I trapped a feral kitten when he was about 6 weeks old and he lived in my bathroom so I could socialize him in a small space. I installed a small cat tree so he had something to play on, and when he was 3 months old I had him fixed and chipped and started looking for a forever home for him. A co-worker of a friend adopted him. Less than a year later, I received a call from Animal Care Services that they had picked him up in a TNR (trap-neuter-release) and since he was in good condition, they could just put him back in that neighborhood. I told them I would come and get him since that was not the neighborhood to which he had been adopted. He showed signs of abuse so I kept him even though I already had 4 cats. He is a trouble maker and will howl to go out in the middle of the night, but some of his other antics are just heartbreaking. He will jump up and run when I get out of my chair. He will also run if he is eating out of a bowl and I walk in the kitchen. We are working on all that. I can only assume that where he lived, they had other pets and he was not allowed to eat out of their bowls. He does bad things like jump on the kitchen counter or scratch the furniture when he wants out - Sticky Paws tape fixed that -but in order to reprogram him, I never react negatively to any of his behavior except with a quiet “no”. He looks right into my eyes and understands and slowly he is stopping most of it. He surprised me by being one of the most affectionate of all my cats and loves to be held close to my neck and have his jowls scratched and drool on my shoulder. He is still my wild child and wants to be outside as much as possible, but he is also a true love of a cat.

Carole
SAN ANTONIO, TX