We rescued this feral kitty almost a year ago. Hubs surprised me with the fact that he agreed to adopt her (she was part of a feral colony being evicted from his work - if employees did not adopt them, they were going to be destroyed). He told me about 15 minutes before they let her loose in my bathroom, stinking and hissing. She quickly proceeded to destroy the whole room:
She lived under our bathroom sink for nearly 2 months, and it took a tremendous amount of coaxing and effort for her to begin to trust. She was well past the age when a feral cat can still imprint/accept humans, but we kept trying. Fortunately, my dogs were totally welcoming and supportive (bribes helped):
She’s surprisingly well socialized now. Still skittish, but very affectionate. I was so mad at him for taking her, but now I’m glad he did. I adore her, and I’m pretty sure it’s mutual:
She also had an unexpected and wonderful impact on my cranky old man cat, who’d lost his sister about 8 months prior. They were a 10 YO bonded pair, and he was truly inconsolable without her. I have never seen an animal grieve as intensely as he did. He was absolutely miserable after she died, and frankly, he was miserable to be around:
(it’s just the angle, they weren’t really that huge!)
Since we adopted the feral, he has done a complete 180. You can laugh, but I genuinely believe that she helped to heal his heart. He is happy and sweet again (or at least, as happy and sweet as a cranky old man can be).
All that to say, do it! Saving that feral cat might just save you too 