How long can I put off a Wellness check?

I stumbled upon this forum this week and wish I found it months earlier. Short version of my question : my bf and I are new parents to a feral cat. He's been neutered, had rabies vaccine, and we took him to the clinic that neutered him for a distemper booster, deworming pill and nail trim and he was really mad at us. Can we put off a Wellness visit to a regular vet for a long while? We don't want him mad at us and distrustful of us until he really loves us.

Long version : my bf and I purchased a fixer house July of last year and went through an 10 month renovation project. We finally moved in May of this year. During my rennovation progress visits I saw a small grey animal dashing through the backyard (wasn't really sure what it was) once or twice, and really didn't think anything of it.

A bit after we moved in I surprised him in our backyard and realized it was a small cat. In June we finished fixing our detached garage and I saw the cat hiding behind a roll of roofing paper between the back of the garage and our fence. Well I had some Peking duck skin leftover from dinner (was trying to be healthy and not eat fatty skin) and decided to try and feed this guy. We put the duck by where we'd seen him (he'd gone over the fence when he saw me) and I guess the smell was too tempting and after 15 minutes we saw his paw come out and hook a piece of the duck which he ate out of site from us.

We then fed this guy every night. At first it had to be by his hiding spot but we gradually got him eating closer and closer to our back door until we set up his bowls by our entry mat.


Of course we couldn't touch him, he would run away, but it got to the point where he would eat with us sitting nearby and then would play with a teaser toy before he left.


All this while we knew we had to get him neutered and vaccinated and I found out our local humane society would issue us a free spay / nueter voucher. I signed up for that but it took about 3 months to arrive. By that point we had got him eating inside the house in our living room, and after eating he would investigate our house, then hang out by our back door for some play time. Any attempt at touching him would result in him bolting out of the house.


The voucher finally arrived but we had a planned a one week vacation and decided we would trap him after we got back. My mom continued to feed him while we were away and we resumed feeding him when we got back but it was odd because he would still hang out but didn't always finish his dinner. Anyway we were making arrangements to borrow a trap from a lady that was part of The Homeless Cat Network and our cat didn't show up for dinner. He was missing for an entire week and then we found out the neighbor who's backyard abuts ours had trapped him in her garage with the intention of getting him nuetered. He wasn't hungry when he came to hang out with us because someone else was feeding him!

Since we had the SPCA voucher we told our neighbor we'd take him, and we let the lady we were going to borrow the trap from know that we'd found our kitty and she offered to take him along with her TNR cats to her usual clinic and would use our voucher. We discussed with her if she thought we could make him our indoor kitty and she said since he was used to us and our house that we could try but it would be tough. Anyway he's been with us since October 31st and we've named him Tiger Posey and he's my baby.

I think the week in our neighbor's garage really helped because she was able to begin socializing him in his cage plus he figured out the litter box right away and we didn't need to train him. We let him out of the carrier into our spare bathroom since it was Halloween and we didn't want him bolting out when we handed out candy. First thing he did was crawl under the sink cabinet which I had no idea he could fit under.


He eventually came out to eat and let us pet him but ran back into his hiding spot when the door rang for trick or treaters. We let him hide and checked on him periodically and after 9pm when we knew no more trick or treaters were coming by we let him out of the bathroom. First thing he did was hide behind the couch, a spot he'd scoped out and visited a few times during earlier visits. We let him be and after a while he came out and reexplored the house. He decided his best sleeping spot was a pushed in dining chair that was hidden by the tablecloth.


We kept petting him during mealtimes which he tolerated but then came to enjoy and he wanted to hang out by us which we saw as a very good sign. And then last week I don't know if it got too cold or if he decided we were okay but he started sleeping at our feet in bed!


Last Wednesday we took him back to the clinic to give him his distemper booster, nail trim, and worming meds. It took us over an hour to get him in his carrier. He's a smart boy and would not get in for treats or his cat dancer toy or his mouse toy. We had left the carrier out for the last week and would give him treats in it to get him used to it, but on clinic day my bf moved it from its usual spot to get him in and that probably tipped him off. We ended up Googling how to get him in and we picked him up and put him in feet first into the upended carrier. He was absolutely terrified in there, and when it was our turn at the clinic he would not come out of it. We ended up tipping him out. He was very well behaved with the Dr. (Did not bite or scratch, probably because he was terrified) but was very mad at us when we came home and ran right to his hiding spot behind the couch. Anyway, we were planning on taking him to a regular Vet for a baseline wellness check but is it worth it for the lost trust? He's up to date on all his shots, is nuetered, and is indoor only and I don't want to traumatize him again and have him hate us. I usually pick him up over my shoulder after getting home from work for a cuddle but after the clinic visit he runs away from me after work. He lets me do this in the morning and after dinner but not right after I get home from work because that was when we put him in the bad carrier and had him poked and prodded and bumped around.

Anyway we both have zero experience with animals and I know we did a lot of things wrong (such as feeding him duck skin) and any advice would be appreciated.

He's about 1 year old according to the clinic vet, and was definitely feral due to hiding, but he got lured to us through his stomach. He's very food oriented and becomes very demanding and insistent when I prepare his meals. He gets half a can of wet food plus 1/4 cup hot water mixed in the morning and the rest of the 5.5oz can at night, along with 1/8 cup dry food in a puzzle feeder during the day. I have to mix the hot water in to slow down his eating (he licks the liquid up first), but he still finishes his food in under 10 minutes. If I didn't mix in the water he'd be done in about 3 minutes. He weighs about 9.5 lbs and has a soft healthy coat.

Here are some more pics of our sweet boy :




Thanks for reading my long post. We just want what's best for Tiger Posey and any advice would be appreciated.

for all you've done for this boy. Judging by the photos and your description, he's made tremendous strides.

Anyway, we were planning on taking him to a regular Vet for a baseline wellness check but is it worth it for the lost trust? He's up to date on all his shots, is neutered, and is indoor only and I don't want to traumatize him again and have him hate us.

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This being the case, I'd give him a lot more time to really settle down. Unless he starts showing signs of illness, it should be safe to wait until an annual check-up is due.

Many cats will always give you trouble when it's time for a vet visit, no matter whether they were feral or born inside and socialized early. Our last cat was known as "the cat from hell" at our vets' office, and it always took two of us a half hour or so to get him into a carrier. The vet techs wouldn't go near him. Luckily he always forgave us after a day or so.

He looks great, so healthy for a feral cat. You've done a wonderful job with him.

As @jcat said there is no need to worry about taking him back to the vets for a while. More important that he settle in and get used to his new home.

Most of my cats were feral born and about half of them need to be trapped if I'm going to take them to the vet. I can handle all of them, so rather than using a humane trap I scoop them up inside a laundry net, zip it closed and put them inside the carrier still in the net. It makes it easier for the vet to get them out of their carriers and if they're just going to be weighed, given a booster shot or get something not too serious looked at the vet leaves them in the net while he examines them.

I distract them with something really tasty and then scoop them up from behind while they're focused on their treat. They struggle a bit, but if you're quick you can get the net zipped shut before they know what's happening.

Keep us posted on his progress.

You could also look into a house call vet.  Your vet might agree, and if your community is large enough there may be one who specializes in this.  google house call vet with your zip code or town name.

Thanks for the quick responses.

@StephanQ the main problem is Tiger is very afraid of strangers. He has very good hearing, last night he heard my bf coming home from work before I did. He checks on who's coming in the door and if it isn't me or my bf he runs straight to his hiding spot behind the couch. He comes out after 5-10 min for my mom probably because she's fed him previously, but won't come out until after any other visitors leave (we've had quite a few and its been the same response). I'm afraid even with an at home visit he won't come out, and even if we manage to get him examined I don't want him to asssociate our safe house with something scary.

@Norachan we're both able to pick him up so maybe we should practice putting him in the carrier and letting him out right away? Right now I have it stored away so he isn't reminded of it so maybe we just practice with him? Probably not right away of course (I'm thinking at least 1 month). I'm not sure I can get him into a laundry bag, he doesn't even like open blankets or anything clothlike for whatever reason.

@jcat - thanks for the reassurance, Tiger seems perfectly healthy and uses the litterbox very regularly, so I think I'll only take him if he's acting sick. Hopefully we won't need to go until next year when he's ready for boosters.

We never thought we were pet people until this guy chose us, and now we can't imagine life without him. He's helping me type this out right now - wish he'd let me sleep in a bit longer on the weekends but oh well at least he's not opposed to us getting back into bed after he's fed.

I love his name!!!! And he's absolutely gorgeous. You're such a good mom. [emoji]128571[/emoji]

Since he's a healthy, young guy who just saw a vet for shots and neutering I think you can safely wait until his boosters next year to take him to the vet again and have blood work, unless you see something being wrong of course. It's a good idea to get baseline blood work done but it's nothing that is absolutely necessary or urgent. Since he has been an outside cat you should have him tested for FIV and FeLV, if you haven't already, but since he's inside, not exposed to other cats and is getting good general care I think you can wait. Don't forget to get him mirochipped too when you take him in. This is very important even for indoor cats.

Most cats don't like going into carriers and many will be a bit freaked out and will hide for a while when they get back. Your boy may always be this way but he may get better too once he knows that he can really trust you. However, many cat parents just have to deal with having their cat be upset once a year when they go to the vet. When I worked at a vet we had quite a few cats coming in wrapped in towels or being carried because their owners just couldn't get the kitty into a carrier. This is a very, very bad idea, though, since the cat can easily get away when freaked out.

My own cats are pretty good with carriers and I think the fact that a couple of carriers always sit out helps. I keep blankets in them and they sleep in them a lot so they are used to being in and around them. It's not just something scary that comes out once in a while. I think storing it out of sight and just taking it out when going to the vet makes it worse since the carrier becomes associated only with scary, stressful stuff.

If your cat is difficult to get into the carrier it can really help to get a carrier that has a door on top since it's so much easier and less stressful to put the kitty in that way. They cost a bit more but are worth it. As soon as the cat is in the carrier make sure to cover it with a towel or something so that it's completely covered and he can't see out. It will help calm him down and make it less stressful. Don't remove the towel until you are ready to take kitty out. Some also think it helps to spray Feliway in the carrier and give the kitty something called Rescue Remedy an hour or so before. It's a natural product made for humans but can be used for cats and dogs too (they make a pet version but it's usually more expensive and have to be bought online). You can get it at GNC and some Walgreens. You can put a few drops in food or in a bit of water and squirt it into his mouth with a syringe.

I think you will see a lot of progress with Tiger Posey in the next few months. I've fostered a few cats like him and they tend to make increasing progress during the first few months and eventually will be like any cat. I don't think he was a true feral but a cat who hasn't had much contact with humans for a while and was scared. His behavior isn't that of a feral cat and that's really a good thing. Feral cats are very, very difficult to change once adults but kitties like Tiger Posey tend to improve a lot. It sounds like you've got a really good boy too. Cats are really cool creatures. You just have to get to know them. My husband used to think cats were just sneaky, conniving creatures that should not be pets. Then he got to know one. Now he will call home when he's away to check on the cats. Not me, just the cats. He's totally sold.

You guys are doing a great job. Tiger Posey is lucky to have found his way to you guys. I wouldn't be surprised if he will end up with a sibling or two in the future