I have a cat, or it has me, what ever. She was voted least likely to get along with anyone or anything. She was a feral kitty who took up residence in my barn. She was unapproachable and if she saw anyone she was gone. She had her kittens in the top of the barn one day and my son found the kittens. We watched them for a day or so and never saw the mother, but we knew she was there because the kitten were feed.
One day we went to look and the kittens were gone from the box and there was one dead on the stairs and one at the bottom of the stairs. We found two hidden in a box downstairs that were OK. We never saw the mother. I worried because of the blood trail the mother was dead somewhere so I took the kittens inside and got some formula and feed the little gals. I watched outside and noticed the mother yowling at the barn and going in and out so I put out a live trap and caught her with a can of tuna.
She just got in the trap and took the first can so I wired down the next one. She was not a happy kitty at all. She was this tiny little moma cat that would have ripped my heart out if she had the chance. I took our large dog kennel and put a ply board in the middle so it would be a two story house for the cats. It was 5 feet long and close to 4 feet high with a big door. Well mommy cat got loose in the house and I tried everything to catch her to no avail. I put the kittens in the new cat house and since she was hiding behind the toilet I just shut the door to the bathroom. She found her kittens and laid down to feed them. I was worried she may not have any milk because of the time that had passed, but everything worked out OK
She responded well to her kittens and I think she understood I had something to do with it because she would let me check the kittens out without much fuss, however if she thought for a second I was going to touch her she would posture in a way I knew not to touch her. I spoke with her all the time and gave her treats. She would look at me while I talked and blinked with understanding. After a month the kittens were everywhere in the house, but moma car never left the bathroom even though the door was open most all the time. When she wanted the kittens she would chirp and they would come a running back to the bathroom.
By now the kittens were older and they would sleep on the bed with us. They would go back and forth to where mom was just to check on her I guess. She still never left the bathroom. It was like the carpet was an invisible fence. I tried to entice her out with a treat, but no, she would look at me with those big green eyes and finally get me to go to her and give her the treat. One night I woke up to this little moma cat crawling in next to me in the covers. She poked her head back out of the covers, laid her head on my arm and went to sleep.
From that time on she let me pet her and pick her up, however she was as stiff as a board when I picked her up for years. I know this was a choice she had made to trust me even though everything told her not to do so, she still made that choice to trust. I cannot tell you how privileged I felt knowing an animal who really did not trust people changed her mind because of something I did. What a great feeling that was.
She is now 12 years old sitting on my hip as I write and doing fine. She has even reached a point where she will go up to some others and say hi. She doesn’t run away from people she just stays about five feet back. The ones she goes up to know just how special they are to her. She is a wonderful friend and I must say quite an interesting personality. I don’t know if this would ever apply to a wild Bobcat, but I can see it happening to the right cat and person. Kindness almost always wins over anything else. Cheers!