A very SAD situation...

Three to four weeks ago this cat came around (I live at the beach in
Sarasota county, FL). She got my attention through crying unlike I
have ever heard any animal cry.
This poor little kitty was truly in her last days. Suffering from
malnutrition and, who knows, what else!
The LARGE lover of animals that I am... of course I fed her.

Let me deviate a minute and fill you in on an IMPORTANT issue I have,
that is preventing me from being all I want and, can be...

Bella, lets call her Bella. Bella is my buddy. Bella is a Russian Blue
whom I rescued at age two. She is apprx. eleven now. Although my homo
sapien (male) relationships have been a part of her life, as well...
it has pretty much been just her and I for the 9+ years I have had
her.

This 'new' homeless Kitty who by the way, is a polydactyl, long-
haired, midnight black in color, with incredible mint green eyes. She
is definitely young. A teenager, I figure.
I have been feeding this cat almost everyday. Some days she will catch
me twice a day, other days I don't see her. Never for more than 36
hours, though.
I am giving her Innova-EVO (VERY high in protein; very high), and...
some warm milk.
When we first crossed paths, it got very, very cold here.

Of course, Bella WILL NOT let her come into our house! She seems to
know something is wrong with this cat. She is not the USUAL teritorial
aggressor. She just stares at this kitty with perplexity.

She slapped her in the face the other night (we were all outside);
this little kitty just back away as to miss her slap. She is NOT at
all aggressive and does not fight back.

Its so sad. I try talking to Bella and telling her that this little
kitty just wants to be friends. That she does not have any friends,
any warm place to sleep and is hungry!
Bella listens... and stands her ground.

Ok, questions.
At what point do you think it will be ok for me to trap her so I can
take her to a Vet....get neutered, checked over thoroughly, get some
advantage on her!
I can see two spots on her body where (large) ticks once lived. Her
ears need to be cleaned.
Poor baby, she is a mess.

She has gotten as close as a foot or two to me. Very schidish though.
Very schidish!!
I don't want her to loose trust with me.

Any suggestions on dealing with Bella?

Thanks for your time and patience, reading this story!

Ok, questions.
At what point do you think it will be ok for me to trap her so I can
take her to a Vet....get neutered, checked over thoroughly, get some
advantage on her!
I can see two spots on her body where (large) ticks once lived. Her
ears need to be cleaned.
Poor baby, she is a mess.

She has gotten as close as a foot or two to me. Very schidish though.
Very schidish!!
I don't want her to loose trust with me.

Any suggestions on dealing with Bella?

It's so nice of you to help this kitty! I don't know much about
trapping cats, but others here do, so hopefully one of them will post
and help you. As for Bella, you would need to keep new kitty in a
separate room until she was given the all-clear healthwise, and then
you can SLOWLY introduce them. Right now, Bella is smelling a strange
kitty who wants to intrude on her territory. You'll need to start slow
so she can learn that only good things are associated with this kitty.

Here's an article on the subject:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/ou...a_new_cat.html

On 23 Feb, 19:29, "Steena-Feena" wrote:
Three to four weeks ago this cat came around (I live at the beach in
Sarasota county, FL). She got my attention through crying unlike I
have ever heard any animal cry.
This poor little kitty was truly in her last days. Suffering from
malnutrition and, who knows, what else!
The LARGE lover of animals that I am... of course I fed her.

Let me deviate a minute and fill you in on an IMPORTANT issue I have,
that is preventing me from being all I want and, can be...

Bella, lets call her Bella. Bella is my buddy. Bella is a Russian Blue
whom I rescued at age two. She is apprx. eleven now. Although my homo
sapien (male) relationships have been a part of her life, as well...
it has pretty much been just her and I for the 9+ years I have had
her.

This 'new' homeless Kitty who by the way, is a polydactyl, long-
haired, midnight black in color, with incredible mint green eyes. She
is definitely young. A teenager, I figure.
I have been feeding this cat almost everyday. Some days she will catch
me twice a day, other days I don't see her. Never for more than 36
hours, though.
I am giving her Innova-EVO (VERY high in protein; very high), and...
some warm milk.
When we first crossed paths, it got very, very cold here.

Of course, Bella WILL NOT let her come into our house! She seems to
know something is wrong with this cat. She is not the USUAL teritorial
aggressor. She just stares at this kitty with perplexity.

She slapped her in the face the other night (we were all outside);
this little kitty just back away as to miss her slap. She is NOT at
all aggressive and does not fight back.

Its so sad. I try talking to Bella and telling her that this little
kitty just wants to be friends. That she does not have any friends,
any warm place to sleep and is hungry!
Bella listens... and stands her ground.

Ok, questions.
At what point do you think it will be ok for me to trap her so I can
take her to a Vet....get neutered, checked over thoroughly, get some
advantage on her!
I can see two spots on her body where (large) ticks once lived. Her
ears need to be cleaned.
Poor baby, she is a mess.

She has gotten as close as a foot or two to me. Very schidish though.
Very schidish!!
I don't want her to loose trust with me.

Any suggestions on dealing with Bella?

Thanks for your time and patience, reading this story!

if you can trap her and take her to a vets asap, do not let her have
any contact with your own cat until you know for sure that she is not
carrying any viruses such as FIV or whatever.
of course you want to help this poor little mite and I think you
should but do not put bella in any danger.

if when this stray kitty comes back from the vets and you decided to
keep her then you will need to start slow intro process as sounds liek
bella does wnat to share her territory or human with anyone right now.

best of luck with it but first try to get her to a vets asap

bookie

Hi there,

It's nice of you to want to help this kitty! I don't think I'd worry
about Bella not adjusting just yet. Right now the cat is an intruder in
her space, and of course she is going to protect her property. This cat
may even still have hormones, which will make it worse. Once she's
spayed and Bella knows she's there to stay, you can start working with
them. When you do introduce them, give Bella lots more attention. She
will just need reassurance that she is not losing you, but gaining a new
buddy.

I think the sooner the better on catching that cat. If she's not spayed,
she may get pregnant soon. It's about time cats are going into heat. It
also sounds like she could use some medical treatment right away.

If you can catch her, it's easier, but sometimes once you catch them
it's hard outside to get them into the carrier. We did that mistake
once, finally caught the cat but it broke free as we tried to stuff her
into a carrier. One way is to have the carrier on end so the opening is
straight up, and you drop the cat (as gently as poss.) into it.

If you can't touch the cat, some shelters will let you borrow a trap. We
bought one at a feed store (a raccoon-sized one.) They work pretty well
but you have to stay with the trap when it's set. Put a blanket or
something over it to make her feel like she's hiding.

There is a good site here, this is for truly feral cats and yours might
just be a scared domesticated one, but there are some tips for trapping:

http://www.feralcat.com/trapinst.html

Good luck! I know it's a hassle and can be nerve-wracking for both you
and the cat, but once it's all over you can settle in to winning her
trust. Things will go much faster with her once she's inside and warm
and comfortable. She will learn that you are there to make her live
wonderful!

Let us know how it goes,

Rhonda


Steena-Feena wrote:
Three to four weeks ago this cat came around (I live at the beach in
Sarasota county, FL). She got my attention through crying unlike I
have ever heard any animal cry.
This poor little kitty was truly in her last days. Suffering from
malnutrition and, who knows, what else!
The LARGE lover of animals that I am... of course I fed her.

Let me deviate a minute and fill you in on an IMPORTANT issue I have,
that is preventing me from being all I want and, can be...

Bella, lets call her Bella. Bella is my buddy. Bella is a Russian Blue
whom I rescued at age two. She is apprx. eleven now. Although my homo
sapien (male) relationships have been a part of her life, as well...
it has pretty much been just her and I for the 9+ years I have had
her.

This 'new' homeless Kitty who by the way, is a polydactyl, long-
haired, midnight black in color, with incredible mint green eyes. She
is definitely young. A teenager, I figure.
I have been feeding this cat almost everyday. Some days she will catch
me twice a day, other days I don't see her. Never for more than 36
hours, though.
I am giving her Innova-EVO (VERY high in protein; very high), and...
some warm milk.
When we first crossed paths, it got very, very cold here.

Of course, Bella WILL NOT let her come into our house! She seems to
know something is wrong with this cat. She is not the USUAL teritorial
aggressor. She just stares at this kitty with perplexity.

She slapped her in the face the other night (we were all outside);
this little kitty just back away as to miss her slap. She is NOT at
all aggressive and does not fight back.

Its so sad. I try talking to Bella and telling her that this little
kitty just wants to be friends. That she does not have any friends,
any warm place to sleep and is hungry!
Bella listens... and stands her ground.

Ok, questions.
At what point do you think it will be ok for me to trap her so I can
take her to a Vet....get neutered, checked over thoroughly, get some
advantage on her!
I can see two spots on her body where (large) ticks once lived. Her
ears need to be cleaned.
Poor baby, she is a mess.

She has gotten as close as a foot or two to me. Very schidish though.
Very schidish!!
I don't want her to loose trust with me.

Any suggestions on dealing with Bella?

Thanks for your time and patience, reading this story!

if you can trap her and take her to a vets asap, do not let her have
any contact with your own cat until you know for sure that she is not
carrying any viruses such as FIV or whatever.
of course you want to help this poor little mite and I think you
should but do not put bella in any danger.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please don't take this as passing advice, it is *very relevant*..
I applaud everything that you are doing here, & think you should go
all the way, if kitty allows you to catch or trap her..


Definitely take her to the vets first and get her checked out to see
if there are any lurgies about inc Fiv & several other nasty host
viruses & diseases. It is well worth your time!!

I recently almost lost two of my adult cats to feline flu , even
though they were inoculated against it ... & I also lost a litter of
kittens one after the other, because whilst the incubation period was
developing, we couldn't hear, feel or smell it coming, & it wiped them
out.It was more than devastating

I wouldn't want anyone to go what we went through, especially you!
I do the same as you from time to time, & pick kittens up & have them
treated before trying to home them... but in the last instance, It
cost me 4kittens, & nearly my baby birman & her partner Biffy too.

All I did was forget to isolate one animal once, & that was the price.
I found out this yesterday because quite recently I had to have all of
my cats swabbed to find out where the source of infection came from, &
we found out that it was from Lucy(Fur!), a recent solid black
rescue..
I know that she didn't mean to bring it in to our home, & strangely it
doesn't seem to have affected her at all... but it was a hard lesson
learnt there!!

Good Luck, I wish you well too.
PS: Traps work brilliantly, as another poster advised, have one ready
& covered, then make sure that your carrier is fairly handy & open
ready to accept her...
S;o)

On Feb 24, 11:13 am, "sheelagh" wrote:
if you can trap her and take her to a vets asap, do not let her have
any contact with your own cat until you know for sure that she is not
carrying any viruses such as FIV or whatever.
of course you want to help this poor little mite and I think you
should but do not put bella in any danger.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please don't take this as passing advice, it is *very relevant*..
I applaud everything that you are doing here, & think you should go
all the way, if kitty allows you to catch or trap her..

Definitely take her to the vets first and get her checked out to see
if there are any lurgies about inc Fiv & several other nasty host
viruses & diseases. It is well worth your time!!

I recently almost lost two of my adult cats to feline flu , even
though they were inoculated against it ... & I also lost a litter of
kittens one after the other, because whilst the incubation period was
developing, we couldn't hear, feel or smell it coming, & it wiped them
out.It was more than devastating

I wouldn't want anyone to go what we went through, especially you!
I do the same as you from time to time, & pick kittens up & have them
treated before trying to home them... but in the last instance, It
cost me 4kittens, & nearly my baby birman & her partner Biffy too.

All I did was forget to isolate one animal once, & that was the price.
I found out this yesterday because quite recently I had to have all of
my cats swabbed to find out where the source of infection came from, &
we found out that it was from Lucy(Fur!), a recent solid black
rescue..
I know that she didn't mean to bring it in to our home, & strangely it
doesn't seem to have affected her at all... but it was a hard lesson
learnt there!!

Good Luck, I wish you well too.
PS: Traps work brilliantly, as another poster advised, have one ready
& covered, then make sure that your carrier is fairly handy & open
ready to accept her...
S;o)

Thanks to all for your input and interest.
Today is Saturday and/but, I will contact the 'Cat Depot' on Monday
and get the ball rolling (fast) on TAR. God, I hope she is not (very)
sick.
I will continue to post my progress.
Thanks again!
K--