Pepsi
The taming of a feral cat

It was January 2006. We had been thinking of getting a cat preferably a kitten, a friend of a friend had mentioned Cats Protection, so we checked the North Walsham Branch website regularly to view cats that needed rehoming. One day we spotted three feral kittens, six months old - Chip, Chypher and Calisto. They had been found in the wild on a farm and were very shy and timid and not at all used to human contact.

We went too see the three to try and choose the one who made the biggest impression on us. They were very scared of us and Pauline, their foster carer, was the only person who could get near them as she had put a lot of time into caring for them. We decided on Chip a little black and white female cat, the smallest of the litter. She was the only one we could stroke without getting hissed at, although she was very scared of us. After we had had our house checked and Chip - now Pepsi - had her injections we were able to take her home. Pepsi was very timid and scared and we knew she would take a long time to settle in. When we got her home and let her out of her carry-box she ran behind the sofa and hid there for three days. We just gave her time and eventually managed to encourage her out by using a toy Pauline had played with her with. After plenty of cuddles and playing with her regularly we now have a very talkative, affectionate cat who you would have never have guessed was a feral who was very shy or timid.

Dan and Gemma January 2008