Reply to Just rescued an almost feral cat. Could it be domesticated?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Cat professional here: I have worked with cat rescues, Alley Cat Allies, cat breeders. A cat that is feral cannot be domesticated. Ever. To become domesticated, a cat must interact with humans before the age of 16 weeks. If they are in the wild/ not socialized by people until then, they will be feral for life. Those cats can live comfortably outside for life, even in this weather. (Like a fox, squirrel or other outside animal).
A cat living with an elderly hoarder -- it is hard to tell whether they are really feral, or just have limited contact with people. It takes about 2-3 weeks to determine the status. A cat that will not come to you when you feed it after that time is probably feral. If it never lets you touch it -- it is feral. They will remain feral for life -- about 15 years. Feral cats do not make good pets. They tend to defecate in the back of your closet, or on your rugs to mark their territory. You can contact Alley Cat Allies and they will tell you what to do. You can also use google to double check this.
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Interesting post.  Alley Cat Allies does not appear to agree.  We've adopted two fearless that were trapped with assistance from Alley Cat Allies, so I'm not really able to favorably judge the accuracy of what OP said.  It went extremely well with both.  One figured out the indoor-only, always-food-and-water, clean-box system within a matter of days.  One took a good, solid year.  We made sure that both were spayed, vaccinated, de-wormed (the full Vet treatment) before bringing them home.  Probably helped that the copacetic, more easily-acclimated of the two was the first one home.  And neither had a material non-box problem, especially after the first several weeks.  And they're both sweet, dependent little animals that we're lucky to have.

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