Some people have trepidations when it comes to bringing feral cats into their homes. It's hard work, we know, getting them to relax and trust you, but we also know that every cat needs love, care and protection, especially those who are feral but find their ways into our homes. A lot of times, someone like us is their best if not only hope, and though it's true that it's hard work, it is worth it.
This viral thread by straightcreepen on imgur proves just that. Feral cats are not easy to work with, and it takes a long time to get them to trust you, but once you do, there is nothing more gratifying and heartwarming. Most cats' love is hard-earned, but the love of a feral cat is especially hard-earned, but it is also especially worth it.
"Her other option was euthanasia because we can't TNR in our area due to bylaws"
"(probably a solid 9/10 cats in my area that seem feral outside are friendly once inside within 1-4 weeks, they're just in survival mode when outside)"
"where she can integrate into the whole house (my resident cat won't allow it - she redirects aggression to her cat sister and my husband and I if another cat is around, not worth the stress on her)"
"TNR is necessary work, but taming is also possible and not everyone can foster kittens. Being a feral foster you mainly just need a spare room and a couple hours a day. If your local rescues aren't working with feral presenting cats then timids are also great to work with...
Eden is unique as her finder watched her grow up outside for 8 months- I KNOW she was "feral" and in just under 6 months she's the snuggliest girl. She's not alone in this - either we've never had a truly feral cat come through our rescue or 162 cats are "outliers" in the data. Many of these cats could've been owned and abandoned cats too that have "gone to bush" basically going into survival mode. My point is you won't KNOW if they can be tamed or even if they're just freaked out and actually tame already unless you try."
"Just hoping to change some hearts and minds around feral cats, especially in climates like mine where Oct-March we are somewhere between -15C to -50C with windchill where TNR would be great but bringing them in and giving them the space and patience to learn to trust people is better. You can follow Eden and her foster buddy Xina at @feral2friendly on Instagram if you're interested in seeing more on working with ferals.
Every feral is unique, and everyone is worthy of a good life, and this means different things in different climates. Areas with much warmer year round temperatures a pure TNR program is great, but for climates like mine a feral foster program and hopefully one day a TNR program to get in front of the problem is the best solution."
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