Need Some Advice for a Feral Cat ASAP

There are a number of people here who work with ferals, and I'm sure one of them will be along soon with some ideas for you. I haven't worked with ferals, but I'm not sure how well it would work trying to socialize the kitty in the environment you describe. He/she really needs a place that is completely separate from the other animals. Do you have your own bathroom where you could set it up? Leaving the cat shut up under your bed doesn't sound like a great idea. Is there room under there for food, water, litter box, bed, etc.?

Bless you for taking this kitty in. I really hope you're able to help him/her.

Part of the problem is that you don't know if this is truly a feral cat or just a scared kitty. It's not a good idea at the beginning to let the cat out in the same room as the kittens and dog even when you're there. If it's a true feral it could injure the other animals.

How is the kitty doing now? I assume it's still in the trap. Is the trap big enough for you to put food and a litter box in it?

I've done introductions by putting the new kitty (not feral) in a large dog crate with food, water, litter, and a shelf for her to sit on. I drape a blanket over the end where the shelf is so she can hide away if she wants. Also, the crate is large enough that my other cats can't reach her when she stays in the middle. (They mostly ignored her anyway).

How old are the kittens? Are they running around your room or are they still contained?

Hi and thank you for taking in this cat. You probably don't know it's age? But it sounds like it is not a kitten. Can you get a hold of another large cage? Maybe the shelter you volunteer for has a spare? It has to be big enough for litter box, small cat carrier for the cat to hide in (you can remove the door on this carrier or tie the door open to the side of the cage) food and water bowls. Or you could use your closet, but I would suggest a cage in the very beginning stages of taming. In the closet, he will never see what is going on in your room and won't get desensitized to you and your pets if he is shut off in the closet. Plus, you will have to spend a lot of time in the closet talking and reading to the cat. I have a large cat playpen that i used for my ferals. They stayed in the cage until I could pet them and pick them up. This took two to three weeks. After that time I moved them into a safe room with no hiding places. You really don't want them getting under the box spring of your bed or a hole in your couch. You will never see the cat and it will take a very very long time to tame it, if ever. Also, with the cage, the cat is forced to watch you and your other pets but in his own space and hiding box. And believe me he will watch. And over a matter of days will begin to trust you as his caretaker. Trust is the bottom line you need to reach with taming ferals. They are all different and some come along quicker than others. It is a long process, but is very rewarding when you start to make progress.

There is more I want to say, but it is late and I need some ZZZ's. So I will check in with you tomorrow too. You can do this and we will help you. There are others that will have great suggestions to help you too. It is wonderful you are doing this for this cat




First thing is to get the cat to the vet for testing, neuter and shots. Then he can home to the cage you have set up or the closet. But

Hi there, and bless you for caring! I have answered your concerns within your posting


Yes, they can indeed be socialized, but it won't happen overnight. It takes time and you need to work with the cat, not expect the cat to respond to what you want him to do. If you want to PM me and tell me where you are located (city, state) I have an extensive list of other feral cat people, perhaps there is one in your area that can arrange to help you out.

You want to be careful that if you do go with the larger cage (and I hope you do) that you make it so the kittens can't crawl through the cage wire and get in with the new cat. Either find a large enough blanket to drape the cage with that will allow you to tuck it down under the cage, or use chicken wire and attach it to the lower wire of the cage where kittens can easily get in and out of.

Best of luck-

Here is what I did and this was suggested by the Feral Organization that helped me.

In one of the back corners of the Large Dog crate, the one you will be transferring the cat into, put a small cat carrier in there and tie the cat carrier door open to the side of the dog crate. Put a blanket in the cat carrier and on top of the cat carrier and tuck it in the back and side of the cat carrier. Eventually when he is comfortable coming out, he will use the top of that carrier to rest on.

When you need to get the cat to the vet and cannot yet touch the cat. Get a yard stick long enough to go all the way through the sides of the dog crate. Try to get the cat inside of the cat carrier and most likely he will be in it hiding anyway. Untie the cat carrier door from the outside of the dog crate. Use the yard stick and slide it through the side of the dog crate to secure and close the cat carrier door. Keep sliding the yard stick all the way through to the other side of the dog crate, that way when you open up the dog crate to physically lock the cat carrier door, the yard stick will keep the carrier door in place until you latch it. Now you have the cat in the carrier and off you go to the vet. Does this make sense??

This is how I worked with the feral mother of the kittens I tamed. As soon as that cat has a place to hide, like the carrier inside the dog crate, you will be able to reach in and do the litter box, food and water and he will just stay in that carrier because he will feel safe in there. Right now you have him in the garage with no place to hide in that dog crate, right? That is why he raced out when you opened up the door. He needs a place to hide from you. You can put a cat carrier right now in that crate too, Odds are he will run in that to hide and you can get a yard stick and secure that carrier door shut the same as I described above.

And taking the cat again to the vet later in the week won't take away the progress you have made during this week. Especially when you will be the one picking up the cat from the vet after the neuter. Another sign to him that you are going to care for him and keep him safe. The first week is the hardest, after that time he will start to feel safe and start to slowly trust you aren't going to hurt him.

It is good that the kittens in your room can't fit into the dog crate for their safety. The feral cat might actually enjoy seeing the kittens running around your room and might help him when he sees you loving on the kittens too. Good luck at the vet today and we are here to help. Keep posting

Feeding on a schedule is the usual recommendation by the knowleable. Later on some treats in between as positive reinforements.
Does he have cat igloo /sideturned cardboard box in this cage? Or some corner which is covered?
Yes, dont look directly. Look a little at the side. You can try look on with semiclosed eyes - like friendly cats do.
You can yawn at him, and stretch yourslf, like friendly cats do.
Dont interact too much at the beginning. But sit near - on the floor if it is OK for you - and say, read for yourself. Or knittle or what whatever. You can read aloud...
With time, whe he begins to trust you a little, talk with him in a baby-talk voice. like friendly toms courting can do.

When you are not there, play soft music. Harp music is best, tells our advisor LDG, but any calming, soft music is OK.

You can try with a Feliway electrical diffuser! Recommended in difficult cases. If you have only a Feliway spray, spray profusely when you must handle him.
IF you must handle him - use thick gloves and thick clothes... There is dangers in being scratched... (I hope you did desinficated these scratches!)

Neutering him should also help some. Although it may take 2+ weeks to be noticeable. Neutering also useful for safe interaction with your residents.
Shy, non dominant toms arent especially dangerous to residents - usually they are submissive. But dominant toms do beat up the residents...

Ah, the cage. Does it have the doors opening out, or upside down/sidewise.
If sidewise/upside down, it is easy.
But opening out? Perhaps try to make some sort of corridor between the cages. Make sure the new cage is cosy - somewhere to hide, food in there.
While there is no food in the old cage...

Tx for caring for this cat, and the small ones!

Good luck!


ps. You have dogs. While a friendly dog is often a good help with fostering, them becoming pals, him being semiferal may have experiences with hostile dogs chasing and even predating him...
So as long as he isnt sure these dogs are friendly - he prob feels them as a threat. It may even be part of his "viciousness?? - being really freaked by panic.

Is the dog cage thoroughly cleansed so there isnt not even a tiny smell of dog? If not - you must clean. Also, dont go near him after you just cuddled the dogs. Although you may go near him after cuddling and pet with the kittens. So he will understand you are a cat friendly person.
And of course, Feliway is never wrong....

For feeding, I just left dry food available at all times and fed wet food twice a day. In the beginning, my feral girl would only eat at night or when I wasn't around. Same for using the litter box. After a week to ten days, she would still hide in the carrier when I put the food in the large crate but would come out to eat if I stepped away from the crate.

In the first week, don't make eye contact. My eight month old feral kitten still gets worried when I look her in the eyes and she is tame now and very loving to me. But the eye contact still scares her. Spend alot of time talking, reading and sitting near the crate. You can even offer tidbits of tuna, boiled chicken, small pieces of sardines as a treat from your fingers. This is how I got one of the feral kittens to really trust my reaching into the cage at her.

Well, there are lots of great feral cat lovers on this site and I am sure they will offer up more advice and suggestions as well.

Because there are many misconceptions about FIV, it is difficult to place FIV+ kitties, and most sanctuaries have a several year waiting list.

Having rescued a kitty from our TNR program this summer, I can confidently tell you that FIV+ cats can safely live with FIV- cats IF they are neutered/spayed. Normal grooming, sharing food, litter boxes, and even normal rough-housing will not infect other cats. It is typically males fighting over females, or females bitten during mating, that spreads FIV. It requires a deep tissue bite wound, and exists outside of the body only for a few seconds.

Please click on the link in my signature for more information. Chumley is now one of our pets, and lives with 7 other cats with us in our RV. Yes, 8 cats, 2 people, a 38 foot RV.

If you can afford it, you may want to retest with the confirmatory Western Blot test. The SNAP (Elisa) tests frequently have a false positive. The false positives, I believe, are around 30%, if I remember correctly. The Western Blot is typically $130 - $150, depending upon your location.

There is a website where you can post ads for cats with FIV and find homes for them- let me see if I can find the URL


http://www.bemikitties.com/felv/cgi-...lassifieds.cgi

There is an FIV+ cats Yahoo Group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FIVCats/

The website Hissy mentioned is a great place to list FIV+ cats for adoption. Having rescued/fostered a number of FIV+ cats in conjunction with a local rescue group, I've compiled a list of other websites where you can list FIV cats for placement, along with some other resources.

As Laurie said, FIV+ cats can safely live with those who are negative. During their time with me my FIV+ fosters had regular contact with my four resident cats, who are negative with no issue. They've all been the picture of health and among the most sweet, gentle cats I've come across. My most recent FIV+ foster, Bridge, won the hearts of everyone who met him and was just a large, lovable lap cat. He was adopted in December and his adopter just adores him.

Good luck with your kitty and bless you for caring for him.

I am sorry that this cat tested positive with FIV but it isn't a death sentence for the little. I have no true experience with FIV. So the posts before mine will help you tremendously as these girls know alot about FIV. Just want to thank you for your work with these cats/kittens. We will help you if at all possible

That is incorrect, and either the cat tested positive for FeLV and not FIV, or your vet is seriously misinformed about FIV - or potentially confusing the two herself. That's just wrong re: FIV, but is correct re: FeLV.

He is not.

I'll find some more links to information for you, but really, once he's neutered and you've given it a couple of weeks for the hormones to exit his system there really isn't any reason he can't be fostered with the kittens. But take whatever time you need to get comfortable with correct information.

Our Chumley is either 3 or 4 years old. He has a lot of battle wounds/scars. His front leg was broken and never set. He was not neutered. I think he must have encountered friendly people, but I don't think he was ever owned by anyone. We could not believe how quickly he took to being inside. Once he was neutered, when we began making introductions to our cats, he just wanted to be friends with them - and outside, he was THE most food aggressive cat we've ever seen in 10 years of working with ferals. So aggressive, the colony members stopped coming to eat. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think he "got" that he was being given an opportunity. I can't explain it. But it does happen, I guess. Sounds like "your" kitty is coming around pretty quickly too. Now just wait until he's been neutered!

I'm sure most of us wish we could. But I think we're all facing similar challenges.

THANK YOU for being there and caring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now let me go find some more information links for you.

Here you go.

This site is, overall, one of the best resources out there for FIV. It has a course of therapy (two actually, the 2nd one being preferred/recommended and using more natural supplements) that actually reduced the viral load to BELOW DETECTABLE LEVELS. The problem? Many of the herbs interact with each other, doses aren't discussed, and you really need to work with a holistic vet to help navigate when and how to use them. But you CAN be active about "treating" the FIV before it progresses. Anyway, here's excellent information on the issue of casual transmission: http://www.fivtherapy.com/fiv_casualtransmission.htm

Directly addressing your question - How Good Is Your vet? http://www.v63.net/catsanctuary/vet_question.html

Another great overview: http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimal...e/cats_fiv.cfm

I, too am surprised to hear your vet say FIV is contagious by exchange of saliva, urine and feces, grooming. Are you sure the cat didn't test positive to FeLK? FeLK can be tranmitted by those means.

That is a very good sign that he didn't hiss or spit at you today!! It will take a couple of weeks after the neuter for the hormones to dissipate. Then taming will go even quicker. I know this is challenging now due to his diagnosis and the fact he is feral on top of that. If it is FIV, you could still bring him to your house and in your room in a cage where the kittens can't interact with him. I think this would be safe to do, since FIV can't be contracted through saliva and it is not airborne. It sounds like the kittens would get adopted quickly and then you would just have this cat as your only foster at the moment, easier on you then. This could turn out to be a very special cat for you and you will develop a deep bond. We are here to help and want to give you support during this trying time, as you are really making a difference in this cats life!! Let us know what you find out from the vet about that diagnosis, maybe a second opinion would be in order? I don't know, it worries me that the vet thinks FIV can be transmitted this way.

Ear tipping won't make him less adoptable; and, if a person doesn't want to adopt the cat because of that issue alone, then, frankly, I wouldn't let that person adopt the cat.
Ear tipping is mainly to help people who deal with stray cats--if they see a cat on the streets that has been ear tipped, then they know that that cat has been spayed/neutered/given rabies shot and is in fact feral or stray.
I am a caretaker of a feral/stray cat colony whose members come and go. I am also in the process of rehoming/resocializing some of the stray [formerly owned] cats in a private home. Many cats in the colony look similar; I can tell some of the apart simply by looking to see if they have been ear tipped.

Ok well now we have a firm diagnosis of FIV. Although I have not heard of "faint positive". But LDG would know. I understand about you being cautious with bringing him to your room. As far as I know, one of the ways to pass on FIV is through a deep bite. That is how many FIV positive cats outside pass it on is during fights which involve serious bite wounds. So if you kept the cat in the cage and the kittens away, I think it would be just fine to do that.

Oh, the smell of potent intact cat urine!!!! Once neutered, it will take a couple of weeks for the urine to be less concentrated with the hormones. You could add that tidy cats litter box deodorizer to the litter, but I wouldn't want it to be too strong so the cat stops wanting to use the litter box. But since you are using tidy cat litter, then you could try it. I just put up with the smell and know in a few weeks it will go away.

As far as the ear-tipping. If he goes into a shelter environment, sometimes, not always, people will pass over a ear-tipped cat. Not so much because of the way it looks, but they are wary of the fact that it was once feral. They just don't understand that once they are tame, they can be the most loving cats, even more so than a home-raised kitty. If you think there is a possibility of this cat being returned to a feral colony, then I would do the tip so he wouldn't have to get re-trapped. Currently I have two feral kittens at a shelter. One with no tip and one with the "V" shape tip. The "v" tip is exactly that, a V cut in the top of the ear. It isn't as severe looking as the straight across cut. Although from a distance, the V tip isn't as visual as the straight tip. You could ask the vet what type of tip they do?? Hope he is doing ok today!!!

I wouldn't add any type of scent to the urine. He is a tom, and they have strong scent so that it carries to the females and to the other toms. If you want to PM me your address, I have a small unit I can send you that takes care of this without scaring kitty away from the litter pan. The inventor is a friend of mine and he sends me units all the time, so it won't cost you anything. You can see it here: www.citypet.com I know what it is to deal with tomcat pee and not have the monies to do something about it.

The smell will go away about a month after the neuter. You will still want to keep him away from any intact females for 4-6 months because he can still get them pregnant. That's how long it takes to clear out the plumbing.


MA

Not sure what that means either. If it was a SNAP (Elisa) test done at the office, you still can't be sure he's actually positive for FIV. The only way to confirm it is via the Western Blot test, and that has to be sent out and takes a few days to a week to get the results back, and is expensive. The Western Blot checks for two specific antibodies. Our Chumley tested positive for one, and that is called a "transient positive." When we have an extra $135 to spare, we'll get a retest done (it's been longer than three months since the first one, so we're good to go).


Only after he's neutered. When Chum was neutered, it only took three days for the smell to go away.

No, not wrong. He's certainly not a pet for you, it's not like you're taking advantage of the program. And ear-tipping doesn't seem to affect their adoptability.

Bless you for being willing to care for and foster this boy!!!!

all goes well today!

Great name, Bartholomew!!! Wonderful plan on the enclosure!! Make sure there are lots of holes for ventilation! And I do think it is best that you get him relocated into your room as quickly as possible. Much better for the taming process. Good luck today with him at the vet.

Can't wait to see some pictures