From Feral Cat to Indoor Pet
The Feral Family
About 20 years ago, my ex-wife Amanda told me about a couple feral cats she had been feeding outside her house. One was an old male Maine Coon cat she had named Beau. The other was a female gray and white tuxedo kitten that she had named Jemmie.
Jemmie had been born in the crawl space under Amanda’s house. The kitten had been left behind by her mother, but fortunately, old Beau was there to look after her.
About a year later, Amanda told me that Jemmie had given birth to a litter of kittens, and old Beau was the proud father. Jemmie would stay under Amanda’s house nursing her kittens, only coming out when Amanda fed her.
Amanda enjoyed giving me updates on Jemmie’s kittens as they grew older and ventured out from under the house to explore. Unfortunately, Amanda’s landlord was no fan of cats, and this worried her. She told me that she needed to find someone to take in the cats so they’d be safe.
It was at this time that I was in the process of purchasing a condo with a yard. I offered to take the Jemmie, Beau and their kittens. Since the cats were feral, I knew they’d be living outside. So, as soon as I got the keys to my new home, I worked on enclosing my yard so it would be a safe haven for the cats. Since my backyard wasn’t too wide, I was able to put netting from the top of my fence to the side of my home. I would later learn that this was not quite as secure as I thought, but more on that later…
Next, I bought a large dog house and put soft bedding inside it. At one side of my backyard was a covered patio, so I placed the dog house there. Since the patio was also shielded from the wind by the building, I figured this alcove would be a good spot for the cats to keep dry and stay warm during stormy weather.
Once I had the backyard set up, I told Amanda I was ready for the cats.
Jemmie & Her Kittens
After a few days, I got news from Amanda that she had caught Jemmie. She wasn’t able to catch Beau yet.
I drove over and picked up Jemmie and her kittens. I let them all out in my backyard.
Being feral, Jemmie was very cautious around me. Whenever I went to the backyard, she would always keep her distance.
The kittens, however, were not as nervous around me. In fact, they were very curious about me. They were already weaned, eating solid food. And they were very independent and playful.
Andrew was one particularly friendly and photogenic kitten.
A few days after I brought them home, I made an appointment to have a vet health check for the kittens. I was glad when the vet said they were all healthy.
After leaving the vet with the kittens, I stopped at Petco to pick up some supplies. Not wanting to leave the kittens in the car, I brought them with me into the store.
A cat rescue named Feline Network was holding a cat adoption event in Petco. They asked me about the kittens I had in my cat carrier. I told them I was taking care of them and their feral mama. They offered to take the kittens and find good homes for them. I agreed because I knew they had a better chance of finding adopters than I would.
Jemmie’s Beau
As I was driving home without the kittens, I worried about Jemmie being lonely. Then I got a call from Amanda. She had managed to catch Beau!
That was the news I needed. I knew Jemmie would be happy to be reunited with her Beau. I went right over to pick him up.
Jemmie was so happy when I brought Beau into the backyard. It was obvious that she missed him, and she definitely felt more relaxed to have her Beau back with her.
Spay and Neuter
As cute as Jemmie’s kittens were, I believe a responsible pet guardian should spay or neuter their pets. There are far too many homeless pets out there, and having more kittens or puppies just contributes to the ever-growing population of animals without the love or shelter of a home. If you want to add a new pet to your family, please consider adopting one from an animal shelter or a rescue group instead of buying one. There are so many homeless cats and dogs of all ages waiting for someone to love.
After letting Beau and Jemmie get more comfortable with their new environment, I made an appointment with my vet to have Beau neutered and Jemmie spayed.
Since they were both feral, I knew I would need some help to get them into the pet carriers. I asked my friends, Mike and Myla, to come over to give me a hand.
We worked on getting Beau first. He tried to climb the fence to escape, but the netting across the top of the fence stopped him. I rushed up and got him while he was trying to get through the netting.
Unfortunately, Jemmie watched all of this, and it freaked her out, so she fled and tried to hide at the back of my backyard. Since she was much younger and more agile than Beau, I knew she would be harder to catch.
I asked Mike and Myla to stand behind me to block Jemmie if she got past me. As I approached Jemmie, her eyes were wide with fear. When I reached down to pick her up, she darted past me.
Jemmie was like a streak of lightning shooting towards Myla. In a panic, Myla jumped out of the way and screamed, “Mommy!”
Jemmie was a sweet girl, and when she felt threatened, she would always choose to flee over fighting. But when I cornered her, she lashed out with her claws to keep me from grabbing her. After a half hour of this stalemate, I had to quit because the vet appointment was coming up. So, I left Jemmie in the backyard and brought just Beau to the vet.
When I arrived at the vet with Beau, we were taken in to an exam room for the vet to give Beau’s first health exam. I was surprised how Beau just collapsed like a rag-doll in my hands. He was so docile! It was then that I thought for the first time that he wasn’t feral.
Beau must have been someone’s pet at one time and was abandoned. I knew Beau had a rough life fending for himself. Amanda had told me she had chased off some mean kids that were throwing rocks at Beau, so it’s no wonder that the poor old cat had no trust in humans.
After leaving Beau with the vet to get neutered, I was anxious to get home to see how Jemmie was doing. I knew she was quite rattled by the whole experience of my trying to catch her.
When I arrived home, I went straight to the backyard to check on Jemmie. I didn’t see her in the alcove where she usually hung out. I started walking the yard to see where she was, but she was nowhere to be found. I started to panic! Then I spotted an opening in the netting. That must have been where Jemmie escaped from the yard. I was crestfallen!
I rushed out to search the neighborhood for Jemmie. I covered several blocks in every direction, but there was no sign of her.
I returned home, dejected. I called Amanda to give her the bad news about Jemmie. I beat myself up for bringing Beau to the vet and leaving Jemmie while she was still distressed. Amanda could hear the despair in my voice and tried to console me, telling me that Jemmie will probably come back.
While on the phone, I was looking out the second floor window that overlooked the parking lot of the apartment building next door. I saw Kiki, my neighbor’s orange tabby, clawing the tire of one of the parked cars. Then he poked his head up into the wheel well while his paws were still on the tire. To my exhilaration, I saw Jemmie climb down from inside the car. Ecstatic, I told Amanda that Kiki found Jemmie!
Open Door Policy
To allow Jemmie to get back into my backyard, I left the gate open. I also left food and water on my front porch, in case Jemmie was too scared to enter the backyard. For the first few days, she wouldn’t come back until after dark to eat. I knew it would take a while before she would trust me enough to return during the day, but I was glad she was at least coming back at night.
Eventually, Jemmie started showing up during the day. I was happy when I’d look out the window and see her with Beau, eating on my front porch.
It was easier for me to gain Beau’s trust. Instead of keeping him completely inside, I let him live both inside and outside so that Jemmie would still have his company.
Having won over Beau’s trust was a great help in earning Jemmie’s trust. One evening, I had my front door open to let Beau inside, and Jemmie was with him! To my surprise, Jemmie didn’t run off. In fact, she even tested her courage by briefly stepping inside then stepping back out. That small step into the house was actually a big leap in her progress to becoming a tame house cat.
A few days later, Jemmie approached me in the parking lot. I wanted to pet her, but I wasn’t sure she was ready for that big of a step, so I held my hand out to her. She looked at my hand for a moment, then lightly swatted my hand with her paw, as if to tell me, “Not so fast! You need to prove yourself before we go to actual petting.”
I spent the next several months proving myself to Jemmie, earning her trust. And she took more steps towards becoming a tame cat.
One day, Jemmie followed Beau all the way into my bedroom. I had a comfy blanket laid on the floor for Beau. I was overjoyed to see Jemmie join Beau on the blanket for a cuddle session.
After a while, Jemmie was comfortable enough to allow me to pet her, and even hold her long enough for a photo.
I was even able to put a collar on her with a name tag and my phone number. At this point, I kept Beau inside completely because he was totally tame. Jemmie would come in and spend a few hours with Beau before going to the door, wanting me to let her out.
To allow Jemmie more freedom to come and go as she pleased, I installed a cat door that would unlock when it sensed the magnetic tag that I put on Jemmie’s collar. I liked the automatic door, because it kept Beau and my other cats inside, while allowing only Jemmie to come in and go out the cat door. It also prevented the nightly raccoon visitors from coming inside.
Over the next few months, I looked forward to hearing the clicking sound of the automatic cat door unlocking when Jemmie would come inside.
I could see Jemmie was enjoying life a lot more with the comforts of living indoors.
Becoming an Indoor-only Cat
My one bedroom condo was becoming quite crowded with all of my cats, so I decided to upgrade to a larger home. It was at this time that I thought Jemmie was ready to become an indoor-only cat. She had been spending longer and longer amounts of time indoors at my small condo. And I had seen her use the litter box a couple times, so I kept my fingers crossed that she would be okay with being indoors a hundred percent of the time at my new house.
It turned out, all my worrying was for nothing. She settled into being completely indoors just fine.
One of her favorite napping spots was in front of the fire.
Jemmie’s life had changed from being a feral cat, constantly having to look over her shoulder in the outside world.
She finally was living the life all cats should have, one filled with love and comfort in a home.
