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Long story short, a feral cat had a litter in our backyard. The mother left one kitty (a few weeks old) behind. We took in the kitty. She has been an indoor kitty with us for over 8 years now. She is just fine. Come to think of it, she is one of our better behaved non-feral cats.
I have noticed one difference between the ferals and the others. The ferals don't seem to like being picked up and carried. The domestics I can pick up and carry in my arms like a baby and rub their bellies. They enjoy that a lot. If I tried that with the ferals, I would pay a painful price. Even though most of them enjoy having their bellies rubbed, they can't stand being forced to turn over. They enjoy and demand the same level of attention and affection as the others, but they want to initiate it.
I have noticed this, too. I have 4 cats. 2 were born to barn cats - one I took myself from a horse barn, the other was adopted by me when she was a year old but the former owner told me he got her from a farm.
The barn cat mama I knew was fed & cared for by the barn owner, but not fixed or tamed. She hissed and ran when I approached her, and so did her kitten. Neither of the 2 former barn kittens I have enjoy being picked up and held, but are cuddly on their own terms.
It took the horse barn kitten almost 3 years but she now has no fear of sleeping under the covers with me or sitting in my lap.
The wild card is my tabby. I found her under an interstate bridge (MN/WI border of I-94) when I was riding my bike and she was about 10 weeks old. I have assumed that she was a dumped kitten as we easily caught her (but she was very, very ill), and she has always been a lap cat. It could be that the nursing back from near death I did when she was a kitten strengthened the bond, but she has never felt feral to me.
Looks like people have had good experiences with their (formerly) feral kittens! I'd just encourage you to get the kitten tested for feluek/fiv at 6 weeks of age.
The only thing the cat dont like is my rowdy grandchildren when they come over. She goes and hides.
I can't much blame her. Sometimes I want to do the same thing. LOL
Oh... neither do mine! I have 3 very feral cats (only I can approach them) and they detest children. Adults, they'll tolerate from a distance, but with any kids.
Might have something to do with the kids in our old apt. complex (where we rescued them from) throwing rocks at them when they were younger.
I had a dear friend Mischi (mishy) who I got from her feral mama who was raising her in a cardboard box outside my apartment. I had had cats all my life and when moving into a new apartment, I thought I would take a break from cats for awhile. Three days after I moved in, the resident manager, who had been outside on a riding lawnmower, knocked on my door with a tiny gray tabby kitten that she had found in the aforementioned box. I tried to appear uninterested until the next day when she called me and said that management would not let her keep the kitten and that if I didn't take her, she would have to go to the pound I took her and she was a delight. Her mom was somehow aware that she was in my apartment and would come and cry on my patio. I tried to coax her to come but she would always run away. Eventually, she did not come back anymore. And her little one was scared to be taken outside. She stayed happily indoors.
She was so much fun. Her first Christmas, I found I had to keep my tree empty of ornaments up to the first couple of feet or so, because she would remove them and bat them about the place. I shall never forget when I found her at a activity she had made. There was an open mailing tube on a low shelf that had one end fallen onto the floor so it rested there at a slight angle. She had somehow managed to get one of her play toy balls into the tube. She would bat the ball up into the tube, and because of the low angle, it would take some time to roll back down. She would watch intently and wait, and bat the ball back up again and again and again
She lived with me for 18 years and through many changes (moves, marriage, divorce, more moves). She was a real pal. In her later years she had the low level kidney disease that all older cats have but never showed any symptoms. One day she did not eat and the next day we went to the vet. No improvement and the third day she quietly passed. One of the best companions of my life
So, SunInHair, based on my experience, I would encourage you to adopt that feral kitten. You're going to have a great, life long friend. And like others have said, take her to the vet first to get her examined and off to a good start.
A feral kitten can be a wonderful friend. My most loving sweet cat was a little lost soul when his feral mom abandoned him and his littermates at the door of my apartment. I fed them but they were wild. This one gray tabby, however, had a wounded eye that was swollen like a softball and couldn't run and play. Then, sadly, the littermates disappeared, killed by dogs I fear. This little guy was so skinny and frail with this big swollen eye and mewed pitifully after he was all alone.
I put a ball of yarn on a string on the railing outside the door. He stayed there and batted it and seemed to calm down. Eventually he came inside and the rest is history.
He was quite a survivor as cat killer dogs roamed the property, he got caught in a fan belt in the parking lot(before he came inside) and had an awful respiratory illness. We took him with us when we moved to our first home. He never put out a claw. He was so grateful all his life. He passed away at nearly twenty years of age. I will never forget him.
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My doofus came from a feral mom and he's a darn good cat!!!
with any kids.
I took her and she was a delight. Her mom was somehow aware that she was in my apartment and would come and cry on my patio. I tried to coax her to come but she would always run away. Eventually, she did not come back anymore. And her little one was scared to be taken outside. She stayed happily indoors.
