Semiferal cat regressing after vet visit - help!

I'm just wondering if you have any ideas as to how to build confidence in a timid but affectionate semiferal cat? Doris turned up  a year ago, with 4  young kittens, and appeared totally feral at the time. We trapped and desexed her, and socialised and rehomed the kittens. After feeding Doris for a month, she bonded with me, and within a few weeks became affectionate and smoochy, sitting on my lap, sleeping on the sofa or sometimes on the bed. She became friendly (though still a little timid) with my partner, but remained terrified of strangers, and was never entirely comfortable within the house - if anything startled her, she'd bolt through the cat door. I was just starting to make real progress with picking her up when we had to take her to the vet. Initially I thought it went fairly well - she was terrified but unagressive, and the vet managed to examine her withouth trouble. However since then she seems to have been regressing majorly. She will only come in the house for meals, and sometimes not even then. Fortunately it is midsummer here in New Zealand. The rest of the time she hides in a remote corner of the garden, though she will let me play with her in the garden in the evening, and is quite smoochy and purry.  However she has become nervous of my partner and runs from him. I feel we have lost at least 6 months worth of work. I think part of the problem is that our other cat (herself a timid ex-stray) had become more dominant. A couple of times I have managed to coax Doris inside and onto my lap, but Iris has jumped up and nipped her. Sometimes too if I'm petting Doris outside, Iris will leap on her and nip her. I'm not quite sure how to deal with it.As the days go by Doris seems to become more timid rather than less. So I need ideas as to how to befriend Doris again. I've considered trying to catch her and keep her inside, however we live in a tiny flat and it's not very practical trying to keep one cat in while the other one needs to go in and out. For her sake I would also really rather avoid this if possible. I'm trying to divide her meals into smaller portions so she has an incentive to stick around and keep coming back for food, but I'm  not really sure this is working. I'm a bit scared we will lose her altogether.

She is such a pretty girl!

You pretty much cut out the only option I have to offer: keeping her -- and the other cat -- as indoor only kitties.  This would be easier if you were in winter, being you are in summer this is going to be sad for you.  Do you think she may have resorted to being outside anyway for the summer, even without the vet visit?  Having been feral, being outdoors must appeal to her in many ways.

Do you leave any things out in the garden for your cats?  Toys, treats, catnip?  A bed would be enticing but then you'd have to continually monitor the weather to bring it inside if it rains.  Too much work!

I think you have 2 options:

1. continue as you are, making the garden enticing for her so she will stick around, her food is there, her p lay things, and time with you.  Then when Winter arrives, perhaps keep both inside for a few weeks.

2.  bring her inside and close off the cat door keeping both indoors only for a month.  Work with her while she is indoors.

As for your nipper Iris, be sure to always talk to her first, pet her first, feed her first, let her know you recognize her as the dominant one.  Or have one cat in a bedroom with the door closed while you play with Doris.  It may be you and Doris in the bedroom with the door closed, or it may be Iris in the bedroom with the door closed while you play with Doris.  Doris needs to have calm times with you for a few weeks, whether is it indoors or out in the garden.

You probably already know this, but keep Iris' nails trimmed.  Should things escalate beyond nipping, you don't want her claws to damage an eye, meaning Doris has to again see the vet.

What do you do when Iris nips?  Anytime you are having both cats with full access to YOU, and you are with Doris, you need to have a water squirt bottle handy, and use it.  Let Iris know this behavior will not be tolerated.

And keep your expectations reasonable:  you can not make them be best friends.  You CAN expect them to live in peace together.  Even with a small flat, it is plenty of space for 2 kitties to live without bothering one another.

Best wishes!

Thank you so much for the advice! I think I will see how things go over the next week, and then make a decision about trying to keep Doris and Iris inside. The nipping tends to often happen  when I come home for work and both cats come running towards me, so they are in each other's faces. I need to work out how to manage this space better. I will try separating them too for calm time petting as well and see how that goes.

I have made a couple of warm beds for for Doris on our verandah, but that hasn't worked too well. She would sit in them at first, but then Iris or our neighbour's cat would end up occupying them.

This morning things went fairly well actually. Doris came in early for her breakfast then settled down in the kitchen for half an hour (I've made a high box for her to eat her meals on so she feels safer). After that she sat on my lap for a while on the front doorstep, and is now sitting on the garden path. Iris has been out adventuring for most of the morning so that has helped. I think Doris is staying closer partly because the weather has turned cooler today, so maybe it is a matter of maintaing the bond with Doris until autumn, when she will want to come inside anyhow.

Fingers crossed, and thanks so much!

Many owners of multiple cats have noticed that when one cat goes to the veterinarian and then returns home, she is often greeted with aggression by the other cat(s). The sense of smell is extremely important to cats. So although the cat that came back from the veterinarian looks the same and sounds the same as before she went to the veterinarian, she does not smell  the same to the cat(s) who stayed home. Thus, the stay-at-home cat hisses and may become aggressive, sometimes batting at the other cat, since she seems like a stranger.

To try to correct this cat aggression, get a clean towel and rub it on the cat who stayed home. Now rub it on the cat who went to the veterinarian, and then back on the cat who stayed home. This gets the scent of each cat onto the other cat. If the cats smell alike, the stay-at-home cat is less likely to get upset. As an alternative, some people take both cats in the same carrier to the veterinarian, even if only one cat is being checked. The cat who remains in the carrier will then smell like the veterinarian's office too, and if the carrier is situated right, may never even lose sight of the other cat.

Whenever one of my cats gets blood work done at the vet and stinks of rubbing alcohol, I start cleaning him up with wet paper towels while I'm still in the vet's office, and then use a wet towel to give a good rub down when we get home. That gets enough of the smell off so the other cats don't care.

I don't have any experience with having two cats in the home, but I do have the experience of bonding with a man hating x stray. You can read that sad story in new cats on the block under "My little Mate". (Sorry he recently passed away, hence the word sad). Anyway if your partner is as determined as you are to love Doris and have her in your home and for her to be a part of your family. He needs to give her as much love as he can without showing any lack of patience with the scared cat. Cats are like humans, when something has frightened us, it takes love to bring us out of our shells. If he has the patience to spend quality time with Doris he will reap a bountiful reward from her. I know, as I did with my little mate. He nor I never looked back.

oops I stuck my post in the wrong place. Admin has moved it to the right place. So if your partner wants some inspiration check it out.

 http://www.thecatsite.com/t/290083/my-little-mate-gem
 

Thank you, I had not thought of that possibility. Unfortunately it is a bit too late now (nearly 3 weeks after the vet visit), but I will certainy try this with any future vet visits. To me the behaviour does look like dominance rather than lack of recognition/aggression. Iris has alwasy tried it on every now and again in the past, but Doris seemed better able to cope. Right now I get the feeling that Doris is just too scared of the house (as we ambushed her there and took her to the vet) and has decided it is now Iris' territory. In the past the two cats have generally got on OK - Doris would try and groom Iris, and they would sit on the sofa or bed together.

However, it rained last night, I was sitting at the computer in the bedroom, and suddenly a sopping wet Doris arrived on my lap. I was so happy! Iris came in after a while but fortunately decided to sit on the sofa in the lounge. She stayed for about an hour, but then the rain stopped and she went outside. This morning it is hot and sunny again, and Doris is outside - but kept me close company while I gardened. Her behaviour definitely does seem to depend her on the weather. Before the vet visit, I had the feeling that she was quite motivated to become a house cat, even thought she was scared. Now she has stopped trying so much. But when the weather gets cooler she may be motivated to try again.

Here's a picture of them both in happier days when they liked (or at least tolerated) each other!

Thanks again for your advice - it makes a big difference feeling there a relots of wise and experienced supportive people out there!

Thank you for sharing this, that is an awesome story, I'll pass it on to Mark :-). Really sorry to hear about Gem's accident too, still you gave him so much love over those 6 years and an amazing life. Not that that makes it easier to lose such a special friend and family member, take care

thanks again Gemery for sharing. I hope you find peace and resolution with your grief and memories of Gem. Over time I find that the good memories get stronger.

Actually a friend just gave me this book 'A street cat named Bob' about a guy in London and a stray cat 'Bob' that he rescues. Both man and cat are amazing characters who've had tough lives, and help heal each other. It's a nice read, and you might like to check it out:
Hope too that you are nowhere near the fires in Victoria  and South Australia - for once I am glad to be in Wellington on 17 degrees!