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When the cat no longer uses the cage as a refuge and can be easily fed elsewhere, thetransition into your home is complete. That’s not to say the cat is going to jump into yourarms when you approach. Instead, for a while, she’ll probably head the other way. Shehas to learn to adapt to the entire home which will take time and may cause her totemporarily regress a bit in her behavior. But many of her initial fears have beenassuaged and the chances of her finding her own comfort zone and living withoutconstant fear in your home are greatly increased.Once the cat is able to be fed outside the cage, you can take down the Feral Cat Setup,if you choose. Some feral cat owners will keep the cage in place and continue to feedinside. This makes it easier to confine the cat when necessary, like when you need to gether into the den for a trip to the veterinarian or when a contractor is coming over to dosome work in the house. Remember, she isn’t a normal pet you can pick up and place ina carrier. If you do take the cage down, then anticipate in advance when you’ll need toconfine her. A week or two ahead of that date, set up the cage again with the den insideand start feeding her in there. That way you can get her into the cage and the den at theopportune time. If you’re unable to do this, another technique is to start feeding herinside a trap a week before you need to confine her and then set the trap when the dayarrives or the night before. Being trapped could be traumatic for the cat, so feeding her ina cage with a den inside is far preferable.If you move to another house or apartment, you should repeat the socializationprocess with the Feral Cat Setup again, though it will likely be a much shorter period oftime before the cat appears at ease and can be released. Finding good homes• Adoption proceduresFinding a cat a good home, as opposed tojust any home, takes work. Not everyone ismature or responsible enough to take on thelife-long care of an animal companion. Youwill need to make judgments about who willgive the cat a loving, secure home, and whomay not. There are plenty of caring,responsible people out there. There are alsopeople who get an animal on an impulse thatwon’t last, give the animal away as a giftwithout asking if the recipient wants one,want the cat only to keep away mice or areunable to adequately care for themselves orthe dependents they already have, let alonea new cat. It’s also important to be awarephoto: Margie Riverathere are people known as “bunchers” who gather animals, sometimes under the guise ofadopting them, and then sell them to laboratories for purposes of experimentation.142