Need help with feral cat! Anyone know how to socialize/cage one?

Date:   1/5/2011 2:15:19 PM ( 13 y ago)

I took this picture of Bastet yesterday. She’s a beautiful little cat with bright blue eyes. I think she's at least part Siamese. She looks young to me, maybe not much past kitten-hood. Adolescent? Photo by Mayah 1-4-2011


 

Last month, a cat adopted me. She's been living in my garage. I've named her Bastet, after the Egyptian cat goddess. She's feral, very shy, and initially wouldn’t let me get close to her. After about a week of feeding her, she approached me, meowing loudly. I took this to mean "where's my food?!?!" I fed her, and then squatted down to her level, letting her smell my hands; she rubbed all over my legs and purred. I tried to pet her but she hissed at me.

Two days ago, Bastet let me pet her. She seemed happy, but then I made a movement to get up from my squatting position and she whipped her head around so fast I couldn’t react in time—she bit hard, leaving 3 small puncture wounds in my hand. (I'm treating the wounds with homeopathy—oral colloidal silver/topical colloidal gold & bentonite clay--feels much better now!) Then she jumped about four feet away from me, but didn’t run away; instead, she sat quietly with huge round eyes and stared at me, as if waiting to see what my reaction would be. In pain, I yelled “Bad cat!”, then stood up and stared at her, my hand dripping with blood. I was angry at first, then realized she couldn’t help it, that my movement had triggered a flight/fight response in her.

Bastet came around yesterday and rubbed all over my legs after I fed her. It was obvious she wanted me to pet her but I didn't (duh, why not?). Instead I let her rub all over my legs as I talked calmly to her. She tried to jump up on my leg and had her claws out, but I said "NO!" and walked away. By the time I got in my front door, she was at my back door meowing loudly and looking in at me through the glass. I talked to her through the screen door and went out to let her rub my legs a couple of times during the day. She meowed at me on and off all day, until 11:00pm!! Front door, back door, and even bathroom window! She obviously wants attention and affection. I’m trying to socialize her slowly. She’s still very skittish and I have to walk        v-e-r-y      s-l-o-w-l-y    around her as she runs off at the slightest movement. This morning she was meowing at the back door again.

Anyone know how to socialize a feral cat?

Anyone know how to cage her? I’d like to get her to the vet and have her spayed—the last thing I want is for her to have kittens in my garage! We have enough unwanted cats in the world and the no-kill animal shelter in my area can’t take in any more.

Bastet, Cat Goddess: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastet

Symbolic Meaning of cats: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/cat-animal-symbolism.html

"Here's a quick-list for cat animal symbolism: Astute, Clever, Secretive, Mysterious, Intelligent, Intuitive, Supernatural, Watchfulness, Selective, Independent"









 

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