Source
r/Feral_Cats•
BloomQuietly

Feral Love

If it is not appropriate to post this, I apologize and will take it down. This is my appreciation for all of you.

Feral Love

I’m hiding in your garden, waiting for your voice. But I must stay hidden, I simply have no choice. I know you long to touch me, I feel your love from here. But mama taught me well, people I must fear.

I feel the spell of safety you cast around my space, The hearty meals, the tender words, the kindness of your face, You make my life as good as a lonely life can be. Although I cannot come to you, you are the world to me.

Be patient with me please, I really want to trust. May your heart see beneath this old hardened crust. I dream of your hand on me, at your feet I would be curled. Maybe tomorrow I will be brave and step into your world.

Posted Apr 29, 2023, 2:45 PM UTC

4524
AngelaMotorman•

Don't apologize -- this is lovely, and a lot of us needed to hear this.

Gaining ferals' trust is such a long, often discouraging process ... I'm saving this to remind myself what it looks like from the other side.

10
sexwithpenguins•

I was away at a retreat where I signed up as a commuter because it's about 20 minutes from home, and my indoor cat has never spent a night without me.

I have a feral I've been feeding for maybe a year, and he's the most feral feral I've ever met. Any time I think we're moving a step forward, he takes a step back. I love him so much, but I've learned to accept him right where he is, on his own terms.

I meant to leave food out for him this morning, but I forgot. At the retreat, I realized if I didn't come home during the dinner break, he wouldn't eat until after 10pm tonight. Not okay. So I came home and there he was sitting in the driveway, waiting for me. I sweet talked him, and we just sat there gazing at each other with love eyes. 😍 😻 🥰

I don't kid myself. He's in it for the meal ticket, but every moment he sits there with that 'mirin expression on his face, my heart swells until it bursts through its frame like the Grinch.

So grateful to have read this poem just at this moment after coming in from feeding him. Grateful too for this sub. You guys understand this complicated dance we're in.

Thank you. ❤️

9
MiaowWhisperer•

That's so beautiful. Thank you for making his life easier.

Look up how to do the slow blink. It'll get you communicating with him even more.

3
sexwithpenguins•

Yes, we slow blink at each other all the time. It's part of what I mean when I say we were making love eyes at each other.

When I first met him, he used to look at me with his eyes completely wide open, with like a blank expression on his face. I'd never seen a cat look like that. But over time, the sweet talk and the slow blinks wore him down. I'm sure getting fed several times a day didn't hurt either!

He still doesn't trust me because I'm a human, but it doesn't matter because I love him like mad anyway!

2
MiaowWhisperer•

Ah I see. When you said you stare at each other, i wondered whether you knew about blinking. I love how expressive cats actually are.

One of the things I find with ferals is that the closer i get to the ground, the less threatening they find me. So if I lie down and talk to them they sometimes come closer.

2
sexwithpenguins•

That's a good tip! I'll have to try it when he's on the ground. The thing is, though, he's usually on the wall above me in the backyard.

2
darkpsychicenergy•

For real, I teared up. This is lovely.

4
treasurestobefound•

Thank you for this. This is beautiful.

3
TomatoWitchy•

Thank you so much for this. I've got a feral in the house who I'm now socializing, and this helps.

2
MsCatThief•

This is beautiful 🩷

2
tarynj123•

This made my heart happy.

2
TardisDance•

Beautiful. It got me thinking about a feral mama that I was trying to tame almost a year ago. A few days after I finally got to touch her while eating, she suddenly disappeared. She had a neck wound and I desperately wanted to trap her to get her medical care. I just hope another neighbor on another street got her.

2
MiaowWhisperer•

That's such a lovely poem. Would you mind if I nicked it and used it on our social media when it's up and running? (Direct message me if you'd like details on who "we" are - i just don't want to make myself identifiable on Reddit).

Here's a poem I wrote a couple of years ago, regarding working with a huge colony of ferals... . .

I'm a bad cat woman

I take you away

I make sure you can't reproduce

Return you the next day . .

I love that you were born there

But I hate the disease

I try to find you future homes

Where you'll be free of fleas . .

I kidnap you, and take you home

I give you yucky meds

Comb the dirt out from your fur

And give you comfy beds . .

I nick your kids, brainwash them

Teach them how to live indoors

Hand raise them and cuddle them

And stroke their tiny paws

2
MiaowWhisperer•

That's such a lovely poem. Would you mind if I nicked it and used it on our social media when it's up and running? (Direct message me if you'd like details on who "we" are - i just don't want to make myself identifiable on Reddit).

Here's a poem I wrote a couple of years ago, regarding working with a huge colony of ferals... . .

I'm a bad cat woman

I take you away

I make sure you can't reproduce

Return you the next day . .

I love that you were born there

But I hate the disease

I try to find you future homes

Where you'll be free of fleas . .

I kidnap you, and take you home

I give you yucky meds

Comb the dirt out from your fur

And give you comfy beds . .

I nick your kids, brainwash them

Teach them how to live indoors

Hand raise them and cuddle them

And stroke their tiny paws

1
BloomQuietlyOP•

I love it! I am honored by your request and pleased to share. Between yours and mine we have both viewpoints addressed, for a happy convergence.

3
lizzygoat8•

I also do social media for a TNR non-profit organization and would love to use your poem. Would this be OK? I'd love to credit your name or a pen name if you'd allow...feel free to PM me.

2
MiaowWhisperer•

We do don't we lol. Thank you so much :)

1
MiaowWhisperer•

I can't format it very well from my, sorry. There are supposed to be verses.

1
[deleted]•

[removed]

1