THIS IS A LONG EMAIL. I need advice. For the 1st time, I’ve got a half-feral momcat & kittens. I know little about this (surprising w/my backgrnd), but now I live in a rural area. We’re keeping Mom & homing kittens (I already have 2 cats & a dog),
HIST: Feb., 1st wk: a fluffy black tortie has sex on my driveway w/a tuxedo; I broke it up. May 1st wk: my dog snuffles at the front porch. Stupidly, I don’t listen to him (he’s ALWAYS right!) & don’t check the porch. In 5 wks, we see a tiny flat-eared kitten in the bushes. I started feeding the mother, & find it’s the sex-crazed cat, but this mating occurred in March. I annoyed her the next wk by shining a flashlight on her under the porch: she promply moved the kittens to the back porch (actually better for me). In the next two wks, she gets more comfortable w/me, but still nervous, & 1 kitten gets friendly.
Greta’s filled out (husband named her), kittens are healthy (they have nicknames). Feeding her may have saved the runt. 1 is gray-&-wh & lrgst. 2 are colored like her & small. (2 wks ago I saw a gr-&-wh at a house w/outdoor cats; he’s likely Dad, he’s the right pattern).
==== I AM LOOKING FOR HOMES. ====== I live in Issue, south of La Plata, MD, in Charles County, Southern Maryland, south of D.C. – take 301 south toward the Nice Bridge to Virginia. PRIVATE-MESSAGE ME IF YOU’RE IN MY AREA & WANT A KITTEN. SEE SEPARATE STRING FOR ADOPTION INFORMATION.
Over 4th of July, I trapped them while they were eating & got them inside. They’ve had 1st shots & exams & are due for 2d shots this wk. Greta’s tested Negative for FeLV, so kittens are 99.9% likely negative. Kittens live in lg cat cage when we’re not home, get exercise in the evening; Greta has the run of the house.
I found out Greta lived 2 doors down w/a group of half-feral, outdoor-only cats (all females) kept for mouse control (they have a big mouse problem; they have their own shed). She disappeared in Feb. The woman there said Greta’s over 2 yrs & had one litter before. She’d missed getting her fixed; she couldn’t catch her in the cat trap. (She gave me $200 toward expenses & told me abt an area low-cost spay clinic I’m likely to use – but it can be put off, as my males are spayed & she just twitters like a bird when she’s in heat – & she gets more friendly.)
MY PROBLEM: HOW TO TAME HER: Now that she’s inside, she’s regressed & is far more nervous. People w/experience: How do I deal w/a one-third to one-half feral cat, who, I think, wants to be a housecat but keeps panicking?
NEGATIVE: She sometimes lets me pet her while she eats, but she’s very nervous & shys away several times during the meal. When hiding inside a box, she bats at me with claws extended (she feels trapped?) (I have nicks). She’s nervous about my cats & the dog. The dog is peaceable & can’t figure out why she’s so testy, so he mostly stays away, but sometimes wants to know what’s going on. Faro is curious & wants to be friends, but she keeps warning him away. Kyle is grumpy because his peaceful home has been shattered by a strange bad-tempered cat & three kittens & avoids her. At least once a day, Greta & one of my pets meet suddenly meet around a corner & everyone panics & runs for it. The look in her eyes is scared, not mean.
POSITIVE: Yet she runs up when I’m dishing out cat food. She lets me pet her sometimes when she’s eating. She sometimes sleeps in the DR window, behind the table & therefore sheltered fr. the rest of the room. She’s sleeping on my bed now & then; she slept on the end of my bed for a few hrs last nt, arriving after we were asleep & left when I got up once in the night & returned to bed. She’s very approachable when in heat, & pretty friendly then. She’s never tried to get out of the house, even now that the kittens are pretty independent. She occasionally plays with her own kittens & still looks after them a bit. I have picked her up a few times, but that was when she was in heat & friendly.
What’s the best approach for this? Let her decide when to approach me? Talk to her often? Try to pet her when possible? Let her range all over the house, or confine her to a cage (she’s using litter boxes properly & mostly uses the house to hide in.) When the kittens go to new homes, will she be more approachable, because she has to be?
I intend to dose her with a natural tranquilizer – in your experience, what works best?
So, any info will be appreciated. Thank you.

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