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#1
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Stray cat update
We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more
feral than we thought. She found her way into a blocked closet and into a hole in the ceiling. Sigh. She did come down during the night. I saw litter box use, and several patches of urp. I don't know if she's eating yet. Finally, we caught her in her carrier, so we could block off the hole. We're taking it very slow, spending some time in the room with her talking to her, but otherwise letting her be. We've been reading a lot on taming ferals. I'm hopeful that she will come around. We have time and patience. Our quirky humor suggested we should name her Road Kill or Speed Bump. :-) But Ghost seems to fit her, at least for now. The other cats don't realize she's in the room. They just don't like it when Mom goes in and closes the door. Please keep Ghost (and us) in your thoughts. I've never tamed a feral. We can use all the help we can get. And Thank You for the purrs. I can feel them helping keep me calm :-) Kalynnda |
#2
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Stray cat update
On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:29:39 -0500, Kalynnda Rivermoon
wrote: We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more feral than we thought. She found her way into a blocked closet and into a hole in the ceiling. Sigh. She did come down during the night. I saw litter box use, and several patches of urp. I don't know if she's eating yet. Finally, we caught her in her carrier, so we could block off the hole. We're taking it very slow, spending some time in the room with her talking to her, but otherwise letting her be. We've been reading a lot on taming ferals. I'm hopeful that she will come around. We have time and patience. Our quirky humor suggested we should name her Road Kill or Speed Bump. :-) But Ghost seems to fit her, at least for now. The other cats don't realize she's in the room. They just don't like it when Mom goes in and closes the door. Please keep Ghost (and us) in your thoughts. I've never tamed a feral. We can use all the help we can get. And Thank You for the purrs. I can feel them helping keep me calm :-) Kalynnda I don't think you can tame a feral. They can learn to trust one person or so, but they will not be comfortable around people. Still, not all cats are the same so give her the space she needs and she'll likely come to appreciate your efforts. Purrs. |
#3
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Stray cat update
On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:29:39 -0500, Kalynnda Rivermoon
wrote: We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more feral than we thought. She found her way into a blocked closet and into a hole in the ceiling. Sigh. She did come down during the night. I saw litter box use, and several patches of urp. I don't know if she's eating yet. Finally, we caught her in her carrier, so we could block off the hole. We're taking it very slow, spending some time in the room with her talking to her, but otherwise letting her be. We've been reading a lot on taming ferals. I'm hopeful that she will come around. We have time and patience. Our quirky humor suggested we should name her Road Kill or Speed Bump. :-) But Ghost seems to fit her, at least for now. The other cats don't realize she's in the room. They just don't like it when Mom goes in and closes the door. Please keep Ghost (and us) in your thoughts. I've never tamed a feral. We can use all the help we can get. And Thank You for the purrs. I can feel them helping keep me calm :-) Kalynnda Poor little girl. Her biggest needs are shelter, security, and food, and you're providing them. |
#4
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Stray cat update
In article , Kalynnda Rivermoon wrote:
We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more feral than we thought. Well, as she's taken to the litter box, isn't violent, and is safely inside your home, it seems like you're in a tolerable situation for a while. Just let time work its magic. I'll note that my recently-deceased Calico couldn't be touched for over a year. She became a super-affectionate, wonderful kitty, even though she couldn't be picked up until the last few months of her life. Ferals can be tamed. Hope you can post a picture or two. Art |
#5
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Stray cat update
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#6
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Stray cat update
On 10/12/2011 06:29 AM, Kalynnda Rivermoon wrote:
We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more feral than we thought. She found her way into a blocked closet and into a hole in the ceiling. Sigh. She did come down during the night. I saw litter box use, and several patches of urp. I don't know if she's eating yet. Finally, we caught her in her carrier, so we could block off the hole. We're taking it very slow, spending some time in the room with her talking to her, but otherwise letting her be. We've been reading a lot on taming ferals. I'm hopeful that she will come around. We have time and patience. Our quirky humor suggested we should name her Road Kill or Speed Bump. :-) But Ghost seems to fit her, at least for now. The other cats don't realize she's in the room. They just don't like it when Mom goes in and closes the door. Please keep Ghost (and us) in your thoughts. I've never tamed a feral. We can use all the help we can get. And Thank You for the purrs. I can feel them helping keep me calm :-) Kalynnda I've never really tamed a feral. At one time I was feeding 13 ferals and loved observing their interactions. As I live in a condominium and pets were prohibited, they were eventually (after two years) caught and turned over to Animal Control. There was a lovely yellow tom cat that was very friendly, Ferals live a hard life especially where we have such cold winters. Best wishes in taming the little wild one. May she become a lap cat soon. MLB |
#7
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Stray cat update
Arthur Shapiro wrote:
In article , Kalynnda Rivermoon wrote: We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more feral than we thought. Well, as she's taken to the litter box, isn't violent, and is safely inside your home, it seems like you're in a tolerable situation for a while. Just let time work its magic. I'll note that my recently-deceased Calico couldn't be touched for over a year. She became a super-affectionate, wonderful kitty, even though she couldn't be picked up until the last few months of her life. Ferals can be tamed. I agree. Friends of mine adopted an ex-feral (from a managed colony, complete with the tip of one ear cut off). Apparently someone in the rescue group thought he had potential, and decided to put him up for adoption. At first he was extremely skittish and wouldn't let anyone near him. Eventually, he started to warm up to one of the humans, and then the other. That's when they discovered that inside the feral beat the heart of a total lap fungus. Eventually he began to warm up to some of their friends. I can claim the honorable distinction of being the first outside the family to win him over - I'm known in that household as "auntie Joyce". He always come running to see me when I come over to visit, and then he'll just sit on the floor, gazing up at me adoringly. He really is the sweetest cat, and can lie on the couch next to you, being petted for hours. He now has several human friends, and has become pretty social. He can stil get skittish, such as when someone gets up from a chair really quickly or walks toward him fast. Mostly, though, he's a real people cat. My only complaint about him is that he is one of the few cats that I'm really allergic to. I do OK with airborne dander, but if I happen to rub my eyes after petting him, they get all red and itchy. His name is Van Gogh, by the way. -- Joyce Fluffy Mackerel Pudding - "Once upon a time, the world was young and the words 'mackerel' and 'pudding' existed far, far away from one another. One day, that all changed. And then, whoever was responsible somehow thought the word 'fluffy' would help." -- Hilarious recipes at: www.candyboots.com |
#8
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Stray cat update
"Kalynnda Rivermoon" wrote in message
... We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more feral than we thought. She found her way into a blocked closet and into a hole in the ceiling. Sigh. She did come down during the night. I saw litter box use, and several patches of urp. I don't know if she's eating yet. Finally, we caught her in her carrier, so we could block off the hole. We're taking it very slow, spending some time in the room with her talking to her, but otherwise letting her be. We've been reading a lot on taming ferals. I'm hopeful that she will come around. We have time and patience. Our quirky humor suggested we should name her Road Kill or Speed Bump. :-) But Ghost seems to fit her, at least for now. The other cats don't realize she's in the room. They just don't like it when Mom goes in and closes the door. Please keep Ghost (and us) in your thoughts. I've never tamed a feral. We can use all the help we can get. And Thank You for the purrs. I can feel them helping keep me calm :-) Kalynnda Purrs for Ghost, and for you. Joy |
#9
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Stray cat update
"dgk" wrote in message ... On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:29:39 -0500, Kalynnda Rivermoon wrote: We're calling her Ghost. She is VERY frightened. I think she's more feral than we thought. She found her way into a blocked closet and into a hole in the ceiling. Sigh. She did come down during the night. I saw litter box use, and several patches of urp. I don't know if she's eating yet. Finally, we caught her in her carrier, so we could block off the hole. We're taking it very slow, spending some time in the room with her talking to her, but otherwise letting her be. We've been reading a lot on taming ferals. I'm hopeful that she will come around. We have time and patience. Our quirky humor suggested we should name her Road Kill or Speed Bump. :-) But Ghost seems to fit her, at least for now. The other cats don't realize she's in the room. They just don't like it when Mom goes in and closes the door. Please keep Ghost (and us) in your thoughts. I've never tamed a feral. We can use all the help we can get. And Thank You for the purrs. I can feel them helping keep me calm :-) Kalynnda I don't think you can tame a feral. They can learn to trust one person or so, but they will not be comfortable around people. Still, not all cats are the same so give her the space she needs and she'll likely come to appreciate your efforts. Purrs. She might not be a true feral, but a lost cat that is going towards wild. Like Boyfie was. and yes it takes ages but it's worth it eventually. It's not easy. I suggest ignoring her for weeks and let her get braver in the house. Put her food out and a l box and just take no notice of her. She will tell you when she is prepared to say hello. |
#10
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Stray cat update
On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:29:39 -0500, Kalynnda Rivermoon wrote: Please keep Ghost (and us) in your thoughts. I've never tamed a feral. We can use all the help we can get. And Thank You for the purrs. I can feel them helping keep me calm :-) Kalynnda, All of our cats are strays but Smudge was a feral that wanted to trust us. Last year at about this time we trapped her and her siblings and had them "fixed", and had everyone protected against rabies and distemper. Smudge was almost a year old at that time. She fought the trap, she fought the kennel, when we finally opened the door of the kennel she shot out and hid from us. Slowly she began wanting to trust us again. After we lost Hobbes and Sam we decided to bring Smudge in and make her a house cat. We set up a large dog kennel and a medium dog kennel to form a kitty condo. The back kennel was covered by a blanket to give Smudge somewhere she could go and hide but we kept the kennel condo in the living room so that she could see the other cats and get used to us. She stayed there for several weeks (2 weeks for deworming) before we opened the door and allowed her an opportunity to explore. When she would get frightened she'd run back into her kennel - that was her safe spot. She slept in the kennel at night. After about a month she began spending more time out of the kennel than in it and we finally took the kennel condo away. But this gave her a chance to get used to us, our voices, our movements, our smell and get used to the other 5 cats in the house and for them to get used to her. This worked really well for us and we now have a lap fungus (sometimes), when she feels like it - but she is certainly no longer feral. Good luck. It will take time but will be so worth it the first time she comes to you for skritches and pettins. Julie |
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