Feral Forever?

For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I have taken in lots of “feral” cats and kittens over time.  With each new group, I worry about whether or not the “ferals” will be adequately tame-able to become joyously adoptable.  Sunshine and Juice were no different.  They were very young when I took them out of a feral cat colony and brought them here for the purpose of health, socialization, and ultimately - a family of their own.  They lived in my house early on.  And then the day came when they moved to the cathouse.  Sunshine made the adjustment; Juice did not.  Over time, I could see that Sunshine was staying socialized and loving.  Juice was regressing.  This worried me so much, but there is very little I can do about this aspect of rescuing feral felines. 

Years ago, I took in a mom and four kittens.  Mom received a home, as did two of her kittens.  The other two kittens were NOT adoptable.  Those two felines were Circe and Tibby Bean.  As you know (and is SO amazing) - Circe just went to a forever home before Christmas.  She had suddenly become tame and socialized in her fourth year here.  Tibby did not.

Then there were the SIX kittens of a polydactyl mom who was SO wild she nearly beat herself to death inside her cage every time a human went into her room.  She was spayed and released.  The kittens, ALL horrified to have been captured, were Trixie, Leo, Mitts, Cashmere, Glitter, and Sprtiz.  Of that group, Mitts was almost immediately tame.  Trixie and Leo were adopted into wonderful homes and made their respective adjustments.  Glitter was tame and ready for a home long ago.  She went with Circe before Christmas.  Cashmere was never the outgoing kitty that sister Glitter was, but she was chosen to go along and is making her transition now.  Sprtiz would have to be considered still basically unadoptable.

I don’t know why one from a litter remains “feral” while others socialize very quickly and still others socialize much, much more slowly.  But I’ve watched it happen in nearly EVERY group of felines that could be described as feral.  Obviously it isn’t the socialization process itself, or even the amount or type of interaction.  That remains a pretty steady constant.  I assume it is personality.  Some come around quickly.  Some take much longer.                    Some, well . . . 

I would say that some NEVER come around.  But that’s the category I had put Circe in.  She proved me wrong - thankfully.  So I will not say that Tibs or Spritz or Shiloh will NEVER become adoptable.  Any of these could surprise me like Circe did.  But if not, they will have a forever home in the cathouse.  Not perfect, but not a bad place to live either.

And so that brings me to Sunshine and Juice.  Sunshine was loving and attentive in the cathouse.  Juice stopped coming for interaction only weeks after moving.  At some point, he started running from me if I approached him.  I started worrying that he would be another Spritz.

Sunshine in the cathouse.

Quite happy and WELL socialized.

Juice would often run out and hide on the cat deck. When I would go out there to get a pic of Juice, Sunshine would beat me out there and try to get my attention.

Juice

Then I got that first email from M -  I love your orange boys.  I would love to talk to you about adopting one of them.  Tell me about them.  I emailed M and described the personalities of the two at length.  I knew, of course, that she would choose Sunshine.  That was the only thing that made sense.  But she said she thought maybe she would adopt the two together.  She would get her relationship from Sunshine, and Juice could live out his life in any way he needed to.  Besides, she thought they were both absolutely beautiful.

That was in October.  The rest of the story tomorrow.

Comments

[Mindy Slimmer]

I think M is the right mommy to Juice and Sunshine. Any woman knowing that background and still willing to place both kittens knowing that only one will be her immediate buddy is the right adopter for Juice since she is willing to give him more time to come around. :) Bravo Chrystal! I think that M is the perfect adopter and that this will all work out. I will pray for it to work out!
Much Love,
Mindy :)

[The Poupounette]

You do love to leave us in suspense, Chrystal!!!

[Random Felines]

I have seen the same thing. With the alcohol kittens, Bourbon and Whiskey were SO outgoing and happy. Gin has become that way the longer she is at Petco. And Moonshine I feared would never adjust - and yet his new family says he is doing great. It just takes the right family.....

[Jan (Milo and Alfie's mom)]

Oh she sounds a perfect adopter ~ what a joy that she knows the gingers' stories and wanted both. Blessings to her and them. You've made my day. xx

[Rebecca Hamilton]

Just wanted to let you know that cashmere is so loving. Ribs on our legs to the point of tripping us and likes to sit on the bed and be loved and cuddled. But spends loads of time on her perch in Mt . has bebeen dubbed bed kitty because she is always on bed. And is always on the back of the couch.

[Rebecca Hamilton]

Stupid smart phone i wasn't done. Lol anyway the grey girls are doing wonderful and we love them all dearly.

[beccity98]

Aww,that's so nice of M to be willing to adopt both! When we got our first two cats, we knew one would be a lapcat, while the other, who's mom was wild, would be more stand-offish. And while Luna does NOT like laps, she is very social.

As for one kitten being feral while the others aren't, I've come across the same thing. The local stray mama cat brought her 2 5-week-old kittens to my yard, and I began feeding them all (much to my husband's dismay). It took a long while, but one kitten would let me pet him while he was eating, but the other would flinch away. After more time, Thing 1 would actually rub on my hand before I put food down. It wasn't long before he'd let me cuddle and pick him up after that, although for a while, he would be fine in my arms, then realize, "Ahh! Your face is too close to me!!" His sister, Thing 2 (we were trying not to name them, and mama became Mama Seuss-I knew a lady called Mama Sue)would never let me touch her at all, though she got the same treatment. Thing one is now Snoopy, and is living inside the house. Sadly, Thing 2 (re-dubbed Opie) got pregnant way too young (8 months) stillbirthed 2 kittens and prolapsed her uterus and had to be put down. I comfort myself that she had a fairly safe, at least well-fed life, and she came to us at the end so we could ensure she wouldn't have to suffer a slow death. Mama Seuss was trapped and fixed, so no more kittens for her. She is a lost cause, I think. She won't come near me anymore (I captured her and also 3 litters of kittens) but she 'allows' us to feed her.

[daily dose]

Bravo beccity98!!!

[Cat's Cats]

Wonderful that she took them both, I don't think Juice would do well, even in the cathouse, without Sunshine. Fingers crossed for them both :-)

[Connie]

every cat is different, and sadly some personalities lend themselves to being more cautious and fearful of things they aren't used to on a daily basis.I am sure that once Juice gets into a home he'll start opening up again.

[Kat & the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde]

I'm so excited!!!

[Andrea and the Celestial Kitties]

Leo had issues in the cathouse at first, he didn't like it and was put back in Chrystal's offices I don't know how many times. But he's completely social with us. No, he does not care for company, but if he knows they've been here several times, he will come out and has even made friends of a sort with a few people. But with me, he's my snuggle buddy! The pictures of Leo when he was first caught were one of a frightened, hissing ball of fur. The picture now is a goofy, cuddly giant sweetheart.
My prayers are that Sunshine and Juice both adjust and settle in quickly and decide that this human is their human and both want to snuggle with her!

Your snuggle buddy, your heart cat, your cuddly kitty could right now be sitting in the cathouse waiting for you. Don't make them wait too long. Don't let your friends and family wait too long for their kitty either, show them the Winnie's Wish kitties and help them understand that they can get their kitty no matter where they live!
Yes, people, these kitties can travel! We can get them to you!

I had to pause in my comment here, Leo decided he wanted some snuggles and who am I to deny him!

Anyway, I was going to finish with, Donate! Buy a book! Adopt! Share post and tweet! Do what you can to help the kitties! Thank you!

[ginny & The fur family]

Such good news - and lots of adoptions - keep up the good work and maybe the winning streak will continue until all the cat house gang have new loving homes. Remember to donate and buy the book and also adopt if you can fit in a new furrie in your home. Have a good night - love to all in blog world- Ginny & The Fur Family