Mr F K (Feral Kitty) came in as a tiny, hissing, spitting ball of tabby fur. He remained at SLAPS when he'd been neutered - just somehow stayed. He did not like people - friendly approaches were met with flattened ears, hissing and, if you got too close, a strike with extended claws. Food had to be pushed quickly into his cage and removing his litter tray for cleaning was a life-threatening exercise!
After a while it was decided to give him a bit more space. He was let out of his cage and given the run of the cat room. He made his home in a little wooden house on a pole (really a bird house!) and retreated there, hissing away, whenever anyone entered the room.
Everyone who went up to clean and feed the animals spent time in the cat room, mostly just sitting on the floor getting him used to our presence. Slowly, slowly, he became more accepting and would come out and eat his food whilst we were still in the room. He would play with a long peacock feather if we waved it around for him - as long as we didn't come too close.
Gradually he lost more of his fear and would eat from a dish quite close to us and then came the wonderful moment when he actually took food from our fingers! Then he allowed us to stroke his back.
More kittens - domesticated ones - were brought in for neutering and rehoming and Mr F K took to them very quickly. They showed no fear of him and he never showed any signs of wanting to hurt them. In fact he seemed to miss them when they were rehomed.
A decision had to be taken about what to do with him. He couldn't stay at SLAPS for ever, we didn't want to release him to fend for himself but he was too wild to be rehomed with a family.
The person with whom he was most comfortable was Elaine and a strong bond began to develop between them. Elaine began to toy with the idea of taking him home, the problem being that she already had three beautiful, sleek, adult cats. Although she often took home kittens that needed special care and her own cats were fine with these, a feral kitten was a different proposition.
Eventually she decided to take the plunge. Mr F K was taken home in a large cage. After a while Elaine opened the door to the cage and left it open. Mr F K emerged and cautiously began to explore his new surroundings. The other cats were initially a little wary but didn't attempt to hurt him and they gradually began to get used to each other.
Now, weeks later, Jasper the female is still a little haughty about this upstart but Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the male cats, have completely accepted their feral housemate and the three of them play together.
The photo shows Tweedle Dee and Mr F K 'resting' together. Nobody who knew Mr F K as he was when he first came to SLAPS would have believed this possible. It is perhaps the knowledge that things like this CAN sometimes happen that keeps us persevering with animals against all the odds!
