Had this argument with my dad many times. I rescued my cat off the side of a road when he was 6 weeks old maybe? Got him shots, got him fixed, he’s been inside ever since. He was fixed young so he never got the tom cat cheeks. He’s very anxious, will not come out if there are strangers in the house and hisses if he gets picked up by anyone other than me. Dad claims “you can’t make a house pet out of a feral cat” but he is in no way feral?? I think this is just a hill he’s willing to die on, but he claims once a wild cat always wild.. but again I’ve housed him since he was 6 weeks, maybe younger. Please help me explain this once and for all!!
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it’s ancestors were domesticated but the last few generations have been living apart from humans
Part of it is temperament. Feral often implies a very strong fight or flight response.
Years of selective breeding has resulted in animals that are more socially accepting of humans.
feral cats are cats that grew up outside and away from humans, only socializing with other cats, so they’re basically almost wild animals. they just don’t know how to act around humans and don’t treat them as friends. if you take a young kitten (the younger the better) from the street and raise it at home though, it won’t be feral! your cat is 100% not feral at all, your dad doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
His first 6 weeks were spent growing up feral, being taught by a feral mom. I have a cat that was the same age when I got him and he is the same, scared of everyone, runs down the hallway to hide under my bed while growling, yes growling, when Amazon pulls up.
Loves me to death, I can pick him up etc. Won’t let anyone else touch him. He’s 4 years old now and hasn’t snapped out of it.
He’s also afraid of certain things like cloth rope on a stick, pure joy for my other younger cat, but he’s just plain terrified of it and runs.
Those first few weeks of life do the most imprinting. Whatever the mom is afraid of and kittens see her react to, they learn.
A feral animal is a domesticated animal living in the “wild.” It has nothing to do with behavior.
A feral animal is a domesticated animal that never socialized with humans and doesn’t trust them. Your cat was feral, but is no longer feral because he socialized with you. But he’s still unsocialized with strangers, but that is potentially fixable if you get your friends to do trust-building with him.
> but again I’ve housed him since he was 6 weeks, maybe younger
I shouldn’t have to say this, but cats are not humans. If you adopted a baby at six weeks it’s unlikely the baby would remember anything about their first six weeks. Your cat absolutely does.
That’s not because of “cat years” it’s because your cat, like most animals, was born ready to survive on its own as soon as possible. It’s not a squishy flesh ball with a barely functioning brain and so it can and did learn lifelong habits in that time period.
It really depends. Predominantly, factors such as illness or even just reverting to the use of primal instincts. It could even be because of stress, anxiety, etc. They become violent, antisocial, etc.
“Feral” doesn’t … really mean anything. It just means it’s a domesticated species (cats, cows, dogs, pigs, etc) that live without human support. If you find any of these animals out in the wild, that means its feral. It has no real relevance to demeanor or behavior.
You can make a feral cat a house pet, but there’s almost always going to be some feral behaviors that the cat never outgrows or lets go of. In your case, your cat is comfortable with you and basically no one else. You took him in when he was young enough that you more or less imprinted on him. But he’s still feral. It’s hard to say just how ingrained those feral instincts are because there’s no real way of knowing if he’s 2nd gen feral, 20th gen feral, or 100th gen feral. The longer his feral bloodlines run, the harder it is to fully and properly socialize him.
Bottom line is that you have a feral cat, and that’s ok. The cat seems comfortable with you so as long as you try to minimize the presence of other people around him, the cat should be able to live a long and healthy life.
Feral just means wild or untamed. It doesn’t specifically refer to a domesticated species.
Some feral cats or dogs can be successfully introduced to a domestic lifestyle, others cannot. It often depends on their previous interactions with humans. If they’ve never experienced anything other than pain or fear from a human, they would be far harder to work with than an animal that has had some pleasant experiences.
Feral is just a domesticated species living wild, many of them are capable of living wild, but there are still tens of thousands of years of evolution separating them from wild animals and connecting them to humans.
Your cat does seem to have some issues with their socialization. I recommend Jackson Galaxy. He is a notable cat expert with a YouTube channel (iirc he had a ‘cat wisperer’ type tv show some years ago). Lots of information about cat behavior. It might help you prove the old man wrong.
Similar to our cat. Started out very anxious, tolerated us but absolutely no visitors allowed to interact with her. Actually spent the first few days under the floor after finding a small cat sized hole in the bathroom floor.
After a few years she would tolerate visitors, especially after the same person came over multiple times within a month or so.
Now after about 8 years she will come out unless there’s a large crowd and socialize a little bit. Sometimes she will hiss at people if she isn’t into being touched by them. Also she is quirky in that even with us she will only sit on our laps for about 30 seconds before going off to sit by herself. The only time she is a snuggly little cat is in bed at nighttime. She will cuddle and knead and purr all night. But only at night in bed. During the day she’s kind of a bitch
My mom is a vet and of course a softhearted person. She’s adapted several “feral” cats into super sweet house cats.
Heck I have cats born inside and have lived inside that aren’t friendly. Never forget…they’re cats. Aloof is normal.