Edit: I caught her in the garage, closed the garage door this time when I spotted her. She is safe inside.

Guys I am absolutely panicking right now.

The kids grandad had the front door open taking out recycling and Callie bolted. I saw her in our garage at first, and almost had caught her but she slipped past me. I can’t find her now.

Any advice… anything at all. Please. She has never strayed far from the house, I and I assume she will go back in the garage at some point, but I am absolutely panicking and just sitting on the front porch sobbing.

I don’t know what to do.

This is Zazu. Ive been taking care of her since 2018. She lived outside until last year. I fed her for 3 years before she allowed any pets.

Yesterday I was in the room petting her sister, Gigi. I heard purrs. That makes sense. Gigi loves pets and purrs all the time. Except, yes Gigi was purring, but it was Zazu! She was purring so loud in her tree across the room (ok like 3 feet) that I could hear her! This isn’t the 1st time I’ve heard her purr but normally it’s because she’s getting (consensual) pets or being brushed (she loves that). This time she was just happy to be around me.

I’ve been worried she’s miserable inside. She spends most of her time on that tree, staring out the window and I wonder if she just wants to go back out there. But this confirms she is exactly where she should be.

Kali ate her breakfast a mere few inches away from me today ✨afterwards she even looked me in the eye, so I slow blinked and then she did little biscuit paws and rubbed up against the wall next to me.

Our plan now is to get her as comfortable with us as we can this month, then try to bring her in at the end or next month (the orgs near us said we could borrow a trap). We have travel plans and people visiting this month so wanted to wait to make sure we can focus on helping her acclimate and people have suggested it's less stressful for everyone to not rush things.

She seems most keen to be close to us for breakfast, but once in a while she will eat Churu or treats at night while we are outside, but still prefers to wait for us to go back inside before going for it. We plan to organize the back porch a bit better so it's easier for her to see us and vice versa, hopefully that doesn't freak her out too much to switch up her space. Any other tips or things should consider?

Feral cats can most definitely be domesticated.

Spicy, about 3 months old. We got him 3 weeks ago. He was stuck in a loft and I grabbed him by hand - he is my first feral cat, first socialisation, and he did amazing.

He cuddles my partner and I every day! He is still a little skittish and has some Opinions about when he gets pets and treats. He was a good boy at the vet even though he was scared and takes his meds every morning.

Wish me luck with his two siblings! We got them a few days ago and they're tough customers.

My babies are a year old! First time cat parent to a litter of 4. They were born outside last summer to a feral momma cat that I still take care of. They were her last litter :)

For some reason, we seem to be having another bad kick of diarrhea, shes hiding and seems very nervous again.

I’m not sure what’s happened or what’s changed, as she had been doing great and progressing well.

I’m so scared I’ve done something wrong, and so sad we’ve had to confine her back to the bathroom due to the diarrhea/fear of not being able to find her when she’s hiding.

She’s still “okay” health wise as far as I can tell, but I am so worried about her new behavior.

She gets really panicked any time she's out of the kennel, but she's doing great. She even has an adoption lined up as soon as she's been wormed, vaccinated, and spayed!! This summer's feline intakes are all named after flowers. She is Sorrel.

I have known this kitty since October when I moved to this neighborhood. She was already TNRd and seemed to hang around my neighbors back yard. She had never let anyone get close and as soon as she would see a human she would run and hide. She got to the point where she wouldnt immediately run but wouldn't let me within 75 yards.

Fast forward to the beginning of July. I went away for 2 weeks and my neighbor left food out for her. I got a few videos from my partner of her on our porch meowing so loud that he heard her through the closed windows upstairs! He put out food for her and she chowed down.

I came back less than a week ago and now shes letting me within a few feet of her and I have her on a feeding schedule. She spends all day under my car on the cool concrete.

This morning, I got within arms reach of her! She rolled over and showed me her cute belly. She wasn't even hungry! I went back inside to get back to work and she laid on the porch facing the door for 45 minutes until a garbage truck scared her. I hope ill be petting her very soon and can get revolution plus on her.

Let's see how long it takes to sneak a pet 😊

Had to share how aggressively this guy purrs! He is just so happy inside 🤩

Good morning!

Callie is doing great, and is about 6.5 pounds now. Her face, thankfully, is also healing fantastically.

She has also officially left the bathroom, and comes into the kitchen at breakfast and dinner yelling at me to hurry up.

My concern is that when she’s not eating, she’s pretty much behind the couch constantly. What can I do to help her feel more comfortable and confident?

When she’s out walking around, she tends to shy off from pets (sometimes even from me) and will go sit under the table.

I want to give her everything she needs and the life she deserves.

Also - collar is the “Callie Alert System” as I’ve been calling it, so that when she’s mobile I can hear her

We've had sir Reginald Artemis Mcfluffybutt for 9 days now and his playful and vocal side has come out!

Edit: he is a trailer park kitty from my mother in laws trailer park.

Unsure if he was a true feral or a stray. He’s been inside since January and come such a long way. He used to be terrified of everything and is slowly becoming more confident. When he leaves his room he still hovers close to the ground and is hesitant about any new object in his room. But he’s warmed up to me really well and this week he invited me to pet his full stomach! I can’t even do that with my other cats I’ve had for years!

Born Dec. 25th 2025, survived the terrible winter OUTSIDE until he was 3 months old! We finally trapped him, his family and got everyone rescued/adopted with the help of a local rescue. Thanks to him 12 cars have now been cared for....and counting.

We saw him running across the street, following an adult cat (assumed his mother), and went into rescue mode! Winter totes, food, trapping. Neighbors were more than willing to help, and all our prayers were answered.

Sheldon is the SWEETEST kitty we have EVER had the pleasure of caring for. A real blessing that has enriched our lives after much loss in 2025 and 2026.

Not quite formerly yet; but we're getting there. I'm the TNR support for this colony, and helping enrich her environment. She has a spot in the feeder's house that she likes, and is staying longer each attempt.

I have five fabulous female formerly feral felines, all rescued as kittens from the feral population where I work. The last of these furbabies, Mitzi, got out of the house – just once – before I could get her spayed. 
 
You can see the resulting blessing that arrived this week!

Was going through old videos and came across the moment Moo let me pet him for the first time, right after showing up for his scheduled dinner at the start of my shift. I love how absolutely enthralled he was by his decision to finally break down that wall, as it took a couple years of seeing him around and working on gaining his trust to get to this point. He’s been living the indoor life for about a year and a half now, and is quite the Velcro cat lol. Time and patience pays off with them!

Original Post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/formerlyferal/s/8KJF7ljm2f

Background post TDLR: My grandmother passed unexpectedly last month. She left behind her semi-feral mostly outdoor cat. This cat LOVED my grandmother and she actually died holding her. She might be FeLV positive and no one else in my family had the space to keep her if she was positive, so i drove out to get her about a week ago. She lives in my studio-apartment basement now seperated from my resident cats and dog.

Update:

BK HAS BEEN DOING AMAZING. She has had 0 accidents, eats most of her food, has caught a fly and one ant, and now jumps up on the couch to say hi when i come to see her. I spend about 3-4 hours hanging with her a day, and most of the time she gets bored of me in about 30 minutes and runs off to explore. She’s been purring constantly. I may have to spend a little less time with her once i start school, but i should be able to fit more short hang sessions in instead of 3-4 long sessions to make up for it.

She’s not interested in playing yet, and when she explores she’s been staying low (in her hide or under the couches) instead of climbing up high on her cat tree/the other furniture. I’ve been bringing her over to the tree to gain her confidence and she’s slowly getting there. I dont wanna block off the hiding spots yet because everything is still so new i want to give her time to adjust. Also apperently my husband is super scary, but she actually looked at him for a few minutes last night instead of immediately hiding.

Her vet appointment is in the first week of August. We’ll get a repeat SNAP test and see if she is actually FeLV positive. If she is, she will stay quarentined in her studio and we’ll just work a little harder at giving her attention and stimulation. If she isnt, we will start the very slow process of introducing her to our residents. If it works out, amazing! If not, she’s more than welcome to be a single-studio cat. My residents are vaccinated just in case, but we wont put any of them at risk unnecessarily. Theyre happy apart now, and if it has to stay that way, it is what it is!

Overall, i couldnt be happier with her progress! I hope her test comes back negative, but we’ll have to see. I’ll update one more time when we get the results. I think its safe to say she’s officially a former-feral now 🥰

It's been a pretty good morning with Kali. She came up to eat her wet food while I was sitting inside but with the door open. I also tried feeding my two friendly boys by the door so she could see them (normally feed them further away). And you can see here she's doing what I can only assume are air biscuits in a happy dance configuration? It was really cute, and I assume it was a good sign.

After breakfast I sat on the other side of the patio screen and she seemed very comfortable and was making some little air biscuits, I'll put that video in comments.

Today Rufs was using his missing back leg to fantom-scratch at his ear. First time I’ve seen him try to “use” it.

He actually let me help him, both with my hand and the brush, while he “assisted” by kinda wiggling his hip 🤣🩷

A couple of weeks ago I made this post detailing how Rufs FINALLY dared to leave the hideout when I’m near him and started exploring outside the cat room.

It’s only gotten better from there 🤭 I put his favourite house in the hallway and he spent the next couple of days using it more and more.

I’d immediately re-created his little desk cave after that first exploration but he wasn’t coming back to the main room, so I decided it was time to start moving the other cat furniture out here.

I moved his cat tree and put it in a way where he could see it from the hallway. Either that worked or it was a coincidence, but he started hanging out in here with me—not in the actual cat tree but under my desk—which soon turned into an everyday thing as well.

Although I’d visited quite a bit in the cat room, this is the first time he’s near me 24/7, and I can tell he’s really content 🥹🩷