Finally got to pet him!

lmahoney79

Ok, i know this might sound very trivial or silly to some people but my day has just been made! I have been feeding and looking after a semi-feral male cat that comes to us for food for a year now, got him neutered and all but of course being born in the wild he would never let me anywhere near him, he would also run away if i got close.
Finally......I was feeding him today and he started to rub against my arms and legs and let me give him lots of pets and a good neck scratch, he was purring for Ireland!! Mad me so happy, the past year of patience has totally paid off!! Like i said, im sure people are saying yeah so what, but it made me happy!!

morganafay

That's great He'll be so happy now and will probably just get friendlier and friendlier

lmahoney79

That's what I am hoping! He also slept indoors for a few hours yesterday evening in a little cat bed we bought him.......God, for a cat that's not 'technically ours' he is spoilt rotten!

ISDW

Thats brilliant, not trivial or silly at all.

Well done - and what a lucky cat:D

IvySlayer

Well done!!

I love when a cat rubs against you, and purrs. I wonder if at some stage he will show you his belly and allow you to rub it?

What's next? Bringing you food? :P

lubie76

Your kindness and patience payed off. He is lucky to have found you!!

Graces7

Needed to hear something beautiful tonight; thank you for this delight...

Feargal as Luimneach

That's a great effort you put in... That's a lucky cat...

CreedonsDogDayc

oh thats so lovely!!! Good on you!

amiable

Well done you.... feck the begrudgers

Jennyfer

Aw thats so nice, I took in a feral cat once. It was only a few months at the time and it was unbelievably affectionate and loveable. It looked like a big fluffy owl, absolutely gorgeous. We named it Rosie, and when we took it to the vets for vaccinations it turned out Rosie was a boy heh heh made him even cuter.

lmahoney79

thank you everyone for all the nice comments.........it definitely does pay off when you get some love back in return ;-)

lmahoney79

IvySlayer wrote: »

Well done!!

I love when a cat rubs against you, and purrs. I wonder if at some stage he will show you his belly and allow you to rub it?

What's next? Bringing you food? :P

I wouldn't mind the belly rub thing but could do without birds and mice being brought back to me! Maybe if he brings home some chocolate or a bottle of wine I would appreciate that more!!

Raminahobbin

There is absolutely nothing like it, fair play to you OP!!

I had a feral female cat I was feeding for ages. Got her to the point where I could pick her up and carry her around. One of the neighbours in the apartment next to us (who had known she was feral) decided when I was at work one day to just waltz up to the cat and pick her up cos he assumed she was tame...

He had lovely deep scratches the length of his arms and some on his face- quite impressive!! She was a ferocious little minx when she wanted to be Hahaha

ghost_ie

That's great. Well done for taking so much trouble to befriend him

EGAR

I took in two semi-feral cats from a cat rescue in Dublin in early March, there was lots of hissing and hiding for weeks. They then started to be more sociable and 2 weeks ago one of them started to asked to be stroked and then the other one. It was a great feeling to be able to finally pet them.

Today I chanced picking one up and lo and behold he sat on my arm for about a minute and enjoyed being petted before jumping off again .

Happy days!

morganafay

Ex-feral cats are the best My one is currently lying on her back on the armchair

lmahoney79

i agree, ex-ferals are the best, i dont know why, i think its because you know you have earned their trust and makes you feel better for looking after them!

IvySlayer

lmahoney79 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind the belly rub thing but could do without birds and mice being brought back to me! Maybe if he brings home some chocolate or a bottle of wine I would appreciate that more!!

Birds and mice are romantic in the cat world

Graces7

Where we lived once there was a small colony of ferals.

We had to keep the bathroom window closed so our own cats could eat and sleep in there in peace ( tiny house)

Once, a wee cat managed to get in; she was clearly very ill and near the end of her life.

So needy and tame and gentle she was in her suffering.

Just came in to die.

So we gave her a soft bed and a hot water bottle, and fed her with glucose and water , and she fell asleep so quietly. We 'buried" her in the stone walls of a local ancient monument where she had lived.

Something still made her come to us for help.

So many ferals; simply the result of human neglect and just sometimes, as the OP says, we can give something back.

Among this colony there was a huge black tom. I had carelessly left a cat food tin, wide one, out as my cats love to wipe the inside with their paws and lick them. ( the large LIDL ones)

We heard a terrible clanking noise; old tom had gone in head first to lick the tin out and was frinly stuck his head in and was firmly stuck, in utter panic. Bang, crash, round the U bend

Getting it off him was a ticklish business as he had claws.. But we managed it and he shot through the window in total outrage. Black lightning....

joyce2009

ahh well done ,it just goes to show that time and patience can pay off when it comes to feral cats,,,good on you ,,:)