Sounds like a feral cat. Good luck. You don't know how long it has been on
its own...sometimes you can never tame a wild cat.
c
For the past several weeks I have been visited by a cat that seems to be
wild.
It will not allow me to get closer than 10 feet or so, even when I feed it.
It is always on the lookout and runs from the slightest noise or movement.
Can anyone suggest ways I can tame this cat.  It's about half grown.

Thanx

--
                                                                     = Wake
Up America =

You should also consider just trapping it and taking it to the vet to get    
neutered and then releasing it. Many vets will do it for free.  I know
people who have tried to tame a feral and it just doesn't work.  I had a
feral for a while and I thought he was all happy and acclimated to living
with us.  Then one day, he just left.  I saw him later but he was not
interested in picking up our old relationship.

Minus

What you need is lots of patience.

Years ago we found a half-grown cat living under our house. We made sure
she knew it was us feeding her -- we would throw treats to her, try to
get her to edge closer, but mainly let her know we were the food source.

After weeks of that, I started spending time outside, just sitting close
to her area. I'd talk and talk to her, get her used to my voice. After a
couple of weeks of that, she started getting curious. I would make sure
she was watching and rub my hand all over some foliage. I'd watch her
from inside as she would go smell that area as soon as I left.

One day, she finally sniffed my outstretched hand. Later that night, I
was able to touch her, and she immediately rubbed against me like I was
her long-lost friend. She's still with us, and prefers to hide during
the day and come out at night, always acting a bit nervous when in the
middle of a room. She's an incredibly loving cat. I think she's grateful.

Don't give up. Whether you take it the slow way like we did or just trap
her and start the bonding process inside, it's worth it when they turn
that corner.

Good luck,

Rhonda

THIS IS A REPLY FROM MY WIFE, ELLEN PERRY BERKELEY:

Hello everyone:  My husband picked up on this question from Dave.  Many of
you may know my book, MAVERICK CATS: ENCOUNTERS WITH FERAL CATS.  The
encounters are partly my own, here in Vermont, and partly those of
scientists and observers around the world.  In the process of telling my own
adventures in the first half of each chapter, I have included much material
that would be helpful to someone asking Dave's question (although I don't
spell out my advice in any sort of "TO DO list)................ For those of
you who don't know my book, I sell it to friends -- and you may all consider
yourselves friends -- for only $11, postage included (within the United
States) (regular price at a bookstore would be $15).  Just write a check to
Ellen Perry Berkeley for $11, and send it to me at Box 311, Shaftsbury,
Vermont, 05262.  This book has been out since 1982 and has become something
of a classic since then, but I did an "expanded and updated" edition in
2001, and it is this new edition you'd be getting.

To respond to Dave's question with a few thoughts, I've always held that WE
don't "re-domesticate" a feral cat; it re-domesticates itself.  This can
happen when it has become less wary, after taking food that is given without
strings attached.  (That is, DON'T try to pet the cat.  DON'T do anything
sudden.  Move out of the way, when you put out the food.  Show that you are
not anything to be afraid of.)  Soothing the cat's fears may take a while.
Every situation is different.  But keep at it..............Re-domestication
can also happen, I believe, when a feral cat becomes somehow aware of a
health problem it has.  We encountered this twice, with our four formerly
feral cats.  For reasons we couldn't explain, the fears seemed to evaporate
at a certain point, the cat became OK at being approached, and soon came
into the house, settling into quite a tamed existence.  In the process of
getting the cat checked at the vet's, we discovered certain problems -- a
benign tumor, in one case; difficulty with recent birthing, in another.  Did
the cats sense someting?  Who knows?.............. For a substantial colony
of cats -- anything from several cats on up -- the best care we can give
them is to spay and neuter the individuals, return them to their environment
if it is a safe one, feed them daily there, check them regularly for health
problems, check the colony continually for any new arrivals, etc...........
Go to the Alley Cat Allies website (www.alleycat.org), for heaps of material
on TNR, including ideas for a shelter you can build outdoors (for those of
you in the colder climates).  Lots of good material offered for free.  Also
some material for purchase, including another book of mine, just completed,
TNR: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE (A HISTORY OF THE TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN
MOVEMENT)............  Alley Cat Allies also has a Feral Friends Network, so
perhaps there is someone in your area who would be able to give hands-on
guidance on all of this.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes.  All best,  Ellen Perry Berkeley

At work last year, we found somebody dropped off a couple barely weaned
kittens outside work and since we have lots of pallets of things in the
front, they had plenty of hiding places.  The girls kept feeding the
kittens until one day they both ventured inside for the winter.

 The male sibling was able to get tamed a little easier than the female
and one of the girls at work now has it as a lap cat while she works and
has a litterbox inside and food/water dishes near her station.  Later on
we discovered the mother of the kittens hanging around outside the
building and recently we discovered more kittens similar age as these
were when we first saw them.  The girls took the two of ours to the vet
and got them fixed.

 The female for some reason seems to want me as her owner instead of
anybody else.  She took about 6 months longer to gain trust enough to
even pet her.  Now I can't even sit down on my chair without her trying
to trip me by being underfoot and wanting me to pet her.  She seems to
want attention rather than food as most of the time when I offer her
something I know she loves, she refuses it and rubs against my legs.  
She still doesn't like to be a lap cat but I don't know if that's just
her or something about the area I work in.  When she tries to climb my
leg to get on my lap sometimes, her tail hits a hot soldering iron and
singes the hair and she goes off running and stays away for about a day
but she comes back all loving.  When I'm not at work for a day, the
girls say she goes around looking for me meowing like she's hurt.

The answer is "maybe". It took me maybe a year to win over my cat "Jaws". I had been leaving food out for a couple neglected neighborhood cats. I could tell there was another cat eating the food, but never saw him. Finally, I noticed him as I approached my home in my car, but he was gone by the time I parked my car. A couple months later, he'd run off after I got the car parked. A couple months later, he'd let me within a few feet before running off. A couple months later, I could pat him on the rump and he'd jump off the stoop, but not run away. A month later, he didn't mind the pat on the rump. Finally, I put the food in the front hallway and left the door open--he'd run in, get a mouthful and go out and eat on the stoop. He tired of that routine. Finally, one evening when he was eating, I just closed the door--he didn't mind at first. But to get out, he'd push the screen window out--all he had to do was ask and I would have let him out the door. In short, keep feeding him and let the him approach you--he'll most likely feel threatened if you try to approach him. I'm confident that he'll get used to you and approach you when he is ready.

Jaws is still a wild one, even after 3 or 4 years with me. I'm certain that whoever had him before me treated him very badly. He's a handful, but I don't regret taking him in.

He likes:

He tolerates:

He dislikes:

( but they have worked out a general cease-fire agreement )

Jaws was a very difficult cat at first. He would scratch and bite me after jumping onto my lap. I'd pet him gently while working on my computer and I didn't see the signs and he'd just go nuts on me. I never punished him for that behavior--it seemed counter-productive. He no longer bites or scratches me, but he is not a lap cat anyway.

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