r/formerlyferal • u/One_Cloud3590 • 18d ago
BREAKTHROUGH UPDATE: Coming inside
This little feral tabby girl who adopted us a few months ago, we've been socializing very successfully, has moved into our walled-in front yard, but eluded every attempt to trap or snatch her; she has finally decided on her own to come explore the inside
I set up a catio balcony for her adjoining the study upstairs. Earlier this week she started making little excursions inside downstairs, and into the [also enclosed] backyard. The catio faces the back; I went up there and called to her and she climbed up the cork tree looking for a way over! So I made a little gate on the catio, and lashed a plank to the tree and screwed it into the balcony. I call it her "secret passageway".
A few days ago she came up, looked around a bit, made biscuits on the little guest mattress I set up there, and took a nap there with me watching over her ❤️.
My partner is out of town at a conference so I don't have the car; as soon as she gets back I'll try to close her in that space and see if she'll let me get her into a carrier to finally get her to the vet. She has really turned a corner of deepening her trust in me, and lets me handle her a fair amount and pet her and kiss her and gently place her on my lap for a few moments. I think she's starting to understand that our attempts to bring her upstairs previously, and then to trap her, were probably all just to get her inside to offer her this refuge (she had gotten spooked for a bit each time those attempts failed and it regressed her blossoming trust for a bit, but she kept coming back and giving us more chances).
Then a couple nights later, I saw her take her brother on a tour of the house after I went to bed, on a security cam I set up! This is huge because he has been WAY more skittish; she let me pet her after 4 days of feeding her, while it's taken 3 months for him to even come close at all.
The night afterwards, he seemed to have learned "maybe this place isn't so scary and these people are just actually nice", because he came up to eat within arm's reach of me for the first time!!
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u/Mcbriec 18d ago
She’s gorgeous and looks so content!!! Bless you 1 million times for saving her and her brother. 😇❤️🙏
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u/One_Cloud3590 18d ago
She is really saving me too; my beloved rascal Maestro passed a few months ago after 15 years together; he was a companion and refuge through trauma and 3 different countries in 3 different continents. The grief has been intense. I cannot help but feel like he somehow sent her to me.
I feel like somehow sitting with her and slowly teaching her how to feel safe has been very healing for me; I see myself in her, my trauma responses, my difficulty in really letting my guard down. Somehow in teaching her to feel safe, it has done the same for me. And help me really connect with the reality that what I'm doing for her is exactly what my partner has been doing for me for almost 5 years now (which I always saw, but had difficulty connecting with and trusting emotionally) ❤️
The brother wasn't part of the plan, but he seems to rely on her and he'd be all alone if we didn't take him in too. Im growing more and more fond of him the closer he comes.
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u/Suzuki_Foster 18d ago
I'm convinced that the Cat Distribution System works with our departed loved ones to bring us a new loved one, just when we seem to need it the most.
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u/ArnoldZiffl 18d ago
We have one too. Took years for this to happen. Now afternoon naps are a daily thing.
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u/Sarah_Cenia 18d ago
This makes my day, thank you. Just the happy story I needed right now. Please keep the updates coming, I’m rooting for her and her brother!
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u/407a 18d ago
I hope you get them both! Precious ones.
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u/mac_is_crack 18d ago
Same! It’s so rewarding seeing a former stray become a confident indoor kitty!
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u/dar1710 18d ago
What wonderful progress! It really does click in at some point you are a trustworthy human and this could be a much better life. Some do take longer than others. She’s a beauty, I hope her and her brother have found a safe, happy place to live! And you brought back memories of my three feral boys, the happiness I felt when I knew they trusted me.
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u/LoveKittycats119 18d ago
Congratulations! Having a former feral decide they can trust you, and ultimately love you, has to be one of the best feelings in the world.
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u/bicepstospare 18d ago
Best nap of her life! It is really cool watching these former stray cats communicate to each other that we are safe people. A high compliment to you that she brought her brother in for a tour!
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u/Intelligent-Wear-114 18d ago
She's pleased with her new house and staff.
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u/One_Cloud3590 18d ago
Hahaha yes she is definitely the sassiest cat I've ever had 😆. But somehow very gentle and sweet.
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u/Future-Philosopher-7 18d ago
Yay, that’s amazing! Hopefully everyone can come in right before winter and be cozy.
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u/One_Cloud3590 18d ago
We're in Brazil so there's not really proper winter to speak of, but the rainy season will start in the next month or two and it rains alllllll the time, so I really hope they'll be happy to have a roof over their heads 😊
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u/ayyxdizzle 18d ago
I love this for you and those two kitties! I too have a formerly feral lil fella and he is indeed the cat I never knew I needed. Best of luck and bless your heart for helping them 💖✨️ Have you thought of any names yet?
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u/One_Cloud3590 18d ago
Oh that's wonderful! Stories like yours in this forum have been SO inspiring especially during those days where I felt like I was just never gonna make any further progress despite how much time and mental energy I've been putting into this ❤️
We've named the girl Violante (pronounced like vee-o-LAHN-chee), after a Portuguese Baroque poet nun (relevant to my partner's academic interests), which is perfect because it's Viola for short, and I'm a composer and string instrument maker 😁.
The boy we had temporarily dubbed "Oboé" (just Portuguese for oboe) (with the intention of giving him a permanent name once he let us get to know him better) because he's SUPER chatty—we always know when he's showing up or leaving because he just keeps going mau mau mohh etc as he approaches or exits—and he sounds like an oboe.
But we've been calling him that for like 2 months so that's definitely just his name now 😆
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u/yosoyfatass 18d ago
Aw, this is fantastic! I love that she’s already bonding with her brother! 😻😻
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u/One_Cloud3590 18d ago
Well she has a fellow feral brother who is the I've we're trying to also tayin(I mean, their relationship is an assumption but they look similar, seem like a similar age, and he always checks in with her, they act like siblings, etc. whereas any time any other cat comes around she yowls at them).
She is however getting a new brother, as we have a 15 year old resident gray tuxie boy, Pizzicato. I got him and his littermate brother, Maestro, as kittens from the shelter, but Maestro sadly passed away about a month before she started showing up. So I can't help but feel that Maestro sent her to us ❤️
I've been trying to get them used to each other's presence while keeping a safe distance etc because we have not yet been able to get the feral siblings to the vet and tested for communicable diseases. There is still a ways to go there but some very major progress has been made recently 🙂
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u/wohaat 14d ago
This is so great! I will say, maybe talk to your vet about getting a dose of gabapentin before trying to get her to the vet. You can also leave the carrier out with a towel in it that is clean, they might investigate it as a cozy place to sleep. It’s easy to lose trust you build up so don’t be too aggressive
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u/flimsypeaches 18d ago
looking so comfortable and safe! 🥰