Case Study: Caring For & Socializing Neighborhood Cats
Over the years, I’ve helped many friends and neighbors rescue and/or socialize “neighborhood” cats. You know the ones - they are not quite feral, but not approachable either. Or maybe they are feral, but have come to rely on the food for their sustenance, so they tolerate a human’s presence. They watch from afar as you put food out for them or emerge in the night to eat it. Often, many folx in the neighborhood feed and provide shelter for the cat, but no one gets close.
Adventures in Feral Cats and Kittens
Almost fifteen years ago, I trapped a female cat and her 5 feral kittens who were living under a house in which I was living in northern New Mexico. All the feral cats on the land were some variation of black and white as they had been inbred for many years. The kittens were so cute, but I had two cats and a dog and there just wasn’t room for more in my home. And yet, we didn’t need five more feral cats on the land. As I trapped them, I brought them to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society. The kittens were adopted, but mom was too feral so she was spayed and released back to the land.
I even helped my mom, who lives in New Hampshire, tend to a feral cat that lives under the shed at her neighbor’s house. Years ago she started feeding this beautiful blue-gray cat and named her Tessa. The next summer, Tessa had kittens and I helped my mom connect with the local New Hampshire Animal Humane Society so the kittens could be adopted and Tessa spayed.
Today, my mom feeds Tessa in an igloo doghouse and chats with her from afar. She is as attached to Tessa as she was to Lucas, a cat she adopted from her neighbor who lived indoors. During the time Lucas was alive, Tessa got very curious and would come to the door, wanting Lucas to come outside to socialize. It was very cute! But when he passed, she returned to her solitary life under the shed, except for her twice daily feedings.
Bringing a Feral Cat Indoors
Sometimes, a feral cat needs to be brought into a home for their own health and safety. I’m working with a client now to socialize a cat they named “Mouse”. They adopted Mouse at the end of January 2024 because the family that had been tending to her moved away and she was getting repeatedly beat up by a feral male cat in the neighborhood.
Bringing a feral cat indoors, even if they had a home many years ago, takes an incredible amount of patience and commitment. Yet there are several things we can do to support their integration into the household. Here’s their story, six weeks in.
Kelley and Josh, the human caregivers, started with a single session shortly after bringing Mouse indoors. Kelley wanted someone to help her family and Mouse get comfortable with each other. We had known each other for many years, and she immediately thought of me to help them out.
Mouse was confined to a beautiful, sunlit room with all the kitty accouterments - comfy beds, a cat cave, a window seat, scratching posts, etc. They went in every day to feed and just hang out with Mouse so she could get used to their scent, voice, and footfalls. She didn’t interact with them, or even come out of her cat cave, but that is to be expected at the beginning. They set up a “kitty cam” to track her increasing comfort in their home.
In that first session, Mouse was almost catatonic. I confirmed through an intuitive reading that the slow, steady steps they were taking to help Mouse get comfortable indoors and with them were useful. I also saw that it could take up to a year before she was fully settled, so be patient. I read a bit about Mouse’s history, which included a short time in a home as a kitten, and then a life outdoors in the cold Philly winters.
I did some energy work on Mouse to help her nervous system shake off the fear and trauma she was feeling from the change in venue. She hadn’t been this close to humans in several years and had come to fear them. There were some health issues to attend to by a vet, so Kelley made an appointment and discovered Mouse was FIV-positive. Although I heard she would benefit from a second cat that was already socialized, it would need to be another FIV-positive cat.
I listened to see what Green Hope Farm flower essences might help her acclimate more easily:
Grief and Loss
Animal Emergency Care
New Beginnings
I recommended Kelley purchase a 3-pack of 30-minute sessions so we could track Mouse’s progress, check on how the flower essences were supporting her, and give Kelley a place to process what was going on - including her longing to snuggle with Mouse!
Incremental Progress is Still Progress
When we met two weeks later, Mouse had been on the first two flower essences and doing incrementally better. She was getting used to their footfalls, not reacting as fearfully when they came in the room, and venturing out of her cat cave to sit on the window seat more often. She was more active at night, but didn’t play with the toys they left out.
They had to take her back to the vet for deworming and knew it would send her into a catatonic state again. I listened for a flower essences protocol to help and did some more energy work.
We increased the amount of time Kelley just hung out in Mouse’s room and listened to see if it would be helpful to let her start exploring further - Kelley’s office was next door and there was a door between the two. We got a resounding YES!
Most importantly, I affirmed that they were making progress in building a relationship even though the progress seemed incrementally small.
And Then…
A month later, Kelley posted this video of Mouse playing with her toys overnight.
This was a huge success! Until that time, Mouse had not paid any attention to toys in the room. Clearly the deworming and flower essences were helping her feel better physically and more relaxed emotionally.
During our session soon after, Kelley reported that Mouse was acclimating to their movements around the house (not jumping or starting when she heard them) and REALLY enjoying Kelley’s office rug overnight. In fact, Mouse had claimed the office and waited rather impatiently at the door for Kelley to leave at the end of the day!
In addition, she came out of her cat cave immediately after Kelley fed her and left the room. So Kelley has started playing peekaboo - opening the door and popping her head in after Mouse thought she was gone. While it’s a bit startling, it’s a great way for Mouse to get used to Kelley being present as she eats and moves around.
I also heard about changing up the flower essences - Mouse needed Bach Rescue Remedy instead of Green Hope Farm Animal Emergency Care and it was time to start New Beginnings. She had turned a corner.
Although she needed another vet visit, they decided to use a mobile vet this time, so we strategized about where in the house to have her seen. I heard clearly NOT in the two rooms she was already comfortable in - better to take her to a different room so those two rooms remained her safe haven.
I also heard the mobile vet would be able to provide more behavioral suggestions to help Mouse acclimate. I once again heard another cat would help Mouse's socialization, but that it was not yet time.
We don’t know if Mouse will ever be a lap cat, but in just six weeks she’s getting comfortable in the home, more curious when the door to the hallway is open, and allowing herself to be seen outside of the cat cave.
Kelley and Josh’s patience with the process and their willingness to integrate allopathic veterinary care, behavioral support, and energy medicine has, I believe, made the transition easier for all of them.
Do you know of someone who needs help with socializing a feral cat or dog? Please send them this blog! If they sign up for my mailing list, they’ll receive a coupon for 20% off their first session.
