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

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.

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.

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

On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:01:38 GMT, (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.

Hope you can post a picture or two.

Tommyboy is as feral as they come. He lives outside (somewhere) and
only shows up here to eat. But he's gone from running away when I open
the front door, to allowing me to pet him as long as he's eating, to
actually coming up to me and meowing loudy (with no food in sight) to
demand to be petted. You just have to accept ferals on their own
terms.

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

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

"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

"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.

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