Many people feel that feral cats cannot be kept indoors as pets. This is not true. In fact, feral cats are happy being kept as indoor only pets if you don’t attempt to treat them exactly like tame cats.

What are Feral Cats?

Feral cats are cats that haven’t been properly socialized. What this means behaviorally is that feral cats are not tame toward humans. Very often, feral cats result from the offspring of cats that were once owned and then abandoned. As a result, the kittens are not properly socialized to humans and become feral.

There is a critical period during kitten development in which kittens must be exposed to human caretakers, otherwise they will be feral or at least semi-feral. This critical developmental period is generally from birth to 8 weeks old. If the first human exposure occurs past the age of 8 weeks this usually results in a feral or semi-feral cat. Sometimes older feral kittens can be tamed toward one or two human caretakers.

What to do if You Find a Feral Cat or Kitten

Many well meaning cat lovers will find feral kittens and take them to their local animal shelter. Unfortunately, feral kittens aren’t very adoptable and most of the time animal shelters will destroy the feral kittens to make room for tame kittens that are more likely to be adopted.

Fortunately, there are some shelters that will spay or neuter the kittens and then return the kittens to their natural environment. This at least gives the feral cat a chance to live without the ability of producing more feral cats. This program is called Trap-Neuter-Return, and it is being implemented in many areas to control the outdoor cat population without having to kill the cats. It generally works like this: The kittens are caught in a humane trap, such as Havahart live animal traps. The animal is unharmed. Then the cat is taken to the vet or the shelter that participates in Trap-Neuter-Return and the animal is spayed or neutered and is usually given some vaccines. When the cat has recovered from the spay or neuter surgery the cat is returned outdoors in the same location where it was found. Trap-Neuter-Return is a much more humane way of dealing with feral cats and kittens than euthanasia.

Feral Kittens Can Also Make Very Rewarding Pets

Some people who find feral kittens take them into their homes as pets. This can be a very rewarding experience as you gain the trust of these special cats. It is also the best option for the well-being of the feral cat or kitten. Taking them into your home as a pet is even better than Trap-Neuter-Return programs. Taking them in as pets generally works best if you catch them when they are relatively young. The younger the better, although some people have taken older feral cats into their homes as pets and they have been fine.

It is also best to take in two feral kittens or cats from the same litter if possible. If this isn’t possible it is best to have at least one other cat in the household because feral kittens and cats really enjoy the company of other cats.

Feral cats need to be kept as indoor only cats. Cats sometimes behave differently once they get outside. Because feral kittens and cats don’t trust humans very much they may be fearful of approaching your house once they are outside and they may get lost. In general, they are very fearful of any humans other than the human caretakers that they have grown to trust.

I have four feral cats that have lived with me for about 2 years now and they have been very happy indoors. Three were caught when they were 10 weeks old and the fourth cat was caught when she was 12 weeks old.

For the first few weeks after I brought them in the house, all of the kittens used to hiss when I walked by them. Eventually they came to trust me and stopped hissing when they saw me. In fact, now they greet me at the door after work. When I wake up in the morning they come up on the bed to greet me the very first thing. They love playing with toys and with each other. They are still semi-feral, but there is nothing more rewarding than seeing how happy they are and knowing that they are indoors where it is warm and safe.

However, they aren’t exactly like other cats. For the most part you can’t pick them up. One of the kittens lets me pick her up and kiss her on top of her little head, but the other kittens don’t allow it (Actually, they are no longer kittens, but they still seem like babies to me). However, they do like to play toys with me, and except for one of them, they do like to be petted and to have their fur brushed.

Feral cats and kittens would not make good pets for children. Basically feral cats that live indoors with humans like to do their own thing most of the time. They don’t want to be held and will usually only let you pet them on a limited basis. Because of this they are likely to scratch a child that attempts to have more contact with them than the cat wants. The key to making a feral cat happy is to only have as much contact with the cat as it wants.

Also, you need to give the shy ones extra space when they are using the litter or eating. Sometimes it is best to keep their litter and food bowls in low human traffic areas so that they can feel safe while eating or using the litter box.

Vet trips can be difficult because they don’t always allow you to pick them up to put them into the pet carrier. However, there are ways to do it. Sometimes you can throw their favorite toy into the carrier and they will run in to get it and then all you have to do is shut the cat carrier door.

Feral cats are well worth the extra work and they are the best pets ever! Also, because they only want limited contact with humans you generally don’t have to worry about them walking on your keyboard while you are typing or laying across you newspaper or book while you are reading.

In my opinion there is nothing more rewarding then gaining the trust of these cats, especially if you don’t mind taking their special needs into consideration. The reward comes in knowing that you are providing a loving, warm, happy home with plenty of food, water, toys, and veterinary care for these special cats.

For more information about feral cats and cat and kitten information please visit About Cats Online.com



By: Angela Ralano

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When one says he/she wants a country living room design, there a number of things that come into mind. The usual common impression however, is that the house is somewhat “homey” because this is the striking quality of country living room design.

The evolution of such design style has introduced a number of looks and now country can mean modern country, cottage country, eclectic, or the traditional country look.

Regardless of what style of country you want to achieve in your country living room design, there are specific elements that must be present to give it an authentic country touch.

Country design can also vary depending on geography that is why the French country look is different from American or English country. History and sentimental appeal is introduced with vintage or vintage-looking pieces from the specific country.

So, if you are planning on having a country living room design then try to do some research on the country look that is unique in your part of the globe. The important thing to remember here is that regardless of geography, country design takes elements from the old look of the past.

Now if you decide to go for a traditional country look, remember that is still dependent on geography, but you will easily know it is a traditional look if majority of the room’s shell, furniture, and accessories are made of wood and have intricately hand-carved details. The colors are often sunny and bright or muted and toned down, or even a mixture of both.

Meanwhile, a modern country living room design combines elements from the past with that of the present. The use of wood is no longer dominant because there a good number of pieces that speak modern, and this is through the use of materials such as polished metal and glass to name a few.

The colors of the room usually belong to a pastel palette or that of earth tone and muted-down colors. Minimalism is observed in the design of furniture pieces, and clean lines or slimmer silhouettes are evident in a modern country living room design.



By: Albert Lee

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Growing plants in containers can be for a number of reasons, be it for climatic reasons, available space, or for aesthetic considerations.

Sometimes certain climates preclude the growing of plants year round and container gardening is the only alternative. This affords the option of growing outside, until such time as the cold forces the container being brought inside, next to a sunny window, or into a purpose built sun-room. For those preferring a changing scenery, plants in containers are an easy way to achieve this, by merely moving the pots from place to place, until the desired effect is achieved.

Container gardening has become all the more popular with the increase of people living in apartments. It\’s always a pleasure to have a colorful, living thing in an apartment, that requires little maintenance and gives beauty in return. Those in apartments, or flats, lucky enough to have a balcony, of any size, have the added advantage of being able to grow a greater choice of plants, including vegetables and or herbs, in containers.

The addition of containers in the garden allows you a changing vista, placing pots of color around green shrubs, or trees to brighten dull corners of your yard. This a great way of displaying flowering bulbs, too. As they come into flower, bring them close to the entertainment areas, or windows, to be able to appreciate them more easily.

Geraniums, are the classic pot-plant. These plants will generally have vibrant flowers most of the year – continuously.

Growing flowering annuals is a great idea for quick, short lived colour inside. If you were to grow pots of chrysanthemums, or marigolds, then as they flower, bring them inside and replace with another pot as each one becomes spent, or a little raggedy.

Plant-pots, or containers, are a huge business and most garden centres, have large areas dedicated to the enormous variety available, from concrete to ceramic pots. However, you don\’t have to go to any great expense for plant containers, as just about anything that will hold soil can be used. If you have an old worn out wheel-barrow, or discarded packing crates, hollow logs are suitable, large chipped crockery, a bucket or pail, even old boots – all are suitable as planting containers provided they can hold soil AND will drain excess water. The classic is of course, old wine barrels. If the recycled container you have chosen is a little too far gone, like a wheel-barrow having too many holes, this can be remedied by lining the bottom with several layers of paper-bark, as you would do with a wire hanging basket.

Always use top quality potting mix for container gardening, as nutrients tend to leech out from containers. I would also add some water retaining crystals, as pots and containers do tend to dry out faster than the soil in a garden. Watering and feeding need to be done more often for this reason.

If you have planted perennials, like agapanthus, or similar in your containers, they will need periodical re-potting, as the plants will become over-crowded in time. When this is the case, divide the plants into manageable pieces, re-pot the ones from the outsides of the original clumps, and the plant material remaining can be either put into new containers, or planted out into the garden. If the plants are not the dividing type, then re-pot them into larger containers.

For moving the larger pots, there are available pot-trolleys, that sit under the pot with wheels – having wheels means you can just push the container to where it is desired, this is an excellent option for patios and the like. Your living space is always interesting, using container gardening inside and in the garden.



By: christopher j meagher

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