Hi,
My husband and I had a female -- probably feral -- living in our garage with 3 kittens, about 5-6 weeks old. We trapped the kittens and a friend is socializing them, that's going pretty well.
we also trapped the female with the intent to spay and release her, and she seemed fairly quiet so we thought perhaps she was a stray, not feral. We kept her in a dog crate for a day or two after, I reached in to change her food and water, she hunkered down against the far side of the cage but didn't hiss or act aggressively.
We put her in a spare room and let her out of the cage -- it's been 4 days since the spay. She stayed hidden in a corner most of the time, but last night she remained in sight, about 15 feet away, and hissed and growled when I went in to leave her some food. Today, she was in the the same place, in plain sight, and while she didn't hiss or growl, she meowed and made direct eye contact as I placed some food on the floor.
I think we may have gotten in over our heads with this, I'm beginning to think she's really feral and she may be aggressive. Perhaps releasing her would be the best option? We don't have experience with ferals, and I don't want to get injured. I don't feel safe or comfortable going into the room with her not "backing down", to be honest.
Any advice from those more experienced would be greatly appreciated!
J. House
My husband and I had a female -- probably feral -- living in our garage with 3 kittens, about 5-6 weeks old. We trapped the kittens and a friend is socializing them, that's going pretty well.
we also trapped the female with the intent to spay and release her, and she seemed fairly quiet so we thought perhaps she was a stray, not feral. We kept her in a dog crate for a day or two after, I reached in to change her food and water, she hunkered down against the far side of the cage but didn't hiss or act aggressively.
We put her in a spare room and let her out of the cage -- it's been 4 days since the spay. She stayed hidden in a corner most of the time, but last night she remained in sight, about 15 feet away, and hissed and growled when I went in to leave her some food. Today, she was in the the same place, in plain sight, and while she didn't hiss or growl, she meowed and made direct eye contact as I placed some food on the floor.
I think we may have gotten in over our heads with this, I'm beginning to think she's really feral and she may be aggressive. Perhaps releasing her would be the best option? We don't have experience with ferals, and I don't want to get injured. I don't feel safe or comfortable going into the room with her not "backing down", to be honest.
Any advice from those more experienced would be greatly appreciated!
J. House