Need help - Brought a "feral" cat inside

Hey all,

I live in a condo complex. In August 2011, while playing with my own adopted cat, i saw a mama cat and her 3 babies traipsing across the front of the building.  I started to feed them (poor buggers were starving) until I could find a way to get them spayed & neutered. The babies were finally fixed by an animal rescue in Raleigh and I took the mama cat to my vet. I thought the animal rescue could help get the babies adopted out. Well they deemed the wee lil ones too "feral" and said to return them to the location of capture after they spayed & neutered them. The mama cat had a heart murmur and lost consciousness during her surgery and never really recovered and the vet advised me to put her to sleep, which I did. The 3 babies were then released back into the complex and I started to take care of them. I had named them Will Feral, Colin Feral & Mia Feral

After a month, Colin dissappeared and never returned. Then it was just Mia & Will. Mia was extremely timid & scared, Will was a bit more outgoing. Mia would always follow her brother around. One day, a female calico showed up, she was in heat and was attracting all sorts of other cats from around the area. I got her trapped and got her spayed. Then in May of this year Mia went missing and never returned. So I was back to taking care of just 2 cats.

Will, by this point was letting me scratch him, pet him and would follow me not just during feeding but also if I was outside. He would see me and just come running to me. He even tried to be friends with my cat, but Dolly wasn't having any of that. But he was so sweet. At the end of August, the HOA in my complex sent me a registered letter saying I had to quit feeding the cats and get them off the property. I tried everything to get a barn home for them together, but none are available in the Triad or Raleigh. I spoke with Alley Cat allies and every other rescue organization I could think of. No one had a home for 2 cats. 

A friend of mine came to visit and said they are not feral cats. So I started thinking about bringing Will inside. He was trapped on Monday of this week and taken to the vet on Tuesday. I fully expected something to go wrong. Nope, the vet called me and said he was the sweetest kitty - he was negative for FIV/FELV, no worms, no parasites, no fleas or ticks. He was just dirty I spent time with him each day this week and brought him home on Friday. He is set up in a huge crate in my bathroom, since Dolly has control of the 2nd bathroom. 

Can you guys give me some advise on whether he will ever be a happy indoor only cat? And how long should I keep him in the crate. I have him in the bathroom, and leave the door open when I am home and closed when I have to leave to run errands. Thanks

This second semiferale, the calico, you can let her go for herself, if you dont find anything better. She was ferale from the beginning, and grown up adult. So she should manage OK especielly now when spayed.  Not so nice, but not horrible nor terrible either.

Will should do OK and with time, be a terrific inside pet. Just time, patience, love. You are probably more than halfways now..

Your double system of bathroom and crate, and door open when you are home is very good. This way he can see your interaction with Dolly, and Dolly can see you and him...

Talk much with him. Read to him. Have your laptop where he is, and work near him. 

You can try with having him wrapped up in a thick towel, like toga or burrito. Carry him around at your chest, singing softly and murmuring friendly... 

I think it is our forumite CatNamedPanda who use this very succesfully. Best with kittens about 7-10 weeks she tells, but should work here too I think.

HOW long in the crate?  He is healthy, dewormed / not having worms nor parasites either. I understand he and Dolly met somewhat already earlier?? You allow her to go out?

  So there is no real necessity of any long quarantine.

You can essentially let him out, and perhaps keep him in the bathroom as his safety room.

Dont let him out into the flat as yet. There is some risk he will hide somewhere deep in, under a big bed or something.  Really no big business, but it will make things slower.

Let him be in this bathroom till he is contended with a cat igloo as his personal protection.

(ah, he must have some hideout in this cage too - like cat igloo or similiar)

Keeping in a big cage does have some advantages too...   Esp if the cats are not friends yet. Will surely come with time this too....

Keep us updated and come with more reports and questions!

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply. I have trained Dolly to walk on a leash and I am always with her. So we are usually out for like 15 minutes top. Will & Dolly have met on a few of our walks. He was always trying to get her to be friends with him. She would sniff him then try to chase him away.

Will lets me pet him, scratch his head and has rolled over on his back when I am in the room with him. Dolly has now ventured into the bathroom to see him and there is some hissing involved, but it has calmed down considerably. I was able to find a barn for the other calico, a friend who works as a vet tech had space and knows to keep her confined to a crate for a few weeks. So I was lucky there.

Will is eating from my hands and is a master head-bopper. I also let him out of the cage, when Dolly is not in the room and let him explore the bathroom and the attached bedroom.  He doesn't have any parasites. works, fleas or ticks - so we are lucky there. I am also feeding him quality wet food in the evening and there is dry food with treats mixed in available in his crate all day. I will put a sheet over a part of the cage to allow him some place to hide. I have his litter box, a bed, his food dish/water bowl and 2 perches that came with the crate.

I think we are far ahead of schedule TG for this forum!!!

Sounds very promising for all THREE of these cats!  

Wow, you are really doing right by these kitties, Deepa!!  I'm sorry that a couple of the kittens went missing, but awesome that you took in Will (great names, BTW.)  Keep up the good work.

As for Julia, the friend who checked up on the cats, is also a vet tech, and decided to adopt her. She is familiar with semi-feral cats and knows to keep them in a safe place for a few weeks to get them acclimated to their surroundings. So that is a relief.

Today, my 2 babies met for the first time. Dolly snuck up in Will's crate and sat on the other perch, just sniffing around. She did get agitated and there was some growling, but not biting or scratching. Since Monday is a holiday in the U.S., I have another day to be around with Will's cage door open, but on Tuesday, I am going to leave his crate door open and the bathroom door closed, that way he can stretch out for a while.

Thanks guys for the sweet comments...

Deepa 

Hi Deepa Welcome!!! And thank you so much for helping these kitties. I am sorry about the mom cat having to be pts. You did right by her. Bless your heart. And, sorry about Mia and Colin disappearing. Such a hard life in the outdoors for feral kitties. Much danger. You did the best you could for all of them.

I think Will sounds really wonderful and will make a great little addition to the family. Dolly will be happy to have a companion. Just take the intros. very, very slowly. The slower the better. Much better for the initial meetings to be short and positive thus making for a lifelong happy relationship. I hope this article helps as it is filled with great suggestions and advice written by a long time member here on TCS. http://www.catnipchronicles.com/may2012/laurie.htm Your doing a great thing for Will

On Friday, I made 2 covered forts with pillows - 1 for Dolly and 1 for Will, if he ever ventured out that far.

So today, I went home to check on the babies and I had left the crate door open and in fact all the room doors open (not the ones leading outside, mind you). I fully expected to be on the phone with the insurance company, but to my surprise, Dolly was in the larger of the 2 pillow caves and Will was in the other. They were separated by 1 pillow. Makes me feel like the cat whisperer. 

Deepa Reddy said:

On Friday, I made 2 covered forts with pillows - 1 for Dolly and 1 for Will, if he ever ventured out that far.

So today, I went home to check on the babies and I had left the crate door open and in fact all the room doors open (not the ones leading outside, mind you). I fully expected to be on the phone with the insurance company, but to my surprise, Dolly was in the larger of the 2 pillow caves and Will was in the other. They were separated by 1 pillow. Makes me feel like the cat whisperer. 

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:lol3: Well - Will (no pun intended :lol3 wonder's ever cease!!!!!! :lovegrin: Sounds like things are going in the right direction - a cat whisperer in the making here. Keep up the great work with those two!!