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#1
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Feral cat still afraid of my hands...
Hey there,
About 5 months ago I trapped a black, female kitty approximately two years old. She was quite feral. I had been feeding her for many months near my office and she never let me pet her. But every day she was waiting for me to show up with food. Before she ate the food she'd make sure I was at least 5 feet away. We started having trouble with kids in the area mistreating animals so I decided to take her in and make her my third house cat. "Princess" did not want my vets to mess with her, so they had to gas the little gal just to give her a check up. Then they spayed her. My vets think she was born in the wild because there are a lot of feral cats in this particular area. Anyway, she's been in my guest bedroom for the past several months. I have a screen door that separates her from my other two cats. At first "Princess" would just hunker down and try desperately not to move. She was scared to death. I felt horrible for her. But over time she loosened up a little. The good news is that she instinctively knew how to use a litter box And now she follows me all over the room - as if she's interested in everything I'm doing. And she finally learned to play with toys - she especially likes it when I move a feather on a string. And she jumps up on the bed with me now and lays down next to me. Pretty cool. But I still can not touch her. LOL. As long as my hand is under the covers, I can scratch her though. She loves getting petted that way - she immediately starts purring and kneading her claws. I can even pet her with my bare hand as long as her back is turned to me and she doesn't see my hand. If she sees my hand, she will try to claw it or bite it. And she bites hard - she really perceives my hands as major threats. It's the strangest thing. She is blind in one eye and the vet saw signs that she suffered a trauma to it. So perhaps a human hand once hurt her or something. Or perhaps it's just an instinct to be afraid of human hands. Anyway, I feel like I've made so much progress with this little gal over the last few months, but I just can't seem to get her to not want to hurt my hands. I've tried wearing gloves to protect my hands - but that scared her even worse. I've tried putting baby food on my finger but she refuses to come near my bare hand, even if it has food on it. I love that she gets on the bed next to me every night and I get a thrill from having her purr so much when I pet her through the covers - but it's hard for me to always remember not to let her see my hands. Any ideas?? Thanks, Brad |
#2
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Brad Stone wrote:
Hey there, About 5 months ago I trapped a black, female kitty approximately two years old. She was quite feral. I had been feeding her for many months near my office and she never let me pet her. But every day she was waiting for me to show up with food. Before she ate the food she'd make sure I was at least 5 feet away. We started having trouble with kids in the area mistreating animals so I decided to take her in and make her my third house cat. "Princess" did not want my vets to mess with her, so they had to gas the little gal just to give her a check up. Then they spayed her. My vets think she was born in the wild because there are a lot of feral cats in this particular area. Anyway, she's been in my guest bedroom for the past several months. I have a screen door that separates her from my other two cats. At first "Princess" would just hunker down and try desperately not to move. She was scared to death. I felt horrible for her. But over time she loosened up a little. The good news is that she instinctively knew how to use a litter box And now she follows me all over the room - as if she's interested in everything I'm doing. And she finally learned to play with toys - she especially likes it when I move a feather on a string. And she jumps up on the bed with me now and lays down next to me. Pretty cool. But I still can not touch her. LOL. As long as my hand is under the covers, I can scratch her though. She loves getting petted that way - she immediately starts purring and kneading her claws. I can even pet her with my bare hand as long as her back is turned to me and she doesn't see my hand. If she sees my hand, she will try to claw it or bite it. And she bites hard - she really perceives my hands as major threats. It's the strangest thing. She is blind in one eye and the vet saw signs that she suffered a trauma to it. So perhaps a human hand once hurt her or something. Or perhaps it's just an instinct to be afraid of human hands. Anyway, I feel like I've made so much progress with this little gal over the last few months, but I just can't seem to get her to not want to hurt my hands. I've tried wearing gloves to protect my hands - but that scared her even worse. I've tried putting baby food on my finger but she refuses to come near my bare hand, even if it has food on it. I love that she gets on the bed next to me every night and I get a thrill from having her purr so much when I pet her through the covers - but it's hard for me to always remember not to let her see my hands. Any ideas?? Patience. Patience. You've made wonderful progress, but some things take a long time. Seriously! "Several months" can be the blink of an eye in terms of socialization time for a real feral. This is very difficult for her, and her need to move slow needs to be respected. In the meantime, I encourage you to maximize your pleasure in the progress that has been made. You're doing great! Priscilla |
#3
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"Brad Stone" wrote in message
... Hey there, About 5 months ago I trapped a black, female kitty approximately two years old. She was quite feral. I had been feeding her for many months near my office and she never let me pet her. But every day she was waiting for me to show up with food. Before she ate the food she'd make sure I was at least 5 feet away. We started having trouble with kids in the area mistreating animals so I decided to take her in and make her my third house cat. "Princess" did not want my vets to mess with her, so they had to gas the little gal just to give her a check up. Then they spayed her. My vets think she was born in the wild because there are a lot of feral cats in this particular area. snip You are making great progress! Is she still in the separate room? You might want to start letting her out with the other cats. Feral cats usually feel much more comfortable when they are with others. One foster I had would only let me pet her if I was petting one of the other cats at the same time. Princess sounds a lot like my Antonio. I also can't pet him with a front-on approach, only from the side or the back. She may never fully accept petting, but just be patient. -- -Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG |
#4
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"Priscilla H. Ballou" wrote in
: Patience. Patience. You've made wonderful progress, but some things take a long time. Seriously! "Several months" can be the blink of an eye in terms of socialization time for a real feral. This is very difficult for her, and her need to move slow needs to be respected. I recommend the excellent article "CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’RE THE PROUD OWNER OF A (FORMERLY) FERAL CAT – AND SHE’S HIDING UNDER THE BED" which is found he http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/Congratulations.pdf --Catherine & Rosalie the calicohead |
#5
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KellyH wrote:
You are making great progress! Is she still in the separate room? You might want to start letting her out with the other cats. Feral cats usually feel much more comfortable when they are with others. Hi Kelly, Yeah, "Princess" is still in my guest bedroom - she also has access to the guest bathroom for a little more space. Sometimes I keep my other two cats in the front of the house and let Princess have the entire back half of my house (i.e. the guest bedroom/bathroom and my master bedroom/bathroom). But usually she is in the guest bedroom/bathroom. Once a day or so I let my 14 year old male cat, Tiger, in the room with Princess. Princess adores him! When she sees him on the other side of the screen door she runs to the door and starts rubbing her entire body across the screen. Pretty cute. "Tiger" is a gentle old soul, but he doesn't know quite what to make of Princess. So when he's in the room with her, he sometimes hisses at her to get some space from her. When that happens, she normally gives him space by laying down and writhing around a bit on the floor. LOL. So Tiger doesn't exactly want intimate contact with Princess, but the two generally get along okay. I'm mostly worried about my 10 year old female "Linda". She is very territorial and has been known to get so upset at just seeing another cat through my living room window that she sprays the window sill - at which time she even becomes temporarily hostile toward her dear old friend Tiger. Usually this projected anger for Tiger only lasts a couple of hours and then they are back to grooming eachother. Linda tries to avoid even looking at the new feral kitty (Princess) through the screen door but when she does she usually hisses at Princess. Hmmm. But I guess it's time that the two meet face to face - with supervision of course. I was hoping that Princess would let me pet her before I try letting Linda and her meet, but it looks like it may be awhile before I can pet Princess, so I should probably go ahead and see how she and Linda do face to face. I'm a little afraid that Princess' feral insticts will kick in if Linda (my housecat) picks a fight with her and that Princess will end up injuring Linda. I can't even pet Princess, much less pick her up, so breaking up a fight may be tough. But I'll be ready to grab Linda if things get ugly! Thanks! Brad |
#6
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I, too, am impressed at the progress you've made with this adult feral. We've had (have) our share of "retired" ferals, adults who have no good place to be. Only one absolutely wanted to have nothing to do with us, and we finally oriented her to our backyard and continue to support her from there. Patience is the only trick. And in the case of an adult, time. You might try offering Princess babyfood (hold the onions) on a long-handled plastic spoon, to help her begin to associate the Dreaded Hand as a bringer of good, not evil. Allowing her more time with your other cats may also help. Sometimes what works even better is solitude, so you are the only company she has. You are doing so well on you own, however, you don't really need my advice. I should be consulting you! Good luck with Princess, and keep us posted. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats Seattle |
#7
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"Brad Stone" wrote in message
... Once a day or so I let my 14 year old male cat, Tiger, in the room with Princess. Princess adores him! This is good! Keep up the interactions with Tiger. I'm mostly worried about my 10 year old female "Linda". She is very territorial and has been known to get so upset at just seeing another cat snip I'm a little afraid that Princess' feral insticts will kick in if Linda (my housecat) picks a fight with her and that Princess will end up injuring Linda. In light of this, I would give it a bit before introducing Linda and Princess. You can try some scent exchanges, like taking a blanket that Princess sleeps on and putting it in Linda's favorite napping spot and vice versa. You may want to try some Feliway diffusers around the house before Princess's "release". What will probably happen, if Linda hisses and attacks Princess, is that Princess will run off and hide. The semi-ferals/ferals I've had normally are the ones to back down and seem confused at the welcome they were given. You also might want to put Tiger in a room for the first Linda/Princess intro so he doesn't get caught in the crossfire. -- -Kelly kelly at farringtons dot net "Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG |
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