First-time rescuer needs advice :)

I have been feeding several semi-feral cats for going on 7 months now. When I first started they were very skittish but now approach my boyfriend and I, rub up against our legs, and run to meet us and meow whenever we walk outside and if we're just outside socializing and enjoying the weather, will hang around until we go back inside.

One of them got into antifreeze or rat poison this past Wednesday and became very, very ill-- I took him to an emergency clinic and after about 4 hours of trying, they came out and told me that they couldn't do anything for him. I was devastated and I do NOT want the same thing to happen to his brother and sister. I have a vet appointment for the pair this coming Tues. and have been in contact with a local animal rescue agency and individuals from AlleyCatAllies in my area.

I am going to try and see if the pair can be socialized since they have been around humans since they were very young (they're only barely a year old now). The problem is that I'm in a 1/1 apartment with an existing feline family member. I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but I'd like to try. The goal is to foster them until they're socialized and get them into an appropriate home: my apartment is just too small to keep 3 cats on a permanent basis.

Does anyone who's done this before, especially with limited space, have any advice to give? My contact with my local animal rescue agency has donated 50 dollars towards getting them checked up with a vet and has a Doberman-sized crate she's offered to let me borrow to get them settled in and recover from surgery.

Thanks!

That's wonderful your local rescue has donated money!

Could you work on socializing these kitties in your bathroom (isolated from your other kitty until you get the health check for contagious diseases, parasites, cleared)? Not sure if such a large crate would fit in your bathroom though. You may want to try to reach out to other foster groups and see if they would be willing to take in these kitties as well if you're worried your space is too small (and if no one is interested in adopting the kitties). You may find a no-kill shelter after you work on socializing the kitties. Or just a larger foster network.

So wonderful that you're looking after these kitties!

Hopefully others will chime in with advice too! I'm not an expert...

It is a wonderful thing you are doing. Use the crate - ideally in a room away from your cat, so he or she is safe from any germs they may have. If not, use the bathroom and let the two newcomers have it as their room. Again, the crate is ideal because it will keep them confined. You'll need to do that, initially at least.

In any case, a vet check is vital - you need to clear them of any fleas, ticks, earmites, etc. They'll also need initial shots. Once they are cleared, you can introduce them to your cat. SLOWLY, always take things slowly.

Keep in mind they may freak out in the crate or their room - cats hate anything new, so they're going to be grumpy for a few days until they realize they aren't going to be harmed. Again, patience is the key. Don't chase them or try to force them to come to you. This is all about their timetable, not yours. Frustrating but so rewarding.

The biggest thing is routine - feed them and clean their box at the same time every day. If you use their room at all, try to keep your activities low-key - hard to do when you need to shower, I know!

Bless you for helping them. Lots of others will chime in soon, I know.

I'm so sorry you lost a kitty.

And thank you for wanting to rescue these two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have questions before I have suggestion.

What's a 1/1 apartment? One bed, one bath? A studio? I assume your existing kitty is allowed everywhere all the time? isolating him/her from the bedroom would be a problem?

We live in an RV. We have seven cats, all rescued ferals. Most of ours were younger. But what we did when bringing in new fosters (or cats we adopted), is we'd take them to the vet to have them vaccinated, spayed/neutered, dewormed/flead/ticked &etc. We would board them at the vet for the amount of time it took to do whatever. Last year we adopted Billy, and almost two-year old feral. He had to stay at the vet for almost two weeks, because they had to treat him for giardia, and we had to make sure he had the all-clear before we brought him home. They gave us a discount on the boarding and the service, but we paid for the meds.

That way we didn't have to worry about him passing along any health risks to our existing crew - if he had a URI or something, it would have flared up during that time. If all they need is to be treated for ticks/fleas, we'd leave them at the vet until the vet felt kitty wasn't going to get sick and was carrying no more ticks or fleas or whatever.

....and then by the time we brought them home, just being out of the vet was such a relief, that even though the new home was scary - it smelled like other cats but without any fear smell like at the vet that it was already an improvement, you know?

But our bathroom is not large enough to have a cage in it - it isn't large enough for anything but a little little kitten.

So we're not able to separate our cats for intro's or anything for more than the first few hours, really.

How old is your existing kitty?

Is your bathroom large enough for the cage?

How freaked out will she be if she's locked out of the bedroom for a few days or few weeks?

I think these are inputs I'd need before knowing what to suggest.