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#1
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Feral cat and kitten
I discovered a feral cat and her kitten living under my
deck last Monday. I fed them dry food outside a few times, and they immediately caught on to the pattern, and by Wednesday morning they were coming to my door to wait for the food. On Thursday, I used a live trap and caught them and took them to the vet. They got a full health assessment, all the standard tests for diseases and parasites, and both were neutered. I am going to try to make both cats indoor cats, and my main concern is the ability to which the mother cat can be rehabilitated. She is about 1.5 years old, and as far as I know has spent her whole life outdoors. The kitten is only 8 weeks old, and he is really friendly and social. The mother on the other hand is pretty much hiding in a corner of my walk-in clothing closet. I tried to offer her some wet cat food from a plastic spoon, and she just spits and hits the spoon when it is offered towards her. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to proceed in working with the mother cat. Should I let her stay in the closet until she is ready to venture farther, or should I have her live in a cage during this adjustment period? Thanks. |
#2
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In article
, Ar Fai Ve wrote: I discovered a feral cat and her kitten living under my deck last Monday. I fed them dry food outside a few times, and they immediately caught on to the pattern, and by Wednesday morning they were coming to my door to wait for the food. On Thursday, I used a live trap and caught them and took them to the vet. They got a full health assessment, all the standard tests for diseases and parasites, and both were neutered. I am going to try to make both cats indoor cats, and my main concern is the ability to which the mother cat can be rehabilitated. She is about 1.5 years old, and as far as I know has spent her whole life outdoors. The kitten is only 8 weeks old, and he is really friendly and social. The mother on the other hand is pretty much hiding in a corner of my walk-in clothing closet. I tried to offer her some wet cat food from a plastic spoon, and she just spits and hits the spoon when it is offered towards her. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to proceed in working with the mother cat. Should I let her stay in the closet until she is ready to venture farther, or should I have her live in a cage during this adjustment period? If it's not horribly disrupting your life, I might let her be, since this would communicate to her that you're letting her stay where she feels safe. Make sure she has easy access to food, water, and a litter box. Is there another closet you can use most of the time for your clothes, etc? Now, this will probably mean it'll take longer to socialize her (if it's possible to socialize her at all), since you'd be relying on her to twig to the fact that you're an OK animal, but it may be more respectful of the cat. The other way, which is probably more "proper" is to confine her in a small space and by tiny incremental steps make incursions over her boundaries with gentleness and treats. Perhaps begin with approach A (let her be), and if she makes no discernable progress in, say, a month or so, move on to approach B (pro-active gentle boundary-crossing)? I've only socialized one feral kitten (12 weeks plus), and I used a modified approach B. It took 16 days before he let me touch him, although he was touching me before then. The feral kitten in my guestroom cage right now (maybe 6 weeks old) came pre-socialized. It thinks I'm its new Mommy and wants me to hold it and groom it. :-) Good luck and keep posting. I hope others with more experience will respond to you as well. Priscilla |
#3
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In article
, Ar Fai Ve wrote: I discovered a feral cat and her kitten living under my deck last Monday. I fed them dry food outside a few times, and they immediately caught on to the pattern, and by Wednesday morning they were coming to my door to wait for the food. On Thursday, I used a live trap and caught them and took them to the vet. They got a full health assessment, all the standard tests for diseases and parasites, and both were neutered. I am going to try to make both cats indoor cats, and my main concern is the ability to which the mother cat can be rehabilitated. She is about 1.5 years old, and as far as I know has spent her whole life outdoors. The kitten is only 8 weeks old, and he is really friendly and social. The mother on the other hand is pretty much hiding in a corner of my walk-in clothing closet. I tried to offer her some wet cat food from a plastic spoon, and she just spits and hits the spoon when it is offered towards her. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to proceed in working with the mother cat. Should I let her stay in the closet until she is ready to venture farther, or should I have her live in a cage during this adjustment period? If it's not horribly disrupting your life, I might let her be, since this would communicate to her that you're letting her stay where she feels safe. Make sure she has easy access to food, water, and a litter box. Is there another closet you can use most of the time for your clothes, etc? Now, this will probably mean it'll take longer to socialize her (if it's possible to socialize her at all), since you'd be relying on her to twig to the fact that you're an OK animal, but it may be more respectful of the cat. The other way, which is probably more "proper" is to confine her in a small space and by tiny incremental steps make incursions over her boundaries with gentleness and treats. Perhaps begin with approach A (let her be), and if she makes no discernable progress in, say, a month or so, move on to approach B (pro-active gentle boundary-crossing)? I've only socialized one feral kitten (12 weeks plus), and I used a modified approach B. It took 16 days before he let me touch him, although he was touching me before then. The feral kitten in my guestroom cage right now (maybe 6 weeks old) came pre-socialized. It thinks I'm its new Mommy and wants me to hold it and groom it. :-) Good luck and keep posting. I hope others with more experience will respond to you as well. Priscilla |
#4
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"Ar Fai Ve" wrote in message ... : I discovered a feral cat and her kitten living under my : deck last Monday. I fed them dry food outside a few times, : and they immediately caught on to the pattern, and by : Wednesday morning they were coming to my door to wait for : the food. On Thursday, I used a live trap and caught them : and took them to the vet. They got a full health assessment, : all the standard tests for diseases and parasites, and : both were neutered. I am going to try to make both cats : indoor cats, and my main concern is the ability to which : the mother cat can be rehabilitated. She is about 1.5 : years old, and as far as I know has spent her whole life : outdoors. : : The kitten is only 8 weeks old, and he is really friendly : and social. The mother on the other hand is pretty much : hiding in a corner of my walk-in clothing closet. I tried to : offer her some wet cat food from a plastic spoon, and she just : spits and hits the spoon when it is offered towards her. I am : wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to proceed in : working with the mother cat. Should I let her stay in the : closet until she is ready to venture farther, or should I : have her live in a cage during this adjustment period? : : Thanks. We have had so much fun and learned so much with out two feral kittens, and they bit hard and scratched. I never thought they would get on the bed, much less become the happiest and friendliest of all of our cats. Dangling something like a string when they aren't receptive to affection worked and put them in a less fearful frame of mind. That wasn't possible for at least a week though. They were really scared and fierce. Putting another kitten that knows you with them helped a lot too. One of our older cats that we call "CPS" for cat protective services, because he protects all of the foster kittens, honestly, was a big help too. He was licking and laying next to them a long time before they would even not hide when we came into the room. We were keeping them in a storage box, plastic with holes drilled for air. They escaped and we thought they were going to hide forever, but being under our bed actually helped. I wish you luck. They are so friendly and unafraid now which I can't say for the set of feral kitties we raised in the garage who seem to be skittish, although the exception is when I am playing the piano, one sits on the piano and rolls over and makes noise and tries to play too, which is weird because I have headphones on. : -) and no one can hear the sounds. I guess cats can though. |
#5
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Mom would be best contained in a small space, even a cage. She is in the closet now; you might just close the door to that room (the room, not the closet) and let her get comfortable there before she ventures out into the rest of the house/apartment. Be careful with your love-offerings. Her teeth or claws could do you serious harm. (Bite wounds are the more serious.) Your story reminds me of our old girl, Kaspurr, who hid behind the toilet and hissed the air blue for a solid month. I would offer her baby food on a plastic spoon and the spoon and contents would be sent flying. Kaspurr was a kitten at the time, by the way; I've had better luck with a few adults I've taken in. We have only once given up on a feral and released her (into our backyard, not back to the street where she had been run down). Wild Ginger, as far as I know, is still living in the neighborhood and comes to our feeder on a regular basis. Other adult ferals live with us in various stages of socialization, some coming along better than others. Only one still takes swings at me if I get too familiar. (In fact, I have a goodly bruise on the heel of my hand, thanks to his quick claws.) Good luck to you. Your little cat may take a long time to settle down. That's part of the joy in the socialization of a feral cat, watching them bloom. Be patient, be careful, and most of all be patient. I have a blurb in the Campus Cats website that might help you, "Taming the Tiger." Thank you for taking the cat in. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats www.campuscats.org |
#6
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"Sharon Talbert" wrote in message . washington.edu... : : Mom would be best contained in a small space, even a cage. She is in the : closet now; you might just close the door to that room (the room, not the : closet) and let her get comfortable there before she ventures out into the : rest of the house/apartment. : : Be careful with your love-offerings. Her teeth or claws could do you : serious harm. (Bite wounds are the more serious.) Your story reminds me : of our old girl, Kaspurr, who hid behind the toilet and hissed the air : blue for a solid month. I would offer her baby food on a plastic spoon : and the spoon and contents would be sent flying. Kaspurr was a kitten at : the time, by the way; I've had better luck with a few adults I've taken : in. We have only once given up on a feral and released her (into our : backyard, not back to the street where she had been run down). Wild : Ginger, as far as I know, is still living in the neighborhood and comes to : our feeder on a regular basis. Other adult ferals live with us in various : stages of socialization, some coming along better than others. Only one : still takes swings at me if I get too familiar. (In fact, I have a goodly : bruise on the heel of my hand, thanks to his quick claws.) : : Good luck to you. Your little cat may take a long time to settle down. : That's part of the joy in the socialization of a feral cat, watching them : bloom. Be patient, be careful, and most of all be patient. I have a : blurb in the Campus Cats website that might help you, "Taming the Tiger." : Thank you for taking the cat in. : : Sharon Talbert : Friends of Campus Cats : www.campuscats.org Get some leather gloves. It was a big step forward when our ferals quit biting and just hissed and scratched. I didn't realize it at the time. Letting them be near you, like over nights under the bed, seems to help... like the more time they are around realizing that you aren't actively hunting them, in their minds... And if you walk near them and do something unrelated to them, ignore them sometimes, seems to help too. Don't look them in the eyes, I would guess now thinking back. If you have other cats that seem to get along with them, it helps and the one big thing that I'm remembering now was that I would pet another cat where the ferals could see, before trying to pet them, and when you get to a point where you can pick them up, put them near each other. It's a motherly thing to do. Our two ferals are named Snobol and Killer. One of them bit me, but I couldn't tell which one because they look alike. So one is Killer but we don't know which. They are the friendliest cats I've ever had or even known that belonged to other people. I'm not sure why. They both will let people approach without flinching and like to get petted by everyone. I could go on for 10 minutes. |
#7
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"Sharon Talbert" wrote in message . washington.edu... : : Mom would be best contained in a small space, even a cage. She is in the : closet now; you might just close the door to that room (the room, not the : closet) and let her get comfortable there before she ventures out into the : rest of the house/apartment. : : Be careful with your love-offerings. Her teeth or claws could do you : serious harm. (Bite wounds are the more serious.) Your story reminds me : of our old girl, Kaspurr, who hid behind the toilet and hissed the air : blue for a solid month. I would offer her baby food on a plastic spoon : and the spoon and contents would be sent flying. Kaspurr was a kitten at : the time, by the way; I've had better luck with a few adults I've taken : in. We have only once given up on a feral and released her (into our : backyard, not back to the street where she had been run down). Wild : Ginger, as far as I know, is still living in the neighborhood and comes to : our feeder on a regular basis. Other adult ferals live with us in various : stages of socialization, some coming along better than others. Only one : still takes swings at me if I get too familiar. (In fact, I have a goodly : bruise on the heel of my hand, thanks to his quick claws.) : : Good luck to you. Your little cat may take a long time to settle down. : That's part of the joy in the socialization of a feral cat, watching them : bloom. Be patient, be careful, and most of all be patient. I have a : blurb in the Campus Cats website that might help you, "Taming the Tiger." : Thank you for taking the cat in. : : Sharon Talbert : Friends of Campus Cats : www.campuscats.org Get some leather gloves. It was a big step forward when our ferals quit biting and just hissed and scratched. I didn't realize it at the time. Letting them be near you, like over nights under the bed, seems to help... like the more time they are around realizing that you aren't actively hunting them, in their minds... And if you walk near them and do something unrelated to them, ignore them sometimes, seems to help too. Don't look them in the eyes, I would guess now thinking back. If you have other cats that seem to get along with them, it helps and the one big thing that I'm remembering now was that I would pet another cat where the ferals could see, before trying to pet them, and when you get to a point where you can pick them up, put them near each other. It's a motherly thing to do. Our two ferals are named Snobol and Killer. One of them bit me, but I couldn't tell which one because they look alike. So one is Killer but we don't know which. They are the friendliest cats I've ever had or even known that belonged to other people. I'm not sure why. They both will let people approach without flinching and like to get petted by everyone. I could go on for 10 minutes. |
#8
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Mom would be best contained in a small space, even a cage. She is in the closet now; you might just close the door to that room (the room, not the closet) and let her get comfortable there before she ventures out into the rest of the house/apartment. Be careful with your love-offerings. Her teeth or claws could do you serious harm. (Bite wounds are the more serious.) Your story reminds me of our old girl, Kaspurr, who hid behind the toilet and hissed the air blue for a solid month. I would offer her baby food on a plastic spoon and the spoon and contents would be sent flying. Kaspurr was a kitten at the time, by the way; I've had better luck with a few adults I've taken in. We have only once given up on a feral and released her (into our backyard, not back to the street where she had been run down). Wild Ginger, as far as I know, is still living in the neighborhood and comes to our feeder on a regular basis. Other adult ferals live with us in various stages of socialization, some coming along better than others. Only one still takes swings at me if I get too familiar. (In fact, I have a goodly bruise on the heel of my hand, thanks to his quick claws.) Good luck to you. Your little cat may take a long time to settle down. That's part of the joy in the socialization of a feral cat, watching them bloom. Be patient, be careful, and most of all be patient. I have a blurb in the Campus Cats website that might help you, "Taming the Tiger." Thank you for taking the cat in. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats www.campuscats.org |
#9
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"Ar Fai Ve" wrote in message ... : I discovered a feral cat and her kitten living under my : deck last Monday. I fed them dry food outside a few times, : and they immediately caught on to the pattern, and by : Wednesday morning they were coming to my door to wait for : the food. On Thursday, I used a live trap and caught them : and took them to the vet. They got a full health assessment, : all the standard tests for diseases and parasites, and : both were neutered. I am going to try to make both cats : indoor cats, and my main concern is the ability to which : the mother cat can be rehabilitated. She is about 1.5 : years old, and as far as I know has spent her whole life : outdoors. : : The kitten is only 8 weeks old, and he is really friendly : and social. The mother on the other hand is pretty much : hiding in a corner of my walk-in clothing closet. I tried to : offer her some wet cat food from a plastic spoon, and she just : spits and hits the spoon when it is offered towards her. I am : wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to proceed in : working with the mother cat. Should I let her stay in the : closet until she is ready to venture farther, or should I : have her live in a cage during this adjustment period? : : Thanks. We have had so much fun and learned so much with out two feral kittens, and they bit hard and scratched. I never thought they would get on the bed, much less become the happiest and friendliest of all of our cats. Dangling something like a string when they aren't receptive to affection worked and put them in a less fearful frame of mind. That wasn't possible for at least a week though. They were really scared and fierce. Putting another kitten that knows you with them helped a lot too. One of our older cats that we call "CPS" for cat protective services, because he protects all of the foster kittens, honestly, was a big help too. He was licking and laying next to them a long time before they would even not hide when we came into the room. We were keeping them in a storage box, plastic with holes drilled for air. They escaped and we thought they were going to hide forever, but being under our bed actually helped. I wish you luck. They are so friendly and unafraid now which I can't say for the set of feral kitties we raised in the garage who seem to be skittish, although the exception is when I am playing the piano, one sits on the piano and rolls over and makes noise and tries to play too, which is weird because I have headphones on. : -) and no one can hear the sounds. I guess cats can though. |
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