Man takes a chance on a feral cat

I saved a "feral" cat once. It took over a year to tame her

The Dodo has the best videos. Thanks, OP. 🙂

I love this so much. Thank you!

Is it a rescue cat?

I don’t think that cat was feral, maybe abandoned. He warmed up pretty quick to the narrator, who seemed sweet, also.

I think I would have left the can on the cat’s head until I got the cat contained and a long glove on my hand and arm.

Did the cat teach his owner how to hiss?

I definitely don't believe the cat was feral - just scared. I've had a few feral cats over time and they never fully warm up, at best tolerate after months of effort.

Great Bast, if you in your wisdom can see beyond his shamefully seeking fame for his deeds, show favor upon this man's domain and shine upon him in the rising sun.

My mother feed a feral cat and her kittens. The mother cat formed an intense bond with my mother. Over the years the cat would progess from coming inside to be fed to now visiting my 94 year old blind mother and keeping her company in the afternoon and night. This cat sleeps near my mother's face and receives her strokes and kind words when Mum is denied sleep. My mother can no longer feed the cat ( my sister does this) but the cat is still snuggles up to my mother. This cat will let no one else touch her.

I am loving this!

7...8....9.....9.....9.....

Dollface thread.

I don’t trust some of these animal videos. He just happens upon a helpless cat?

I sure hope so. I would hate to think otherwise.

[quote] I don’t trust some of these animal videos. He just happens upon a helpless cat? I sure hope so. I would hate to think otherwise.

Neither do I. I finally watched a video that YouTube kept pushing me to watch, about a guy who "rescued" a baby fox that appeared to be only a couple of weeks old. He never did say what he was "rescuing" it from, or what happened to the mother. I'll bet the fox just wandered out of the den and this guy snapped it up and took it home. The fox is now a family pet.

The man in the cat video runs a shelter in Greece for homeless animals.

Another success story. Sadly, they don't all end this happy.

As much as I appreciated the people helping the poor little kitten in R15’s video, all I could think of was do you have to shove the camera so close to its face?

I rescued a feral cat ~15 years ago. It took ~2 years to get to the point where she'd (sort of) allow me to handle her, and she never really got over her tendency to "run for her life, then evaluate the situation & come back if she deemed it safe", but after ~4-5 years, she suddenly warmed up to me, and would approach, cuddle, and purr hard. She also started to sleep with me in bed. But she never, ever allowed me to pick her up without putting up a fight, and she never got over her impulse to reflexively run away whenever I approached.

Supposedly, that's normal in cats that weren't handled and carried as kittens. Once their "skittishness" reflex gets established, it can diminish, but never completely goes away. In contrast, cats who are handled and pampered as kittens DON'T get it "switched on", and stay in "kitten mode" for life.

I’m scared of cats. I really wish I wasn’t but they seem to be all teeth and claws.

r18, go visit a cat cafe & ask them to introduce you to their biggest purring cuddler.

Even when cats "bite", they rarely do it to *injure*. Most of the time, they use "control bites" where they're using their teeth like hands to grab something, or to let you know, "I'm in control here, not you." Go limp, stop resting, follow their tug, and you'll be fine... no marks or anything. Think of it as being like a feline Vulcan nerve pinch (which, if you were a kitten being grabbed by its mother's mouth, it basically WOULD be).

Cats' claws are annoying, but ultimately, they're just the cats' fingertips. Keep them cut, or glue soft caps onto them, and you'll be fine. Don't declaw, though... it's cruel, painful, crippling, and usually makes cats simultaneously clumsy & more prone to bite "for real".

Incidentally, big cats (leopards, cougars, tigers, etc) almost NEVER injure human companions with claws or teeth unless they're frightened or pissed. Unlike small cats, big cats know their strength (at least, if you make a point of teaching them as cubs) & have more conscious control over their claws. You teach them to NEVER interact with humans using claws (by punishing them as cubs whenever the claws come out around you), and believe it or not, they respect that training as adults.

The thing to remember about ALL cats is that their "instincts" are approximately as follows, in descending order of importance:

5. Groom

4. Fuck

3. Neutralize sources of danger, stress, and/or annoyance

2. Sleep & conserve energy

1. Eat (the partial exception to rule 2)

Fundamentally, cats expend no more energy than they have to. They get neurotic if getting food takes ZERO effort, but the bar is pretty low. For older cats, stopping the motion of a food bowl (using a paw) as you move it slowly is good enough. For younger cats, a minute or two chasing a laser pointer or feather on a stick prior to eating will do the trick & give them a sense of accomplishment.

The best part about cats is that they don't need 24/7 reminders that you still love them. They're happy to spend lots of time sleeping next to you & bask in your presence while grooming.