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Hi All, Need Some Advice [feral cat?]
Hi everyone, the below was emailed accidently by Max who was looking to post
it here I believe ---------------- Just wanted to send some "THANKS" to Phil P and to MaryL and all of you who responded to this post. I felt both Phils and Mary Ls response best fit my situation with Tiger. Just thought I would send an update! "Tiger" is doing GREAT! Tiger is/was a true feral, being that he, even now, still hisses in certain situations. It has been a long time but with lots of encouragement the cat has come around! Tiger now LOVES to roll around and play with my hands, he now, finally, loves a neck scratch and being petted. But this success has only been very recent, as in the last week or so. Before this I could still not even touch him. Now, even though he knows my two "alpha" boys from sniffing at them through the cage... I wonder how best to introduce them? I have, on a few occasions, been letting Tiger out to wander the house. Each time it SEEMS to go better. However, I have not noticed him getting along with Max or Butterball, and I would like to see this go as smoothly as possible. Tiger needs some extra encouragement, in my opinion. It is clear to me that at every turn a new obstacle crosses his path, as he has not experienced any of these issues before. So, long story short, all your thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated and I truly do think about them all as we decide where to go from here. And I am very grateful for the good advice I have gotten here in the past. I have learned a lot. Thanks, M --------------- Hi Max, good job! My advice would be this. Be careful on how much cage time is used. The cat can become jealous of the others if he's in it too much. It's ok for socialization in the livingroom with the rest though for an hour or so. Cats don't really 'crate train' well but if it's short periods and something interesting, then he may take well to it. You can tell by how much he argues about getting in it. If he walks in of his own free will, you are doing it right. Rest of the time, loose in a room or section of the house that he can feel is 'his'. Yes, this will establish a territory but with a feral, there's little other choice if you have existing cats. Visit often as you can. Rub your other cats, especially on the face and cheeks and get some of their fur on your shirt then go in and play with him, same way then back out and play with your other two. That will help them 'socialize' somewhat. As you've noted, eventually you do have to open the door and just let them mingle. Start with short periods (just as you seem to have done). I;m not sure here what reaction he is having to the other 2. If he's just largely ignoring them or avoiding them or giving a warning hiss if they get too close but looking defensive (hunkered down sorta with ears flat) then this is fairly normal at the start. It's more likely the existing cats will attack the new one if there is gonna be a fight. Most of the time there will be one fight (and only one) if it's done right. Sometimes, I've gotten it so perfect, there was no fight at all. It's usual though to have the dominant one insist on a single fight to prove 'I'm the boss'. This doesn't necessarily result in any harm to any of them (but check carefully for puncture wounds as they may bite and that can get infected). One last bit. If you let your cats sleep with you, do not allow the feral one to do this at the same time they do until all is totally calm for several weeks. This is for your safety. Last thing you want, is for *you* to get hurt when battle royal breaks out over who gets what spot in your bed while you are sound asleep and there are flying claws in your face. Dang near lost an eye learning that one when I was a teen. |
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