Well, cats have a way of showing up and deciding you are going to be their owner. So when that happens, you feed and water them and give them shelter. They will eventually become take - at least as far as you are concerned.

We actually tamed a 3/4 grown tom once. My parents had moved into town from the farm, and I had grown up and moved away. We caught him because there wasn't anybody to take care of him and I wanted a remembrance of where I grew up. It took 2-3 weeks, but we tamed him, and he became the best cat we had ever had.