Feral Cats
Posted By: Pinkie on 2006-10-12
In Reply to: Feral kitten - Amy
Some good advice posted here. I sent you an email with some information. I have 2 feral littermates (females) who are now 2-years-old. Takes a lot of patience, but they are worth it. Your kitten sounds like a good candidate. Thank you for trying to help this kitten.
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Having worked with feral cats for many years, best bet is
to get a have a heart trap and catch the cat, go straight to the vet for testing, neutering/spaying, the isolate in a single room and try to start to working with it. It already knows your voice and you are a source of food which is a start. It does take time though, and there are those that just never really come around, but it is worth a try.
Feral kitten
Hi all! I don't post here usually, but have read this board the past 3 months and love it.
I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with feral cats. This kitten is in the park area my mother and I take our evening walk in. We've went up there during the morning and he's not there and we're not sure where he goes exactly but, every evening, there he is playing in the leaves just beyond the fence where a new housing project has been going up. We had seen him when he was very small (6 to 8 weeks old) a couple of months ago for a week or two and then he disappeared until this week. I take him some cat food and water up every evening and he knows my voice enough now not to run too far, but he will not let you close enough to touch him. He mews in the most pathetic way though when you talk to him and just lays there looking at you. The second you get too close, though, he darts off further. I guess I just wondered if anyone had any experience dealing with this and how to maybe get him to trust us a bit faster. It's going to get too cold and snowy soon and I'm afraid the cold weather might do him in since he's so small.
I'll hush up now since I feel I've gone on and on. It's frustrating to want to help something that won't let you.
Thanks girls! 
Not supposed to be my yard cat, feral?
I went yesterday to get some kitties and cats out of a humane society not too far from my home. I work with a rescue group. We have the animals fixed, get their shots and then the people I work with find them new homes, some are given away free just to get them a new chance in life. Ok, so my coworker and I are looking at the ones I got yesterday and 1 mama cat jumps out and goes absolutely wild, escapes out of my home and last night and this morning has been sitting out in the back yard, sometimes on my porch. I have taken feed and water out and I feel really bad about this furry. Has anyone here had any luck with feral animals in rehabilitating them? My coworker told me we can catch her and have her fixed but I would love also to find her a nice home. I have no idea why the humane society even let me have her. They told me she was not very nice. She almost tore the house down yesterday, climbing my blinds, hissing, just wild acting. Maybe we can get her fixed and then find someone who has a farm and make her a mouser. I am down in the dumps right now.
I think cats look beautiful - love pics of cats
They can also be he!! on wheels to live with and a major PITA.
I say this as my dog is barking at a leaf blowing by the front door.....
Cats
My only suggestion would be to have set feeding times for the cats, that way you can monitor which cat is eating what. Just a thought -
Although my cats have started to eat my dogs' food, so I guess I shouldn't be one to give out advice!
cats
Iams has been notorious for cruel treatment of their animals in research - you might want to switch brands.
cats
I have the same problem, getting my cat declawed tomorrow. She has clawed through the leather.
Cats
My sister uses Soft Paws, which you glue on to a cat's claws. She said that they last about 6 weeks. My cat loves to jump on counters and scratch chair legs. I have used Sticky Paws, which is a double-sided tape. I have also heard of products that you can spray on furniture that makes it undesirable, though I haven't tried that myself so I'm not sure if they work.
Cats
What cat food was he on there is a HUGE recall of many many brands of cat food - they changed the source of their wheat gluten and cats and dogs are dying from liver or renal failure - check it out on MSN or CNN . The same manufacturer makes about 60 different brands.
Val Curtiss Boston Terriers Just Bostons
cats
We never had a cat till the kids brought home an abandoned one. He is just like one of the family. I like everybody else would spend money I dont have on him.
Cats
My sister uses Soft Paws with her cats and really likes them. She said that the Soft Paws will fall off about every 6 weeks due to growth of their claws.
We have no more cats
You are going off on ME because I was looking for some suggestions to get HER to understand the destruction her pet has caused.
If it was anyone else but family, I would have shot the dog without hesitation.
As a matter of fact, I have used the pellet gun to pop him in the rear several times. That only keeps him away for a few days at a time.
You can say what you want but if I just went out and shot her dog, that WOULD be like killing her kid to her.
My husband's sister is more important than the cats. We loved our cats but my kids have one aunt. Only one.
Thank God for no more cats
Like I said watch your kids around the chow as the older they get the nastier and more protective they get and are much more aggresive than a lot of other dogs. Even if it were my sister, if her dog did that and she would not accept responsibility for the dog's actions -- would not accept it. My animals are members of my family (I have no kids just step) and my dog is part chow but if she had ever shown agressive behavior in her past 16+ years or had killed a couple of cats, I would have had her put down and hated doing it but would have felt it was necessary. Again, if another dog did that to one of my two cats -- either family member or not -- something would be done especially if it happens more than once. Just my thinking -- again you were asking for suggestions just don't like the obvious ones. Cannot treat this situation nice and sweet like ice cream and cake as it is ugly.
These are cats though
not doggies so dominance in the cattie category? I don’t know but still my sensitive one.
Cats
I had to laugh when I read your post, I have often told my husband that if I had to chose, he'd have to leave. LOL.
3 cats and a dog
Cats names are Bailey, Max, and Scooter. My German Shepherd is Kodiak.
Six cats...sm
Fidget (combination of freaking midget, small when he was born), Dogfood (don't know why, hubby named her), Mother One Eye (obvious, she is the mother of Fidget and has one eye), Big (outside male cat, named after Carrie's Big on SATC), Ellie Ann (she actually looks like an alien cat, changed up the name a bit), and Mr.Pinkas (huge, longhaired boy, loves to sleep in the attic area and comes in with pink insulation all over his backside, hubby said no way to calling him Mr Pink A$$, so Pinkas it is).
cats
 I don't know much about San Francisco....probably too high a risk to let the cats out by themselves. Watching the "real thing" is not quite enough for the felines....I mean, when you got one that can jump 12 feet in the air and snag a red bird (cardinal), beats up moles, chipmunks, and cottomouths (snakes)....that's Napster....I've seen my friend's cats nearly hurt themselves trying to go through a plate glass window after the birds, chipmunks, et al.....it's such a tease. .I've had many, many cats and they would walk for miles with me...Fioma was the best......Right now Napster (12 lbs) and Zeus (120 lb Great Pyreness dog) walk together with me in the morning....I get the most curious looks and smiles from the kids on the school bus seeing the 2 of them together. If you can manage some time to take your cat out to explore and play in the grass (there are leashes for them) you'll find a happier cat. Napster won't even use a litter box...meows at the door or window by my desk to go out. Remember, you don't own them....they own you....you're just a custodian of these sweet beings..Cat.
cats
Just for you San Fran.....Congrats on your new rescue kitty! What's it's name?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8
re: cats
Do you have one of those cat towers? I know they're kind of expensive so I haven't bought any for my cat. What about a bookshelf that they can climb up on? Also my cat loves feathers tied to a string and hanging from doorknobs. She bats at them constantly. My cat tends to sleep all day cause she doesn't have a playmate except for me so she plays when she wants to when everyone is home at night.
cats
 I'm so sorry about this; I am now very sad. I love cats/kittens so much, even though my husband, son, and I are all allergic - only my daughter is not. I will pray for this special kitten. This gets to my very soul.
cats
I, unfortunately, am allergic to cats, as is my husband and son. My daughter is the only one who is not allergic to cats. On a recent outing to dinner in the evening recently, a home we walked by after parking our vehicle had Halloween decorations up, with a live black cat sitting on the porch and looking at me with its glorious green eyes. How fitting for the season. I love it! Cats are so very agile and preternatural, absolutely gorgeous and fascinating to behold. I love them all, even though I cannot be a cat owner. I have a beautiful blue merle sheltie.
outside cats
Please please try to keep you cat indoors. The #1 kiiler of cats is the out-of-doors. They will pee on anything to let you know they are sick. When my daughter was born, my siamese pooped in the doorway of her bedroom every morning for yrs. You can learn to live with it. My sense of smell is totally gone. How old is your cat? Male cats are extremely prone to GU problems. Oh well.
cats
I am so very sorry for the difficult situation that you are now dealing with. I am giving you and your precious cat a long-distance hug.
I absolutely love cats and all of their special qualities, but I, my husband, and one of my children are allergic to them, so I have never had one as a part of our family.
I will pray that you can muster the strength to get through this. God and his angels will take care of this special creature.
Whenever one of our dogs had passed, it was so very difficult, of course. We embrace and so very strongly love them when they are with us, but it hurts so much when it is their time.
cats
I had a cat that loved to catch and play with mice. . One night while I was asleep, the cat decided to play with a mouse it had caught in my bed. . . It is not fun to wake up with a mouse running around on you with a cat jumping up and down trying to catch it. .
no cats here, but....sm
wow, down to only 5 lbs. maybe she (female?) just doesn't feel good and wants to be held and comforted, kind of like your kids when they don't feel good and just want their mommy.
sorry, no cats here, just dogs, but feel for you.
I have to keep my cats out from under the bed, too - sm
but for a different reason... I discovered one of them was peeing under there. Not to mention it was a handy place to run whenever she sensed a major coming-out coming soon! I use the space under the bed for storage anyway, so simply blocked it all off with all my junk: Duffel bags, skate bags, sleeping bags, boxes, large purses I never use, etc. Now neither cat can get under the bed at all.
For your problem, you could try a couple things. One is to get a 'platform' bed. Then the cat can't get to the box springs. (You can even do away with the box spring altogether - don't need one with a platform bed.) If you don't want a platform bed, you could get creative with some pieces of wood, like maybe 1-inch or less thick x whatever width will close the gap, and make a border that goes around the base of the bed. If you use dust-ruffles, they'd cover it up. If not, you could paint, wallpaper, or (?) the wood and make a pretty faux base for the bed that's cat-proof.
OR... you could go to Ikea or some other store that sells cool, space-saving stuff, and get those drawers/boxes/containers, etc. made for using space under the bed. You could create a lot of storage space under there, and make it impossible for the cat to get to the mattress.
not all cats pay off...
we had 2 cats. The good one (George) died. 6 months after George died, we were overrun by mice. They got in our oven and peed and pooed all over the insulation (?) in it. We cleaned that up so it wouldn't smell when we turned the oven on and hired an exterminator at $40 per month to keep the mice away. I can't believe what a loser cat we got - will not keep away the mice, sometimes pees and poos on things (because of seizures) and he doesn't want to be petted.
my cats
I had a 2 yo male and then adopted a 2 yo female. I was told to try to pet both of them at the same time in a gentle, comforting, easy manner - at the same time is the key. The female I adopted is a sweetie so that helped, but they are fine. They play together and eat together now. They never cuddle up with each other but seem to be fine.
Cats
I heard moth balls do work, but they are very poisonous if a cat or dog ingests them, or if you have small children that might want to play with them.
Cats are cautious. I don't think
you'll have any luck approaching him. The trick will be to get him to get curious and come up to you. This works best inside 4 walls, of course. A friend of mine got a kitten that wasn't friendly and she didn't think he was tame. I just put him in a room with him and worked at my desk, and next thing you know he was climbing my pants for petting. I had good luck with some kittens that were about 7 weeks old (guessing), but after that they get all coordinated and quick, LOL. Seriously, if it's getting cold where you are, he'll need shelter of some sort.
Love these cats, but
I have 3 cats and don't know which 1 of my furkids is trying to claw my leather couch but I need to know if any of you have a similar problem and how do you handle if you don't catch the "rat." Any treatment I can do for the couch? It is not scratched all the way through, just see where the scratches are. Thanks.
We don't know....cats are unpredictable..
The cat had never been leashed. When he put the leash on the cat didn't like it of course but he was able to get it on, but once they got outside after a few minutes the cat totally flipped out like something you'd see on one of those shows *Animals gone wild* for lack of a better description, just totally out of control and even attacked/scratched my father in law and he had a heck of a time trying to calm the cat down and get it back inside. Maybe the scents or something, we really don't know. This is a very well behaved cat with a normally very pleasant demeanor which is why he thought it would not be a problem in the first place.
Cats definitely need something called
xx
I used gravy for cats...sm
My cat had to go on vet-prescribed cat food for recurrent urinary tract blockage. He refused to eat the stuff until I added some gravy bought at the pet store. It has vitamins and minerals for cats. It is pricey, though. I weaned the cat from it gradually and now only give it to him once in a while as a treat. Good luck!
Cats eat birds.
I no longer put feeders anywhere near my yard but I'm not going to punish my cat for eating a bird.
uh.....keep your cats inside where
they are safe from ALL the bad stuff that lurks outside.
I'm afraid I don't know cats...sm
Nearly as well as I know dogs, so I can't answer your question about whether it's normal or not (the hardened nipples) but it doesn't sound normal. It can't hurt to call the vet and ask.
I would also suggest that you make an appt. (if you haven't already) to get her spayed ASAP, because she can and very likely will go into heat again right away since it's that time of year (some people call the warmer months 'kitten season.')
I happened to find this website yesterday, while looking for something else: http://marvistavet.com/html/body_giving_birth_to_kittens.html
Here is a quote from it:
>> Nursing the litter generally suppresses the return to cycling but the average female cat is back in heat about a month after delivery of the litter. If she has access to a male cat, she will likely become pregnant before she is finished weaning the current litter. >>
Wow, before she's even finished weaning the current litter? Amazing (and a little shocking?!)
If you go to your regular vet, you can probably get her in to be spayed pretty quickly, but it will cost more than a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. (Might want to get her teeth cleaned too if she needs it, since she'll be under anesthetic anyway, and the anesthesia is usually the biggest part of the cost.)
If you go to a low-cost spay/neuter clinic it will cost less, but you might not be able to get an appt for 2-3 weeks or more. If she's in heat again by then, they will either not do the surgery, or (more likely) they will charge a little bit more for it because it makes the surgery a little more complicated (increased risk of bleeding when they're in heat).
I hope she's okay as far as her nipples. Can you let us know/give an update?
Cats named Bob
We name almost all our cats Bob, but we have last names, which we call them by like:
Marley, Bob
Eubanks, Bob
Dylan, Bob
Barker, Bob
and my friend had a Maine Coon named Joe Bob! He was huge!
We cats here too, but currently don't have one. Maine Coons are darling.
Declawing cats
I was in the same position you were in. It was either declaw one of my cats (one always used the scratching post and caused no problems) or get rid of him. He caused hundreds of dollars of damage tearing up our wood bansters and bay window. I was totally against it, but I did have it done and he had no problems at all. He's also an indoor cat. I know those who declaw their cats will get a lot of slamming from those who are against it, but you have to do what's right in your situation.
Cats are too cute!
Thought I'd share with the cat lovers - my cats love to lay on my desk while I'm working and sometimes sit in front of the monitor and watch the words come up. After watching one of them fidget and squirm trying to get comfortable on this hard wooden desk, I went and got a towel and folded it up on my desk. This morning my little one jumped up and, after sitting in front of the monitor and driving me crazy for a few minutes, curled up on the towel and has been fast asleep for hours. I got cats thinking that they would not need as much attention as dogs (I love dogs too), but these two cats are the most needy things I have ever seen! Anyone else have cats that are like that?
2 cats and a sheltie
The cats are Lucky and Tripp and the dog is Casey.
2 cats, 3 dogs
Cats are Jimbones and Milo. Dogs are Presley, Emmet and Izzy.
Well of course; cats are royalty, after all!
It is very important that they be free to stretch out to 3 times their usual body length in order to get a good 16-hours' sleep!
Bahahaha! I remember it well. My doggies sleep on the floor or their dog beds because people beds are too hot for them.
Bored cats
 Catnip!! It doesn't last too long, but for a while they'll be very busy and happy.
Haven't had cats in a while, but
what I learned was that the most likely thing is a UTI. The cat thinks the pain with urination can be escaped by finding another place to do it.
Or there has been a change in the litter and the cat doesn't like how it feels on the feet or smells.
Or there has been some big change that has rattled the cat, such as a new pet introduced or you moved or I suppose noisy construction, or something major like that.
A cat behaviorist said if infection has been ruled out, the best thing was to offer several litter boxes with different litters and see what the cat likes.
(Cats always want us to remember they are royalty and expect life to quietly revolve around them, lol).
I have heard of cats using the
bathtub drain for urination. If only my cat had done that instead of urinating in our bed!
I don't care for cats either...
They are just evil little creatures. Honestly, they are scary to me with their freaky eyes...not everyone has to love cats (or animals for that matter) just because some do...to each her own, right? However, stating one's dislike for cats (or anything) over and over is ridiculous, so I do see your point there.
Men hate cats?
Gosh, please don't tell the love of my life, my friend, lover, sunshine, everything that has meaning in life husband that- he adopted my 2 furries and brought them home for me. My husband is my passion- the furries come second.
Older cats -
I have had a cat start doing this at 14 years of age and another at 16. The vets tended to think they were losing their hearing and also becoming somewhat demented and confused, but that as long as they were happy to let them do their thing. I did just that...You might also feed her any kind of meat baby food or a good canned food to get her interested in eating. If her sense of smell is going it is hard for them to want to eat. You might also add Pedialyte (plain) to her water to make sure she is getting a good amount of electrolytes. Just love her and cherish all the special moments. :-)
With all of my cats I have ended up
having to put them down because of pain and discomfort issues - was always scared I would be in your shoes at one point, and still may be - have 2 more now. I never could figure out which would be worst - making the decision or waiting. Hope it is the best it can be for both of you.
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