Socializing Unsocial Cats

[Tywais]

We moved to another house a couple of months ago and appear to have inherited 4 cats - mom, pop and two kittens. They're on the balconies, the tree, front porch, etc making themselves at home. Don't know if they were abandoned by the previous tenants as I can't figure out why this house.

The issue is they are not friendly though they are less skittish then before but the female is testy. If I sit on the balcony in the evening they are usually sitting on my stool but scatter when I open the door. One of the kittens doesn't panic quite as much as before and just set less than a meter from me.

What I don't like is the attitude of one of the cats (yes, that is redundant) and if you get too close it will start hissing and swiping its paw at you. Last night the female was sitting on the 2nd floor overhang and starring in the screened window into the house stairway. My wife reached out and it took a swipe at her and hissed, though the screen was between the cat and her. Of course my wife leaves food out for them and pretty much any critter that comes around our house including the dogs so that gives them incentive to stay.

Is it possible to get them to socialize with us humans so they are touchable/approachable. I don't believe they are feral as they don't run away anymore unless you get too close. To be honest, I would rather they weren't around. Not that I don't like cats but more a dog person. But 4 of them getting on top of everything and knocking things over is annoying. The tri color one below is the female.

[overherebc]

If cats are not handled when thet are small kittens then is almost no chance of them ever being handled. Different from dogs altogether. You could try but chances of success are extremely slim.

[monty]

Pretty hard.

Some cats are more sociable then others, even when never having been near humans.

I have had some success with some, but it takes a long time and a lot of effort, and somehow even after becoming approachable they will remain skittish, i.e. with sudden unexpected movement they can still end up giving you a decent tap with their paw.

Luckily cats are pretty good a restraining their power, a warning tap seldom results in injury. If they do get very mad at you (or like with any animal, are cornered), you'll likely end up at the doctor yourself, They are very powerfull and have dangerous weapons at their disposal (claws). Never under estimate them and keep a healthy respect for them.

The only way that seems to work as a first approach is to hunker down (makes you a bit less of a threat), very slowly extend your hand towards them, palm down, and at the slightest hint of their discomfort (a little hiss), slowly retract your hand. Initiall they will always hiss, just slowly pull back.

This will progress to the point that you will almost be able to come right up to their nose, when the sniffing process begins. This then can progress to lightly stroking the top of their head. They will let you know, if not ready they will pull back.

Never force anything.

Another trick which helps with some cats, if they lock eyes with you, is to slowly close yours and then open them again. It indicates a form of trust towards them, which if they are in the mood might return to you! It is the most uninvasive/least misinterpretable way of trying to convey your trust in them.

With proper domesticated house cats, this will almost always result in the cat mimicking this and closing her eyes for a short while as well. Sometimes called a cat kiss!

As said, hit and miss.

If able to catch her, getting her spayed often will slow her down.

I think, that in the end a cat will look at us as some very special weird breed of cat. And as such expects us to communicate with them the way cats do. Unfortunately we lack a few tools to do so No tail, no moveable ears and we walk upright.

As such, it is very hard for a cat to decide if we are a threat or not. Cats use their tails and their ears to indicate mood, so they can quickly see if another one is friendly or not, and act accordingly.

Kittens who grow up in the presence of humans most likely learn how to read our moods without needing to refer to tails or ears and hence are more comfoteable with us.

Good luck!

[Mosha]

When looking at the cats, and they are looking back. Slowly blink at them. If they return the sign. You may have a chance. May take a few goes. Cat lovers will know what I mean. Basically you are telling the cats you like them. Staring with eyes wife open is the opposite. Cat's mistake the human sign of dislike (screwing your eyes up) as a sign of affection. We have 5 toms, and while friendly with us, they are warey of visitors, Even regular ones.

Edit Monty beat me to it

Edited August 18, 2012 by Mosha

[Mosha]

The tail, unless she is letting the kittens play with it. The swishing tail is a warning

[monty]

A pretty good read on how to tame real feral cats (which some people say can't be done!).

http://www.theluckyf...feral_cats.html

Gives you a good idea of how the cat's mind works and why this makes initial contact difficult. And how to overcome this.

[Tywais]

Thanks for the info all. Looks like I made a mistake and tried to have a stare down with one last night only to be beat. Will try the eye technique.

[overherebc]

Thanks for the info all. Looks like I made a mistake and tried to have a stare down with one last night only to be beat. Will try the eye technique.

As i said in my last post it can be done but it takes a long time and a lot of gently gently. It's still not a 100% thing. If you have the spare time (lots) you can eventually get them to eat from your hand and not take strips of skin off, and they are good at that, but it would take an amazing amount of time and effort to get them to the point of sitting on your lap etc. Cats don't need you, end of story, not like a dog that loves to be fed and wants to show love etc.

Feed them at the same time of day every day and let them make the first move. maybe then you might find they want to come close and rub against your leg etc, but don't push it.

Typed with my remaining fingers.

[Tywais]

Typed with my remaining fingers.

At our other house there was a stray that always came around our back door, had been since it was fairly young. That one warmed up to me pretty quickly and whenever I went outside she made a bee line to me and would walk in and out between my legs and rubbing against them and enjoyed being handled. Never any aggression from that one so guess I was figuring the same here but obviously not. Perhaps this one having kittens around may make her a bit more protective.

Will see how it goes.

[Mosha]

If you get to the lap sitting, you are lost. Your life will never be your own. Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

[Mobi]

Many years ago in the UK, I had took a young kitten from a feral mother into our home as our pet cat. The cat was kept as our pet for her entire life, but was never really 100 % tame. She was always aggresive and very difficult to handle. Only my wife and myslef were able to pick her up, and even then we had to be very careful how we held her.

Once I had to take her to the vet, but the vet was unable to hold her without getting bitten or scratched and asked me to hold her for him. Like a fool I tried and I almost got bitten to death. I have never seen so much blood in my life and ended up in hospital to have my bites treated. We never stopped loving her but she sure was a difficult cat.

Much later I rented a house in Bangkok and, like you, inherited a number of feral cats of various ages and colours. Being a cat lover I left food for them in my kitchen, and encouraged them to come into my lounge where I also started to feed them. They looked so lovely, and while at first they would run as soon as they saw me, over time they got used to me.

I even succeeded in picking up one of them once and nursed it for a few minutes, but the next time I tried it went for me in a big way.

It soon became clear that these cats were still wild, and while they did sort of tolerate people they came to recognise - especially if they were feeding them, they were still very wild and aggressive, and from my view point, completely untameable.

I dare say some cat experts out there would have had better luck than me, but its seems to me that the general rule is that once feral, they will stay feral - even from quite young unless you are very fortunate.

Anyway, good luck in whatever way you decide to do. These days I stick to dogs, but I will always be a cat lover as well.

[cmsally]

I was adopted by a family of stray cats. They sort of moved in like a stealth and attack operation. I'm not really a cat person but they refused to move. Just recently we got a new dog who made it his mission to evict the cats. Cats were spotted planning some kind of battle plan. For 3 days I could see it in their eyes, working out where,when, how to attack. For those that say cats don't know how to do advance planning - don't believe it!

3 days later dog was subjected to "Operation Shock, Awe, Claw" They came at him multiple times even ambushing from the flowerbeds. Claws being inserted into canine backside.

You don't mess with cats!