I’ve been feeding this stray cat for a year …things like the good kind of can food and dry food friskies. She meows at my front door or bedroom window when she’s hungry and of course I feed her. But when I try to pet her she won’t let me and tries to avoid me. By her looks, she looks like an adult. So is there anything I can do so she won’t be afraid of me and let herself be petted(is that a word?). I really want her to be my cat because she’s been pregnant several times but I never seen her babies. Any advise?
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You should trap the cat and bring her to a low cost spay.neuter shelter as part of their TNR program (trap/neuter/release) and get her spayed either for free or at very little cost to you. You then release her back into the wild after she recovers which will prevent her from becoming pregnant again or targeted my stray male cats in the area.
If you want to possibly adopt her – that would be the perfect time. While at the spay/neuter shelter you can get her shots as well – rabies and distemper and ask for a check up. She can recover from her surgery at your house and afterwards you can make her your cat. Give her space though and let her come to you.
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It’s a trust issue. You have to work to gain her trust. Be patient and spend time with her. Try petting her when she eats. That’s how I tamed my feral cat who, by the way, also brought me her litter of kittens. I thought I’d never be able to tame her but one day she just came around. Just do me a favor: when she does, get her spayed. Better yet, trap her now and get her spayed before she has another litter. Trapping is humane and easy to do. You can borrow a trap from a shelter. Throw in some sardines and the cat pratically traps itself 🙂 The good thing that she won’t associate you with it because you’re not running after her trying to grab her. You won’t violate her trust. It worked great for me, the feral cat and all of her kittens!
I think it’s possible that she’s not a stray but feral, or has just been a stray for a long time. She may be afraid of humans because of some past experience. You’ve been feeding her, which will definitely help. Next time you see her try catching her eye and then blinking very slowly, or winking. That’s a sign to cats that you mean no harm and that you are friendly. Or, hold your hand out and allow her to sniff at you. Eventually she my become comfortable enough to let you touch her, or rub her cheek against your hand. You’ll have to be patient; some cats are just very nervous around humans.
She may never let you touch her. James Herriott tells the story of a pair of cats that never came near him until a day when they were ill and they marched up to the back door and came into the house. But they became frantic if the door was shut. Once they recovered, it was back to not coming into the house and not letting him handle them.
But do see if you can get her trapped, spayed and released because it’s better for her and better for the kittens who won’t be strays themselves.
you have to be careful with stay or ferel ( wild cats ) because you dont no them or their history
or if they have been abused ect feeding a stray for a year should of let her have gotten used to you by now if she was gonna let you pet her ect a year is a long time to of tried
i had a stray cat that was looking sick around his eyes & i fed him & finally got him to let me pet him & i was gonna pick him up & take him to animal control wen i did he turned his head around pretty far to back of his neck & sunk his needle sharp teeth into my index finger 1 puncture each
side the teeth went down to my bone dr said & the cat wldnt let go of me it was excruciatingly painful i had to go to dr again & get powerful antibiotics because my hand & arm swelled up past my elbow it was so painful dr said cats have a nasty bacteria in their mouth , i did luck out on
having to take rabie shots this time because animal control tried to catch this cat & never could but since it was still alive 10 days later i didnt have too lesson learned leave strays alone & also let animal control take care of strays if there is a stray you think you can be friendly with & their are some you can be 1 option is let animal control pick em up & let em fix cat & worm it & give shots & let em no youd like 1st opportunity to adopt cat & then ull have a healthy cat for less cost on you & if cat is too ferl they wont adopt cat out
my friend almost lost his eye sight from a cat scratch a disease called cat
scratch fever can be very serious
Just start by using treats at food time when she’s hungry don’t be too quick they freak i know i rescue them.
Hand feed her the treats till she feels safe with you being close to her.
call animal control and have her caught, checked and fixed if you want to keep her. multiple pregnancies that are uncared for can be harmful to her. She won’t let you pet her if she grew up a stray because she’s not accustomed to human contact and she probably never will be.