This is from Dee, a regular PoC visitor, written up by me. Dee emailed me the video below. It teaches us what can be achieved with a feral cat if we play our cards right.
Dee says the following about this short video:
The video that I am sharing is of my daughter, Sarah, and her loving interaction with my little Dusty. Dusty’s behavior is typical of all of my inside cats except the semi-ferals.
Dusty was a very feral kit that I took out of the woods and domesticated at about 6-weeks-of-age He’s, now, the most loving kit there is. And, so are all of my indoor domesticated ones.
My point is to show that cats will demonstrate a loving nature and learn how to show it from us. It’s not about assigning them human emotions so much as giving them a venue to express theirs. Cats are very demonstrative when it comes to their feelings.
Perhaps they learn how to express them in a way that we can understand. They’re watchful and they learn our behaviors. After all, they are smarter than we are and don’t have the barriers, like political correctness, to hinder them. They see how we demonstrate love, in particular.
If any cat hasn’t learned how to demonstrate their love for us like this, we need to shut off the computer, put away the “babysitting” toys, and teach them our body language. Anything other means that they are “just a cat” to us.
That’s wonderful, Michael.
I am with my Maine Coons most of the day too.
They know where I am when at home; even when they are feigning disinterest. This is funny to observe.I have a bond with all four of my Beautiful Maine Coons.
Eva_
I think there is a lot of pleasure in getting close to a cat who was at one time feral.
My Gabriel was semi-feral and now we are like brothers or mother and son…just very close. We understand each other and talk to each other.
It was great to see him learn to trust me. I am his whole life and I feel that responsibility.
I am with him for many hours each day.
I’ve had a few cats in my lifetime, and have tamed a couple of ferals, though not all were equally affectionate.
Mitzy, the cat I have now, lived on the streets for almost 2 years, and was very timid and scared, but always came into my garage at feeding time.
Although she trusted me more than anyone, it still took awhile for her to be o.k. with other people.
It’s been wonderful to see her progress in this area. Now, even when strangers come into the house, she doesn’t run to another room.
There was a man who rented a room here, that she didn’t like. He said he was a cat lover, but he never talked to or petted her. She avoided him.
It turns out that he was a predator type manipulator. It seems that she knew something that the rest of us would only find out later.
Whenever she wants to be affectionate, I stop what I’m doing and give her some loving. Sometimes she will flop down on her back, and stretch out while I’m walking by. This is showing ultimate trust, and I always reward this behavior with a tummy rub, which she enjoys.