Feral Cat Behavior
Is a cat in your area portraying attitudes known to be those of feral cats? This article aims at bringing to light characteristic behavioral patterns of feral cats.
Feral cats are not strays or wild cats. They evolved from domestic cats but do not live with human contact in any form. Stray cat are similar to domestic cats in their temperament and have had some kind of human contact, while descendants of wild feline species are wild cats.
Feral cats live either in large groups known as feline colonies, or alone in solitude. Feral cats can live in any weather, from very hot to very cold as they are very adaptive in nature. Feral colonies can be found in old cars, abandoned buildings or small wooden areas.
Behavior
Feral cats descend from domesticated cats which were abandoned or not neutered and thus they do not trust humans, matter of fact, they do their best to elude humans. These unneutered, abandoned cats bred unchecked and their offspring are todays’ feral cats.
While feral cats are prey to foxes, feral pigs, cougars, feral dogs, coyotes, wolves, birds of prey, snakes and a host of other wild animals, they prey on small animals like rodents, rabbits, house mice, marsupials and small animals for food.
Non-neutered and non-sprayed cats are generally hostile and aggressive and feral cats are not an exception. After attaining maturity, the males become even more hostile. In a year, feral cats can have two or more litters so they usually have large colonies. On the downside however, they easily contract diseases as they are not vaccinated, and if they come in contact with a domestic cat, they can infect it. Feral cats are also a danger to humans as their bite or even a scratch can infect the human with rabies.
Taming Feral Cats
Taming a feral cat is an undertaking only specialized training professionals can handle. To determine which feral cats will be easy to train, they are reintroduced to domestic cat behaviors. It is best to adopt these cats at an early stage and teach them to socialize.
Domesticated feral cats, like domestic cats are less prone to diseases and their countenance and behavior can also be likened to that of domestic cats, though most of the times they will still like living outdoors. It is almost impossible to tame an adult feral cat which has had little or no human contact. While it is not easy to tame a feral cat, if you have a persistent training program, you can be sure to overcome and the feral cat will definitely get used to life indoors.
Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to taming a feral cat and is often very rewarding in the end, but you need to return the cat to its colony if after 5-6 months of persistence, there is no improvement. Keeping it indoors is stressful to the cat and may lead to its death or it will eventually become hostile and aggressive to humans. On the other hand, even the slightest change can be a beacon of hope and who knows, the cat just may decide to give you a chance.
The temperament of feral cats is similar to that of wild cats but that is as similar as they get. It is possible, though to introduce a feral cat to proper cat behavior but it takes care, love and above all, patience.