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most cases to tame relativelyquickly. Beyond eight weeks,the feral imprint growsincreasingly stronger with eachpassing day, requiring longerand more intensive socializationto reverse. By the age of fourmonths, many kittens, even ifthey are eventually tamed, willexhibit some feral behavior forthe rest of their lives, such as aphoto: Kitty Katzprofound attachment to oneperson and a fear of others. Beyond five to six months, in most instances a catborn feral will rarely become fully socialized.• Number of generations feralCats grow wilder with each succeeding feral generation. A colony cat whoherself once lived as a pet in a home will tend to be less feral than heroffspring while, as another example, a tenth generation feral cat will tend tobe wilder than a second generation.• Amount of human contactThe amount of contact a cat has with people on a regular basis is anotherimportant factor. A cat who lives in a community garden and has visitorscoming every day to talk and play with him will be less feral than a cat wholives in the woods and rarely encounters people.• PersonalityFeral cats are individuals and their unique personalities must be taken intoaccount. On occasion, a cat will be friendly towards people despite beingbeyond kitten age, born of a feral mother and living in a reclusiveenvironment. But the naturally occurring “gregarious feral” is very much theexception, at least prior to spay/neuter. Many caretakers do report that afterneutering, some of their feral wards gradually grow friendlier and moreapproachable, sometimes to the point of becoming adoptable.Assessing whether a cat is feral and, if so, to what extent, can be helpful indetermining the best situation for the feline. If the cat is friendly and can be handled,then adoption is likely the best option if there are foster or permanent homes available. Ifthe cat is feral to a significant degree, then allowing him to live in his own territory withhis colony mates could be the most compassionate choice. For further discussion on thisquestion, see the section, “Determining if a cat is adoptable,” in Chapter 16.5