Do I need to let him go?!

I posted about trying to introduce two sets of feral cats. Fast forward...the new male neutered 10 weeks ago has been spraying since being in the house. Easier to manage in the master bath he was in before, but now he is in transition bedroom with a window. He crys and howls sitting at the window and wandering the room, 3 weeks in bedroom with screen door. He sprays while looking at me. I have a log for a scratching post and he lays on it. He has periodic agressive episodes toward his room mate/girlfriend. Which is why I kept him because I trapped him accidentally with this female whose colony was destroyed. He was visiting from a nearby colony to impregnate her. All are fixed now, whew.

After being neutered 10 weeks ago, all cats in house are spay/neuter, and he still sprays and crys. Am I doing him wrong by keeping him in? He is upsetting the others and one of them has now started to spray.

He does have a safe colony that he lived in before I trapped him. He is 4 years old. They have shelter and a caretaker. All in the colony are spay/neutered. I guess it wouldn't be so bad for him to go back. I just feel so bad about how his life is going and how my other feral rescues are regressing. Thanks for your opinions

While most of us at TCS have experience that clearly indicates that cats older than 8 - 10 weeks old (the cut-off used by many TNR organizations) can be socialized, even here we don't recommend trying to bring a cat (other than for health reasons) older than three years old indoors. It's just too hard on everyone, and - as you're seeing - the poor cat will just be miserable.

When you posted before I didn't realize how old the cat(s?) were/are.

If he's got a safe colony to return to, I'd let him go.

for trying to do the right thing for them all,

Laurie

Thanks for the support. He is the oldest. The others were two at 5 months, one at 1 year and the other male is about 2 but we think he was a stray. They have all adapted well. They had nowhere to go so it's a good thing.

My lack of experience let my heart take over and it doesn't seem that was best for him.

He is somehow pulling or losing clumps of hair. I am guessing stress as vet checked him to be healthy.

I can't let him suffer when he has a safe enviroment to go to.

Thanks again.

When they're over three, it is very, very rare that they adapt. Sometimes ill health will bring them successfully inside when they've been a long time part of a colony and so are used to humans.

I know this really tugs at your heart strings, and your heart was certainly in the right place. But he sounds very stressed. Release him near his colony close to feeding time, and I'm sure he'll get back into the swing of things.



Laurie

Thanks again for the advice. I will contact the caretaker of the colony and cooridnate getting him back at her regular feeding times.

Now to get him in a carrier. He is generally a sweet guy and the caretaker of his colony can pet him and he "talks" to her. He is just not happy indoors.

I worried about the cat I trapped with him, but she is already playing through the screen door with her former colony/siblings. A feather toy with the other cats is much more interesting to her than crying at the window. She is young and seems to be adjusting so I hope she will be fine. She already had a litter and at way less than a year old. Never again.

I am so new to cats and have so much to learn, unfortunately most learning is done the hard way. I just want to do what is best for these little ones.
Thank you for sharing your experience with me.

It seems best to let him go back to the lifestyle he was used to. I once brought in a sick, but very tame cat, that just did not want to be inside.

As soon as he got better, and it was spring, he began to cry and cry so that I couldn't sleep at night for it. I finally let him go back outside. He was much happier there.

Good luck with your ferals.