Making a feral cat part of the family

ladybug4746

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Hi,

I have been caring for 3 feral cats for about a year or so with a co-worker since their "home" is in a wooded area close to the area where we park for work. There is one girl who is very sweet and we had her spayed in December of 2012. She is currently about 7 pounds, white and black with the prettiest light blue eyes. Her name is Willow. She sometimes tries to cross the street and I am worried she may get hit. She comes out and follows us around and loves to be pet. I tried picking her up once but she immediately wanted to get down, although she has never tried to scratch or bite either one of us, she's very gentle. I have decided to take her home. I have a vet apt tomorrow at 5:30PM (wednesday) and then i plan on putting her in a 3 level cat condo/cage in the spare bedroom at home with the door closed. I do have a declawed 6 year old cat at home already that has never been around another animal. I would like to keep willow and give her a good home. Any feedback from anyone who has ever had to do this would be greatly appreciated! I have been reading a lot online and will keep them separated for a few days and introduce them slowly. I am not going to lie, I am nervous and hope this works out and they become best friends in a few months. would love to hear similar experiences from others!

thank you!!

Donna
 

panther n river

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Congratulations on you new family member! Let us know how it turns out between your new kitty and the old one.

My semiferal stray was like that at first, she showed up at my moms front porshe and my sister with a lot of love was able to tame her. At first she would allow you to pet her but not carry her but now she is sooo laid back you wouldn't believe how she was.

Cats are not dumb it was a huge change for her when I brought her to my house. She was used to being outdoors and sometimes tried to escape. The first two days she cried and meowed all night so be prepared for that but she became accustomed very soon. She's my spoiled lil' baby since then. She follows me everywhere and talks to me okay pretends to do it which is funny how she carries a conversation with you. One day she realized it was much safer inside and gave up on her freedom lol

Since your new cat has been totally outdoors is almost sure it will carry earmites or fleas. Both my cats had earmites whe I first got them. Make sure the vet checks her for that and get her treated. Also worms are very common in stray/feral cats.

Good luck with your cat and give her a lot of love, she will sure come around like that!
 
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ladybug4746

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Thank you so much for your kind words and inspiration! I will send updates on Thursday! The vet is going to check her out and give her all her shots, check for worms, etc tomorrow night!

I will prepare myself for some sleepless nights!
 

ondine

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Give her her own space for a bit. She'll be distressed by all the changes and the vet visit. Let her lead the way. I would also keep her separated from your current kitty until you know she's healthy. Introduce them slowly - feeding them on top of a towel on opposite sides of a closed door helps them learn each other's smells. You can turn the towel around so Willow's smell is under your other cat and vice versa. Feeding them or giving them treats this way helps them associate good stuff with that new smell.

Just take it slow and you should all be fine. Thank you for helping them!
 

shadowsrescue

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What a wonderful thing you are doing for Willow.  It will take time and lots and lots of patience.  Give her space with a place to hide and feel safe.  You might not want to put her in a room where she can get under a bed as it would be difficult to get her out if needed.  Crates or carrying cages or even a box to crawl into make nice safe spaces.  You can put a blanket in there too.  You might want to get a feliway diffuser to help her calm down.  I have also used Spirit Essences from Jackson Galaxy for all of my ferals and strays.  You can do a google search on them.  Another helpful item is Gerber Stage 1 chicken or turkey baby food.  Cats just love it.  It's useful if you need them to eat or a great place to hide liquid medicine.  I also use it as a treat.  My first feral, Shadow had it when he was learning to be pet. 

Good luck and hopefully the vet visit goes well.
 
 

rufflicks

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Congratz on new kitty! I had a feral kitten some 12 yrs ago. We found her half starved under the house we just bought. She was an all grey DSH and mean as the dickins. We had a spare room I kept her in for 4 months. Every day, several times, I would go in the room and just sit on the bed. And wait. And call her name (she was our first 'Baby') very gently. Week's of this went on until she would come up to smell me. If I moved too fast, she would be under the bed in a hot second. Finally after 5 wks or so she would let me pet her and give her treats-if I moved slow. It took months for her to fully accustom herself to me...then 2 more to accustom herself to the whole house. She never did let my husband touch her and ran from him the whole 9 yrs we had her. She wud only let me touch her...and the kids as we had them were able to as well. She was always a little skittish and fearfull but we adapted for her sake. She was the most wonderful cat despite her short comings and we had the closest bond I've ever had with a pet. Aww...I sure miss her. I bet everything will turn out great..stay positive and don't sweat the small stuff. Srry bout the typos...I'm on my cell.
 
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ladybug4746

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UPDATE:

Willow has been AMAZING! You would never know she was feral, and it could be partly because she has been trusting me for the last few months while feeding her in the wooded lot. She did very well at the vet wednesday night and she has been in the spare bedroom since then. She only peed on the sofa once and now she is using the litter. i think she was just really scared the first day so she peed where she was laying. I used the cat attract sprinkles that you put in the litterbox. She didn't eat for the first 48 hours, but now she is eating some tuna fish and she hasn't cried once! She loves being pet and she just purrs and purrs and she likes to lick you fingers. She is still hiding under an end table, but doesn't look frightened. she loves being around people.

Now, for my existing cat chloe, who i have had since she was 8 weeks old....She is currently 6 1/2 years old, spade and never been around other animals. she keeps smelling me, and only one time has she hissed and batted at me. I guess i had too much of the scent on me while i was petting her. She looks at the spare room door but seems to be acting normal. I know she will hiss and be mad at first when i slowly make the introductions. I am planning on keeping Willow in a large crate and open the door and let them see each other for 15 minutes for a few days to see how it goes. I'm hoping they get along.

Any suggestions on when I should do this intro? Maybe wait one more week??

thanks!
 

abisiobhan

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It is not time so much as ensuring they both adjuswuo each other properly. You could take a towel and rub it op. Willow and then after a couple days or so e once Willow rs scent is on it, give kit to Cloe and rub her with it so sheslso smells a bit like Willow. Do the same thing with Cloe and rub that towel on Cloe. The 2 adjust to the smells and think they recognize each other. Alternately you can dab a bit of vanilla on each cat to make the smells weaker or both. But the "towel trick " always works for me. Then introduce them very carefully.
 

abisiobhan

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It is not time so much as ensuring they both adjuswuo each other properly. You could take a towel and rub it op. Willow and then after a couple days or so e once Willow rs scent is on it, give kit to Cloe and rub her with it so sheslso smells a bit like Willow. Do the same thing with Cloe and rub that towel on Cloe. The 2 adjust to the smells and think they recognize each other. Alternately you can dab a bit of vanilla on each cat to make the smells weaker or both. But the "towel trick " always works for me. Then introduce them very carefully.
 

ondine

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If they will let you brush them, use the same brush and blend their smells. They get used to the blended smell and it becomes the community smell - "their" smell.
 

varsettie

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Just a quick warning, when I brought a new cat in to my house with a 3 year old cat who had never seen another cat before she went crazy. She attacked me straight out for a few days and drew blood even though she couldn't see the other cat. I did some research and found that some cats just react like Hellcats when you bring new cats in to the house, but they do eventually stop. One of my friends had a similar experience where her cat out and out attacked her every time it saw her because she brought a new animal in to the guest room and it felt like her cat, who had always loves her and had never even clawed her before, hated her now. They do eventually get over this if you can handle being randomly clawed but it can be a jarring experience if your cat chooses to react like that. It's not a common reaction but it does happen.
 

sweet sally2

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Lucky Willow!  We had a sweet old guy, Flaco, who had been king of the hill for 12 years when we brought dear little Asha inside.  We spent about two months introducing them by just letting them sniff each other underneath the door, but no actual contact.  At first, Flaco was none too happy.  But, with time, he actually became our helper.  He would go down to the basement where Asha was hiding and spend hours with her.  He would call to her, "Come upstairs, come upstairs,"  and she finally did.  Now, I am not going to say they are best buddies, but they do kiss noses, share food and sleep near one another, they also play.  The key is to SLOWLY introduce them to their new buddy.  No one likes surprises, especially after years of being the only one. 

Asha, who is now gonig on two, is still shy, but so dear!  Even though my husband cannot touch her yet (I can) he says he derives great pleasure just from knowing that she is safe and happy in our house.  She plays, she runs up and down the stairs and never, never, asks to go out. 

Patience and love are the keys!
 
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ladybug4746

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Thank you for the responses. So far, Chloe, my existing cat hasn't hissed again which is good. They are still separated and was hoping to possibly do an introduction (with Willow in a large crate) just to see what their reaction would be for about 20 minutes at a time over several days. It will only have been just over a week at that point, do you think that's too soon?  Here is a photo of willow. she is so cute.

 

bastfriend

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What adorable cuties!  So wonderful that you are giving Willow a home.  I'd say give Willow a little more time, best to go very slow to ensure success.   One week is actually a short time for Willow to adjust to being indoors and just a regular cat.
 

ondine

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I agree with Bastfriend. Give Willow a bit more time. Rub one end of a towel on each cat, put the towel under the door of Willow's room and feed the cats on top of the other cat's smell. That will help them associate good things with the other cat's smell. Also, if you can get a screen door to fit between the rooms where the cats are, it will help. Willow may feel trapped in the cage while Chloe is free. They are both beauties!
 

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What beautiful cats. I know they will become best buds given time. I took in a fostered ferle cat her name is Gretchen. I put her in one of the bedrooms for 4 months although she came out peaking around under the desk. Her progress was amazing. She won't let me pick her up but she follows me everywhere. She's always peaking around corners. I had two previous cats who were brothers. They wanted to be near you & sleep with ya. So it's hard for me to have this lil girl who prefers not to be picked up. One thing I found is after being in the spare bedroom & my checking in 3 times a day to bond with her she thinks that room is the only place I can have human to cat contact...to pet her, stroke her, & play. She does play in other rooms too. I would love for her to know she can be near me anywhere. Plus I'm going to have to move from my home to a smaller place & hope she adjusts there too. So enjoy Willow & Chloe becoming good good friends & enjoy watching it unfold.
 

shadowsrescue

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Your kitties are just beautiful.  Give Willow a bit more time.  She is still learning the ropes of your house and you don't want to cause any aded stress.  Ferals move at a one step forward, 2 steps back speed.  Slow and steady wins the race!
 

wandaspets

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hi... I have 3 cats.. one of them was a rescue cat. his name's chavo.. he was born an outdoor cat.  My black Sabby cat never got used to chavo, and she hisses sometimes but they never really fight.  Chavo also still loves the outdoors, and so I let him go out, where as the other two don't go very far past my back yard.  I guess my advise would be to prepare yourself for negative reactions from your cats.. they may not ever take to each other.  I have this problem but I have decided to keep both of them anyway.  They do not get along but are over all happy anyway.
 

wandaspets

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oops scratch what I just said.. it sounds like your cats are gettin along fine!  btw they are sooo cute!
 
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