Help I need to get scared/aggressive cat into carrier

I'm pretty sure that one day of no food is ok - I think that's a teqnique often used for trapping ferals for tnr.

I absolutely understand and respect your position - don't feel bad at all. Sometimes it takes more guts and strength to say 'no, I can't take this on without jeopardising other animals in my care' than it does to keep and work with an animal with extreme socialisation issues. She really sounds like she needs someone who can give a huge amount of time to her...where she can be the sole focus of attention.

You are not a bad person. Really. I mean it. That shelter sounds like it has serious issues. I can't believe that they won't treat medical issues though. You had no idea that this cat couldn't be handled. I only wish there was a way for your experience to result in changes in their procedures.

Don't beat yourself up over this. You have done your best.

I wouldn't suggest withholding food for that long.

A better option might be to rig the trap so that the door stays open and just start feeding her exclusively inside the trap. Do this for a few days. After a few days of her eating consistently in the trap, set the trap so that the door drops.

I can see where you're coming from catpack . I was maybe thinking too much along the lines of full blown ferals.

@Maureen Bradley A compromise might be to withhold food until, say, lunchtime and then offer something extra yummy and smelly (tuna,sardines,warmed hotdog etc) at the back of the trap. If you're lucky she might go straight for it. The slow introduction of the trap is the ideal scenario, but as this cat needs veterinary attention I can see why you ming want to accelerate the process a bit. Sorry if you've gone over this before, but is there any way the withhold food followed by extra smelly bait would work to lure her into a front opening carrier? It should be possible to rig the door so you can shut it from a distance.

I'm just appalled at the lack of support the shelter have given/continue to give you.

Thanks everyone. I went and spoke with my vet. She does suggest withholding food for one day and then using a cat trap bait her in.She assures me it is fine. I went to a pet adoption fair today and talked with one of the vet techs holding the fair. It turns out she lives just a little bit down the road from me. She is being nice enough to loan me a trap. I am going there in about an hour to pick it up.She will show me how to use it.

This is all my fault. On the day I was picking up this cat the vet handed me a tube of Terramycin. My first thought was to tell her that cat had been in that shelter for 2 years and would be terried to be in my home. I almost said that I would come pick her up after they had treated her. I should have done that. No, she isn't used to being handled but if I had not had to medicate her I think she and I could have had time to form a trust and when I finally would have had to lift her up she would perhaps have struggled but would not have been so terrified of me to have resulted in this.

The secretary from the foundation called me and said that I should bring her back. I cried. She reassured me that this cat was happy there , it was her home. I went up stairs and took a look into her room and I am sad. Believe me I have tried leaving her crate open and putting her food in there etc. it did not work. I do not feel great about withholding food for a day but my vet says it is fine and that some who are bringing in ferals for TNR do this too.

I just feel sad, we have a really good home for her here but it just went wrong. I will recover but right now i feel like I will never adopt another cat.

As far as the rescue adopting out sick cats I agree they shouldn't but obviously they do.

Obviously I haven't read the entire thread yet, but I'm wondering what kind of shelter adopts out cats who are sick?

When we got Cricket she had one dose of medicine left. The director said we could take her that day if we wanted to and I could give her the last dose. I immediately said No! I didn't want her first day in my house to have me grabbing her and giving her medicine. I can see how it would be totally terrifying for the poor little kitty.  Cricket was scared enough, I didn't want to add that on top of it. 

I hope everything works out for you and this kitty.  

@Maureen Bradley  Please, you should not feel bad about any of this.  You could not have predicted how things have gone, why would you?  You have wanted to do your best to give this cat a loving and safe home and that is what you should focus on.  At least the shelter are fine about her going back and sound like they are reassuring you that this cat will be OK with them, that it is where she is familiar and feels safe.  I assume they must feel badly about things too, and hopefully they will learn from the experience.  For you, please do not let the learning be that you should feel bad, that you have done anything wrong, or that you will not adopt another cat.  Any of that would be very sad and unjustified. Get through the next couple of days and then allow your energies to recover.

I am glad you have found these rescue people locally who are helping you.  I hope all goes well with trapping the little cat and getting her back to the shelter safely.

Thank you all.

Mservant- I did pick up the trap. Some people are so nice. This lady does not know me and she just gave me her address and left it on her porch for me. I promised her I would ring it back on Monday.

I was just up in the cats room ( I had been calling her Phoebe by the way) She is so adorable and she plays,, plays, plays. I have never seen a funnier cat. I could not help but cry, despite everything I care for her and wish it were different.I hope the rescue does put her right back in the same room she had been in. She has so many little friends in there.I almost fooled myself into thinking I could try longer but the fact is she needs to see a vet . I wish she was a cat who could be handled.

I will keep reminding myself that the sanctuary, in her mind, is her home, the sights, the smells , the other cats. She was happy there and she will be again.

I hope I can figure out the trap. The lady did not have time to stay and show me how to do it. I will look for videos on you tube and practice.It sure would be horrible if I did it wrong , she is smart and would never fall for it twice.

Once again, thank you all for your supportive words.

You're not a horrible person for returning her, especially after two bites! The sanctuary may not have known how she would react to your handling her, but should never have released her for adoption while she required medical attention.

She spent a long time at the sanctuary, so to her it's home. It's a shame she's missing out on lots of personal attention and a home she doesn't have to share with a huge number of cats, but going back there most probably isn't going to be traumatic, especially if she's semi-feral. Our shelter has lots of permanent residents, primarily ferals who've been there for ages, that don't appear to be at all unhappy about their situation.

for successful trapping!

jcat- thank you. I know she will be fine there. Probably even happy to be back. I just think it is a shame. She should not have this reaction to being picked up. Like I said , she has been with this group since she was 6 weeks old. It just tells me that the vet them when they come in . They put them in a room with the other cats, people do go i and out and play with the cats ( not as much as I wish they did orcould) then the cats aren't taken out of that room until they are adopted.In effect the groups of cats in the rooms for any length of time form their own little colonies.

I have been practicing the trap and it is easy to use. I fed her this morning as the place does not open until noon tomorrow so I can't starve her that long.

It's funny, she plays in the room and really loves my husband, she will even let me pet her. I keep remember what she was like when I met her and a part of me is so upset with myself that I didn't tell the shelter that I would come and get her after they treated her ears and eyes.Then I would not have had to crate her for quite sometime and we would have built a relationship. She has only been in a crate once in her life and that was when I took her home but, she cannot be baited to get back in that crate.

At the shelter she was the cat jumping in and out of boxes.She would jump out of a cat tunnel like a stripper jumping out of a cake. Here she won't get in a box, she won't play in a tunnel...that is how traumatized she was by coming here.

I keep telling myself that taking her back is right . Right now she is on the cat tree by the window , she loves to look outside. In the shelter she has no windows and it makes me sad...ah, I am sorry. I will stop whining . I just have to go through it, cry my eyes out and then get over it.

Don't beat yourself up. She will be glad to see her friends again. It sounds like the shelter cares for the cats well...they just don't handle them or socialise them enough. The cat doesn't care if it's socialised - only if it's happy and fed.

Ultimately, the shelter was at fault - not you. You shouldn't have had to think whether it was better to wait till her meds were finished. That was the shelter's job.

Hope the trapping goes well.

Please do not feel to bad about this, maybe if she was an only cat and there were no children you might have been able to work with her. The only thing that concerns me is that she has mites, an eye infection and the shelters attitude. Since she has mites she should have at the very least been quarantined and kept separate from the others, I am very concerned about her eyes, if they are as red and inflamed as you state, there could be a nasty infection brewing. Have you tried putting a small cardboard box in the room and see if she'll go in it and you can wrap the entire thing in a big blanket then hold it over the crate and let her drop down into the crate?  @Columbine  I'm not too sure, regarding their attitude and the state this cat is in. They ought to have conducted a little series of tests like the ones done on dogs for tempers. Another thing, how can a cat be in a shelter and associate with other cats and not even be able to be handled safely? Please keep us posted on how she does. I would not feel comfortable taking her back to this shelter/rescue.

N nansiludie I was looking at two things - firstly, from what I've read, the cat was happy, relaxed and handlable to a degree (she would happily accept petting, just not being picked up). Secondly, the shelter do have a vet and were treating the eye infection. Yes, they acted very badly regarding the adoption process, and yes, time should be spent on full socialisation of the cats so that they can all be picked up when needed, but those faults do not imply that good basic care was and is provided for the cats (ie food, shelter, toys, stimulation, company etc). The cats are simply allowed to become a little feral when it comes to human interaction.

But she has mites and they let her full well associate with other cats, even sleeping with them when they are highly contaigous. And with eye infection, if they're dripping, can spread like wildfire through a colony. I know this from experience.

Mites are straightforward to treat. I'm sure this little girl will far more readily accept treatment (both for mites and eyes) from people she knows well than from a relative stranger. As has been said - she grew up at the shelter and, to her, she's going home.

nansiludie- As I wrote in my last post , she will not play in boxes and there is no way I can pick her up. That was the reason I started this thread.

As far as the rescue. It is a large building with over a dozen open cage rooms. Each room had a group of cats and lots of climbing structures, cubbies, hidey holes etc. The place is very clean and the cats get dry and wet food each day. They do not have enough volunteers and that is a problem as far as socialization.

I have seen groups of students, girls scouts etc. take day trips to play with the cats. There are some who come and spend the day there playing with the cats. I have done that many days.

They have two rules first, sterilize your hands with antibacterial hand soap at every door before you go in and when you come out,

second rule- do not pick up the cats.I understand that because on the days when lots of people are there it could really stir up the cats if they were constantly being picked up and put down.

The founder and director of the place is a vet. Her vet clinic is attached. She has been sick and still crawls on in there and vets the cats. I know she had breast cancer a couple years ago and pray that isn't what is going on now. She has suspended all regular vet services ( a hardship because she has to put 30k a month of her earnings into the rescue to keep it going)

They get no government funding because it is a foundation.

They do have to many cats there and as a converted warehouse I know respiratory stuff travels fast.This vet before sick, flew to Mexico once a month to TNR there. Every Sunday she did spay/neuter clinics , sometimes up to 40 cats a day for rescue groups, free of charge, because they could not do it themselves. She rescues from shelters and takes all cats, even if they need surgery, if they have cancer etc. they can live their lives out at that sanctuary. I think there is a problem with to many cats.

recently the USA first Cat Cafe opened in our area and they have been helping by taking groups of the shelters cats and getting them adopted.

This is why although I am not thrilled at what has happened, I have admired her for years. I also have another vat I adopted there.

As far as my cat ( they named her Sissy) if you would have seen her there there is no way you would have guessed this would happen.

 My first day there in early March I went to her room and she walked into my lap and gave me her forehead to rub. She then let me pet her, even turning around so I could get all sides. She was hands down, the most delightful cat there, playing with all the others.

Since you can't pick up the cats I didn't know about this problem.Given what seemed to be her nature I never guessed.

I could tell while people were okay with her, she wanted an occasional pet and then she preferred her cat friends.

It is my guess that when she was brought there at 6 weeks she did not go into one of their many foster homes . I know when she arrived she was covered in mange so I bet she was isolated and treated for awhile. Once the kittens are 6 months old, if they have not been adopted they are brought to the shelter.

I just think this is a cat who seemed happy, people loved watching her play, she seemed like she was always on a secret cat mission. She wasn't a cat to be needy when you walked in. All the volunteers pointed to her when I went in and asked about the kind of cat I wanted. Social, cat friendly, not shy.

I think she is all of those things- there. That is her home. She is kind of the meeter and greeter of the place. I really will miss her but we are not a good match. Mostly because she doesn't want me, she wants her home.It is funny, if she didn't ripme to shreds I would keep her and just work on her confidence within my house. I have done that with many cats.

I do not have small kids but I do have young step-grandkids and 8 young nieces and nephews. They are not here night and day but I can't  take the chance.

Anyway, I am sure you can see why I would bring her there. I certainly would not bring her to a regular shelter.

This place is one of a kind around here. They aren't perfect and they screwed up. It is hard on me and I am sad and kind of mad at them but, I know they are saving so many cats and everyone there really cares to take care of them.

On apersonal level , I have never had this situation but I will recover.I almost changed my mind a few hours ago and decided to keep her but I have to be realistic.I hope the next time she is adopted out she goes while healthy nd it would be perfect if she were adopted along with one of her cat friends. She needs that

Yes, @Columbine   has a good point, as far as the kitty knows, they are her family, especially all the other kitties, maybe from time to time, you could check in and see how she's doing?

Just saw your post, wow, she seems to have her hands very full. She's done great work but I think it comes to a point, when there is just too much for a person to handle. I know you'll miss her. I get attached to mine fairly quickly. I am sorry it didn't work out for you both. Maybe they can make her the official spokes cat of the place?

@Maureen Bradley You're making the right decision for your situation. Don't doubt yourself. Sometimes things don't work out, and in this case the shelter screwed up. When the time is right Sissy will find her special person, and you will find the perfect new addition to your fur family.

I have been sitting here all night and have come up with a possible solution.

She is a great cat and I know from watching her a month before I adopted her.

Obviously coming to my home has terrified her. That is understandable. I think I terrified her more when after a few days f her hiding under the bed I took the bed frame off and laid the mattress on the floor.

She had been eating and since it was a platform bed I was able to play with wand toys with her.

I took the bed apart because I needed to treat her eye.That is no way to begin a relationship with a terrified cat Not having the bed to hide under didn't help. Still, she tolerated it.

I made an appointment with my vet but canceled it because I could tell putting her in the crate would freak her out.

A day or so later I noticed she now had two red eyes. I called the rescue and the vet there wanted to see her. It was then that she flipped out and bit/scratched me so badly. That was Monday.

She needs a vet. I have been reading that when conjunctivitis spreads it can be a few things , all which require treatment several times a day. There is no way in her state of mind I will be able to do that . Even if I could do it for a few days she may need oral antibiotics too. We would never be able to form a trust.

I was thinking I could trap her in the morning and take her to my vet but that vet will only give me either medicine or a referral to an ocular specialist. In the end I would still have to treat her and somehow crate her to get her back and forth fro vet visits. That won't turn out well.

So, I do like this cat. She is still playing with the wand toy with me , she loves other cats and I really do believe that given time to get used to us and our house without being picked up , poked and proded , she could be great with us. Despite everything, I am kind of taken with her.

Tomorrow I will trap her ( I hope) and drive her to the rescue, I am hoping that if I explain that I do want her but obviously I should not have taken home a sick cat maybe they could treat her there and when that is over I could take her home and begin again.

That way she can take her time , I won't have to stick her in a crate again anytime soon and we can bond.

Does anyone have an opinion?

I am worried the rescue won't go for it. I think they should, no one else has ever adopted her . I have another cat from them I have taken good care of and, frankly, I donate a lot of money to them.

I hope they will accept this, it isn't as if she got this problem since I adopted her they know she had an eye problem and ear mites.

I feel good about that solution. I hope they do too.

That could work. The shelter staff know you, and know that you out uour cats welfare first. They should also acknowledge that they made a massive error of judgement in sending a long time resident home with you whilst she was in the middle of veterinary treatment. Hopefully they'll want to make things right with you as much as with Sissy/Phoebe. I really hope they go for it :cross:

Good luck with the trapping

I set the trap a few minutes ago. I hope that her hunger over takes her fear and she gets into it. If she doesn't we are just going to have to actually chase her around the room and throw a towel over her. That could take forever and I think it would just traumatize her so much. I am going to give it a half hour and look in.

It is to bad that I had to carry it in and of course she could see me. Something tells me people who trap ferals would have less success if they did it in full view of the cats.