feral cats
On Nov 16, 8:19*pm, snuffy wrote:
My daughter lives in Manhattan in Hell's Kitchen and bikes to her job in Harlem on a bike path along the Hudson River. *At 125th Street she has become smitten with a little clowder of young cats and she wants to rescue them and take one home. a) The chances of rabies in a feral cat are vanishingly small - but still wear VERY good gloves when handling them. Have b) I have had very good luck capturing such cats with a bit of tincture-of-valerian on raw or barely-cooked chicken. I will put the chicken in something like a Dell or Gateway computer box (heavy cardboard and large enough to not frighten a clausterphobic cat) and when sufficient cats are inside flip the lid shut and tape it. There are enough reinforced hand-holds that the cat(s) will not get out for at least an hour or two - sufficient for safe transport. As to the 'other end', my habit has been to let them out one-by-one, wearing said gloves, in a closed room and treat them with a systemic flea-tick- mite poison, then leave them for a day or so with food, water & litter and bedding. Other than one nursing female (with kittens), none have remained biting-angry feral for more than a couple of days, and none at all for more than about 10 days. Your mileage may vary, of course. Fortunately, where we live now, there are very few feral cats - but quite a variety of natural predators including the usual urban raccoons, but also foxes, various hawks and such. Valerian may be obtained at any old-fashioned pharmacy as are still common in NYC, or from several on-line sources. I prefer to find it from a pharmacy - as I can at least be sure of its quality and strength. The stuff smells vile - except to cats (and some dogs), upon which it acts as high-strength catnip with a definite anesthetic/ soporific effect. Keep in mind that rescue-feral cats will forever want to go outdoors, but will also greatly value their new home (once adapted). If you are not prepared or unable to give them outside access, they will never be 'quite right'. We had such a rescue cat for many years - and even when altered he would spend weeks outdoors at a time. Sightings and in for food and a few pets every few days, but otherwise out. He finally died of cancer at a very ripe old age. Our present younger (of two) cat is a rescue-feral. We got him at 8 weeks, he was rescued along with his mother at about 3 weeks. He is the most affectionate cat we have had for a long time - since our last similar rescue. And he loves the outdoors, but stays very close to the house. Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA |
feral cats
Related question: I have two cats who were rescued feral kittens. They
did all right for a few years, but I then adopted another kitten who hissed at them constantly. They decided to hell with it and moved out of the house and now eat their meals on the back porch. It's cold and dangerous out there. I want them to be indoor cats again. What's the best way to handle this? Should I just catch them and lock them inside? Guaranteed at least one of them will pee on things if I do this, but I guess I could drape plastic over anything that doesn't clean easily. -- -Ed Falk, http://thespamdiaries.blogspot.com/ |
feral cats
"Edward A. Falk" wrote in message ... Related question: I have two cats who were rescued feral kittens. They did all right for a few years, but I then adopted another kitten who hissed at them constantly. They decided to hell with it and moved out of the house and now eat their meals on the back porch. It's cold and dangerous out there. I want them to be indoor cats again. What's the best way to handle this? Should I just catch them and lock them inside? Guaranteed at least one of them will pee on things if I do this, but I guess I could drape plastic over anything that doesn't clean easily. You got it right. Just bring them in and keep them in. At first, confine them to a small room with cat box, food, toys and bedding, to get them in the habit of using the box. Visit them a lot. Let them out after a couple of days. At the first sign of inappropriate elimination, back in the room. Eventually, they will be retrained. They are creatures of habit. This works. (I assume you have them fixed.) |
feral cats
On Dec 9, 11:19*am, "cybercat" wrote:
"Edward A. Falk" wrote in ... Related question: *I have two cats who were rescued feral kittens. *They did all right for a few years, but I then adopted another kitten who hissed at them constantly. *They decided to hell with it and moved out of the house and now eat their meals on the back porch. It's cold and dangerous out there. *I want them to be indoor cats again. What's the best way to handle this? *Should I just catch them and lock them inside? *Guaranteed at least one of them will pee on things if I do this, but I guess I could drape plastic over anything that doesn't clean easily. You got it right. Just bring them in and keep them in. At first, confine them to a small room with cat box, food, toys and bedding, to get them in the habit of using the box. Visit them a lot. Let them out after a couple of days. At the first sign of inappropriate elimination, back in the room. Eventually, they will be retrained. They are creatures of habit. This works. (I assume you have them fixed.) Yikes! You do seem to have a single remedy for all cat-related problems. Lock them in a small room. Here is the problem with that solution. Cats that have lived wild never quite get it out of their systems. Further, they cannot quite be 'broken' like horses. So, you can trap them inside - and they will constantly want OUT. And they will act out even if - especially if - they perceived that they are trapped. These cats already trust you to a point - so don't push that trust. If you do trap them, and they do then get out, you may well never see them again. You have to work with them and attempt to gain their trust. I have had much better results with once-feral cats by giving them the choice of IN or OUT. Over time, they will achieve a modus-vivendi with the other animals (cars or dogs) based on their personal comfort. Once *THEY* make the choice to come inside - and the rough weather does help - you have a chance to win them over. A feral cat that I trapped some years ago, now living with a good friend, went through that process over about a 2-year period (all with the friend, not me). Now he is an aggressively affectionate extrovert who goes out only with "daddy" - but has the option at all times. Once, recently, daddy dropped the slider on the cat-door. Almost instantly, a poop right in front of it. It is also no strange thing that they left the house upon introduction of a new kitten. You are the "DADDY CAT" and toms are known to kill kittens not their own. They may have the perception that the new kitten is *yours* and so they are threatened. You permit the kitten's aggression, probably even protect it - this actually makes them fearful. When food is plentiful and there are many families of cats around a small area, this behavior is less common. But in small groups, there is a huge significance between "family" and "non- family". The goal here is to make the feral cats feel unthreatened and welcome. Even an inveterate outdoor cat will not turn down a warm bed and good food on principle - were it not feeling threatened. One more thing - most house-cats are pretty thoroughly kittenized by their surroundings. Kittens get along with anything. Adult cats, on the other hand, are independent top-of-the-food-chain predators which are acutely aware of their environment and have very specific threat- responses. You need to work towards re-kittenizing them - or they will never be happy inside. And this take considerable time and patience. "Conditioning" them based on short-term 'imprisonment' unless medically necessary simply won't work and is thoroughly counter- productive. Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA |
feral cats
wrote in message ... On Nov 16, 8:19 pm, snuffy wrote: My daughter lives in Manhattan in Hell's Kitchen and bikes to her job in Harlem on a bike path along the Hudson River. At 125th Street she has become smitten with a little clowder of young cats and she wants to rescue them and take one home. a) The chances of rabies in a feral cat are vanishingly small - but still wear VERY good gloves when handling them. Have b) I have had very good luck capturing such cats with a bit of tincture-of-valerian on raw or barely-cooked chicken. I will put the chicken in something like a Dell or Gateway computer box (heavy cardboard and large enough to not frighten a clausterphobic cat) and when sufficient cats are inside flip the lid shut and tape it. There are enough reinforced hand-holds that the cat(s) will not get out for at least an hour or two - sufficient for safe transport. As to the 'other end', my habit has been to let them out one-by-one, wearing said gloves, in a closed room and treat them with a systemic flea-tick- mite poison, then leave them for a day or so with food, water & litter and bedding. Other than one nursing female (with kittens), none have remained biting-angry feral for more than a couple of days, and none at all for more than about 10 days. Your mileage may vary, of course. Fortunately, where we live now, there are very few feral cats - but quite a variety of natural predators including the usual urban raccoons, but also foxes, various hawks and such. Valerian may be obtained at any old-fashioned pharmacy as are still common in NYC, or from several on-line sources. I prefer to find it from a pharmacy - as I can at least be sure of its quality and strength. The stuff smells vile - except to cats (and some dogs), upon which it acts as high-strength catnip with a definite anesthetic/ soporific effect. Keep in mind that rescue-feral cats will forever want to go outdoors, but will also greatly value their new home (once adapted). If you are not prepared or unable to give them outside access, they will never be 'quite right'. We had such a rescue cat for many years - and even when altered he would spend weeks outdoors at a time. Sightings and in for food and a few pets every few days, but otherwise out. He finally died of cancer at a very ripe old age. Our present younger (of two) cat is a rescue-feral. We got him at 8 weeks, he was rescued along with his mother at about 3 weeks. He is the most affectionate cat we have had for a long time - since our last similar rescue. And he loves the outdoors, but stays very close to the house. Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA We seduced our only feral cat with food. It took several years before he felt comfortable with us and our other 4 cats. He is now quite old, and sleeps inside all the time and never goes outside, even though we have two cat doors and our other cats can come and go as they please. So, it is not true that once a feral cat has grown to adulthood, you can never tame them. Our Smokey is as tame as the other cats now, and doesn't even run when strangers come into the house. |
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