Stray cat, how to gain its trust?

Cats live for three things - sleep, warmth and food.
Anything else you might gain, like love and attention is purely a by-product.

Our first cat was a rescue cat and she'd had a terrible life.
She'd been stray for a while before she was bought into the shelter.
It took us a while to gain her trust - she spent the first week with us hiding behind the television.
We found allowing the cat to come to you was the best way forward.
A cat will not feel so threatened if it approaches on it's own terms - so it knows it can run when it needs to.
So try tempting it with some food, throw some little bits towards him and then a little bit closer to you and eventually wave it from your own hand.

Curiosity (although the killer of many cats) will eventually get the better of him.
If he realises there is a chance for some warmth and food he should soon come around.
 
Just keep feeding it outside, that way you get a Cat without it stinking up your house! Win-Win!

Cue: All Cat owners posting frantically denying their homes stink of Cats! :D
 
From my personal experience with cats - i wouldn't even entertain the thought of trying to domesticate it yourself. Stray cats carry Disease, Pests, and will attack you if they are backed into a corner or trapped in an enclosed space.

I imagine the NSPCA would probably sedate it before attempting to treat/rescue it.

Just leave it some food occasionally and hope it buggers off.
 
fullmetaltony said:
There's not much you can do, it sounds like this particular cat has reason to be very cautious of humans, but lets not go there shall we?

It takes months to break that kind of fear in a cat, cat's generally adopt this caution due to events and trauma and it takes a lot to break it, but it can only be reduced dramatically, once they're struck with this kind of fear, it never goes away completely.
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Cat psychologist?
 
You need a box propped up with a bit of stick and a long piece of string round it. Put a bowl of food under the box and retreat while holding the string. When you see the cat eating the food pull the string and trap the cat in the box.

Then wrap the cat up in paper like this, so it can't escape:

 
Give it some catnip

Or dangle some lavender under its nose until he falls asleep, then carefully move inside the house
 
Do you want a pet or to help it? There's a difference.

Give it food and even put out some warm dry bedding (if it gets wet then change it/wash it). The key thing is you're expecting it wants to be domesticated.
 
NickK said:
Do you want a pet or to help it? There's a difference.

Give it food and even put out some warm dry bedding (if it gets wet then change it/wash it). The key thing is you're expecting it wants to be domesticated.
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This tbh

Running at it with a net isn't exactly going to say to the cat "I'm a hospitable person and you are welcome in my home"
 
Throw rocks at the filthy little diseased beast. Out of sight out of mind.
If that fails, poison the food and play the waiting game.
 
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