New feral addition

Hi, new to the forums and seeing if there's some advice around for me.

I had been feeding a feral kitten in our back yard for about 2 weeks, we named him Cheddar, before attempting to trap him.  We ended up catching him one morning, and were trying to transfer him to a 46" dog cage on our screened-in patio until we could take him to the vet.  The intent was to trap him, get him checked up and fixed, and try to socialize him.  I'd gotten a humane trap from a feral cat community that was local.  Well, he ended up escaping during the transfer, and we had been unable to catch him again over the course of another 2 weeks.

We did, however, end up catching a totally different kitten, whom we've named Pepperjack, who we were able to immediately take to the vet.  She'd already been spayed, so we brought her home and successfully transferred her to the cage on Friday.  Inside her cage she's got food and water, a litter box, a cardboard box with a top flap to hide in, a small, flat bed, and a few of my other cat's unused toys.  I'm currently in the process of trying to socialize her, avoiding eye contact, primarily going out only to feed her or clean her litter (which is hit and miss on its use), but a few times going to just sit next to the cage and talk.  I have everything but the front of the cage covered by a blanket, and when I go to talk to her I sit where the blanket blocks her vision of me.

So far, she hides constantly from everyone as best she can, usually inside or behind her box, and won't interact in any way (not that I'm trying to get her to)

Now the things that I'm concerned about:

1) I do have a spare guest bedroom that I could use to socialize her instead of the large cage on the patio, but its currently used for storage and would be problematic to try to fully clean out and cat-proof, but I suppose I could if I needed to.  I have 2 other cats who were not ferals (the oldest I took in from a friend in order to convince him that finding homes for them was better than sending them to a shelter, and the younger one was a rescue from a shelter surrender) as well as a dachshund who likes to try to play with said cats who don't seem the least bit interested.  As such, we keep a baby gate up to seperate the bedrooms from the rest of the house so the cats can get away from the dog when they choose.

Should I clean out the spare bedroom to move Pepper into it in order to help socialize her not only with me and my girlfriend, but the other animals in the house?

2) I'm still feeding Cheddar in the yard, but I'm debating on whether or not I should keep trying to catch him.  He seems roughly the same size as Pepper, so I'm starting to think that he may have also been fixed when she was and re-released. 

3) I noticed this morning when going to refresh Pepper's food and water that there were sizable chunks of fur in a couple of spots in the cage.  Is this something I should be concerned about, or just a part of the expected stress she's going through?

Thanks for your help

If at all possible, and if you expect to keep Pepperjack inside, please clean out the room.  I suspect the fur is because she's

      a) either got into a shouting match with Cheddar (or some other critter).  Even though they can't get onto the patio, she can sense them outside

          and it may have sent her into a frenzy, during which she lost fur.  OR

      b) that because of stress, she's overgrooming - pulling her fur out.

In either event, being inside is going to initially upset her but if she's staying, it will be better for her to adjust to her permanent home.

Having said that, if she's going to stay outside, it might be better to release her now.  She's fixed and she's had her shots, so there is no reason to keep her confined if your plans are to keep her outside.

Whatever decision you make for her, thank you for caring for her and Cheddar.  I'd still try to trap him to make sure he is, indeed, fixed.

Finally, have you talked to any of your neighbors?  You may have one who has inside/outside cats that are fixed.  There is also the possibility that someone is practicing TNR nearby, although the cats should have been eartipped in that case.  (The tip of their left ear is cut off when they are under anesthesia for spaying/neutering.  It helps people identify when a feral cat has been fixed).

I agree with Ondine, including the hint you CAN release Peppar without too bad conscience. She will manage on her own, especielly with some help from you.

Second, if you still plan on taking Cheddar in, is the additional reason to clean of this extra bedroom. So you have place for both.  

Third, you can try with using Feliway adapter or spray.  Which is best done in the bedroom...

Calming her and diminishing her stress somewhat.

Relaxing classical harp music is also a tip here - almost any relaxing, calm music will work, but harp is best.

There are also some flower essence preparates...  Google on Jackson Galaxy who is the cat whisperer, but he has also a firm online where they sell such preparates...

Diminish Peppers feeling of stress and anxiety, its first after it she will begin to take in your effords for fostering...

Her seeing you being friendly with your residents may also help, but it will come somewhat later in the process, when she has landed.

Good luck!

I plan on bringing her inside eventually once I had her socialized.  I just wasn't sure if there would be issues (fleas, spats under the doors, etc) from bringing her in with my other animals.  I've only got the ability to add one more cat to our family, so Cheddar would remain outside as a feral adoption even if we were able to catch him again.  And I did consider whether we'd caught someone's indoor/outdoor cat, but at the recommendation of the vets who checked her out they said the likelihood of her being someone's pet was very small with her appearances, length of claws, and initial impressions of her.

Quite many out going cats are shy for strangers, but she is a couple of levels above this "shy family girl".  She is surely a semi-feral for real, perhaps even feral, and thus needs fostering and socializing for real.

It CAN be done, if you are decided enough, but will take time, effort, patience and much love.

I mean, this fostering may perhaps be a little easier with Cheddar??  If you can have only one of them inside...

Dont take her in before she is defleased and deparasited for good. The preliminary vet OK she has already got.

And as said, concentrate as now on destressing her, with Feliway, music, suitable flower fragrance (there are several different). Not necessary, but it will make it much easier for you both.

Good luck!

The reason we decided to go with her instead of Cheddar were the initial reactions of the two after trapping them.  Cheddar, when I approached the cage, flipped out and went wild in the cage trying to break his way through it (which is why we think he's a male in the first place, that and his orange colorings).  Pepper, on the other hand, just backed to the back of the cage and began crying until we were able to cover the trap with a sheet.  So the fact that she was more approachable initially than Cheddar was is why we decided to go with her to socialize instead of Cheddar.  Being able to clean out her cage is a nice change to what we assume Cheddar would have been like in the cage.


 

I see.  Them freaking out at the self moment of catching isnt unusual.  Gloves and thick clothes ARE after all the rescues best friends...  

But.  After  understanding there is no real immediate threats,  they usually calm down and are not longer aggressive...

So Cheddar isnt not necessary any monster, so to speak.  Probably NOT.

But I understand Cheddar wont be easy he either, so I do understand your decision to try instead with Peppar, whom you do have already in the cage.

The Force may be with you.   *vibes*

Good luck!