# How to befriend a stray kitten



## pllamah (Jul 5, 2012)

Hi! Lately there has been this little orange and white kitten hanging around my block and i'm fairly certain he's homeless as he's fairly skinny and always digging through my trash looking for food. I saw him in my garbage so i put some food out for him on my doorstep. He lets me look at him through my door now, but i think thats because he's just too hungry to leave the food and run. He runs if you get anywhere near him though.

So besides food and blinking slowly when he looks at me (got that off of my cat from ****) what else can i do to slowly build up this cats trust?

Photo of him eating the food on my doorstep:


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Not much. You are very kind to show this cat love. Keep doing what you are doing. You will eventually win his trust enough to be able to take baby steps towards getting closer. May take a good long time. Poor thing is just trying to survive at this point and humans perhaps have not been kind to him/her.

I had a neighbor that fed a cat for years and the best he could get out of her was for her to step into his kitchen - just a few feet from where he fed her outside. She was always timid and almost never let him even touch her. Bless you for this kindness.


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## LaurulFeatherCat (Sep 16, 2011)

Do you intend to take this cat in for your own? If you do, then I would suggest you use a humane trap (here we can rent them from our Humane Society) and get him into your home and in your control. Once you trap him, put him in an empty room; a bedroom or a bathroom and continue wooing him with food. Allow him to hide under the furniture, spend at least half an hour in the room twice a day and slowly tame him.

If you just intend of keeping him as an outdoor cat, you are right on schedule with him. Start bringing treats with you outside and sit with him outdoors while you give the treats and talk to him. Eventually he may allow you to pet him. I have tamed a lot of outdoor kitties just by offering small servings of wet food once an evening. A lot of these cats have eventually crawled into my lap spontaneously for petting after a month or two.


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## Venusworld21 (Oct 23, 2012)

I agree....food is the way to a stray's heart. 

How well you can tame him will depend a lot on him though. Some cats warm up after a few days or weeks of reliable meals. Others, like the stray we had hanging around when I was growing up, never let you get to the point of picking them up, even after 10 years of giving them food.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

I would feed him on a regular schedule. He will start showing up when he is going to be fed. Then sit at a distance and get him use to you being around. Move closer and closer as weeks go on.

Or if you plan on taking him read Kitty Boot Camp in the Feral section of Cat Forum. Its written by Heidi and under the sticky called taming and caring for feral cats and kittens.http://www.catforum.com/forum/56-feral-cats/125860-taming-caring-feral-kittens-cats.html

Most likely this cat isn't feral but the tips work on a cat that is skittish and has been abandoned for awhile outside. It will help bring him around record speed. 

I hope you are going to take him into your heart and home!


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## pllamah (Jul 5, 2012)

Thanks all, I do hopefully plan to keep this cat if he warms up to me.


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## wallycat (Nov 10, 2012)

We had a feral that we fed. As time went on, he would sing to us for his food.
The younger they are, or if they have had previous human handling and were just dumped, the easier it will be to gain trust. I used to take the plate of food and each time, I would talk to him. I gave him a name and called him and talked to him. I'd watch him eat and talk to him. Slowly, I would stay closer and closer to the plate. One day I put the plate down and sat next to it. A month or so later, I sat close enough to the plate and tried to stroke him. Poor guy looked so mangy and weathered. I kept at this. I was able to use Revolution on him to keep some of the fleas and worms out. When we caught him spraying our area, we trapped him and had him fixed. He cried bloody murder, but the moment he ran, I knew he would be back. At 3pm, like clockwork, he came for his food. Within a month, he was inside of his own accord. The vet said he thought he was 1-2 years old at time of fixing.

At least your little kitty is getting food. 
We had two big males and a female that were older and never let us get near them. DH built a house/shelter for them in our backyard in WI so they could get out of the snow and rain.


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## Justteri1000 (May 27, 2013)

I agree with what everyone said. Allow it to go slow so you can gradually build trust. Be satisfied with minimal exposure at first. If you feed the cat at about the same time each day, then you can move the bowl each day a little closer to the door and then just inside with the door open, and then after he is comfortable with crossing across the threshold to eat, then you sit quietly about 6 to 7 feet from the bowl, then 5 feet, then 4 feet, etc.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

I dont have any advice/experience, I just wanted to say how great of you it was to feed him/her! I am glad he/she found your food! 

Poor little thing, i hope the weather is mild where you are at least.

Hopefully, even if he never gets comfortable enough to become yours, that he will at least know he has someplace to eat/seek shelter. Better than eating garbage for sure!


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

This is how it all started with me and my feral Arwen. She was eating from garbage cans for years and you didn't even see her during the day. Then one day I did see her during the day, left food by the curb, which eventually led to me moving it closer and closer. The first time I put it closer to my porch and I sat about 10 feet away, she slinked up to the food on her belly and was trembling, and she wolfed the food down in 3 bites and was GONE! But she showed up every day, same time. I went very, very slowly. She started eating on my porch, but she would hiss at me every time. It took about 4-6 months before she brushed up against my leg and sat down near me. It took another two months after that and I could lightly pet her tail, and then one day her head, but she would not let me pet her back....she would raise a warning paw at me. After almost a year, she finally let me pet her back. Now I can scratch her chin, rub her ears, pet her back, she does not want to be picked up though. But recently she has let me lift her under her front legs, as long as the back ones stay firmly planted on the ground. She is so sweet. I am so attached to her, but I have 3 indoor cats, and she is not suited for indoors at all. She is ear tipped and I do put revolution on her and feed her two times a day, and give her lots of love. I believe she was completely feral. She brings me rats and squirrels, and I saw her chomp down and swallow a lizard in about 5 bites yesterday....it was so gross! But I adore her. Keep doing what you are doing and this little guy will show up like clockwork. If you don't have another cat, or you are in a position to take on another one, maybe soon you will see how he feels about you and you can make him yours? Bless you for giving him food, now no more garbage cans for him.


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## pllamah (Jul 5, 2012)

Hey just wanted to update you guys. Instead of running the second the little guy heard my doorknob move he stuck around and poked his head into my house. And this is on the 3rd night of feeding him. I have high hopes for this little guy c:

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Yeah!!!! I have a good feeling about him too!


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

howsefrau32 said:


> This is how it all started with me and my feral Arwen.


What a sweet exercise in patience. One of the things cats teach us is patience and unconditional love. I think the most hard won kitties are some of my favorites. 

Our Abby was a seal point himmy that was rescued on the streets. Declawed, she was left after someone moved out to fend for herself. She was terrified and after 2 weeks a Good Samaritan found her cowering under a car and weighing only about 1 pound. He nursed her back to health and rehomed her to me due to allergies. It took her a year before she warmed up to me! A year of cajoling, cooing, light touches and much love. A year before she rolled onto her back and let me rub her belly. I knew I had arrived into her heart at that point. A year.

I cried like a baby for weeks after she died another year later. I'll never forget my Abby Cakes.


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## pllamah (Jul 5, 2012)

another update! Just now the kitten came close enough that he was taking bits of hotdog from my hand with his paw. If he would have come a step or two closer I would have grabbed him and brought him inside, but i got close so far tonight, and i can guarantee he'll be back again a few times tonight as he always does.


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## pllamah (Jul 5, 2012)

Never mind, i screwed it up. I tried to grab him to bring him inside and he flipped out and got my hand pretty good. He's not gonna be trusting me for awhile again now.


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## LaurulFeatherCat (Sep 16, 2011)

The reason I suggested using an humane trap is to avoid just this scenario. Once one decides to rescue a stray and socialize it, it is best to get the rescue done and over with. Anything can happen to that poor cat while you try and 'catch' it and if you spook it trying to bait it, you do yourself and the cat no favor. Using a trap immediately gets the trauma of the catch over and done with. The cat is under your control and safe in an environment you control. One can then take however long it takes to socialize the cat; two days, two weeks, two months, etc.

I am sorry you have had a setback. Good luck.


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