Ferral kitty sleeps in litterbox

THREE days ago we took a feral female cat (about 1yr old) to be
tested/vaccinated/spayed. We've been working with her outside for
about 5 months.

In the beginning we'd only see her once a week or so, and she always
ran away. After she decided to follow us when we walk our dog, come
when called, live on our porch, let us pet her, and meet my wife at her
car in the morning when my wife leaves for work, we decided to adopt
her.

She is doing great, and after being zonked out after surgery for 24hrs
she has started to eat and drink and get back to her purring ways. Her
health checked out A-okay.

We are keeping her in her own room, and in a large wire dog cage with
kitty bed, food/water, and a litter box at the back of the cage.

The only problem is that the first day in a half she slept and stayed
in the litter box. She also has not gone to the bathroom at all.

Starting the 2nd day, she likes the kitty bed now and stays there. But
I noticed when she got scared today (3rd day since surgery) from a
noise outside (garbage truck) she jumped into the litterbox for a
minute.

Considering her body probably shutdown after surgery, is 3 days okay to
let her go without using the bathroom? If she doesn't go by the
morning of the 4th day (tomorrow, Saturday) then I might put her in a
bathroom with a litterbox to get her out of the caged environment. We
plan to let her out of the cage for supervised play once she is using
the litterbox.

Any advice would be great! Other than not using the bathroom, she
seems very content, purring, stretching, napping...

Thanks!

Did you call the vet to see what they say. Usually if they don't go within
24 to 36 hours you have something to be concerned about and a vet visit is
probably in order.

Celeste

"Evan" wrote in message
oups.com...
THREE days ago we took a feral female cat (about 1yr old) to be
tested/vaccinated/spayed. We've been working with her outside for
about 5 months.

In the beginning we'd only see her once a week or so, and she always
ran away. After she decided to follow us when we walk our dog, come
when called, live on our porch, let us pet her, and meet my wife at her
car in the morning when my wife leaves for work, we decided to adopt
her.

She is doing great, and after being zonked out after surgery for 24hrs
she has started to eat and drink and get back to her purring ways. Her
health checked out A-okay.

We are keeping her in her own room, and in a large wire dog cage with
kitty bed, food/water, and a litter box at the back of the cage.

The only problem is that the first day in a half she slept and stayed
in the litter box. She also has not gone to the bathroom at all.

Starting the 2nd day, she likes the kitty bed now and stays there. But
I noticed when she got scared today (3rd day since surgery) from a
noise outside (garbage truck) she jumped into the litterbox for a
minute.

Considering her body probably shutdown after surgery, is 3 days okay to
let her go without using the bathroom? If she doesn't go by the
morning of the 4th day (tomorrow, Saturday) then I might put her in a
bathroom with a litterbox to get her out of the caged environment. We
plan to let her out of the cage for supervised play once she is using
the litterbox.

Any advice would be great! Other than not using the bathroom, she
seems very content, purring, stretching, napping...

Thanks!

"Evan" wrote in message
oups.com...
THREE days ago we took a feral female cat (about 1yr old) to be
tested/vaccinated/spayed. We've been working with her outside for
about 5 months.

In the beginning we'd only see her once a week or so, and she always
ran away. After she decided to follow us when we walk our dog, come
when called, live on our porch, let us pet her, and meet my wife at her
car in the morning when my wife leaves for work, we decided to adopt
her.

She is doing great, and after being zonked out after surgery for 24hrs
she has started to eat and drink and get back to her purring ways. Her
health checked out A-okay.

We are keeping her in her own room, and in a large wire dog cage with
kitty bed, food/water, and a litter box at the back of the cage.

The only problem is that the first day in a half she slept and stayed
in the litter box. She also has not gone to the bathroom at all.

Starting the 2nd day, she likes the kitty bed now and stays there. But
I noticed when she got scared today (3rd day since surgery) from a
noise outside (garbage truck) she jumped into the litterbox for a
minute.

Considering her body probably shutdown after surgery, is 3 days okay to
let her go without using the bathroom? If she doesn't go by the
morning of the 4th day (tomorrow, Saturday) then I might put her in a
bathroom with a litterbox to get her out of the caged environment. We
plan to let her out of the cage for supervised play once she is using
the litterbox.

Any advice would be great! Other than not using the bathroom, she
seems very content, purring, stretching, napping...

Thanks!


If she's a feral, you might want to cover the litter with dirt - she's
probably used to dirt. After she gets used to using the box, gradually
reduce the amount of dirt.

Please let her out of the cage and just show her where the litterbox is. If
you have other cats, you can introduce them by using gates (which you can
return).

http://www.maxshouse.com/introducing_cats.htm

Phil

The only problem is that the first day in a
half she slept and stayed in the litter box.
She also has not gone to the bathroom at
all.

If she has been living outside she is used to eliminating in dirt or
grass and probably has no idea what litter or a litterbox are for. Get
some dirt from ouside if the ground is not frozen or use potting soil
and put a layer on top of the cat litter.

Starting the 2nd day, she likes the kitty
bed now and stays there. But I noticed
when she got scared today (3rd day since
surgery) from a noise outside (garbage
truck) she jumped into the litterbox for a
minute.

The box is the closest thing to a hidey hole she has available, and it's
probably in the back of the cage which is the furthest point she can go
to "get away."

Megan



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way."

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The best idea is to keep her in a room of her own with bed, food, water and
litter box. The litter box should be away from the food dish. She should be
fine with this set up.
Gail
"Evan" wrote in message
oups.com...
THREE days ago we took a feral female cat (about 1yr old) to be
tested/vaccinated/spayed. We've been working with her outside for
about 5 months.

In the beginning we'd only see her once a week or so, and she always
ran away. After she decided to follow us when we walk our dog, come
when called, live on our porch, let us pet her, and meet my wife at her
car in the morning when my wife leaves for work, we decided to adopt
her.

She is doing great, and after being zonked out after surgery for 24hrs
she has started to eat and drink and get back to her purring ways. Her
health checked out A-okay.

We are keeping her in her own room, and in a large wire dog cage with
kitty bed, food/water, and a litter box at the back of the cage.

The only problem is that the first day in a half she slept and stayed
in the litter box. She also has not gone to the bathroom at all.

Starting the 2nd day, she likes the kitty bed now and stays there. But
I noticed when she got scared today (3rd day since surgery) from a
noise outside (garbage truck) she jumped into the litterbox for a
minute.

Considering her body probably shutdown after surgery, is 3 days okay to
let her go without using the bathroom? If she doesn't go by the
morning of the 4th day (tomorrow, Saturday) then I might put her in a
bathroom with a litterbox to get her out of the caged environment. We
plan to let her out of the cage for supervised play once she is using
the litterbox.

Any advice would be great! Other than not using the bathroom, she
seems very content, purring, stretching, napping...

Thanks!

We've actually seen her "make" outside in the mulch and then cover it
up... so I got some and put it on half the litter. After I eat dinner
I'll put more mulch on if she hasn't figured it out.

Other than not going to the bathroom... she is doing great. Stretching,
full of purs, letting us pet her, napping a lot. She likes to sometimes
"teethe" (if I had to compare it to a puppy dog) on our knuckles
softly, and sometimes using her paws to lightly hold on... but other
than us pushing back just a little bit to correct her we're more
worried about letting her get used to the new surroundings (her cage,
and room -- eventually) and finally going to the bathroom. I'd be happy
if she went anywhere. If she doesn't go by Sat. morning I'll contact
the vet, which I guess means she'll have to be sedated again if he
wants to check her.

Thanks!
Evan

On 2005-01-29, Evan penned:
We've actually seen her "make" outside in the mulch and then cover it up...
so I got some and put it on half the litter. After I eat dinner I'll put
more mulch on if she hasn't figured it out.

Other than not going to the bathroom... she is doing great. Stretching, full
of purs, letting us pet her, napping a lot. She likes to sometimes "teethe"
(if I had to compare it to a puppy dog) on our knuckles softly, and
sometimes using her paws to lightly hold on... but other than us pushing
back just a little bit to correct her we're more worried about letting her
get used to the new surroundings (her cage, and room -- eventually) and
finally going to the bathroom. I'd be happy if she went anywhere. If she
doesn't go by Sat. morning I'll contact the vet, which I guess means she'll
have to be sedated again if he wants to check her.


Addressing her habit of hiding in the litterbox: could you get her a little
kitty hutch that she could hide in? I've seen fabric "tents" at the pet store
for about $25.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

On Fri 28 Jan 2005 06:07:39p, Evan wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1106953659.693467.120650
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com):

Any advice would be great! Other than not using the bathroom, she
seems very content, purring, stretching, napping...

You're going to be so rewarded by taking in a feral! My Bonnie was a
feral and sometimes she makes me cry to see how far she's come in
trusting me.

--
Cheryl

"Evan" wrote in message
oups.com...
We've actually seen her "make" outside in the mulch and then cover it
up... so I got some and put it on half the litter. After I eat dinner
I'll put more mulch on if she hasn't figured it out.

Other than not going to the bathroom... she is doing great. Stretching,
full of purs, letting us pet her, napping a lot. She likes to sometimes
"teethe" (if I had to compare it to a puppy dog) on our knuckles
softly, and sometimes using her paws to lightly hold on... but other
than us pushing back just a little bit to correct her we're more
worried about letting her get used to the new surroundings (her cage,
and room -- eventually) and finally going to the bathroom. I'd be happy
if she went anywhere. If she doesn't go by Sat. morning I'll contact
the vet, which I guess means she'll have to be sedated again if he
wants to check her.


She sounds like a doll and you are wonderful for taking her in.

in article , Cheryl at
wrote on 1/28/05 8:27 PM:

On Fri 28 Jan 2005 06:07:39p, Evan wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:1106953659.693467.120650
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com):

Any advice would be great! Other than not using the bathroom, she
seems very content, purring, stretching, napping...

You're going to be so rewarded by taking in a feral! My Bonnie was a
feral and sometimes she makes me cry to see how far she's come in
trusting me.

I'm wondering if they shouldn't put a blanket partway over the cage to give
her more of a protected feel?