Re-socialized feral cat freaks out; MIA

MY gosh, it IS just amazing to hear about these feral's finding their way "home". I am really relieved to hear that Buckley is back . I guess he did make that choice and now he knows, if he changes his mind, about the indoor life and how to go about getting it :nod:. Well - that is a worry off your mind now :bigthumb:

Surprising update. 

The remaining cat (Mystique) in our cattery became depressed after the last cat was adopted out.  She is by far the most feral of the cats in our mini-cattery.  You can walk over her and she won't move, but hisses if she accidentally touches you.  We figured she need company, a playmate.

So we decided to retrap Buckley because they were in the cattery together for almost six months.  Amazingly, today (Saturday) I was able to scruff him, place him into the cat carrier, and Trysh took him back to her house, which is where the cattery is.   

Perhaps less amazingly, less than ten hous later, he is once again behind the eaves, maybe on his way back to the colony.  We will not be trapping him again; lesson learned.  The question is:  if he does return on his own accord to the cattery, should be let him be, or take him back to the colony?

MEANWHILE, on Monday, I re-scruffed Precious Boy and moved him to the cattery (separate rooms) to keep Mystique company eventually.   PG joined my colony around a month ago after being abandoned by a man who lives two buildings from where I do.  From day one, he has been inordinately friendly and remains so, freakishless so.  Should I be concerned?  He is still afraid of Trysh, who has years and years of experience with cats; me, only two.  My (twin) sister is coming over to see if he is bonded only to me, or if he can be comfortable in front of other people; Trysh may have startled him earlier.

Precious Boy is around three years old, was neutered October 13.  Today tested negative for FIV/FELK.  Delicate face, normal weight.  He keeps on scent-marking me every time I see him, and occasionally doing x-rated stuff to my arm.  He kneads blankets/rugs, too.  I've never been around a male cat (Ritz is 101% female), so I don't know if this is normal behavior.  Ultimately, we want to adopt him out.  We don't think Mystique will be ready until the spring, if then, to go into a Foreever Home.

Thanks for any advice/insight.

PS:  TNRd another cat today.  Named Peaches so of course it's a male cat....Precious Girl was so friendly I swore she was in heat so I made an emergency appointment to get her spayed.  And had to rename the cat Precious Boy.....

SO much news all at once :lol3: OH dear about Buckley - again ....... IF he comes back to the cattery, I would let him stay there :nod:. If her returns to the colony, I would leave him be from now on UNLESS you can find a home for him where he would live safely indoors in a safe room, of course . It is such a shame :shame: because he sounds very sweet and friendly. He might do really well in a home that he can't escape from :lol3: He just sounds like he is so frightened and the only thing he knows is the safety of that colony and will return every time you were to bring him back to the cattery. I don't think this means he wants to forever live outside in the colony. I just think he is scared, reasonably so, and naturally wants to escape. If he were to go to a home, a safe room, in a home. I think in time he would totally LOVE to be indoors.

Please forgive me - I am confused :lol3: Is PG - Precious Boy.. and the one who if afraid of Trish and is the one marking you. I will assume so. Precious boy totally bonded to you immediately after that man abandoned him ...... ARGH - people suck. Anyway - PG might be a one person cat at the moment, but that doesn't mean he will be this way in a new and loving home. I will be curious to hear how your twin (cool you have a twin ). He will come around in time with Trish once he trusts her to be the one caring for him. :cross: As for the marking..... YIKES..... I hope since being neutered and after a few week's he will give that up. I always worry that sometimes this has become a behavioral issue. Let's hope not. As soon as he comes to you and gives the sign that he is going to mark, push him away and distract him with something else. I would totally discourage him from marking you again.

So Peaches - is Precious Boy...... Anyway - on trapping these kitties and now I hope for forever homes in their not so distant future :heart3: :heart3:

For Buckley to return safely to the colony or return to the cattery. Such a worry, AGAIN

Thanks for responding and your advice about Buckley.  It's a wait and see regarding Buckley-whether he returns to the cattery through the opening he created through his claws, or to the colony.  The decision is really up to him.  Would a safe "room" (large crate) be helpful.  There are plenty of places he can hide, large and small.

Regarding Precious Boy (was named Precious Girl until I learned she was a he):  yes, he is the one afraid of Trysh; and yes, he is marking/mounting me.  Is there a correlation between age of neutering (three years of age) and marking/mounting behavior? Hopefully after all the hormones in his system are gone, he won't be quite so friendly.  He did finally settle down and napped beside me--until the Great Escape took place. 

I crave a cat being so friendly and not so afraid--to a point! Ritz still is very easily startled after two years and quite the independent woman. 

I am starting to recognize the size of mounting, so I will distract him when that occurs:  picking him up and setting him down on the floor, or getting up and walking away; or initiating playing.  Not sure how much he's played in his life.

Mystique was in the same room as Buckley, did not move one iota from her chair, totally non-plussed.  Strange cat.....)

Peaches was the cat I TRNd yesterday; Peaches and PB are two different cats.  Another example of my track record naming male cats with femine names.  Of the 25+ cats I've TNRd since November 2010, around four are female, the rest male.

The mounting/marking have nothing to do with the age at neutering. It's the personality of the cat. There are a number of threads asking about this in the Behavior forum, and some people on TCS have cats that do this mounting thing, and they were neutered as kittens. We TNRd Chumley at either age 3 or 4 (no consensus between four vets LOL) - and he's never marked or mounted (though he definitely fathered some kittens before we TNRd him!).

I'd do a search in the behavior forum. I believe most people simply try to redirect the mounting to a pillow or stuffed animal or something? :dk: Let's just hope this behavior stops after the hormones finish cycling out of his system... :cross:

OK for the explanation on the kitties. I have it straight now :lol3: PB's marking/mounting don't have anything to do with his age. And I do hope this will not be a habit/behavior issue with him. You will have to wait and see in a few week's once the hormones are completely out of his system. In the meantime, distraction from that behavior is a must do. As Laurie mentioned already - there are some cat's that just have a need to do that mounting and do use a stuffed animal We have a couple of male cat's at the shelter who are in a large cage and cannot roam loose in the free cat room because of their mounting behavior. They each have a stuffed animal about the size of another cat that they mount and bite. Will hope to hear that PB will give this behavior up :cross:

And - I guess you should just figure on ALL male names from now on :rofl:!!!!! I have done that too, named a few feral's a female name only to find out they were male You can't tell UNLESS they are older and have the big male tomcat jowels :nod:

Thanks Feralvr and Laura.  I'll give my new boyfriend (Precious Boy) a size-appropriate stuffed animal, thanks for the hint about the size.  .

PB is now appropriately friendly towards Trysh; he's become much calmer.  Mounting behavior has decreased; he used my arm as a pillow yesterday while we both dozed.  I'll see how he reacts to a brand new person (my twin sister) this afternoon, which will simulate an adoption appointment.

Interestingly, Buckley has decided for now to stick around; we're not sure where Mystique is.  Trysh assures me there is no way either can get out of the house; she's thinking, maybe she accidentally left a door open. 

Also interestingly:  Buckley is in the same room as PB, in part because it's a more secure room (no escape hatches).  PB has already asserted his dominance, hissing and a paw strike that did not connect.  Buckley backed down immediately.  Buckley has always been somewhat docile. They can co-exist in the same room; while PB and I were dozing on the sofa, Buckley was on the pet bed on the floor directly next to the sofa sleeping.

Buckley and PB are both males, around the same size, and about the same size as Ritz (working on THAT issue).   In the back of my mind is my desire/wish/dream to adopt PB myself.  But I would want Ritz to be the dominant cat; it is only fair.  I'll have to do some research about this issue.    PB is definitely less scared than Ritz is.  Ritz is a little over two years old; PB around three.

Caring for ferals is very difficult but you have to remember they are wild animals. They don't know soft couches or pets or toys. They live as wild animals do. It would be like bringing a raccoon into your home. While we understand the wonderful life our kitties live, ferals do not have that concept. And some will always be happiest in their colony.

As for bringing PB in to your home but wanting Ritz to be the dominant because it's fair....animals don't have a sense of fairness, they live as nature dictates. If you attempt to impose your idea of fairness and heirarchy on them, you can create a very tense and unsuccessful socialization. Before brining PB in, YOU have to be OK with the idea that Ritz may not get to be the dominant one and if you aren't, don't bring PB in, period.

Good luck with the colony. It can be stressful and cause much anxiety but you are doing a lot of good, and that is what is important. My sister has managed a colony for about 6-7 years now. When she discovered it there were 30+ cats, she is down to 4. Some have been adoptable, some have just disappeared and some have had to be trapped and euthanized due to medical issues. All have been spayed/neutered and the remaining are 4 adults that she has had for several years, fed them twice a day all that time and yet they still won't let her come within a couple of feet of them. It has been heartbreaking for her at times, it has been difficult at times and it has been truly rewarding at times.

Good luck with all of them.

Cindy, if you're thinking of adopting PB, bear in mind that what you want in terms of cat dynamics/hierarchy is simply not something you can control, and if you want to, best just not to adopt another cat. It depends entirely upon their purrsonalities, and our interfering simply makes their adjusting to each other worse. Who's alpha has nothing to do with "fair," and it's just not a healthy mindset in a multicat household. :nod:

Slow introductions, lots of vertical space, and giving Ritz HEAPS of attention before the new cat are things that make transitions go more smoothly. But in the end, their getting along goes best if we don't interfere with the hierarchy they will work out. In fact, actively discouraging PB from being dominant, if he is naturally being the dominant cat, only reinforces his need (this comes from Amy Shojai, a cat behaviorist) to dominate. :nod:

You may want to get the book Cat Wrangling Made Easy by Dusty Rainbolt, or Cat vs. Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennett. :nod:

Agree!!! :nod: It would be wonderful if we could just sit down with the cat's and tell them who will be in charge and who will not :lol3: They will decide and have to work it out amongst themselves. But having lots of vertical space and plenty of places to hide and call their own will help them feel more secure and happy. I ALSO love both of the book's Laurie suggests. The "Cat Wrangling Made Easy" is actually sitting right here on my end table :lol3: :bigthumb: Very good book

AND BUCKLEY YOU mean he is back...... . I am SO relieved to hear he choose the cattery and didn't forge his way back to the colony. PHEW!!!! I guess he made his decision to stay put

Either that or he got and and realized it was a LONG walk back to the colony and thought, F that...it's warm and comfortable there, I'll just hang back at the house. LOL

Thanks everyone for the Reality Checks about adopting PB.

Buckley is still back, Mystique still behind the eaves.  Buckley and PB are forging their own way, their own territory; they have their own safe santuaries. PB remains dominant.   They were able to co-exist side by side; both like it when I roll the ball to them, and they roll it back to me.  Both like feather in the tube toy. 

PB was friendly to my twin sister (who he's never seen before), scent marking her a little, so he'll show really well when we place him up for adoption in about one or two weeks. PB would make a great cat for a family with children; there aren't too many dumped cats like that.  

Buckley will eat fish flakes from my hand and is a really pretty cat; I still have hope he can go to a Forever Home.  Mystique will probably be placed in a farm when the warmer weather returns.

Much as I want to adopt PB, I don't think it's a good idea.  What I want is not what I need; I need to consider what is best for the cats.  I need to consider Ritz first and foremost. I see in PB what I would like to see in Ritz; not fair to either cat.

I've been reading the book "Cat versus Cat" (which I got when I found a seven week old kitten by the dumpster on 11-11-2011 (since adopted out)) and find it helpful.  Learned some stuff about playing with Ritz, too.

Yeah, good point about control:  the initial of my first name is C--for control.  In all areas of my life. 

My cat colony is growing because of the high rate of foreclosures and evictions.  I am surrounded by apartment complexes and single family dwellings, which at least give the cats access to dry shelter during the winter.  75% of the population are stray/dumped and come to greet me at 5 am and 6 pm when I feed them by the dumpster.  They know the sound of my car.  Several cats will let me pet them, a few roll on their back, exposing their belly (which I don't touch!); the other 25% still run when I give them food. 

Wow!  I just read this right now and am so happy Buckley returned and that you have him back.  If you could actually pick him up and put him in a carrier,  I am so glad he is inside.  I think he is just scared.  It does take a while for them to relax. 

I hope he finds a home where he will be safe and loved,  it sounds like that would be just what he needs.

I have a former feral who had been inside for years,  never wanting to go out.  Someone opened the wrong window, it had a loose screen, and she got out.  She went under the deck,  she did not leave the yard.  She was crying the most pitiful cry to get back inside,  but she was just terrified.  She went from one side the the deck to the other.  I actually went under the deck and just coaxed her back. It took 2 hours!  I knew she wanted to come back inside,  she was just so afraid and I was not about to let her out of my sight.  She is sitting beside me now,  quite content and ready to sleep.

I hope Buckley remains inside where he is safe.