Great Feral Cat Article

I came across this on article on Wikipedia – check it out! The Canadian Prime Minister has completely endeared himself to me. So that you know what I'm talking about, here's a quote:

For many years, a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's Parliament Hill in Ottawa ... they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons... At any time, about 15 cats live in the colony. The present Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into him home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.

If I were Canadian, he would so totally get my vote!

The "Feral" Cat's Meow [UPDATED 2/3/09]

Feral cats are not vocal. I don't know why that is but I surmise that they keep quiet as a defense mechanism so as not to inadvertently reveal their position to predators – human or otherwise. That is not to say they do not meow – they do – but they meow quietly, usually when they are requesting food or companionship and only once they know you and trust you. 

I've known many cats through my lifetime – domestic, stray, feral, and feral that have been domesticated. I'm not a cat expert or a breeder – my only claim in this blog is to be a cat lover and somebody who has a natural connection to cats. However, the most vocal breed I have come across is the Siamese. I also have a full grown black cat called Scotchgard whoms somebody once pronounced to be a Bombay (I call him the "King Kong of Cats" because he's so huge and glossy)  – he's particularly noisy when he wants food or attention and will have a long conversation with you in all kinds of melodic passages.

The domesticated ferals I have now are great purrers, but barely audible meowers, which is an often sought after trait by some cat lovers. Sihri and Sasha, whom I christened the Squeaker Sisters shortly after they arrived on the farm, have a mixture of a high pitched squeak and a meow. I have to strain to hear Saffron, Snow, Savannah and Samson. If they're wanting my attention – they usually do it through other means such as flopping themselves down in front of me or rubbing up against my legs. They occasionally meow quietly if they are at the screen door and want access to my studio and I'm out of their sight line. Boston, the latest addition to the family, who lives in my office at night and goes out during the day, has the minutest meow I've ever heard – it's rare for him to speak up. The colony of undomesticated feral cats will only meow quietly when they're hungry and know I'm about to bring them their food. They'll also communicate to their young ones in chirrups and staccato sounds very unlike the usual meow we associate with a cat.

The RSPCA NSW Needs Your Help

I support several charities – most of which are dedicated to animal welfare both in Australia and overseas. On the local front I contribute monthly to the RSPCA, which does an amazing job looking after cats, dogs and farm animals that have been subjected to cruelty and/or are homeless. 

I recently received a letter, asking for additional funds to help rebuild the Yagoona shelter in Sydney, which has been in operation for over thirty years and desperately needs overhauling and renovation. The plan for the facility includes new catteries and kennels, a new animal hospital, a humane education centre and property staff facilities, as well as creating an additional arm – the RSPCA Centre for Animal Rescue and Education Services. The Sydney chapter, however, doesn't have the money to rebuild it, as the NSW State government only provides 2% of its annual operating costs.

If the Yagoona shelter is not seen as a priority it will continue to deteriorate and will eventually be forced to close. The RSPCA needs  loyal supporters to assist them in lobbying local Members of Parliament to put rebuilding of Yagoona on their agendas, and to get the government to recogise that the Shelter not only cares for thousands of animals but educates children, protects pets of domestic violence victims, looks after animals of the aged and infirm, acts as a teaching hospital for vets and vet nurses and houses Australia's largest inspectorate dedicated to enforcing government laws.

You can help by making a donation to RSPCA NSW or by signing the petition.

How to Socialise a Feral Kitten - Part IV

The Feral Kitten Socialisation Process – The First Two Weeks

The time to start establishing physical (touch) contact is when your kittens have begun to relax in their new home. They know when their food is coming, they know every nook and cranny of their room intimately, and they start to become curious about you. One clue as to their being relaxed is that they are cleaning themselves comfortably in front of you. Another sign is their body language – they may keep you at a safe distance but they walk around, rather than slink close to the ground or make a mad dash to their closest hiding place. 

You need to be subtle rather than overt or aggressive when you want to make your way into a feral kitten's heart. You do so by engaging in play behaviour. You can walk around the room with a long piece of string trailing from your hand or pocket. The string should be tied to a small object that catches their eye as it moves. They will become transfixed by the movement to the point of either sitting and watching it or actually stalking and pouncing on the object. 

My favourite tool, as described in the previous post, is to use a ping pong ball. I just sit on the floor and roll it side to side until it catches their attention. Their ears will invariably perk up and their eyes will grow wide. Sometimes they forget themselves and walk up closer to you to investigate. That is the perfect time to engage with them by batting the ball towards them. Aim to roll it between their paws. They may jump back slightly but usually they will test the ball with their paws. If all is clear from their standard and perspective, they will start batting the ball themselves and chase it around the room.

Socialising a feral cat or kitten is an act of expansion. By that I mean that you start off small and then build step by step so their physical play territory expands, and by virtue of that, the physical boundaries between you and the cats diminishes. You can actually start a game where you bat it to the kitten and the kitten bats it back to you. You will need to be the leader in the game and keep returning it to the kitten so that you are both participants in the same game with each other. It is not uncommon for the kitten to become so engrossed with the ball game that he/she will indiscriminately run towards you and even sidle up to you in order to get the ball and ultimately forget that he/she had previously perceived you as a threat. If that's happening, then count it as a major step in what I call your "conquest by kindness" technique, although "conquest" may be too loaded a word. Let's just say strategic in that you are working with cat psychology.

The other thing you can do is to leave various size boxes around the room, or alternatively, canvas shopping bags or the old fashion shopping paper bag. Cats love exploring these objects, and will often climb inside and make themselves at home. This will perpetuate the notion in their world that this is an environment in which they can interact yet still feel safe.

The best way to make that first physical contact with a cat is while they are eating. Once you have established the daily routine and they begin to anticipate all the elements, begin to progressively sit closer to their feeding station every day at meal times. Once you reach the stage where you are sitting alongside them and they are comfortable with your presence and continue to eat without being hyper vigilant or running away, then slowly extend your hand towards the kitten or cat. You may need to do this in increments – at first the kitten may run or hide, or maybe it will shift position or maybe it will stay there. Depending on how the kitten reacts, never try to force a touch on them. The best time to do this is when they are still hungry and fully engaged in chowing down their food. When you reach a point where you can stroke them, just do one move. Touch them gently on the back of the neck and run your hand down its spine and through to the tip of the tail. If the kitten/cat doesn't resist or shirk, continue in the same way. After a while he/she will start purring, and begin associating you with comfort and pleasure. 

How to Socialise a Feral Kitten - Part III [UPDATES ADDED]

The Feral Kitten Socialisation Process – The First Three Days

Once you have your kitten or cat in the cage or trap, take it to the room you have prepared as its new home. The kitten may be meowing pitifully or yowling in rapid succession (fear responses) at this point. Place the cage on the floor, sit back, talk to it in a gentle cajoling voice and then slowly open the cage or trap door. The kitten will usually frantically run out and then plunge into the first hiding space it can find where it will stay for several hours. This is the fight or flight survival mechanism at work – in this case it is flight and hide. If you have more than one kitten they will usually hide together. If you have the option of socialising multiple kittens then take it, as they will find solace and comfort in each other.

At this stage I suggest you leave the room and come back every hour or two for about five to ten minutes and just sit down and talk to your cat. What you are doing is getting your kitten used to humans, and specifically – you. Do NOT attempt to pick up or touch the cat at this stage, as you will get badly scratched and it will traumatise the kitten more. It is always my policy to create the trust between you and the cat so that it comes to you willingly.

How long does it take to socialise a feral kitten? That will depend on its age, its temperament and whether you have had the opportunity to do any pre-socialisation prior to capturing it. It has taken me as little as one day and as long as three weeks for kittens aged between six and eight weeks old. The older the cat gets the more difficult it can be because you will be attempting to reverse some pretty serious feral conditioning where you are perceived as a dangerous threat. And in some cases with some people – rightly so – after all, how can you blame the cat for wanting to survive...

The method I use for socialising a cat is based on developing a routine so the cat knows what to expect within a 24-hour period and therefore begin to relax. Your job will be to answer the cats needs based on the following sequence:

(1) Providing safety and security

(2) Providing food and water

(3) Arousing curiousity and play

(4) Contact by touch.

The cat's first instinct, as previously mentioned, is to hide away from danger. It will need to feel a sense of safety and security before it begins to relax and venture out. If it is absolutely starving then hunger will drive it from of its hiding spot sooner, but at this stage it will usually wait until you have gone from the space before it comes out. Most of the feral kittens I have taken through this socialisation process have come from my family farm where I live. I have always fed the feral cats so I know that they have not been starving when I have taken them away from their mother/s. The exception was with Sihri and Sasha (mentioned previously in other posts) who were thrust upon me by a neighbour who had in turn had them thrust upon her by a stranger. These cats were completely traumatised – their eyes reflected their terror and they hissed and spat if I approached them. I had no idea when they had had their last meal but I set some food in front of them and they virtually dove into the dish, eating greedily and hungrily to the point of forgetting anything else around them. When they had finished they reverted to their previous fear position and then backed into a narrow gap behind a cabinet and hid there for many hours. It may be a good idea to put some newspapers around these hiding spots. Although cats are notoriously clean and most of the time know how to use litter trays to go to the toilet, they may be so terrified at this stage that they will not want to come out. The newspapers give them an alternative.

Set up the feeding routine in the morning and evening, with small midday meals if they kittens are quite young. Don't give them too much, as they can gobble up everything and get little bulging tummies that look as if they are about to burst. For the first day or two, leave the room or retreat to a distant corner once you have set up the meal so they can eat by themselves. After that, sit down a few feet away from the feeding station and let them get used to you being there when they eat (this also lays down the foundations for future contact by touch). 

What they will do when you are not in the room is to explore. They will be active in the morning till about ten and then sleep for several hours until late afternoon. They will become active again in the evening and especially at night. In the first instance, they will explore the room with the specific purpose of scouting for and establishing lots of alternative hiding places for themselves so they have lots of options. These may be behind a shelf or cabinet, under the bed, behind a basket, in a dark corner and/or in some very obscure places you wouldn't even think to look. Feral cats are in fact quite ingenious. 

While all this is happening, give the kittens their space and again do not force yourself on them. The most important attribute you can demonstrate at this stage in the socialisation process is patience. 

Once the kittens know where all the safe spots are and once they know that they will be fed with regularity, they will start to relax further and this is the prime time for them to get to know you more. Don't use stand-over tactics. Sit down when you are in their space – a towering person is perceived as a threat and you want to get as close to their level as possible. Sometimes I recline casually on my side and mimic a relaxed cat. 

Avoid staring directly into their eyes, as this can also be seen as a challenge and threat. If you are to look at them directly in the face then soften your eyes, blink occasionally and glance away at times as if you are occupied with other business.

You can also start off by communicating with them. Use a high voice that matches their meow pitch. Also use "sss" sounds like "pusssssss" or "ssssweetie". Talk to them while they eat; if you have named them, use their names (naming will be discussed in more detail in a later blog post); and just talk to them in general as you would a child. Cats respond to communication and after a while they will stay on the floor, albeit at a safe distance from you, rather than scampering away.

You can also appeal to their curiousity and sense of play. The best tool you can use is a ping pong ball. I always have a stash of them in the cat room and I was also very grateful to have accumulated a big bag of pink balls when I went to see the musical theatre version of Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the beginning of the year (a net full of balls drops on the audience from aloft in a pivotal scene – if you have seen the film or the stage musical then you'll know where I mean!).

Roll the ping pong ball around the floor – backwards and forwards, side to side – but retrieve it. The kittens will begin to watch this moving ball with fascination. Their playful and predatory hunting selves will start to emerge and they will become hypnotised and on the edge of excitement by the movement of the ball. Later on in the socialisation process, you will start to play with them and you will be swatting and batting the balls to each other with great glee.

If you see that things are falling into place quickly then don't wait for the predetermined time, just accelerate the process until you are ready to touch and make contact, which I will cover in Part IV of this series.