Gabriel Snoozing: The Socialisation of a Semi-feral Cat
Another photo of my semi-feral rescue cat who I am fostering. He is snoozing and becoming domesticated.
Gabriel Sleeping
I have cared for him for about 6 days. He hid under the sideboard for about 3 days when I first got him (except for eating food at night). He has come on well.
A major advantage I have is that I am retired so I have all the time in the world – except for work in the site and the usual household chores – to socialize him.
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What are you feeding him-Miracle Grow! I’ve never seen a cat get big this fast in my life. He’s got you suckered in big time 🙂
He is growing up fast. I have a special recipe 😉 LOL. The rescue agency provide dry cat food mainly but I add my own to it and he mainly eats the highest quality wet cat food I can find.
He’s gorgeous and he looks so relaxed and trusting lying on your lap, I think it would be a huge emotional wrench for both of you if you did decide to part, I don’t think it would mean you were a failure at fostering, just that you’d met your match 😉 you haven’t just socialised him, you have really connected to each other, I think it is love! To foster here our CP only requires a spare room for the cat to live in, it’s not the same obviously as a cat having the run of your home and your time all to himself but maybe if you do decide to keep Gabriel you could change to being a short term or emergency fosterer (if you have a spare room)
Thanks for that advice and idea Babz. I’d like to continue fostering if I adopted Gabriel. I have some more pictures… 😉 boring….!
Let’s be seeing them, not boring at all. 🙂
Michael you have done wonders with Gabriel, for him to trust you so soon is nothing short of amazing. That photo of how relaxed he is, says it all! I don’t think you will ever be able to part with him and if I was you I wouldn’t even try. You are a match made in Heaven, you love and need each other. It takes a real man like you and Ahsan to admit to being soft hearted about cats!
I just love him. The other day I thought I had lost him. I was completely distraught. I even went outside to find him. It proved to me how much I cared.
I thought he had got out even though it seems impossible to get out. I couldn’t find him in the flat. Checked everywhere (I thought). Then I found him. I have a bed with storage space underneath. The whole bed lifts up pneumatically. There is no access to the space – except for a kitten 😉 He had found a small opening.
So it may well be that my fostering days are numbered.
Exciting news that Gabriel is progressing so well. Once they socialize to you, they don’t revert back to semi-feral when adopting out. They are not any more cautious than any other domesticated cat that is going into a new home. There is always an adjustment period while they get acclimated to their new environment.
Please do not give up fostering. Fostering saves lives and gets them ready to go to a new home. In the U.S., if it was not for fosters, the kill rate would be much higher than it already is. You are doing a wonderful job Michael. Keep it up!
Thanks Cindy. I like fostering. I want to continue. However, I don’t think I am going to be able to let Gabriel go because I love him too much already. I know this is my weakness really. I know he’d be okay in a well chosen new home but I need him. A foster carer has to distance him/herself from the emotional element of the cat/human relationship. I am not sure I can do that because I am too soft-hearted (for vulnerable creatures). For humans who try to abuse me I am hard.
There is nothing wrong with being a foster “failure” either. That is successful bonding and shared love.
Michael, happy to know that you have finally got a new non-human companion.Classic photo.
Thanks Rudolph. If I keep him I am failure as a foster carer. That is the downside. But, I don’t think I can let him go. Too emotionally attached.
Best!!! 😀
I’m really happy Michael
He is yours He is yours He is yours
YESSSSSSSSSSSSsssssss!
Thank you <3 <3 <3 love him 😉
Shut up… 😉 LOL. You understand what is inside my head…
Brings tears to the eyes. Good job Michael.
Thanks DW. I pleased you like to see him relaxed and confident. I guess it goes without saying that kittens thrive when loved and treated tenderly and with respect. It has been quite intensive. I have never played with a cat so much. Several hours per day. I am lucky to have the time to provide it.
So comfy cozy.
So, how long will you have him before he has to go through the trauma of another?
LOL!!!!!
I’m with you on this, I don’t understand gaining a cat’s trust, letting it bond with you and then moving it on so it can go through it all over again, not something I would want to do. 🙁
Yes Alan I have to agree and it seems to be a weakness in the foster carer system.
Please Dee 😉 I don’t think I will be able to let him go. Too much love and too connected already.
I need a new dressing gown 😉 It looks grubby but it is not. I put it through the washing machine quite recently….
Did you think he would progress along so fast? That is what love can do.He is so precious sleeping and trusting in you to care or him.
I didn’t think he’d come on this fast. I was expecting months really. But I am with him all day every day. That speeds things up. This morning he is racing around the apartment like a true kitten getting into all kinds of problems and creating chaos – love it.