How do I tame a cat??

callaghanjp

I seem to have adopted two young cats....I started feeding them and they have stayed....one will come in to the house and can be held with no probs however the other will sit by the back door but will not let anyone touch him...this has been going on for 3 months. Will be moving soon and want to take both with me....does anyone have any idea how I should go about taming the second cat...dont think he has ever been handled by humans by the look of things!! any help greatly appreciated

cowzerp

My brother has fed a cat for years and its still like the cat that you talk about, the only advise i can give is to try to gain its trust and see if you can stroke it little by little till it gets more used to it!

you can set a trap for the cat when your moving and just bring it along and see if you can contain him for a few days there, once he knows its where he gets fed he'll be happy to stay..

GAAwebsite

I have a lot of experience with cats. If you had a few months it would be better but as you seem in a rush you could try putting some ham inside the door and another piece of ham further on a bit and keep doing this until the cat will end up at a good distance from the door. You could be hiding behind the door and close it when he's far enough away. Get down on your hands and knees because you don't want to scare the cat, you want to keep at the same height as him if you can. Slowly slide over to him, don't look him in the eye, that will scare him, and make a few cat noises as you approach him. Don't lose hope if he runs away, that is perfectly normal. Softly rub him on the back and waggle your fingers in front of him. He will soon earn a bit of tust for you and make sure you have plenty of food - tuna, chicken, ham - to make him relax. Keep him in the house for a couple of days feeding him, grooming him and playing with him. Don't be at him the whole time. Some cats don't like being rubbed so try letting him sniff your finger and be patient. Rub his tail maybe. Make sure you have the other cat with him in the house at all times. He'll feel safer. He'll soon begin to trust you.
If you had a few months then you could try feeding him from your hands and if he won't feed the other cat from your hands and he will feel more confident. Do not rush him and if he runs away don't follow him, just look away from him and pretend to not take any notice. Remember never look him in the eyes - it scares animals. After a while, gently rub him and even when he runs away don't lose patience he'll soon begin to trust you. I have seen many cats like this and have successfully tamed them all so good luck.

callaghanjp

Thanks for that....he's a cute little kitten, always not too far away from the back door so I do think in time he will come around....did manage to lock him in the house once by mistake and the tried to get out the patio door by hitting it an almighty thud so will have to be v careful Thanks again

Irish-Lass

A lot of it depends on the cat - as with all cats everything is on their terms. I have an ex-feral cat (he is a house cat) and he will be with me 3 years in September. I trapped him when he was about 12 weeks old. He has been in the house ever since. I have only managed to pick him up about 5/6 times and each time I have paid the price. I am permitted to rub him but only when he wants to and he very rarely comes up for cuddles. Everything is done depending on his mood and I never force it with him.

It can be slightly harder to tame a cat when it is living outside. But there is a product called feliway and they do a spray that can help calm cats it might be worth looking into - they do a plug-in but obviously this is no use as the cat is outside.

Not sure where you are located but it could be a situation that you have to trap this one to bring him with you when you move. When you move - obviously you are going to keep them indoors for a few weeks to get use to the new place that might be an ideal time to start working on him.

Going in and sitting on the floor in the room with them with something tastie in your hand like warm chicken or ham and getting him to come over and eat it from you. If the other cat will do that, then he may follow the other cats lead.

Best of luck with it all

PinkTulips

a good way is to first get the cat used to eating with you remaining by the bowl... once he gets used to that and no longer bolts at every movement move your hand towards him and hold it near his head, he may stop eating to sniff or it may not bother but let him get used to your smell and the knowledge that you could hurt him but aren't.

once he's really relaxed around you and with your movements very gently touch him, just for a second and then draw away. the cat might bolt but will come back for more food so don't panic that you've scared him off. once you've touched him very gently a couple of times while he's eating try getting him let you touch him before you feed. show him the food in your hand and extend your hand to him and see will he sniff your hand or allow you to touch him gently. don't force the issue and don't withhold the food if he doesn't want to be touched, you want him to trust you and bribery won't get you that.

it may take time which you haven't got much of but usually it takes less than a month from the start of this to the end, sometimes alot less. once the cat experiances his first ear scratch chances are there'll be no going back for him and he'll settle quite quickly after that

i've had several tamed feral cats and they do vary hugely in how they resond to domesticity, i'ver had ones that never totally became comfortable with human contact, ones that loved it but only on their terms and some that became the biggest lap cats you've ever seen. he may always be more reserved than the other cat so don't take it personally or try and win him around, just let him be a bit anti social if he preferrs it that way.

good luck with the cats and good luck with the move

peasant

callaghanjp wrote: »

Will be moving soon and want to take both with me....does anyone have any idea how I should go about taming the second cat...dont think he has ever been handled by humans by the look of things!! any help greatly appreciated

Where do you plan on moving to and what are your plans for the cat?

Cats that are not used to/not interested in humans are very territorial. "Their" area means a lot to them. They know where to get food, shelter and everything else they need there.

Unless you're planning on locking in this cat for a good few weeks/months after your move (until it has finally become used to you and to living inside a house) you will actually be doing it a disservice by dragging it along when you're moving.

First thing it'll do when you let it out in the new place (and that includes unintended accidents !) will be to run away and try to get "home" ...which in all likelyhood it won't manage to accomplish alive.


Think about it before you bring this cat along.

cowzerp

Cats are more interested in where they'll get fed than territory-thats why they move to other peoples homes even though they have there own, to keep a cat just feed it better than the owner..

Trap it and feed it for a few days till it cops on that this is the new feeding area.

The Sweeper

Whether it'll stray again depends on the cat. You HAVE to keep it indoors for at LEAST two weeks when you move - more, depending on how feral it is.

I trapped a stray that was appearing at my house and brought it to the local no-kill shelter for rehoming. The cat escaped from the shelter twice (both sort of one-in-a-million incidents). Both times he escaped, he returned to the area around my house.

It's an 18km trek from the shelter to the house, and there is a motorway and a railway line between them.

(The third time he went to the shelter, the shelter owner refused to let anyone but her handle him, put him in a quarantine cage and padlocked the door. After one week of realising that if he didn't try to escape, he'd get three squares a day, fresh water, a warm bed and a rubbed head, he stopped trying to escape. He was rehomed as an inside-only cat and is apparently extremely happy.)