Look at this adorable boy! Just look at that sweet little face and those sleepy, squinty eyes!
Ranger is one of the community cats I care for. He absolutely loves being petted. He has this adorable habit of squinting his eyes, making him look like he’s smiling and enjoying every bit of affection.
He may be a community cat, but he deserves all the love, cuddles, and pets in the world. If cuteness could be measured, this boy would be off the charts!
If more people will care to homeless animals, there will be more cats who will squint like Ranger.
You are welcome to join our growing Reddit community, r/StrayCatHeroes
Our community is open to all cat heroes—whether you are a rescuer, a feeder, someone who supports animal welfare efforts, or simply a person who loves and cares about cats.
Feel free to share your rescue stories, post photos of your beloved cats, or simply show us how adorable they are. We look forward to meeting you and your feline friends!
We have been feeding a formerly feral cat for the past 6 months and would like to transition him to being an indoor cat. Right now he spends about 70% of his time indoors during the day, but typically asks to be let out at night and strictly uses the bathroom outdoors. He has spent the night a handful of times. He essentially comes and goes inside and out as he pleases. We would like to start training him to use the bathroom indoors and are interested in the litter robot.
- is it possible to transition straight to litter robot or will we need to get a regular kitty litter box first?
- I would prefer to keep him 100% inside, but my husband likes the idea of letting him out during the day since he enjoys being outside so much. Is there a world in which this is possible? Especially if we want to train him to use the bathroom inside?
Any help or advice for this transition is appreciated!
Where to begin? Several years ago we started feeding 4 feral cats that were like a little family. Two tabby cats and 2 big fluffy rag doll/himalayan looking cats. Somehow these 4 had joined up and formed a small family group. The fluffy ones looked really bad with big wads of matted fur from stickers and twigs and stuff. We intended to TNR the lot, but somehow only ended up with 2 of the 4 (the other 2 just stopped coming around). The two we did trap are a seriously bonded pair... so much so that hUbby said we should give them a chance indoor... specially since the big fluffy one had fur in such a mess it had to be painful abnd it would give us a chance to get that sorted out. That was when I lost my guest room which is now "the cattery". Turned out our timing was good, the tabby is male, the TNR said ms fluffy is a tortie point? Anyways the fluffy one (we named her Scruffy), was pregnant... so she was also aborted when spayed. We set them up in our guest room with cat towers (2) and litter boxes (2), cameras and sofabed. Every day my husband would go in to clean the litter and feed them. For the first 6 months they were in hiding, never showing themselves until he left. Eventually they would come out to eat while he was present.... then one day Scruffy actually let him pet her behind just a little bit. The cute thing is, whenever he did that, the Tabby would bat at his hand as if to say "leave her alone, she's mine. So the Tabby earned his name... DC (short for devil cat).
Once the cats were completely comfortable with hubby, I started going in with breakfast every day. They'll sit right beside me... Scruffy will accept a few back scratches, but NOT her head. DC just pretty much hates being touched even tho he'll sit right beside either one of us and sometimes even crawl onto our laps. DC loves to play, Scruffy just watches. To this day, NEVER EVER has either one of them hissed or growled at either one of us. We've just let them take it at their own pace.
We also have 2 regular indoor housecats... a female tabby and a female calico. We finally decided to see if the ferals had relaxed enough that we could indoctrinate them into the greater indoor only cat household and set up a screen door along with the solid door... for 2 way cat viewing. Turns out our calico could care less. Our other tabby (Ms Pickles) wanted to vet out the neighbors like right now! After about 2 weeks of the screen door being closed only for viewing, we opened it. Pickles walked right in. Scruffy went and hid under the sofabed. DC sat and watched every move Pickles made while she explored their cattery. Pickles hissed a couple times, DC just sat and watched. Fast forward a couple months and we now leave their door open all day long (closed at night). Weird thing is there must be some kind of invisible force field, the ferals have ZERO interest in leaving their cattery. Pickles will go in and visit for a half hour or so every once in a while now. She and DC will now touch noses every time, but that's about it. Pickles just likes to go in and hang out with them.
We also have another male feral we feed outside, have been for close to 5 years now. We have him set up with a heated cathouse that he adores over on my she-shed porch. He will not allow us to come any closer than about 10 feet... even after all this time.
BUT.... Now for the new development that we need some help and advice about. Enter the scene another tiny little feral female. This is a little lady we trapped and TNR'd in March of this year. I had one of those 4 tier cages set up in my she-shed where we housed her to recover from the surgery (top level had a little hidey-hole cube for her where she spent her days). Kept her for about a week and every day I would spend time talking to the invisible cat in the hidey hole cube. When it was time to let her go we just left the doors open to the cage and the she-shed... and she eventually found her own way out. Neat thing is, the next day she actually came back and went INTO the she-she and INTO the cage to eat. Then she just disappeared and we never saw her again until about 2 weeks ago when suddenly there she was again at our outside feeding station. Unmistakenly her... tipped ear and all. Amazingly enough, she would stay surprisingly close when I would take food out, and then one day she started meowing at me and then just flopped down on her side, making biscuits and let me scratch her head, back, rear... just soaking it in... seemed almost tame. I did make the mistake of trying to pick her up... that was a painful mistake on my part. Next 3 or 4 days she would let me stroke her tail but was pretty wary. But suddenly she and I are back to being friends again. She'll actually come out of hiding when I call her (or go into hiding if my husband shows) and she is so incredibly loving. She won't let my husband anywhere near her.
So.... fall and winter are coming and yes, I worry about her surviving the winter (coyotes, cougars, dogs, etc) and she's also scared of that male feral we've been taking care of for years. We would like to integrate her into our expanding household but we need some thots and advice about the best way to approach this. Right now she's in my she-shed, but there's alot of stuff in there and she's all alone most of the time.... and it's not a good place for her to thrive. Could we set her up in the 4 tier cage inside the cattery where the other 2 ferals are? And if so, how to do that best? Cover up the bottom 2 tiers for a week or so until they get used to each others smell? Then remove the cover but leave the cage closed? Or do something else altogther? We don't have another room we could dedicate to her unfortunately. Set the cage up somewhere else??? How do we go about this in the best, most gentle and calmest way? We have Feliway set up (not sure I see it doing much, but what do I know?).
And yes, we're blessed. NONE of these cats are aggressive or hissing or growling at all. We just want everyone to be happy and content. We're an older couple and seeing these little fur balls happy and contented gives us so much pleasure.
P.S. Back in March and now that she's back, we've scoured lost and found notices everywhere... and nothing. She's just a lonely little feral who's claimed me (and we've named her Pipsi).
Sorry this was so long. Just wanted to give y'all a clear picture of our dynamics... Desperately need some advice and hoping we can do this the best way possible.|
Adorable little Pipsi today... making biscuitsOur bonded ferals in their "experienced" cat tower... (and yes... Scruffy sheds.... ALOT)
I was sitting on the couch talking to my husband when Tonka Bean decided to jump up with us and lay in my lap, making biscuits!!!!
This is huge!! He’s still scared of my husband to some degree (comes out to headbutt my husband for pets and rubs him but if he hears him in the other room he hides) so for him to get between us on the couch is huge! And this is the first time he has laid in my lap. I’m jumping for joy! He was making his biscuits on my bare thigh which wasn’t pleasant but I let it slide!
Paisley was a very feral cat in August of 2024 when she was trapped and spayed. After years of kind treatment she stays inside the house about 10% of the time. She comes in from the heat and from the cold.
She prefers to be outside and I am not set up to lock her inside as I have 5 indoor/outdoor cats who rely on a dog door because three of them go outside to use the bathroom.
It took two tries to get the collar on her as she had never been in one. I just want the outside world to know she is loved.
This is my feral cat. It’s not hot here and we’re outside on my covered deck. He’s been sleeping so his RR should be normal. Does it look like his breathing is fast?
This boy turned up in my yard about a year ago, and of course I had to feed him. In the last few months he’s started coming into my house, he will only stay long enough to eat and maybe have a quick nap, and hasn’t plucked up the courage to come upstairs yet; despite my other two cats trying to coax him up there (they all get along great!). My hope is that once the weather gets cold that he will decide to stay inside a lot longer, right now it’s about 80 degrees and he’s loving it. I also told him he wasn’t a prisoner and could leave any time he wants to….i think he took it to heart! 🤣 He’s so sweet and mellow; even let me take him to the vet a couple of weeks ago, hardly complained, and then took his meds twice a day for two weeks like a champ, didn’t have to fight with him to swallow them!
Next week we will be gone for two weeks and my friend will be living in our house to look after the cats. I’m worried that he will think we’ve left him and just wander off. Hopefully he will realize he’s still being fed and keep coming back because we love him!
I have some good news about Elfy! She is a Neuro FIP survivor whom I rescued in May 2026. She completed her 84-day FIP treatment and was spayed on October 7. Today, I brought her to the vet to receive her anti-rabies vaccination. I’m also happy to share that Elfy has found a home! My aunt’s friend, who already has three cats, adopted her, and her son picked her up today. I’m so happy that Elfy will have a loving home of her own!
I wouldn’t be able to continue caring for these voiceless animals and saving more lives without your kindness, help, and support.
A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has been part of our journey!
You are welcome to join our growing Reddit community, r/StrayCatHeroes
Our community is open to all cat heroes—whether you are a rescuer, a feeder, someone who supports animal welfare efforts, or simply a person who loves and cares about cats.
Feel free to share your rescue stories, post photos of your beloved cats, or simply show us how adorable they are. We look forward to meeting you and your feline friends!
I got my little dude the standard 'I went to take out the trash and he was there ' (well it was on a walk but I just randomly ran into him) CDS way and decided to just snatch him with me. The vet said the was 8 months old at that point and also talking to some of the locals in that area, they said he was hanging out outside for a good while (at least half a year or so) so he was clearly a stray.
Does anyone else with a cat like that sometimes find it wild that this creature had a whole life of their own before you got them? Like... how did you spend your time outside dude? Where are your parents/siblings? How long have you lived in this area? Also in my case, he had a fresh looking cut/scratch on his nose when I got him that he still has a little scar from so I wonder who did he fight with lol.
Does anyone else wish your cat could talk to you and tell you all those stories?
So two years ago my gf asked me to make this crochet cat couch pattern she found. When we were picking out yarn, she specifically picked this one because it looked like “old lady/grandma yarn” and something that an older lady would have for a couch.
Also, please excuse the mess… we have been decorating for Halloween.
Talk about some foreshadowing.
She’s still improving daily… she let me give her a very time pet on her back yesterday as well.
as stated in the title, it's my first cat, she's 2 years old & neutered
for further context: she got trapped by some ladies in january 2026 after living in the wild with her babies and stayed in a crate at a home run shelter till mid-june (that's when she came to live with me) with basically no socialization, scared of humans and hiding
she's been with me for almost 4 months now, she has her safe spot under my bed but roams around the house freely, likes to lay on a chair/bed near me, eats from hand, sniffs me and plays with me (especially when i move my feet around under a blanket), but won't let me touch her and she runs away as soon as i move/get up
i know all cats are different and she might just never come around to breaking the touch barrier but idk maybe there's something more/different i could be doing to show her that i'm not that scary afterall (also all my friends are dog people so i don't really have anyone to discuss that with)
attaching two pictures of The Void™️and i'm looking forward to hearing your stories!
I snatched her up 9-10 & brought her inside. She immediately freaked out & tore into the window blinds. From there she tried to jump up on my toaster oven but broke the door instead. Last night I thought to put her in a fuzzy donut on my futon. Wow, what a change that was. From frightened to purring & making biscuits in 2 minutes or less.
After more than a year of slowly making friends with this cat that appeared in our yard near the woods, I trapped him on Thursday and had him neutered. He has taken to the indoor life like I just can’t believe and I think he will be staying with us ❤️
I adopted a bonded pair in August 2025. The shelter was not honest about the fact that one was a "semi-feral" cat. I was told she was "shy". This sweet ~8 year old girl was already adopted and returned once. I learned early on that this was not a normal shy/nervous cat. It took weeks for her to stop hiding with humans in the room.
She has made huge progress over the last year. I can sit beside her when she eats. She will approach me for food and sniff my hand. My partner has been able to pet the back of her head when she is sleeping but I have not been able to do that (maybe she prefers men). I was not comfortable using the "forced love" approach that I was told to use by the shelter staff. Which is essentially confining the cat to a small room for weeks and spend time with them. I thought that might cause more stress/trauma. I have two other lap cats so I am okay with the fact that this sweet girl may never be a cuddly cat.
My biggest anxiety is vet visits. I have been able to get her into the carrier with food in the past but she is very smart. She has asthma and because she is a senior she will likely need bloodwork and a dental. I cannot give her an inhaler. She gets prednisolone every second day mixed into wet food. Her main symptom is coughing and I have done everything I can think of to minimize environmental triggers: i.e. low dust litter, air purifiers all over the house, cleaning regularly etc. Her symptoms are under control for now. If I ever need to give her medication she may not take it. Thank goodness she eats the pred in food.
Any recommendations on getting a semi feral cat into a carrier? I feel like I need to train her somehow with food. She goes in on her own to sleep sometimes, but I need to get her to go in on command, i.e. before her appointments.
So it's coming on three weeks since we brought Kali in. While she is eating, litter boxing well when alone in her room, I haven't been able to make any progress really getting her to trust me again. Its been busy for me so I haven't been able to be in the room more than a couple hours a day. I do slow blinks, sit and ignore her. She just sits still in one spot whole time, tries to avoid eye contact when I slow blink.
Up to now, the cats haven't sniffed each other between the door I don't think (maybe one of them one time), as they aren't there at the same time, and I can't really force it with food on each side since Kali won't move out of her corner farthest from the door until I've been gone for a little bit. I thought being able to see the cats may be helpful, she used to be able to see them before and always rubbed up on the patio door when they were on the other side.
It took a bit to get the cat door set up, but we finally did today. She was meowing at the regular door earlier today I think looking for the cats, so made priority to get it up. She wouldn't approach when we were there (even quietly out of view), but once we were gone for a bit, she came down to meet Kirk. He's our friendliest, more food motivated than interested in meeting her probably but thought he'd be cordial at least. She came up, tail up, meowed, and he hissed multiple times and backed away. I've never heard him hiss before and he never seemed scared of her when she was outside.
So a little discouraged, trying to figure out what the right steps are. It's tricky because we have three cats, different temperaments for her to meet, and introduction guide steps seem to hinge on being able to get cat near each other eating or doing something positive at the same time. But with Kali spooked of us, I'm not sure how we can coordinate that.
Should we go back to closed door and only introduce when she is comfortable enough with us? Or leave it like this so they can hopefully get used to seeing each other, even if we cant coordinate positive interactions?
We have been feeding a TNR cat (Emby) in our backyard for the past 8 months. She very slowly warmed up to me and over the last month or so and started loving getting pets, but overall is still a very skittish cat. With the cold weather about to hit and coyotes coming frequently passing through our yard, we made the decision to bring her inside. A week ago Friday we trapped her, got her to the vet for a check up, and set her up in a spare bedroom to adjust to indoor life.
It's not going super well. She hates me now which I pretty much expected, and I can accept that indefinitely if it means she safe, but she is not back to normal eating yet. I used to feed her a wet food only diet and now she only wants dry. I've tried Churu, a wide variety of her usual wet foods, and new wet foods. She does not want any of it. She is drinking water and peeing ~3 times a day, but has only had a few poops, and none over the past two days. I don't know how much of that is stress, or the new dry food diet, or what. I have 3 litter boxes in with her with different litter types.
I don't know what to do. I'm very concerned as getting her to the vet again would be nearly impossible. She is not food motivated so I can't sneak gabapentin or other meds into her. I cannot get near her at all. Has anyone had a similar experience? Should I take the dry food out and only offer her wet? My husband is urging me to let her back outside but that thought breaks my heart. I'll do whatever is best for her, I'm just lost on what that is.
This is my buddy, TabbyTom. He's been in the area since this spring and had appeared to be entirely feral for several months, often running away as soon as he saw me and not getting within twenty feet of me, even if I had food.
A couple weeks ago I noticed him perched outside my window, just a couple feet away, watching me and my happy cats. It was a cold and wet night, and I think something just clicked in his head. I went out with a can of wet food and he came right up to me, ate right next to me, and even licked some food off my finger. He has continued to visit frequently since then, and a few days after that first encounter, he came up to me and shoved his face into my hands and demanded pets. We've gotten closer and closer, and yesterday I took him for TNR.
My own household is full, I can't take any more cats, so this lovely gentleman is going to return to outdoor life as a cared-for porch-cat, at least until I can find a home for him. This clip is from earlier this morning, I've been handling him a bit to see how he reacts and if he would be interested in being someone's pet. I lifted him onto my lap and totally expected him to hop right off- but no, TabbyTom is a cuddly little fella, and he hung out for a few minutes, purring and making biscuits in my lap.
My cat is still extremely shy around us. She won’t eat in front of us or accept treats yet, even though we consistently practice sitting quietly in the room, slow blinking, etc. We have a camera in her room, so I can see that she comes out and explores at night, but she isn’t really using her scratching posts or playing with toys yet.
I’m starting to wonder about nail trimming. Obviously at some point we’ll need to trim her nails, but right now we can’t even get close enough to her to check whether they’re getting too long. I’m worried that when the time comes, our only option will be to catch her and forcibly restrain her, which feels like it could really set back her trust in us. How do you handle the first nail trim? Did you wait until they were comfortable being touched? That seems like it could be a long time until then for us. Is there a point where you basically have to “rip the Band-Aid off” and force the trim?
We have been fostering these kittens for 2 weeks! They have made huge progress in those two weeks. They feel comfortable eating with me in the room and once they are out of their hiding spots they really enjoy pets / scratches. They have done great in Purritos and we haven’t had any hissing or bites / scratching.
They are also starting to play with wand toys with me 💕
I will sit in the room with them for a while and they can usually be coaxed out of their hiding spots with churu treats. If they don’t come out on their own I will get them out of their hidey holes and then they will usually hang out for pets until they decide they’re done and then scurry away to hide.
My question is should I take them out of their hiding spots more frequently or as soon as I go into the room? I know forcing affection is good at this age I’m just not sure what is considered too much! I’m appreciative of any tips and tricks 🙌
Tomorrow is the big day for my outdoor sibling pair, I plan to shut the door and start their indoor lives. The cats are a year and a half, known me since little when mom brought them to the porch, TNRed last year. Ive worked super hard getting their trust. They now let me pet them and come inside to eat and play. Ive set up my spare room as a home base, anti scratch plastic on the door, anti scratch plastic on the carpet, windows covered, feliway, dirt from outside for the litter box, blankets theyve laid on from outside, a cat tower and hiding boxes, the whole works. They've eaten and played in this room successfully for about two weeks and seem comfortable but I've never shut them in. From others who have gone through this process, what have you experienced? How did you hang in there when they were super unhappy? The kids in question enjoying an indoor toy for tax.
Backstory is I feed the cat colony in my yard for years, and two years ago, I had a vocal cat who hung out with me since she was born. A year in, I opened the door to see what would happen, and she walked into my house! I introduced her to my other two (senior) cats, and everyone gets along.
My girl needs to eat rx food for urinary health. She used to eat in the same room with the other two, and I’d pet her while she ate. Now she runs downstairs during feeding time and seems scared of me except for when it’s bedtime. She sleeps up against me and cuddles the whole night.
Not sure what happened along the way. She’s been with me over one year. I have push-up treats that she loves, so I’m trying to incorporate that and am trying to feed her separately, but she’s not interested and more concerned with the other cats.
I got Waja from my cousin in December 2017. She will be turning 9 years old on October 17. At the time, my cousin wasn't spaying her cats, so their numbers kept growing. Whenever a cat gave birth, she would find homes for the kittens when they were around 2–3 months old. Waja was the last kitten born before my cousin started having her cats spayed and neutered.
Waja is the reason I started caring for other cats. Before she came into my life, I wasn't cruel to animals, but I didn't pay much attention to them either.
Waja opened my eyes. I began to realize how difficult life is for homeless animals. They struggle every day to find food and shelter, especially during extreme heat and heavy rains. Thankfully, we don't have winter here..
Little by little, I started feeding the community cats in our area. Eventually, I opened my garage to provide them with shelter and a safe place to eat. I put out bowls of food and water and set up litter boxes for them.
After a year, I began rescuing cats, and eventually, I started conducting TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) to help control the community cat population humanely.
Looking back, it all started with Waja. She changed the way I see animals and inspired me to make a difference in their lives.
I hope more people will learn to care for community cats (strays and ferals). We may not be able to save them all, but every act of kindness makes a difference. The world would be a much better place for homeless animals if more people chose to care.
If you're someone who loves and cares about cats, we’d love to have you join our Reddit community, r/StrayCatHeroes. Feel free to share your rescue stories, post photos of your beloved cats, or simply show us how adorable they are. We look forward to meeting you and your feline friends!
