back to fostering

So, I'm not new at this but it's been 10 years since Ive fostered. (Life got I'm the way)
Took in my foster last night from the shelter. She was brought into the shelter as a feral. She hids all the time, but will let strangers pet her head. (Including myself and my teen daughter) I left her alone for a few hours after her arrival. Except the talking to her at dinner time, left her alone for the night. Said goodmorning for breakfast. I don't think she's left her hiding spot for 14 hrs, but I'm ok with being patient and giving her space to adjust.
Since I'm jumping in to her socialization mid point, I wanted to seed if anyone had any tips.

You began with the right way, let her land at first, and talk much in a friendly voice.  Its the natural language for cats, comepare a friendly, courting tom and a tom who just takes what he want...

And yes, the first time its common they hide some, till they are reasonably sure its safe to dare out.

Just see she has hideys who are easy for you to reach into, in necessary - type cat igloo or so.

Down under your bed isnt so convenient...

Possibly this with touching her head - good she allows, but possibly a shade too early...

Im sure other will fill in, otherwise I will return myself later on.

Good luck!

Yes, she has her igloo from the shelter and yes right now shes under my bed. Its not where we wanted her but its where she is. I'm fine leaving her there at least 24 hours with only the talk and food. After that I want to encourage her out from under (but not force, I'll give her more time if she resists coming out for canned food) but I'd like her back to her igloo, I think it would be more comfy. She had roomies and free run during free time at the shelter, so I didn't feel the need for the isolated room, this whole house is fairly quiet and under the bed is the only unreachable spot. Her limits are to the first floor. Open kitchen, dining, living rooms and 1 bed room. The other rooms are not easily accessible to her. Not that she intends to leave my room yet anyway.

Oh, and when we were petting her head, it was mostly before we brought her home and once more before letting her out of the carrier since she wasn't showing any tense behavior. I have not reached out under the bed. I want to give her space and time to feel comfy.

If you have time, go in the room and sit quietly.  I read out loud to my fosters.  It gives me an excuse to read (I tend to be too busy and miss a lot of great books).  But it also gets the cats used to your voice and presence.  Talk quietly to her every time you go into the room.  Move slowly,

You are correct about not forcing her into anything.  All cats hate change and any change, even a good one, is scary for them.  Time and patience are your best friends in this endeavor.  With the shelter, hopefully, working on finding her a home, you've got the fun part!

After two or three days, you can begin playing with her - wand toys are an excellent way to start this.  In the meantime, balls and mice are good, too.  Ping pong balls are excellent toys - and cheap too.

Thanks for taking this on.  You are making a big difference.

No luck with her coming out tonight. She hasn't eaten either. How long can they go without eating? (I'll Google that one)

Really, after 2 ~ 3 days of not eating I'd start to get worried. Cats can develop fatty liver disease if they are without food too long. Maybe you could try something else to tempt her with. I've heard that Gerber's Baby Food, the kind without any onions in it, is irresistible to cats. We don't have that where I'm from, maybe some members from the US can chime in with more details for you.

You could also try cooked chicken. I've managed to trap many a wise old feral with KFC.

Welcome back to fostering, I'm sure you're going to find it really rewarding.

She came out, all by herself, twice. Two separate trips to the litter box! Score!

That's great.



Did she eat anything yet?

No, she didn't eat yet, but it's been roughly 40hrs since she ate and since she came out last night I thought I'd give her one more shot at breakfast. I left it with her an hour ago. I'll be making chicken in an hour or so. At 3 I'm going to the food store (going to town around here is a hike) I'll be stocking up on a variety of enticing kitty things like the suggested baby food. If she doesn't eat tonight we'll be taking different steps.

So, while I didn't want to disturb her at breakfast I should have looked to make sure she was there. Big mistake on my part. She's in the kitchen, I'm not sure how long she's been there and I can't tell if she ate from my cats bowl out there. So I offered the chicken anyway off the start she refused, I stayed with her for awhile, but she refused to eat. Right now I'll leaving get alone to see if she'll eat it.

She eating!

Good! Maybe she just needed a little time to get adjusted.

That's good, sounds like things are progressing nicely.

Update...Although Solstice is still generally hiding, we blocked off all but one hiding spot in her room and so we have her positioned to watch us interacting with our other kitty for play time. I'd like to get her up off the floor so we got her a tree by the window, we'll see how that goes in the next few weeks.
I haven't found anything that moves her food wise, (no to canned foods, chicken, tuna, and chicken or salmon treats) but she does play touch and nibble with wand toys. She even went as far as to lounge on the toy once.

She actually sounds like she's adjusting OK, believe it or not. She just needs to take things at her own pace. Bummer, though, that you can't bribe her!

Ondine said:

She actually sounds like she's adjusting OK, believe it or not. She just needs to take things at her own pace. Bummer, though, that you can't bribe her!

Click to expand...

It sounds to me as if you are doing a great job. Love her name too.

She let us sit with her and pet her outside of her hiding place. Very little hiding today. Solstice is the one on the bottom of the tree. She moved there after Avielle was done playing on it. (We've only brought Avielle in for a few playtimes and a supervised cat nap lol)

Better every day