Can a feral be tamed or socialized with humans?
Yes and no – it depends on the cat and the degree of ‘tame’ your looking for. Kittens are easy and generally tame to to the point that you would never know they were ever wild or feral – provided you begin working with them at 4-6 weeks of age. Adult feral fall into several different categories – adolescent animals under one year of age but no longer kittens become progressively harder to work with the older they get. A good rule of thumb – a cat 1 year old will take up to 1 year to socialize, 6 months old will take 6 months and so on. Feral older than one year are considered by many to be impossible to tame although I have in fact had some success with these older animals – they require enormous amounts of patience, just the right socializing conditions and the waiting period can be VERY long.
