothing bad happened.  I had a foster that
started off letting me pet her only if I was petting another cat at the same
time.
Susie will be drawn to the cat and may venture out of the closet when he's
in the room.
Remember, it does go slow, but every little step a former feral takes is
such a big milestone.  I've had my Antonio for over a year now, and I can
*almost* pick him up!

"Sara" <sarakay@cybercomm.net> wrote in news:1111718485.167459.196270
@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Have you read the excellent article "CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU?RE THE PROUD OWNER OF A (FORMERLY) FERAL CAT ?
AND SHE?S HIDING UNDER THE BED"? It can be found here:

http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/Congratulations.pdf

It helped me out a lot when I first got Rosalie.

--Catherine
& Rosalie the formerly feral calico lapcat

Thanks so much!  I appreciate all the great suggestions.  I left the
baby gates (stacked) in the doorway the other day, and Susie was
clearly terrified, so we will be continuing in isolation for a little
while until she feels more confident.  We are just going to take little
tiny baby kitty steps but I am sure that one day Susie and I will be
best friends!

Sara