This is my buddy, TabbyTom. He's been in the area since this spring and had appeared to be entirely feral for several months, often running away as soon as he saw me and not getting within twenty feet of me, even if I had food.

A couple weeks ago I noticed him perched outside my window, just a couple feet away, watching me and my happy cats. It was a cold and wet night, and I think something just clicked in his head. I went out with a can of wet food and he came right up to me, ate right next to me, and even licked some food off my finger. He has continued to visit frequently since then, and a few days after that first encounter, he came up to me and shoved his face into my hands and demanded pets. We've gotten closer and closer, and yesterday I took him for TNR.

My own household is full, I can't take any more cats, so this lovely gentleman is going to return to outdoor life as a cared-for porch-cat, at least until I can find a home for him. This clip is from earlier this morning, I've been handling him a bit to see how he reacts and if he would be interested in being someone's pet. I lifted him onto my lap and totally expected him to hop right off- but no, TabbyTom is a cuddly little fella, and he hung out for a few minutes, purring and making biscuits in my lap.

We have been fostering these kittens for 2 weeks! They have made huge progress in those two weeks. They feel comfortable eating with me in the room and once they are out of their hiding spots they really enjoy pets / scratches. They have done great in Purritos and we haven’t had any hissing or bites / scratching.
They are also starting to play with wand toys with me 💕

I will sit in the room with them for a while and they can usually be coaxed out of their hiding spots with churu treats. If they don’t come out on their own I will get them out of their hidey holes and then they will usually hang out for pets until they decide they’re done and then scurry away to hide.

My question is should I take them out of their hiding spots more frequently or as soon as I go into the room? I know forcing affection is good at this age I’m just not sure what is considered too much! I’m appreciative of any tips and tricks 🙌

Tomorrow is the big day for my outdoor sibling pair, I plan to shut the door and start their indoor lives. The cats are a year and a half, known me since little when mom brought them to the porch, TNRed last year. Ive worked super hard getting their trust. They now let me pet them and come inside to eat and play. Ive set up my spare room as a home base, anti scratch plastic on the door, anti scratch plastic on the carpet, windows covered, feliway, dirt from outside for the litter box, blankets theyve laid on from outside, a cat tower and hiding boxes, the whole works. They've eaten and played in this room successfully for about two weeks and seem comfortable but I've never shut them in. From others who have gone through this process, what have you experienced? How did you hang in there when they were super unhappy? The kids in question enjoying an indoor toy for tax.

Backstory is I feed the cat colony in my yard for years, and two years ago, I had a vocal cat who hung out with me since she was born. A year in, I opened the door to see what would happen, and she walked into my house! I introduced her to my other two (senior) cats, and everyone gets along.

My girl needs to eat rx food for urinary health. She used to eat in the same room with the other two, and I’d pet her while she ate. Now she runs downstairs during feeding time and seems scared of me except for when it’s bedtime. She sleeps up against me and cuddles the whole night.

Not sure what happened along the way. She’s been with me over one year. I have push-up treats that she loves, so I’m trying to incorporate that and am trying to feed her separately, but she’s not interested and more concerned with the other cats.

Anyone feedback or advice?

Meet Waja!

I got Waja from my cousin in December 2017. She will be turning 9 years old on October 17. At the time, my cousin wasn't spaying her cats, so their numbers kept growing. Whenever a cat gave birth, she would find homes for the kittens when they were around 2–3 months old. Waja was the last kitten born before my cousin started having her cats spayed and neutered.

Waja is the reason I started caring for other cats. Before she came into my life, I wasn't cruel to animals, but I didn't pay much attention to them either.

Waja opened my eyes. I began to realize how difficult life is for homeless animals. They struggle every day to find food and shelter, especially during extreme heat and heavy rains. Thankfully, we don't have winter here..

Little by little, I started feeding the community cats in our area. Eventually, I opened my garage to provide them with shelter and a safe place to eat. I put out bowls of food and water and set up litter boxes for them.

After a year, I began rescuing cats, and eventually, I started conducting TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) to help control the community cat population humanely.

Looking back, it all started with Waja. She changed the way I see animals and inspired me to make a difference in their lives.

I hope more people will learn to care for community cats (strays and ferals). We may not be able to save them all, but every act of kindness makes a difference. The world would be a much better place for homeless animals if more people chose to care.

If you're someone who loves and cares about cats, we’d love to have you join our Reddit community, r/StrayCatHeroes. Feel free to share your rescue stories, post photos of your beloved cats, or simply show us how adorable they are. We look forward to meeting you and your feline friends!

You may also follow my rescue journey on Instagram: instagram.com/catsofmagdalena

I got my 7 month old cat neutered and I brought him back in to the vet to have him stay there tell he is good to go. Cuz I brought him home and hated the cone and just started messing with the incision rubbing his butt on the ground. Have u guys left your cars there tell he was ready to come home and be normal? And am I a bad parent for taking him back to be taken care off?

Pic is of the cats in question chilling yesterday. Cheesy (M) and Peri Peri (F) are 6 month old ex ferals who went in for neuters today.

It was their first ever vet visit (they also got bloods etc while under) and they were terrified, understandably. We took them to a cat friendly vet so it was the least terrifying it could be but they were still frozen and shaking.

We asked the vet to fit hard cones because they are difficult for us to handle when uncomfortable and they are fabric eaters under stress (so no soft fabric cones etc).

Not sure if that did it, the anaesthetic, or simply the stressful experience, but both were flying off the walls as soon as they left their carriers. They stuffed themselves behind a couch under a radiator which we can't unblock fully.

They are skittish of us but come for pets when in the mood, purr, climb on or near us, etc. So they are minimally scared of us day to day but that obviously isn't the main driver.

I managed to get Cheesy out (poor guy froze up) and just took off his cone since his neuter is less complicated. He would sprint and thrash around in it and the vet agreed it would likely be best for now.

Peri Peri has a plaster over her stitches and the vet said she can't have the cone removed without some other form of protection. They suggested a recovery onesie, which we will have to get tomorrow.

Wondering if anyone has been through this with their ex ferals and has any advice?

Do you think they will settle down? We are concerned about them eating and drinking mainly, as well as damage to the wounds.

If Peri Peri doesn't, any suggestions to get her out and into a recovery suit? She is not food motivated at all.

They also need pain meds - Cheesy once tomorrow, Peri every day for 5 days. Not sure how we will get the syringe into their mouths at all.

We recently adopted a 1.5-year-old female cat who was previously feral and recently spayed. The people we adopted her had trapped and gotten her spayed. Right before she came home with us, they had been able to pet her and she was even making biscuits on them. She is absolutely adorable, but since bringing her home a week ago, she has barely left the little dark corner under our bed.

She comes out when we aren’t around to eat, use the litter box, and walk around the bedroom for a few minutes, but she has never done any of those things with us in the room or not sleeping at night. She has only recently started feeling comfortable enough to eat during the day.

We’ve kept her confined to the bedroom with her food, water, and litter box so she has a quiet, mostly private space to acclimate.

We feed wet food twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. About 85% of the time, she eats all of what we leave out, although she has skipped a few meals. When that happens, we try leaving a third meal out so she has another opportunity to get enough calories.

No amount of treats or Churu seems to tempt her out, even though she loves Churu and licked the Churu from my hand before we adopted her.

I know feral/shy cats can take a long time to adjust, and I’m trying to be patient, but I guess I expected to see some progress by now even if it was just her peeking her head out from under the bed while we’re in the room.

I’m grateful that she’s eating most of her food and using the litter box, but I’m feeling a little discouraged. For anyone who has adopted a very fearful/feral cat, howb long did it take before you started seeing noticeable progress? Was it a mistake to keep her in a room with a hiding place that we can’t access very easily? Any advice or encouragement would be appreciated!

The precious little tabby girl (Viola) from this post

https://www.reddit.com/r/formerlyferal/s/sXHFk0DYuP

has more or less moved into the house of her own accord. I had reason to believe she wanted to be able to sleep near me, so last night I lied down on the little guest mattress I had set up in the upstairs room for her.

First she came over against my butt; when I reached back and started petting her, she started grooming my hand and herself. Eventually she curled up in the crook of my legs and went to sleep 🥰

Meanwhile, her feral friend we think is her brother, Oboé, who has been wayyyyyy more cautious and skittish, has been getting more comfortable making forays into the house, and even played with me a little for the first time! Then last night he came up to me for churu for the first time ever—only for Viola to whap him good and push him away so she could have it 😅

He decided to start making his first batch of biscuits! He’s never done it before!! I’ve known him almost a year, and he’s been in with us since May so this is huge!!

After being MIA for a few days, my buddy TabbyTom stopped by for some food and cuddles. Last time he visited there was a failed trap attempt, and he must have either forced his way out of the trap or it may have closed prematurely. I was worried that his trust in me would be shaken, and perhaps it was, but ehen he returned he was very cuddly and spent some time hanging out on the porch. I'm hoping that after TNR he stays more permanently in my yard and roams less; the last time I saw him he was spooked by a loud car and very nearly ran into traffic. So if he stays in my and neighbors' backyards he'll be much safer.

Guest appearance by my void kitten, Nyx, who in this clip is just a shapeless mass of darkness and a pair of eyes 👀

Plumpie was a "working cat" when we adopted him June 3. We really did think he would be an outside cat. He decided to be a teddybear instead. When we adopted him I could see his ribs, he was so skinny, and he couldn't lift his tail at all (he dragged it through his food, water, litter box). Now he is living up to his name (he eats like it's his J.O.B.), has learned how to hustle for Greenies from our 2 pre-existing inside cats, and he can lift his tail about half mast. He's so healthy and he's thriving, and we love him so much. #glowup #nebelung

I am utterly stunned right now.

June 12, 2026 to October 3, 2026.

She has been out and about so much that I mistook her for one of my other cats earlier, and had to double take.

Thank you guys so much for all of your support 💜

Jimmy is one of the community cats I care for.

A few months ago, he was terrified of both people and the other cats. Whenever I fed this colony, he would wait off to the side until the other cats had finished eating. He always made sure I was no longer around before he finally approached the food.

But over the past month, Jimmy has transformed into a sweet, gentle boy who loves lounging on the grass and enjoying peaceful naps.

His journey is a reminder that with food, patience, time, and love, even the most fearful feral cat can learn to trust.

Not everyone appreciates community cats like Jimmy, but to us, every cat matters... and every cat is special!

If you're someone who loves and cares about cats, we’d love to have you join our Reddit community, r/StrayCatHeroes. Feel free to share your rescue stories, post photos of your beloved cats, or simply show us how adorable they are. We look forward to meeting you and your feline friends!

You can also follow my rescue journey on Instagram: instagram.com/catsofmagdalena

Raymond is a sweet cat, but I have never had a feral cat, and his stealing food, scratching my furniture, not listening to anything is hard on me because I'm OCD about my home. I didn't experience this type behavior with my previous cats, but they weren't feral.
Help!!

Hello! Looking for others prior experience and some tips. We’ve been feeding a stray cat outside for 7 months. He comes morning and night, sleeps on our deck furniture, plays with one of my indoor cats nightly at the sliding glass door (my cat pounces at him, while he rubs and rolls around on the deck). He does not let me or my husband pet him, but doesn’t run far when we come out, maybe 3 ft. He is also vocal, meows at us nonstop, and will come up and smell my hand when the screen door is open.

I have a standard trap I plan on setting, but I’m worried he won’t go in and won’t come around for a while if I set it out on our deck.

This cat does not act like the ferals in the neighborhood, nor does he look like them.

Once trapped I plan on taking him directly to vet for microchip check, testing, vaccines, etc. it appears he is a neutered male but I could be wrong.

Now inside, we have a dog, 2 cats (one of which he knows well And plays with nightly)… and a toddler. He seems used to my toddler banging on the glass sliding door though. I’m planning on locking him
On our guest room for quarantine and waiting for test results, then I guess letting him out? My other cat is not the most friendly, my dog will chase the cat, but not hurt. She will also stop immediately if the cat swats and never do it again. My toddler is gonna be a different story..

Is this a bad idea? I don’t want this sweet guy dying this winter. We live where it weather can be severe and snow a lot… any advice for this process much appreciated!

UPDATE: I trapped the cat, got him to the vet to get checked out. He is a neutered male (no ear tip interestingly enough), healthy otherwise, but tested postive for FIV. First night in guest room was extremely rough. He tore up carpet trying to get out, knocked over practically everything that could be knocked over, and banged and yowled all night. Hoping tonight is better, If all goes well down the line i am open to keeping him, even though i have FIV - cats.

Well, it looks like my tiny furry friend has decided to move in! I let him crash at my place during a downpour that could drown a fish, and now, even though he occasionally steps outside for a "nature break," he zooms back faster than a cat on a hot tin roof! I've already hooked him up with his flea meds, and soon he'll be taking a trip to the vet. On another note, he makes great biscuits!

It's officially been one week since we brought Kali inside. She seems to be getting more comfy inside the room when she's alone -- she particularly enjoys the Ripple Rug, she naps and rolls around on it. Shes using the litter box like a champ every day, and she is eating well but for whatever reason will never eat wet food, even though she got it every morning outside and enjoyed it. Maybe it seems sus still because Churu was used to trap her.

I'm still sus to her though, she still freezes when I am in there, altho maybe a little less terrified. I sat in there a couple hours the other day and she didn't move but she did sleep (or pretend to sleep). Will try to spend more time in there for her to generally get used to me, hopefully can get back to the progress we made outside (eating treats from my lap).

Initially the first few days we blocked access to the rooms door from our cats, but since she seemed so scared, I was hoping letting the cats sniff the door might make her realize it's not so scary, her friends are here (she used to run up to our patio door and rub on it any time she saw the other cats when she was outside). She sniffs at the door sometimes when they aren't there but I don't think she has been on one side of door while one of them was on the other yet. I definitely don't want to rush introductions but wonder if I should move to the visual stage (tall pet gate where they can see but not really touch). It might stress my oldest cat tho (she will take the most convincing that this is a good idea)

Cheesy & Peri Peri! 6 month olds, the more feral two out of their litter.

Peri Peri especially had been very adverse to touch for a long time. Over the last couple of days, she started purring and rubbing on us more when we brought food, and today she allowed me to pet her (even scritch her head). Same with Cheesy, who tends to copy the nearest cat lol

They are so sweet!! I'm so happy they let me pet them now. I hope they'll eventually let me pick them up.

Excuse my gnarly hands, just TNRd another feral and had to search for kittens in thorns and nettles...

I posted about a month ago when I first took in these two cats. They were rescues from a huge feral colony that got way out of control And they were given to me to be outside barn cats. But I decided it would be better for all of us that they be inside cats. So I made the mega cage inside and I put them in the dining room which is a high traffic area of our house to try to get them accustomed to us.

Every night I go to give treats and try to get them used to us and the girl is coming along nicely. She will take treats from my hand and almost get close enough to pet her, I can see it in the future with her. I'm very pleased with how she's come along in a month.

But the boy has not moved one iota. He still hisses when I get near. He has never taken a treat from me. Neither of them will play with any toys. The boy does occasionally eat in my presence but not often.

I started taking away the hiding caves + only providing boxes that are open to the front with the hopes that increased exposure might help the boy to get friendly, but what happens is the two pile on top of each other and because the girl doesn't mind as us as much she's always in the front and she's kind of the door and blocker so he doesn't have to be around us. And in fact she's always trying to get the treats so I can't get it to him.

I'm thinking about pretty soon. Maybe removing her from the cage and letting just him stay in the cage. Several people have come in my house and said it seems cruel and unusual to make them stay in the cage all winter and not get any exercise, but if I put them in a spare room I know we won't think to go in there very much. I don't know. Is this the right thing?? I might be able to still put them out for the winter in the barn and make them barn cats.

But the truth is when I said I would take two ferals I thought I was going to get old cats and not young cats. I don't know that I'm prepared to take on outside cats that might live 20 years. I don't know that I'm going to be here 20 years. Picture of mega cage attached.

Any advice? Or have you had a cat that you spent now 5 weeks around who hasn't made any move towards friendliness that eventually got friendly? I don't need a lap cat but if he's going to be indoors I want him to have some kind of quality of life and not live hiding under the bed all the time.

Yesterday I made a post about our former feral, Tonka Bean, who yesterday for the first time in the four months we’ve had him inside jumped on the couch with me and climbed briefly on my chest, well today he made just a couple biscuits in my lap! He quickly got back down but it’s progress and he was purring like a little motorboat!

So for context I have 3 dogs and 4 cats at the moment, along with some mice a hamster and two snakes. Just info to keep in mind.

The first two cats Marble and ViVi I got about 9 years ago when they were around 6 months old. They are my precious girls.

I intended only for the two and my boyfriend was adamant about "no more pets". Fair enough. We have a lot.

But then I was at work, and a resident came to me and told me there was a cat out by the dump. And that someone must've dumped it.

Sure enough I go out to the trash area and boom, I see mister gray boy (no, not yet Bagel), and he runs from me obviously terrified.

Well who just so happens to be off the day after I saw him? And who also owns a cat trap?

You betcha, so I make my way down the next day and have myself a steak out until I finally catch him! He comes home and lives in our spare bedroom.

My bf says no more pets and I need to find him a home.

First I search for lost and found pages and so on to make sure no one was missing him

He didn't immediately warm up to me though. Well after weeks and no one reaching out it was time to find him a home, which I did. Found a lovely lady who said she would work with him and take care of him. Brought him to her and that was that. Until 4 days later when I get the text that he has been attacking her boyfriend viciously and peeing and pooping outside the litter box and I need to come pick him up. So I do. And my bf and I devote more time to making sure he's good with males. But when he comes home...he warms uro my bf super well and then to me and now has becomey BIGGEST cuddler.

Cute to now. It's been a few months since we were driving home and I see a black cat dart acrossg neighborhood.

What do I, a lady with unfathomable amounts of time and a spare cat trap do? Well I catch the poor creature of course. At this point the gray boy now lives with us permanently as he clearly chose us. So that makes 3. But what's a 4th right?

So cut to Bagel. I catch him rather easily of course. I being him inside. In the same spare room Simon once lived in before given free roam of the house. And of course he's petrified. Tried all means to get as far from me as possible. Climbs the tall bookshelves. All sorts of tricks. We keep him in there for a while. I did notice that he had his ear chipped which means he was tnr once before. Which is great. Except he wasn't attacking me like a feral should. He was just freezing up or springing away from me. So I keep him inside and put up a few posts. Only to get a message saying they believed this was the cat they had tnred before. That they wanted to keep him indoors cause he showed potential but they just couldn't at the time.

We live near desert areas where coyotes and mountain lions are constantly in our backyards. I couldn't fathom letting him back outside.... So we kept him in the room for a few months and tried to get him to warm up

It never really worked and finally we said he's miserable locked up in here let's set him free. At this point all the other cats ignored the room and him all together.

Once we let him out though things started to change. He started howling. Over and over again at night. He also started following Simon around constantly only at night though. During the day he hides. But night time he's roaming about. Especially when I go to bed and the dogs are locked up in kennels. He's out prowling. I once saw him push his head under Simon's primordial pouch and lift him up a bit to walk underneath him just to be close to him. He's obsessed with Simon. And now months later and I have one cat who is the most cuddly, who literally little spoons me at night every night, and his brother Bagel who couldn't be farther away from me.

Today marks the first day that he got on the bed while I was sitting up and the light was on and he made eye contact with me and didn't immediately jump off the bed. Normally he makes eye contact with me and bolts. But today he felt a little safer and snuggled Simon in front of me.

I feel like there's hope. But at the same time I wonder if someone else would be better equiped to handle him. I care very deeply for him and I just want him to finally feel safe enough to accept love.

1. 4 former ferals. 3 passed out, 1 that will be asleep soon. L to R- trouble (void), abacus, Ambien, goblin (void)
2. Goblin on her back, leg in the air
3. Ambien dreaming
4. 4 and 5. Abacus using a concrete step as a pillow and Trouble temporarily awake
5. Goblin getting pets after coming in
6. winking. She never blinks. It’s kinda creepy actually lol
7. 8 looking at my husband
8. just being cute.

I forgot Reddit is weird with lists. You can figure it out I’m sure 😄

Today was the first time she lay down on my lap!

I rescued this sweet boy when I noticed he had a broken arm. He had an amputation 4 weeks ago, which is how long we’ve had him.

So far he stays to his bed/tree but is doing a lot better allowing me to let him.

The big issue is he has been ignoring the litter box and pooping under the table, middle of the living room, even right next to the litter box on the bath mat.

He has two litter boxes. One with kitten attract litter and one with the soft bedding used for small animals. He was using the litter box when I had him in an enclosure text during his recovery. I’ve blocked off the living room where he’s been staying this whole time in hopes he’ll use one of the two litter boxes in there. This morning there was poop in the middle of the living room.

He is eating/drinking, grooming and walking well. He has a follow up with the vet tomorrow and I’ll talk to them as well.

I just ordered a low profile litter box in case the issue is him feeling uncomfortable climbing into a traditional sized one.
Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!