Although I’ve explained it many times on my social media posts, along with posting about taming feral cats in general here, a lot of people still ask why my human doesn’t “adopt” the peach kitty. I think the best way to explain it is through his point of view. After all, this whole blog is about looking at life through a cat’s eyes. And that doesn’t always mean just my own way of seeing things.
The Peach Kitty’s Background Vs. a House Cat’s
The peach kitty, along with his brother, sister, and mom were born outside and grew up with barely any human contact. Their life experience is vastly different from a cat that lived in a home and was abandoned to live outside. Or a kitten whose mom was taken in by a rescue and raised by a foster human.
When a house cat, whose life primarily existed of living inside, suddenly becomes homeless, it’s really hard on them. They may have the basic survival instincts all cats have, but they are not accustomed to using them.
What House Cats Lack
House cats aren’t used to sensing the danger of predators, or cars racing down the street. They may know how to hunt, but they probably aren’t very good at it. In fact, they may not be good enough at it to survive just by hunting. Even if, say, they manage to find a treasure like a trash can behind a restaurant, they may have to fight for the right to the food there. They understand territory, but they may not know the ins and outs of fighting for it.
House cats are at a big disadvantage when they are forced to live outside. It’s very dangerous for them out there — actually much more dangerous for them than feral cats. Abandoned or lost house cats are the first to be victims of a car or a coyote, and more likely to be harmed by a malevolent human because they trust humans in general.
Humans Are Mostly Like House Cats
Consider your average human — if you were tossed outside without shelter, it would be pretty hard to survive! Especially if you were in the middle of a forest surrounded by predators. Most humans don’t have the skills to live in the wild. And the majority of those that have learned how to do that still can’t do it longterm. Or if they can, they may still be prone to making a dumb and potentially fatal mistake because it’s not really in their DNA. Same with a house cat.
A house cat that is outside without a home definitely needs to be adopted! A warm home, regular meals, health care, and an affectionate human are necessary for them.
The Feral Cat Life
When it comes to life experiences, feral cats are just the opposite. Their outside skills are honed from birth. Their instincts are deeply ingrained, and they know exactly how to survive in the wild. And one of the lessons they learn early on is that humans can’t be trusted.
To a feral cat, inside life is as mystifying and uncomfortable as the outside is for a house cat. One of a feral cat’s biggest fears is to be trapped and sent to some unknown fate. They know to avoid predators, they know how to feed themselves. They understand the dangers of the world around them. But being trapped inside a house is one of the scariest things they can experience because there is absolutely nothing familiar or reassuring about it. Quite the opposite.
The inside of a house isn’t just unfamiliar territory to a feral cat — they might as well be on a spaceship from another planet! It’s that foreign and frightening to them.
The Peach Kitty Doesn’t Know What Being “Adopted” Is
For ferals like the peach kitty, being “adopted” seems more like being kidnapped. A feral cat lives in a territory that they know well. It’s their home, and they know the good places to go, and the dangerous places to avoid. They have a sense of belonging there. The inside of a house offers none of that to them. It’s all dangerous, and they don’t know for sure where the safe parts are.
What’s even worse, they have to deal with this frightening and unpredictable human creature. Anyone who has tried to take a feral into their home will know how much they hide, hiss and make themselves seem dangerous to humans. It’s their survival instinct, their attempt to keep potential danger at bay.
But the Peach Kitty Is Friendly!
He is, to a point, and do you know how long my human has been working on him? At least three years! That is how long it had taken him to trust my human enough to be comfortable around her. And to this day, he’s still sketchy about my human petting him, although he allows it sometimes. And she has never, ever tried to pick him up. Trying that would risk injury, and even worse, do significant damage to the trust she has built up with him.
The best approach with a feral cat is to spend time with them and let them become friendly on their own terms. Snatching them up and forcing them indoors could scar them enough so that they will never quite be comfortable living inside. Sure, they may learn to be okay with it, but they will never be happy in the same way a trusting cat can be happy.
So Where Does That Leave the Peach Kitty?
If you’re asking if we will ever adopt him — no, we don’t plan on “adopting” him. He doesn’t want that. What he wants is to be allowed to decide whether he wants to explore the possibility of learning about the inside of the house and deciding if someday he wants to live there, or at least mostly live there. It’s a slow process, and a lot less traumatic for him. But it gives him a better chance at having a rich and satisfying life.
So I hope this helps you to understand a little bit more about the peach kitty and our approach to him.
Have you ever tried to tame a feral cat? And how has that worked out? I’d be curious to know your stories, so tell us in the comments.
