Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Make sure your cat is not feral
• Part 2 of 3: Trap the cat
• Part 3 of 3: Build Your Pet's Trust at Home
• Tips
• Warnings
• Additional articles

It is sometimes difficult to gain the trust of a homeless cat, but your efforts will not be in vain and will certainly pay off with the love of the animal. If you notice a clearly abandoned cat near your home that you want to take to your place, first of all, you need to establish friendly contact with him. This article will help you learn the facts about feline behavior so that you understand what you can and cannot do when dealing with stray animals.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Make sure your cat is not feral

1. 1 Understand the difference between an abandoned homeless animal and a feral animal. A cat living on the street refers to either abandoned or feral animals. Communication with feral cats differs markedly from communication with abandoned individuals, sometimes it is almost impossible to gain their trust. Before approaching a cat, try to understand whether it is abandoned or feral.
   • Feral cats and cats are born and raised on the street. They were never someone's pets and did not live at home. Homeless animals were once pets, but lost or abandoned by their owners.
   • Feral cats are characterized by a more cautious and fearful behavior, it is more similar to the behavior of wild raccoons and squirrels. Abandoned animals are more friendly and make better contact, in addition, they prefer to live near residential areas and houses.
   • Nevertheless, even abandoned stray cats and cats can acquire features of feral behavior during long life on the street.It will take you some time to interact closely with your cat to understand whether it is feral or homeless.
2. 2 Pay special attention to the cat's behavior and appearance. A cat's behavior and physical condition will tell you whether he was born on the street or was there by accident.
   • Dirty and unkempt looking animals, to great surprise, most likely belong to the lost stray individuals. Newly exposed cats have difficulty adapting to the outdoors, so they tend to be dirtier and less well-groomed in appearance than feral cats.
   • If the cat decides to approach you at all, it is very likely that he belongs to the abandoned animals, even if he runs away from you when you try to pet him. Feral cats rarely approach humans.
   • A sure way to test a cat for domestication is to put it in a cage. A pet in a cage can purr, rub against its walls, play, and lift its tail in a friendly manner. But, although feral cats are capable of exhibiting the same behavior in freedom, especially in front of the one who feeds them, they will never behave in this way in a cage.
3. 3 Get ready to deal with a feral cat. It may turn out that the cat you mistaken for an abandoned cat turns out to be feral. Feral cats and cats over the age of seven months are almost impossible to domesticate. It is recommended that such animals be captured, neutered or neutered and returned to the wild in order to humanely control the number of feral cat colonies.
   • As part of charitable capture, neutering / neutering and re-wildlife programs, animals are trapped in humane traps, examined for health problems, vaccinated, spayed / neutered, and then released. Trying to force a feral animal to live at home can be traumatic for it, since it is used to living in the wild. Therefore, the mentioned charitable programs are considered more appropriate for them.
   • You can find out about charitable programs that may be active in your area through animal control services, local veterinary clinics or animal welfare services. Unless you have special skills and experience in handling wild animals, do not try to deal with feral cats on your own. Feral cats and cats can carry various diseases, including rabies, and behave aggressively when frightened. It is better to let the specialists of the catching service work with them.

Part 2 of 3: Trap the cat

1. 1 Build your cat's trust with food. Feeding is the most effective way to get a stray cat to communicate with you. Most likely, the street animal is hungry and will react positively to feeding. At the same time, you will have a chance to get closer to the cat and start accustoming him to your presence nearby.
   • Find flavored food for your cat. The easier it is for a cat to find food by smell, the better. Cats have a very good sense of smell. They usually prefer wet canned food over dry. They especially like the smell of fish such as salmon and tuna. However, you should not leave human food for your cat, such as canned tuna or other fish. This can lead to digestive upset in the animal, and you do not need the food that you leave to cause unpleasant associations in him.
   • Leave cat food wherever you have seen it. Consistency is important in this matter. Leave the food in the same place every day, and the cat will start coming there when it is hungry.
   • After a few days, start staying nearby when the cat comes to eat. It may take about a week or so for a cat to trust and come to you. Be patient. Don't force the cat to communicate.
   • During this period, do not pet or touch the cat, unless he himself takes the initiative and begins to rub against your legs and poke his muzzle at you. Abandoned animals have often been mistreated by their former owners in the past. It can take a stray cat a long time to gain confidence in a new person, and it can be easily frightened off. If you impose your communication on the cat, then at some point he may simply not return even for food.
2. 2 Find the right cat trap. Despite the fact that some stray cats are ready to come to the house of a new owner on their own, most other animals have certain problems with trust in humans. A humane trap is often the best way to safely capture and transport a cat to your home.
   • Public animal protection organizations can often lend humane traps to those who are trying to catch stray animals. Employees of these organizations can additionally provide advice on how to properly use such a trap. It's also a good idea to contact your local animal shelter and ask their staff for recommendations on the right type of cat trap.
   • If there are no shelters and animal protection organizations in your area, then a humane trap can be purchased online. However, be careful with your choice, because you need a trap that will not harm the cat or cause him any discomfort. Take a good look at the information and reviews of all the traps you are considering to make sure they are humane and safe to use.
3. 3 Lure the cat into the trap. The cat will not just go into the trap, even if you leave food inside it. The process of luring a cat will take time.
   • When your cat is comfortable with you, start bringing a large trap cage with you each time. Humane traps that will not harm the animal can be quickly purchased from online stores or local pet stores.
   • Spend a week getting your cat food closer and closer to the trap. Finally, place food at the very entrance of the trap, but keep the door open while the cat is eating. You need to make the cat feel comfortable in the cage so that by the time the trap door closes behind him, it does not become too traumatic for him.
   • Move food gradually deeper into the cage. As soon as the cat decides to enter the whole cage, slam the trap behind him.
4. 4 Show the cat to the vet. If you want to gain the trust of a stray cat, then you will have to live with him for a long time. But before that, you need to check it for dangerous diseases that can harm you or your other pets.
   • Before going to the vet, it is wise to keep the cat in quarantine without contact with other people and animals. Lock him up in a separate room. It would be even better to put the cat in a spacious cage in a heated garage (if possible), since the animal can be infected with ticks or fleas, which it is unwise to bring into your house.
   • The veterinarian will be able to check the cat for the presence of a microchip. The microchip is implanted under the skin between the shoulder blades and allows you to obtain information about the previous owner of the animal.
   • The veterinarian will also conduct a general examination of the cat and give him the necessary vaccinations. In addition, the cat will be screened for common ailments among neglected animals such as fleas, heartworms, viral immunodeficiency of cats and viral leukemia of cats.

Part 3 of 3: Build Your Pet's Trust at Home

1. 1 Allocate a separate room for the cat. The adaptation to the home life of a stray cat from the street and the adaptation of a cat from a shelter are radically different from each other.Your new pet is likely to be more cautious and fearful in unfamiliar areas in unfamiliar territory. Give him a room where he can feel comfortable and trust you more.
   • Put bowls of food and water there, put bedding and toys, put a litter box. Everything that can provide the cat with comfort and a sense of security is a necessity in this case.
   • The cat's room should be located in a quiet part of your house, no one should use it until the cat gets used to the new place. Place a chair or sofa in the room with a blanket draped over it so that in case of fright, the cat has the opportunity to hide.
   • Spend some time in the room with your cat during the day so that he continues to get used to your presence. Knock on the door before entering and say the phrase "I am coming in" lovingly.
2. 2 Respect feline barriers. A cat taken from the street takes some time to get used to communicating with a person. Do not rush things and do not impose, let the cat decide for himself how to communicate with you.
   • Avoid direct eye contact. Cats often stare at people, but you shouldn't play staring at the cat from the street. A fixed gaze is a signal of aggression. To tell the cat that you are not going to harm him, close your eyes briefly and then look the other way.
   • Let the cat walk up to you. Wait until the moment when he himself comes into physical contact with you before trying to pet the cat. When cats rub against people and nuzzle them affectionately, they are communicating their friendly mood. Wait for a similar signal from your pet and only then try to touch it.
   • If the cat wants to hide, do not hinder him. He may wish to stay under a sofa or chair for several days and only go out to eat. Let him do as he wants, do not try to convince him to leave his shelter before he is ready for it.
   • When your cat decides to make physical contact, do not touch his belly. For cats, the belly is a vulnerable spot, so touching it can lead to a significant loss of already won trust.
3. 3 Introduce the cat to the rest of the house. After spending a few weeks in a safe room that will give him peace and quiet, allow the pet to explore the rest of your home.
   • Allow the cat to independently navigate the house. Let him explore the territory at his own discretion. Just keep an eye on him, but don't get in too much of the way as he gets to know his new surroundings.
   • If you have pets other than a cat, allow them to smell and hear each other before physical contact. Feed the old pets next to the door to the new cat's room. Encourage friendly contact and paw play under the door.
   • You can try to temporarily replace the ordinary door with a transparent one so that other animals could see the cat, but there was a physical barrier in front of them. This step can be useful if the cat taken off the street is particularly fearful.
   • Watch closely for the first real communication between pets and watch for possible signs of aggression.
   • Provide your cat with constant access to its safe room so that it has a place where it can feel safe if it needs to hide.

Tips

• Do not try to lure the cat with milk or cream. Most cats' digestive enzymes prevent them from digesting dairy products, so drinking milk and cream can lead to indigestion, vomiting and diarrhea.
• While there is nothing wrong with having furniture in a cat's room, be aware that reclining chairs can sometimes hurt cats, especially young cats. Do not leave your pet alone in a room with this type of furniture.
• Watch local newspapers and radio announcements for missing animals. There is a chance that the cat you picked up was lost and the owner is looking for it.

Warnings

• Vaccinations are very important. Vaccinate your new pet as soon as you pick it up. Some diseases, such as rabies, are incurable if the pet becomes infected with them.
• In case of fright, cats can show aggressive behavior, they can also be carriers of diseases that are dangerous to humans and other animals. Be very careful when handling a stray cat and let him be the first to come up to you for communication.

Additional articles

How to care for kittens without a cat in the first 3 weeks How to sleep a hyperactive kitten How to calm a kitten to stop screaming How to make your cat love you How to find a missing cat How to train your cat to swim How to find a cat that has hidden How to bring a second cat home and not upset the first How to bury a cat How to make friends with a cat and a dog How to immobilize a cat How to keep a dying cat comfortable How to catch a stray kitten How to apologize to a cat