Welcome to the family, Miss Cally!

sandtigress

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Its late, so I will fill in more later, but I finally got my little feral Miss Calamity Jane, or Cally, for short, in the house!

Took me about an hour to get her in and then into the spare room, but she is now safely ensconced and very unhappy.

Time for me to practice my feral taming skills!

A picture of the poor baby - she is not happy!



But I know pretty soon, she'll come around to the life of a pampered, indoor little queen!

More pictures in the morning - I have to get to bed, but I was excited and wanted to share!
 
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sandtigress

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Okay, here's the longer update.

Here's my original post on Cally - http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ighlight=cally


I came home from the lab last night to see her hanging out in front of my house. She'll let me pet her when she comes to the back of the house, so I decided to see if she would come to me in a different place. Sat around for maybe 15-20 minutes - she would come close, but not close enough for me to pet her.

So, I decided to take a little gamble and opened my front door, where the boys were waiting for me as usual. They all just love each other - the boys will sit and watch while she eats, and she rubs up against the screen because she can't get to them. I'm lucky in that my boys don't run out the door the minute its opened!

She considers coming in...


The boys start flirting




Hmm, food is nice. Maybe I'll stay awhile for that...



She finally wandered in far enough that I was able to close the door behind her. Okay, it wasn't the nicest way to get her in the house, but I figured I should take the chance while I had it. She has been coming around less often lately, and I'm always afraid she'll get hit by a car or something.

I put the boys in my bedroom - their meeting was fairly cordial, and they've smelled each other and interacted a little through the screen before, but I wasn't going to take too many chances that she has something she could give to them.

I actually managed to pick her up and put her in my spare room upstairs, where she found a little hiding spot, and I snapped that first picture I put up. She wants to be outside, I know, but she will eventually realize that being an indoor kitty is a good thing!
 

gemlady

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When I brought Topaz in, she spent her first two weeks hiding in the basement and coming up only to eat. After two weeks she decided she liked Mom and moved into her room. As far as she was concerned, I was just a two legged can opener.

Welcome to the good life, Callie!
 

myfamiliars

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Wait, she's the purty gal Billy has been wooing through the window and screen? Aw, it's great that he coaxed her inside. Sniff sniff, that's quite the love story.
 
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sandtigress

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Well, she told me off yesterday morning when I went in to check on her.
But last evening, when I went to sit in the room for a bit, she meowed at first but then quieted down and actually moved out of her hiding spot - but only into another one.

As of this morning, she's eaten a little, so I left her more food. Glad she's eating at least! I have a proper spare litter box cleaned out and ready for her to use tonight - I had to use a makeshift one as I realized after catching her that I didn't have one around!

For those of you who have taken in ferals - do they catch on to the litterbox idea fairly quickly, or should I be looking into cat attract litter or something similar?

I'll keep putting pictures of her and her progress up, but for now, you wouldn't see much, as she's still scared and nervous, being in a new place and all that.
 

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I've had some kitties come through my house that are semi-feral - they've all caught onto the litterbox. At some really feral cats at the shelter I've seen pick up litterpan usage.
 

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She really is beautiful. No wonder your boys like her. They must be telling her, "Look we get fed all the time, no one chases us, we are always warm & there's no fighting to survive. It's great here, you'll love it."
 

lil maggie

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Originally Posted by gemlady

As far as she was concerned, I was just a two legged can opener.



Miss Cally sure is pretty! She'll settle down and feel right at home soon
 

valanhb

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She is a beauty! Your boys are just amazing to still be so friendly to her when she's actually in their territory.

About the litterbox, if she's never used one she may not know what to do with it. If that seems to be the case, get some organic potting soil and put that in the litterbox. She's used to using the ground/dirt for her bathroom so she'll know what to do with that.
Be sure to use the potting soil and not dirt from outside, since you don't want the creepy-crawlies in your home. Once she gets the hang of the box, start mixing in litter (1/4 litter to 3/4 dirt, 1/2 & 1/2, etc.) and she'll get it.


But if she's ever been inside, she'll know what to do with it.
 
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sandtigress

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Its funny -they only like her. Well, Billy has liked a male that I cat-sat for briefly but they didn't get to meet. Billy took to Cally right away, and short of a small bit of hissing from "I only really like mommy" Chay, he likes her too.

There is a big black feral who comes sometimes to steal food from Cally's outside bowl - I can always tell when he is around because Billy suddenly starts yowling and growling from the kitchen. Then meowmy has to come and scare "big black cat" away.
They do not like him at all!


Thanks for the potting soil tip - don't know why I didn't think of that! I will pick some up when I go to the store. She doesn't know how to use the litterbox yet. I wish I had a tiled place other than my only bathroom to keep her in - would be easier to clean up after, but since I only have my full bathroom and a very tiny half-bath, neither is ideal for keeping her in. I'll just have to pull the carpet cleaner out later when she's given the run of the house! That's what its there for, after all.

I think I am going to go ahead and make her a vet appointment for next week. I wasn't sure whether I should get that done early, or give her a little time to relax first and then go for it, but after reading your feral article, valahnb, I suppose its best to do so early. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have fleas, and she let me pet her outside so there are no obvious ticks. Probably worms, but I wonder if she hasn't been spayed already. I've seen her around for almost six months now, and never seen her pregnant, which seems unusual for a feral. Its possible though that she's just a baby herself - she is pretty tiny, I would guess five or six pounds maximum. I'll see if the vet can help me estimate her age when I bring her in.

She's still in hiding, and hissed at me briefly when I tried to open the window to vent her room out abit, not that I'm expecting anything different at this point. Glad to say that she is eating and drinking well though, and going to the bathroom.

Billy wants to meet her, but I keep telling him he can't until she gets to see the vet, and probably not for awhile after that, until she's more comfortable. But he just likes meeting new kitties! He's such a funny little guy.
 

valanhb

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When you make the appointment, be sure to tell them that she's a feral that you recently captured. It's better for them to be too prepared for a screaming wild-cat and get a too-scared-to-move cat (that's how my Ophelia is at the vet, and she was a feral kitten) than the other way around. You have no idea how she'll react to the vet, so it's better to be over-prepared. Have a game plan for getting her in a carrier, too. With Ophelia, the only way we can grab her is to put/toss a towel over her and while she's temporarily stunned by being covered, grab her and QUICKLY put in the carrier.
 
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sandtigress

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I was all set to complain about how hard it is to find organic potting soil around here, when I go to check up on her this evening, and she's peed in the litterbox with normal litter in there!
And she almost got the poop in.
My smart little girl may not need me to get her potting soil tomorrow!
 
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sandtigress

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Cally came out of hiding while I was in the room this morning!!!!!
Marched right out, rubbed on everything and did some roll-overs for me. Maybe she's in heat.
Its possible, but she's always been like that, every time I've seen her. In any case, I'll try to get some pictures tonight if she'll come out again. And she is using her litter box like a champ. I'm already in love with this girl - she is so smart!
 
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sandtigress

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A few more of little Miss Cally.

This is her cube, next to her window and her hidey corner, where she sits and watches me and listens to me read to her.



She looks pretty relaxed, doesn't she?



And here today, after her vet visit.


I has a boo boo. :-(

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get the bandage off of her...I guess we'll see in the next day or so if she'll let me near her, or if she'll handle it herself.

She's so cute, I just love her!
 

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That second photo looks more like, "come near me again lady & I'll show you what feral kittys can do." I think she was still a little mad about the vet trip in that photo.
 
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