how long can a cat not drink??

Hello, I trapped a feral, he seemed rather tame, that's why I trapped
him and wanted to try and re-socialize him. He is quite tame, he lets
me stroke him and does not growl too much, does not bite, just hisses
from time to time. When I saw him in the parking lot of my workplace,
he was readily accepting food from me.

But now, in my condo, I confined him to my bathroom, he is sitting
under the sink, with food and water and litterbox, and he will not
touch water. He lets me touch him and even hold him, but simply does
not want to eat or drink. I am worried that he will dehydrate - it's
been 30 hours since I trapped him.

Should I return him to the parking lot where he is comfortable? - I
don't want the poor thing to dehydrate to death because I want to
socialize him...

Mark

On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:23:42 -0800 (PST), Mark_Galeck
wrote:

Hello, I trapped a feral, he seemed rather tame, that's why I trapped
him and wanted to try and re-socialize him. He is quite tame, he lets
me stroke him and does not growl too much, does not bite, just hisses
from time to time. When I saw him in the parking lot of my workplace,
he was readily accepting food from me.

But now, in my condo, I confined him to my bathroom, he is sitting
under the sink, with food and water and litterbox, and he will not
touch water. He lets me touch him and even hold him, but simply does
not want to eat or drink. I am worried that he will dehydrate - it's
been 30 hours since I trapped him.

Should I return him to the parking lot where he is comfortable? - I
don't want the poor thing to dehydrate to death because I want to
socialize him...

Mark

Tough call. I'd worry far more about not eating. though. He should
have a box or something where he can go to hide. I've had cats in the
same situtation but they do eat. Cats get most of their moisture from
food - you are giving him wet food right, not dry?

Give him some water (not oil) from a can of tuna fish. In fact, put in
some of the tuna. That's not good for a prolonged period of time but
it won't hurt for a little while.

Well, he won't eat wet or dry, so I stopped leaving wet food for him
because it was getting spoiled. I will try tuna liquid as you
suggested.

On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:13:06 -0800 (PST), Mark_Galeck
wrote:


Well, he won't eat wet or dry, so I stopped leaving wet food for him
because it was getting spoiled. I will try tuna liquid as you
suggested.

Let us know how it goes.

Well, he is not drinking or eating still, I have made up my mind that
in a day or two I will have to return him to the parking lot, unless I
can find him a permanent human. I have already 3 cats, 2 of them I
socialized from ferals, but I can't keep this one. I thought he was a
little less feral, but as it is, he needs someone to bond with from
the get-go. I sent messages to friends and a veggie group around
here, we will see. I will post a separate message here in a moment,
maybe someone in Bay Area would want to socialize a feral. Mark

On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:02:05 -0800 (PST), Mark_Galeck
wrote:

Well, he is not drinking or eating still, I have made up my mind that
in a day or two I will have to return him to the parking lot, unless I
can find him a permanent human. I have already 3 cats, 2 of them I
socialized from ferals, but I can't keep this one. I thought he was a
little less feral, but as it is, he needs someone to bond with from
the get-go. I sent messages to friends and a veggie group around
here, we will see. I will post a separate message here in a moment,
maybe someone in Bay Area would want to socialize a feral. Mark

Any news?