On 6/23/2016 4:47 AM, dgk wrote:
On Mon, 20 Jun 2016 19:05:54 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Jun 2016 16:07:44 -0700, Joy
wrote:


Sometimes I hardly recognize Koala, my little feral cat. When I first
got him, he hid most of the time. Once he started coming out where he
could be seen, he ran every time I took a step toward him. Eventually
he got over that, and then he would let me pet him, but only if he were
on the floor and I was standing.

A couple of months ago he started coming up when I was sitting in my
recliner, and lying on my legs, out of reach. He has actually laid on
my lap a couple of times, and last night he came up on my lap and nudged
and meowed for me to pet him for a while before he laid down on my lap.

Joy

What was the timeline for this? It gives me a certain amount of hope
for Baby, who does come out from under the bed sometimes (for 10
minutes or so) and will let me pet her. I brought her with me when I
moved from Queens NY last July so it's almost a year since she became
an indoor cat, after spending the first six years of her life on the
street in Queens.

It isn't really great progress though. She still isn't very happy. I
happened to be back in Queens last week and stopped by the old block.
The green areas in front of my old house have been completely paved
over, leaving nowhere for a cat to hang out. The same is true of the
house across the street where my friend Serene lived. Both were small
houses and are being renovated to hold three apartments each - not
quite legally I'm sure.

There are still two people willing to feed the cats on the block, but
both are very elderly. When they die, there will be no one left to
care fo them at all. Still, Baby seems so unhappy now that I'm
considering taking her back to the block where her cat friends (and
mother) still live. She may face tough times ahead, but I just don't
know that she'll ever be happy as an indoor cat.

On the other hand, I'm seriously working on getting a fence built
around my yard here in Florida so I can let them out part-time. Not
free roaming, but at least they'll have some grass to walk on and some
bushes to lie under. Maybe she'll be content with that. I'll try it
before doing something as drastic and taking her back.

Ex ferals and those cats that went slightly feral because of losing their
homes find it difficult to fit in to a home, either for the first time, or
"again." It took me 3 or 4 months to get Boyfriend to feed just inside the
back door (and two years before I could close it as he panicked without an
escape route) luckily I live in a low crime area. It does take a long
time, literally years for these cats to trust: never push them to interact
with you, they will eventually.
Please do not even think of taking Baby back to an uncertain future on the
streets. Boyfie took a long time, much longer than you've given Baby but
now his ideal world would be if I sat down all the time and he was on my
knee 24/7. You have to be patient, and yes, sometimes it takes years. Baby
will come fine if you give her space long enough and don't try to pet her.
One day she will approach you. Just my experience with the most scaredy lost
cat I ever had. I hope it helps.

Tweed
P.S. If you take Baby back to the streets you are blocked, you took her to
Florida, now be patient


Thanks, The problem is that there is really only a small window to
consider it. I'll be back there in late August (for the 2016 US Open
tennis championship), so that would have to be the time. After that it
starts getting cold and I couldn't do it if she didn't have time to
acclimate to the temperature. But I probably won't have a fence up in
time to try her outside here before that happens. So she's likely to
stay where she is, under my bed.

The only reason I'm even thinking about it is because she was always
so happy outside, running around with her tail straight up in the air,
following me as I walked to Serene's house or back to my house. She
was usually walking with Jet, her mom. Now, she rarely comes out from
under the bed, and when she does, she walks around with her tail as
low as it can get, scrapping the floor.

But as I'm typing this I can see her walking down the hall so at least
she is out looking the place over again. It's just three weeks short
of a year since we arrived here. Well, maybe once I get the yard
fenced and she can go out, she'll fall in love with the lizards and
finally be happy again.


Yes, I understand. You're considering her happiness. The reason
everybody is telling you not to take her back is that we're considering
her safety. For a good many years, I had a cat door and my cats could
go in and out as they wished. My current cats have always been indoor
cats, so that is no longer the case. Also, I understand there are now
coyotes in the neighborhood, so I wouldn't let them out anyway. If your
area is safe from predators, you might consider installing a cat door.