I just came across this site and I hope someone on here can help. We have a stray cat we've been feeding for about a year. About 2 months back, we started letting her in the house. She loves our maine coon male cat Geep. We have named her Patience because it has been hard to get her to trust us. She had gotten to the point we could pet her and she'd walk all over the apartment purring constantly. She didn't like for us to close the door, but she got to where she'd tolerate it to a certain point. She never liked to be picked up and held. Today, we called the vet to get a sedative prescribed and they wanted us to bring her in for shots. She was already in the house with the door closed. My husband put on gloves and a long sleeved shirt, but she really, really freaked out when we tried to put her in a carrier. She climbed the walls. Her tail puffed up. She wailed. And eventually she hid behind the microwave. We tried 3 times to get her in the carrier and she clawed up my husband's arm through the sweatshirt. I opened the door and she ran out. That was around 2 or 3 pm. She showed back up on our porch at 6 pm. She's more cautious, but she has come inside and let me pet her a little. This is Tuesday. We move on Sunday. Does anyone have any suggestions? We don't want to just leave her behind to fend for herself as she has come to rely on us. Where we are moving (5 hours away) there is a storage building behind the house. We could keep her in there and once she calmed down there is a doggy door to it we could unlock to let her come and go as she pleased. The problem is how to get her up to our new home and how to get her to calm down enough to stay. Also, my mom is concerned if we put her in a carrier with metal she might freak out so much she'd break her teeth off. Please help!!! Thanks in advance, Heather and Paul
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Emergency--trying to rescue a stray but moving in 5 days
- Thread starter whigrose
- Start Date
Are you planning on eventually bringing this girl inside and making her a pet, or is the storage shed the permanent solution? The biggest problem with moving with a stray cat is that the cat knows her territory, and unless she was inside for a couple weeks right away after the move, she would more than likely wander off in search of her old territory (and without knowing the new area, she has a high chance of not being able to find her way back to your new house).
As for breaking off her teeth, many people have to put ferals in all metal traps to TNR them, and I haven't heard of a cat biting the bars that hard. Will the vet prescribe a sedative without you being able to get her in for those shots they wanted? For a longer trip, that may be best so she doesn't get sick/injured from the stress.
As for breaking off her teeth, many people have to put ferals in all metal traps to TNR them, and I haven't heard of a cat biting the bars that hard. Will the vet prescribe a sedative without you being able to get her in for those shots they wanted? For a longer trip, that may be best so she doesn't get sick/injured from the stress.
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If you can, leave your bathroom door open and leave out special treats on the floor; tuna, bits of cream cheese balls, stinky mackeral or sardines in water not oil, bits of KFC- once she is inside eating, slip inside and shut the door (you have to be quick, you have to steady your breathing, you can't be anxious about it) or she will pick up that something is happening. Have the carrier in the room already in the bathtub or shower on it's end door open and covered up with a towel. Once you are inside the room and the door is shut, move very slowly- but get a towel and using the towel herd her into a corner. Wrap the towel around her and carefully lower her into the carrier, shut the door quickly, drape the towel around the carrier and just leave her be. Unless you have knotted the towel, she will work free of it. Just let her decompress and call the vet to get her in quickly. Leave her completly alone until the vet visit, let the vet deal with her.
If you have two bathrooms, set up one for her to stay in and use the same method to capture her. Don't look her straight in the eye or she will go to war with you. Just move slowly keep your stress down and don't play the "what if's" in your head. If she isn't spayed, get her spayed before you leave. Some animal shelters offer special discounts or coupons so call around. I had one boy here by the name of Cyclone and he earned that name because he also climbed the walls and ran laps over my head. He destroyed one room and after his neuter and some TLC from me, my granddaughter was able to dress him in her doll hats. So it can be done.
If you have two bathrooms, set up one for her to stay in and use the same method to capture her. Don't look her straight in the eye or she will go to war with you. Just move slowly keep your stress down and don't play the "what if's" in your head. If she isn't spayed, get her spayed before you leave. Some animal shelters offer special discounts or coupons so call around. I had one boy here by the name of Cyclone and he earned that name because he also climbed the walls and ran laps over my head. He destroyed one room and after his neuter and some TLC from me, my granddaughter was able to dress him in her doll hats. So it can be done.
I had a feral barn cat that was semi-friendly and I had to get him more tame because the barn was closing and he needed to be moved.
I started at least two weeks ahead of the date I wanted to move him. I started feeding him in a medium sized plastic dog crate only and put his bowls in that everyday. The first two days, he wouldn't go in with me watching. but I know he was going in and eating the food because I would go back and check about an hour after feeding and he would be sitting near the crate looking satisfiedand the food was gone. On the third day, he willingly walked into the crate without hesitation. During this two week period, I keep the crate door held open with a heavy stone holding the door open at all times. So he got so used to seeing the crate and going in and out at will. When it was a couple days off of closing the door, I would practice slowly moving the stone out of the way but not closing the door. Then on the day of the move, I just moved the stone and quietly closed the door. I was so surprised when he didn't even freak out. He was nervous for sure, but most ferals will thrash for a few seconds and then just freeze in the corner and try to disappear. But they do not go nuts chewing on the bars, at least the ones I have trapped so far. Then I put a large towel over the crate and moved him into my truck and off we went.
With only five days, this technique might not give you enough time. Some people have used large wire dog crates with a cat carrier left inside of it with the door open of the cat carrier and tied to the side of the wire dog crate. You start to feed in the wire dog crate and get them used to going in that first. After they are comfortable doing that. You close that door. Most cats will run into the small cat carrier to hide. Then you untie the cat carrier door from the outside of the large dog crate. Take a yard stick and slide it through the slats to close the carrier door and keep in place. Then you open up the wire dog crate and reach in and secure the carrier shut. Pull out the yardstick and you have your cat in a small cat carrier. Again, you need a few more days than five to accompish this. It just depends on the cat. And this technique usually only works for semi-feral cats who already have some trust in the feeder. Totally feral cats would need trapping. But this cat is already doing so well with you two. I just wish you had a few more days!! Good luck and I am sure other's will have more ideas too
I started at least two weeks ahead of the date I wanted to move him. I started feeding him in a medium sized plastic dog crate only and put his bowls in that everyday. The first two days, he wouldn't go in with me watching. but I know he was going in and eating the food because I would go back and check about an hour after feeding and he would be sitting near the crate looking satisfiedand the food was gone. On the third day, he willingly walked into the crate without hesitation. During this two week period, I keep the crate door held open with a heavy stone holding the door open at all times. So he got so used to seeing the crate and going in and out at will. When it was a couple days off of closing the door, I would practice slowly moving the stone out of the way but not closing the door. Then on the day of the move, I just moved the stone and quietly closed the door. I was so surprised when he didn't even freak out. He was nervous for sure, but most ferals will thrash for a few seconds and then just freeze in the corner and try to disappear. But they do not go nuts chewing on the bars, at least the ones I have trapped so far. Then I put a large towel over the crate and moved him into my truck and off we went.
With only five days, this technique might not give you enough time. Some people have used large wire dog crates with a cat carrier left inside of it with the door open of the cat carrier and tied to the side of the wire dog crate. You start to feed in the wire dog crate and get them used to going in that first. After they are comfortable doing that. You close that door. Most cats will run into the small cat carrier to hide. Then you untie the cat carrier door from the outside of the large dog crate. Take a yard stick and slide it through the slats to close the carrier door and keep in place. Then you open up the wire dog crate and reach in and secure the carrier shut. Pull out the yardstick and you have your cat in a small cat carrier. Again, you need a few more days than five to accompish this. It just depends on the cat. And this technique usually only works for semi-feral cats who already have some trust in the feeder. Totally feral cats would need trapping. But this cat is already doing so well with you two. I just wish you had a few more days!! Good luck and I am sure other's will have more ideas too
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- #6
My husband called a vet tech he knows. Her suggestion was to sneak up on Patience and grab her with a large towel. Wrap the towel around her. Then, put her towel and all into a large rubbermaid storage container we have. It is much larger than the small cat carrier we tried to put her in to go to the vet's office. Once she was inside, we'd put the lid on quickly and wrap the whole thing with the packing tape we bought which has fibers in it to make it stronger. This will keep her from seeing anything and we could just drill small air holes in the container for her. She'll probably ride up with me since she seems to have bonded more with me than my husband, so we're hoping my voice will help calm her. Also, we're going to put the blanket she slept on outside on our porch in the bottom of the container so it will smell familiar. That's the plan, though with my mom, grandma, two dogs, and a bunch of movers here we don't know how well it will work. I hope she shows up and it goes off without a hitch.
Now once we get her home, yes, I'm concerned about her running off. There isn't really a single room we can close her in inside the house, which is why I thought of the storage building. My mom used to keep a cat inside there, but she also said a window was broken which could give Patience a way out. We could try to keep her inside, but this makes me even more nervous than the thought of moving her. I would like to keep her somewhere for at least a week, then when we let her out, have food bowls set up every 5 feet or so leading to the storage shed to encourage her to stay and check it out. Still, I'm afraid she'll panic no matter how long we keep her inside.
I'm really torn about what is best for her. Since I'm in an apt complex, there's always a chance she could stay here and find others to care for her. On the other hand, it isn't a guarantee. But what is a guarantee is that the road in front of the complex is being widened as we speak. What used to be residential is turning into a major road of 4 lanes with a turning lane. What the stupid master's golf course wants, the stupid masters golf course gets!
That adds danger and could scare her when it is done a year to two from now. Plus, after getting scared from the attempted vet trip yesterday, she recovered today. I had to kick her out at midnight to go to bed. She was sitting beside me on the couch having a bath and almost falling asleep. I've just never run into a situation like this before. She isn't exactly feral all the way, but she isn't an indoor kitty either. And with us moving, it presents a serious challenge.
Now once we get her home, yes, I'm concerned about her running off. There isn't really a single room we can close her in inside the house, which is why I thought of the storage building. My mom used to keep a cat inside there, but she also said a window was broken which could give Patience a way out. We could try to keep her inside, but this makes me even more nervous than the thought of moving her. I would like to keep her somewhere for at least a week, then when we let her out, have food bowls set up every 5 feet or so leading to the storage shed to encourage her to stay and check it out. Still, I'm afraid she'll panic no matter how long we keep her inside.
I'm really torn about what is best for her. Since I'm in an apt complex, there's always a chance she could stay here and find others to care for her. On the other hand, it isn't a guarantee. But what is a guarantee is that the road in front of the complex is being widened as we speak. What used to be residential is turning into a major road of 4 lanes with a turning lane. What the stupid master's golf course wants, the stupid masters golf course gets!
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Do you have her now-if not I would set a trap up and trap her and use that as an all in one visit the vet(sedative can be given through bars shots/check up/is she spayed? and put back in and then move her with a towel over to the new home.
I have had a cat try to escape a dog crate but MAKE SURE THE TRAY PAN LOCK IS IN PLACE and he was fine in the cage...feeding him was interesting. I trapped him in a 30 dog crate and after he settled threw in a tiny litter box and towel best I could then covered the cage cause he sprayed ALL OVER. I own an suv so I brought the entire thing in to get him neutered
Maybe able to get a dog crate on craigslist/petsmart what not.
I would take her if you know your her main person...if shes more the apts cat and cared for by others I would consider leaving her if I could get a few ppl to tell me theyd watch her.
I have had a cat try to escape a dog crate but MAKE SURE THE TRAY PAN LOCK IS IN PLACE and he was fine in the cage...feeding him was interesting. I trapped him in a 30 dog crate and after he settled threw in a tiny litter box and towel best I could then covered the cage cause he sprayed ALL OVER. I own an suv so I brought the entire thing in to get him neutered
Maybe able to get a dog crate on craigslist/petsmart what not.
I would take her if you know your her main person...if shes more the apts cat and cared for by others I would consider leaving her if I could get a few ppl to tell me theyd watch her.
