The behavioural differences between domesticated, stray and feral cats.
When I first started sharing my home with cats, they had always lived in close proximity to humans. They were surrendered to a rescue, the last of a litter, or their owner could no longer care for them. So my interactions had always been with cats that had seen how people behaved towards their species and reacted accordingly.
In more recent years, I’ve had a little more insight into the other aspects of the feline world; three of my four feline family members are former strays who to some degree needed a lot of trust building for them to recognise that I, and people allowed in my home, were not a potential threat to their well-being.
Ferals are even more heightened with defence senses. I met a mothering female when I was on the lookout for one of my boys, who had gone AWOL, as he does sporadically. The people whose garden she was living in were at a loss; and hugely concerned a colony would come into fruition as one of their neighbours was somewhat lax in the neutering of her cats. The feral female (who was promptly dubbed Eartha) and her young (who got the label of Kitt) were being fed but they allowed minimal human interaction.
I never managed to gain Eartha’s trust, despite attempts being made. She had clearly been given reason not to trust humans, and the end result was a trap needing to be used to get her chipped and spayed. With the permission of the people she’d chosen to allow to feed her, a shelter was set up in their garden with a heat reflective bed in it, and Eartha still lives life her way in their garden to this day. Kitt, however, was younger and the trust building was infinitely easier. He was initially disorientated about the change in his surroundings and circumstances, but has adapted wonderfully to family life and now lives with his human and two other boys he can indulge in rough and tumble with.
The differences in the behaviour between these three contingents are actually quite remarkable. And there are some inspirational people caring for the less “easy to love” cats, ensuring they have food, shelter and medical attention when needed. This is no mean feat with a cat that doesn’t trust people. One such organisation locally to me is named Friends of Ferals. It is run by a lady called Maggie with a group of dedicated volunteers, who works tirelessly to ensure the safety of these cats to the best of their ability.
If you’re interested in learning more about their work, you can visit their site:
They also have an auction page running permanently on Facebook, to ensure the finances are topped up so they can continue their care.
Eartha with her daily companion……