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Man tries to tame a feral cat, fails adorably [video]

Posted by / August 9, 2016

Taming a feral cat takes a gentle hand. This guy was doing really well––he got the cat to eat food right next to him and everything. But then he tried to pet the cat and it all went down hill.

Full story at YouTube.

More cuteness.

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  • First mistake – never raise your hand over the top of an animal. They perceive it as a threat. Although he had the best of intentions, he would have been better off just to “present” his hand to the kitten (this is definitely a very young cat), let the cat sniff his hand. It takes time. I’ve had two strays (semi-feral) coming around for food for about 3 years now. One will let me pet him, the other one not so much. At least the second cat doesn’t run away from me now. When I put down his food, I allow him to sniff my hand so he knows it’s me.

  • ybc

    lovely

  • mnphouka

    I love the touquoise undies! lol kittie will be back. basement cats are the BEST!

  • Men ALWAYS want to get all “hands-on” after they’ve given you a meal. Good Kitty!

  • Awwww, adorable! Just too much too soon. If you really want the cat to trust you, food first and only food until he realizes you aren’t trying to hurt him!

  • char

    Poor kitten! The selfish man was interested in feeding the starving kitten. If he had been he would have put the food out and moved away allowing him to eat w/o fear.

  • Anita

    cute, not what I was expecting.

  • Joe

    LAAAAME!!!!!!!!!!

  • Venezuela

    Stupid video recorder. All I can is a fat man on the video. I could not believe they put this on yahoo

  • Ted C

    So he didn’t just fail, he failed “adorably”.

  • you have to keep feeding it every day then it would get used to you I know cause we get many like that and then they don’t want to leave….

  • some guy

    dude….this video is from 2012. Why is this showing up on the news feed of 2016? Did the Mr.Urich literally run out of things to report on? How does this even count as news?

  • Path of Buddha

    I have been feeding Napoleon, a really feral cat for eight years. He now lets me pet him. But he runs at the slightest noise.

  • anon

    Yes, it takes many months. Feed him every day without trying to grab him and he will eventually learn to trust you. But if you hold out your hand or try to grab him, he will run away. It takes years before a feral cat will let you touch it.

  • The cat is not feral; it is one very scared little fellow who at one point had a home. We live in Arizona high country, have seen real feral (formerly domestic) cats who look wild, you cannot mistake that. They are ferocious. This little guy is just plain scared.

  • Paul Kersey

    You’re kidding me. NOTHING happened. The cat just fell.

  • Paul

    It takes a little more time

  • First of all, this is not a feral cat:
    for the 2nd, the man should give the cat time, feeding it on several occasions, then the cat would have welcomed petting.

  • Narrator ruined it by saying “yes his baby is inside me;” I muted it from that point forward. Barfffffffffff

  • firetower489

    Lame lead in.

  • Jeb Nightlinger

    Is the Cats name Will?

  • Virginia

    My daughter raised a feral kitten. The mother was killed when the kitten was a baby, not really able to see yet. It took a lot to raise him but the kitten would sleep in her hair at night. We took him to the vet as soon as possible after finding him ad she told us he probably would not live. He made it until he was about 14 or 15. A HUGE cat and an attack cat if he did not know you but he was absolutely beautiful.

  • Ellen

    Too cute!

  • Patience & Trust is everything with any animal…most of all give their Space….
    (their may be more)…
    Do Not Force nothing…but LOve & Patience..
    .slowly introduce yourself, Timing is everything with them,
    and they know..(Trust one another), Acceptance is Key…with them…
    it’s a built in mechanism with all God Creatures,
    In Time, the kitten will come around…They are very Very smart…and this kitten is responding… Great sign…
    Love Is Love and The Unconditional Love is Everything to Our animal no matter where they come from..
    LOve & Gratitude to the Family of their new adoption Kitten
    It just seems that these feral Kittens become Our Best Pet you could ever as for…

  • Cheryl is absolutely right. When you consider a cat’s perception, blurry vision of you and senses that easily evokes fear, like a cat’s hearing and smell. His banging the cat food can on the wall is a good example of what will make a cat nervous, not good. The petting stage of the relationship should be left for later when the cat seems more trusting. Trying to rush the process of getting the cat’s trust is not recommended either. It takes time and repeated feeding while being only in close proximity with the cat.

    Just like people, cats have their own body language that you can read, and reading cats means knowing how cats think and how they communicate. Something that is learned after having cats for pets for many years. It’s not a study course for cramming. Cats need a lot of sensitivity from a human, a lot more than dogs need in certain ways.

    Right now, my two cats are lying down on the floor right next to the rollers on my office chair. I always have to deal with not moving my chair in this situation, as that would mean rolling over their tails or their legs. They are always aware of where I am, I also have to always be aware of where they are. Cats have a way of teaching responsibility. “Cat’s are angels sent down to Earth to make us better people.”

  • Patience! It takes time to gain a kitty’s trust. Let him come to you 🙂 This baby has a lot of potential. One feral cat took 2 years to finally let me pet him. You never know what good or bad people experiences a feral cat had before. Keep up the awesome work, love it.

  • A feral cat would have ripped his hand to shreds. Maybe a scared little kitten, but no feral cat.

  • Linda M Chambre

    Big meany pushing the little kitty off the wall. Just kidding, so cute of you to do that. It took me 2 years for a feral to finally come round to not running away from me, now she is just a sweet little thing, of course I get them fixed so they don’t have any more little kitties running around.

  • Too cute…. Kitty’s hungry, anything can be tamed with time and food.
    I have a feral cat that I feed everyday. I put her food and water outside my window and as soon as she sees me
    go inside she eats. She’s to the point where she doesn’t run away any more but waits just a few feet away
    until her food is there. She sleeps by my window and knows my car when I arrive.

  • Patti Dionisio

    First off, with ALL animals, you do not try to pet them while they eating, especially one that is so scared. Feed the cat, and walk away. Let him make the first move.

  • It’s not even a real feral cat, or it would have 100% swatted him the moment he touched it. Only days old, feral kittens can ever be tamed, and even then, will only be tame to a trusted “handler.”

  • Vivi Chapman

    I learned the difference between feral and stray. A real feral cat would not have let him get that close, and if he did there would be a video of them on the was to the ER afterwards. lol This cat is a stray who obviously already lived or lives with humans.

  • Wilma Flintstone

    I have tames feral cats. They live inside now in a safe environment and comingle with my non-feral cats. I once worked at a shelter. The ferals would be euthanized which is a shame. The cat I was adopting when I went there was a feral. She was going to be euthanized because she scratched someone who was trying to catch her (for her safety). The first week or so she stayed in the back of a closet in a room I had shut off to the other cats. It only took a small amount of time for her to mix in with the others. Now when I am walking she runs 2-3 feet in front of me and falls over so I can scratch her belly. When I;m done she does it again. Never bites…scratches…or hisses. All animals need is a safe environment and lots of love. This video was so cute. I am sure the cat came back.

  • Ya dun good Mister man!! I saw the love you had for the cat and the light in your eyes– the cat is feral so ANYONE’s hand on his/her head would have scared it. Keep sending the love– you are a good person! If there is a reliable group that does TNR — Traps Neuters and (medicates, rabies shots) the local feral cats, it would be good for you and that kitty to have that done to him/her– you will be stopping the breeding cycle of at least one cat. (BTW- Never call the shelter unless they REALLY have a TNR program — if they don’t have a TNR program, they will kill this cat if they trap it.) More power to you!!

  • r

    there was no fail. What’s with the misleading titles? I’d say it was a success, with a slight mishap.

  • lol that was soooo cute lol

  • Kelly Brown

    Never try to touch a cat, let them come to you. It requires an abundance of patience, but it will eventually work.

  • Yes, this cat can be feral for those who are saying he not. If this cat was born in the wild than it is an feral cat. being that this is a kitten, and hungry kitten it might have been willing to come close to the human. I’ve captured many feral kitten after playing and feeding them for a month sitting in the bushes, while waiting till they are old enough to be separate from the mom.

  • Valiant effort. Keep trying……..I love how he speaks “cat”.

  • Jay 23092903579023745

    Just set your hand down next to the food. Do this until he gets used to you there. Oddly enough, cats have one thing in common with a lot of women; the less attention you give them, the more curious they become. You want to be there, and feed them, but not trying to pet them.

  • Took me two years for two cats. Getting them to the vet’s was a joy, had to use a Have A Heart. But they were well behaved even then. Unfortunately one got run over but the other is still around and I have a space for him that is sheltered and heated and he’s well fed, loves his treats and getting his belly rubbed. Still a pain to get to the vet’s though, LOL!

  • Cute, until you own property that is overrun with feral cats. I contacted animal control, they had no help to offer except to suggest ways of poisoning/killing them. I spent weeks catching and disposing of those filthy creatures. Feral cats carry diseases that can infect domestic cats, fleas are everywhere, and they kill all the birds but leave me with my gophers. Finally got rid of them.

  • abuella

    Sit quietly nearby as the cat is eating. Let kitty make the first move toward friendship – cats value their independence. It may take several days, depending on how badly the animal has been abused by others, but don’t give up. It will definitely be a study in patience, but you will gain a faithful friend for life.

  • “Taming” a feral cat takes a lot more time than this. When I was trying to tame feral cats, the first thing I would do is feed them. A week or so of doing this and they start to come towards you when you walk out with the food.

    The next thing is to start moving the food closer and closer, until you can comfortably reach out and touch the cat while he is eating (but don’t do this yet).

    After a week or so of being near the cat while he eats, you simply start to hold your hand over the food so the cat has to come in and brush against your hand to eat. A few days of doing this and then you can finally start to scratch the back of his necks or his back while the cat is eating. If the cat backs away and starts to refuse to go near his food, you back away yourself and start over again from step 1.

    The biggest part is having them recognize that your hand is the thing doing the scratching or petting on them. They usually like being pet or scratched, but they don’t always understand that you are the one doing it. But keeping your hand over the food while the cat comes in to eat and then scratching his head while he chows down is a great start.

    This all takes from a couple weeks to a couple months, depending on the cat. Some of them never get completely comfortable with people and some get so relaxed they will “adopt” you.

    But a word of warning. Never approach or try to pick up a cat that looks sick or is aggressive. Let animal control deal with those.

  • This makes me sad. Those folks need to get live traps and trap the whole litter and momma…you know if 1 kitten is there, the rest of them will be! You NEED to get them spayed and neutered NOW!!! ! One momma cat and 1 litter can produce 320,000 animals in a 5 year period! One Momma dog in the same time 78,000 animals and bunnies…3.7 MILLION in 4 years! It’s not cute people, these are lives!!! Innocent LIVES! PLEASE FOR GODS SAKE SPAY AND NEUTER!!! If you can’t afford it, there are MANY places around that will help you. PLEASE SPAY AND NEUTER…SAVE LIVES!!!

  • Bea

    The intermittent step I used, to get the cat to come closer and forget fear was a toy on a stick. First, feeding and cooing, then the toy. When she was comfortable being close to me, then I reached out to her and let her sniff, then eventually petted her under the chin, and off we went. It took about 2 weeks. However, she was not a feral cat, but a previously tame stray who had become fairly wild again. As soon as she was in the house, she hopped up onto the bed and began to purr.

  • If you are fortunate enough to catch a feral kitten that is only two or three weeks old, the investment in initial care will be rewarded beyond imagination.

    We have 4 Ferals that we caught when they were less than 4 weeks old. Feeding with a syringe every two hours, bathing, daily, basically replacing the Mother, is a handful.

    The benefit is that the Kitten bonds with you in a very different manner, than ones that are adopted after they are weaned from their Mother. These four all come when called, respond to their names, and are more like a puppy than the typical cat.

    On the negative side, they crave attention. My youngest will sit and cry at my feet when I come home from a trip. I have to pick him up and give him several minutes of attention, in order to walk through the house without him constantly walking in front of me and crying for attention.

    Each of the four have their own attention needs from the one I just described, to one that wants attention only when I awake. Each has a very distinctive personality which provides us with hours of enjoyment.

    One word of caution, once you domesticate a Feral, do not let it outside. Having a different bond with humans, and lacking the Mother’s teaching, many domesticated Ferals when allowed outside, are easily harmed or killed by other animals, people, accidents, etc.

  • Hockeylady

    Be very careful with feral cats. Do NOT try and pet them with your hand over their head–I learned the hard way as I got bitten and had to see a doctor. Put down the food, back off and talk gently. It may take a long time before they trust you–but you may never be able to pet them

  • hccmama

    We have rescued many feral kittens. It takes a lot of time and patience for them to trust a human. If you really want to connect, this is the way I have gotten most of them to trust me.

    >Speak softly
    >Get down at their level so your size is not threatening
    >Use a long feathered tickler and play with them drawing it back and forth, but also touching their head and back occasionally. Eventually you will be able to touch them lightly with your hand
    and of course some food for them, but at a distance

    It is a very rewarding experience when they trust you. Good luck!

  • UncommonSensesc

    That little fella is hungry – let him/her eat first then try to be friendly to it. Also, don’t put your hand over top of them as it looks like a threat! That little kitty isn’t completely feral, he just doesn’t know “you” yet! You need to come back several times to let him get used to you. It takes a lot of time (aka patience) to become friends with a feral or semi-feral kitty!

  • I have tamed numerous feral kittens, but never a feral cat. Kittens normally need to be handled very early in their lives; once they are older feral the only thing that can entice them is food. I found two and It took me many days of giving them food until I was able to stay in the barn where they lived while they ate; then one day one of them walked around the chair where I was sitting and brushed up against my leg; I lowered my hand to let it approach and eventually it let me touch it. It’s twin never adjusted to me; then the mother of these cats left two more kittens that were hiding in the barn; and I eventually got acquainted with them; after a few weeks they would all come up to the house in the morning and the evening where I would give them a saucer of milk, chicken or beef broth; they loved it. In the morning they would come out of the house as I was going to feed they, they would run back and forth in front of me almost tripping me. At night I would sit out on the front porch and they would come up and rub against me, walk around me; I could pet them all except for the one twin that never seemed to trust me. I could pet her while she was eating, but after that is was like I was giving her an electric shock and she would move away where she felt safe. Those cats were always playing together, climbing the tree next to the porch, we had a great time. I named them all ming, and when i called they would all come running from where ever they were. Eventually the mother cat left another batch of seven two of which I found dead from the cold; I picked them up and brought them to the barn with the other cats; the skittish cat growled at them, but I scolded her and she stopped immediately. I gave them some warm milk which they lapped up like they were starving; and as I was leaving, I started walking to my vehicle which was across the yard over by the garage, I looked behind me and one of those new kittens had followed me all the way to the car; I picked it up and brought her back to the barn; but it always made me feel good that that little kitten followed me. I ended up giving that whole litter away to good families, and the others stayed in the barn; they would never enter the house even if I held the door open for them. Cats are amazing animals.

  • What a jerk. If he wanted to feed the cat he would have left the kitten alone instead of performing for his wife’s camera. Hey wifey, THAT’s your husband? OMG. What’s he a plumber with that underwear hanging low? That the best you can do? Please don’t procreate.

  • Marie Emery

    Very young cat keep trying he or she will evidently trust you don’t give up such a cute kitty needs a furever home soon

  • Julie

    At :32, does she say “yes his baby is inside me”? What the heck?!

  • FreauxDeaux

    My favorite method of killing a cat is to put it’s head in a vise and slowly turn the handle tight until it’s eyes start popping out of it’s head.. You gotta be careful,because sometimes they’ll pee or chit all over the place,but the sounds they make are awesome! Or I like to shoot them in the head out in my back yard with my pellet rifle,and watch them cut flips and go berserk. It’s a perfect way to spend an afternoon while sippin beers & smokin a joint.

  • Ya, as mentioned above let the animal, any animal really, smell your hand first. They will either back off or come forward. Still cute though and a good attempt!

  • He sort of looked like he was stalking the cat. Next time, drop off the food and back off.

  • FreauxDeaux
    14 hours ago

    My favorite method of killing a cat is to put it’s head in a vise and slowly turn the handle tight until it’s eyes start popping out of it’s head.. You gotta be careful,because sometimes they’ll pee or chit all over the place,but the sounds they make are awesome! Or I like to shoot them in the head out in my back yard with my pellet rifle,and watch them cut flips and go berserk. It’s a perfect way to spend an afternoon while sippin beers & smokin a joint.

    This is a threat against innocent person. If anyone knows who this is please turn them in.

  • Yes, really good he was trying to feed it..
    but he really should have waited till the kit trusted him beofre touching him.
    How would you like to have someone give you food had then hover over your head
    with a very big hand…..
    just set the food next time and walk away.

  • karen andrews

    Not really funny or that cute, there’s other stuff out there far more worth watching :/

  • Jay

    We had two families of cats living under our front porch when we moved in 15 years ago. We found homes for most of them, Grey is a feral female that we just could not catch. We spoiled her as much as we could outside, building a heated cat tree house in our outside carport. Two winters in a row we would open the front door a get her to come in for a short time. Finally the third winter we left the back door open and she came in and decided to adopt us. We took her to the vet for a check-up bath and got fixed. The vet says she is about sixteen years old now, has her own room, and will only let me pick her up and hold her. She will run to my wife for feeding time and knows exactly when that should be. We spoil her rotten and hope she will be with us a lot longer. We donate to the local SPCA as often as we can and encourage everyone to save a wild pet or pound critter, as they deserve a good life and return that good life back.

  • The Deanster

    Feral cats should be captured and given to the pound for adoption…

  • I guess I lost my reply. It takes time and patience to win their trust, they’ve had so many disappointments. Take your time and don’t be so stingy with the food, they always starving. The loving touch you managed will be remembered I was probably her first. She, he’s a sweetheart, I hope you can win it for a pet. You will love the activity. /they worth the effort. I have 6, one of my favorites died which leaved a bif hold. I save on a bunch of punk, jerk kids pumped with pellets, cut the tip of his tail off. his hand is crippled from being shot, we took pellets from his head, his head and feet. One paw is completely paralized, I did’t have the paw amputated and her uses it to groom himself. he is wonderful — Alec is a wonderful of surviving mean little punks — they will always be punks because their dad is, Ferals need help, I have 6. and love them. They’ve never been outside which I hateL

  • Cat Video was Published on Youtube in Jul 19, 2012, thats some old news.

  • bobo koko

    First i’d have to ask him why he’s wearing his wifes panties

  • I was expecting blood. Maybe next video.