Caring for Ms. Tilley

My elderly neighbors both died within weeks of each other.  Unfortunately they left behind a feral cat who they had been feeding for 3 years.  Tilley, as I named her, lived under their shed for years. With my help Tilley was caught and neutered.  After their deaths, the family asked me to take care of her.   I have seven cats in my house, so bringing her in has been a little scarey.  Its been two days.  Shes in a bedroom alone with food, water. litter.mixed with dirt., and toys.  She knows me well and comes to me in the morning when I bring the food, but then she hides under the dresser all day.  At night, she cries to get out.  She tries to climb up the curtains.

 I feel bad but at least shes out of the elements and safe.  I would appreciate any feedback because I would love to keep her but she looks so sad,

 

She is sad - her world has turned upside down.  But that doesn't mean she'll stay sad.  She will take her time but pretty soon, she will begin to appreciate the good life inside.  Even if she never become well-socialized, she is far better off now.

We have two cats who we brought inside at six months old 9 years ago.  We did everything wrong.  The girl now runs to be brushed and will literally bug me until I do.  The boy (the cat in my avatar), would allow a ten-second head scritch until recently.  I was scritching him a few weeks ago and decided to try brushing him, too.  He loves it!  He will now come up to me with a stare and I've learned it means "Brush me, please."

So, have patience.  She will take time but eventually, she will get used to this new world.

It does take time.  I brought a feral into my home 2 years ago.  He did the same thing.  I would suggest removing the curtains and putting the blinds up if you have blinds.  Watch the cords.  Also don't open the window or only just crack it as she will try to get out.  I took my bed off the floor so that my feral could not get under and hide.  I also blocked other areas such as under dressers and behind the book case.  I then added a small cat tree with a hiding box so that he had a safe place to hide.  This really helped. 

For night time, my guy would yowl, howl and cry.  I started playing soft classical music as night and also ran a white noise machine.  This helped.  I then used Composure calming treats ( later I switched to Composure max liquid as it was easier to mix into the food).  The yowling stopped after one night!!  I also used feliway plug ins. 

When you visit her sit on the floor as opposed to standing and looming over her.  Talk softly.  Just sit with her and tell her she is safe.  Keep your gaze low or over the top of her head is she is freaked by direct eye contact.

You can try some Gerber stage 2 baby food in chicken or turkey.  Cats love it and it is a great tool for socialization.  It's in a small jar with a blue label.  The ingredients are turkey/chicken and water only, no added spices.  You can offer some on a plate, then move to offering some off a spoon and then to having her lick it off your fingers. 

Is she using the litter box?  You can try Dr. Elsey's Litter Attract mixed with some regular litter or just used straight.  If you she an accident on the floor, sop up the urine with a paper towel and bury it in the box.  Do the same with poop. 

You also can try a bit of catnip or some catnip toys.  She might enjoy them.

Thank you so much for rescuing her.  It will take time, but she will adjust.  My feral took one solid year to adjust and to learn to settle with my resident cat and dog.  He is now very sweet, but still skittish of others and skittish of certain noises.  Yet he is warm and safe in my home.  It took a lot of patience especially with introductions, but we made it

Do you plan to get her to the vet soon?  You might want to have her looked at before doing any intros with your other cats.  She may have worms and you would want her vaccinated too.  I didn't start introductions until my feral had been in the house for 2 months.  He just really needed time to settle to indoor living as well as settle into human interactions.  He loved having a room of his own and used that room for a year.  It was his safe room.

Looking forward to hearing more about Tilly and your saga.

update on miss Tiley.  She now wanders the house at night meowing constantly.  The other cats don't seem to bother her.  But during the day she still hides mostly in the basement.  When she does come out, I can pick her up.

She actually purrs.  Still doesn't like other people.

She does use the litter box and also gobbles up all food during the day and at night.  If I go into the bedroom where she hides, she actually jumps up and lays with me.  I cant wait to introduce her to the back yard........

Sounds like things are going really well.  Have you taken her to the vet yet to be sure it's ok to have her around your other cats? 

Keep up the good work.  It will take time for her to settle and adjust, but she is making great strides.

Tilley has a wonderful friend in you! Thanks for saving her! I do agree with ShadowsRescue - hopefully you've gotten her to the vet -if not please do so soon. The vast majority of outside kitties have worms that can easily be passed onto your other kitties....something the vet can easily determine and take care of. Plus is she spayed? Hopefully your other guys are fixed too - the last stress you all need is more kitties at a time like this

Be patient. Sounds like she's already making major progress! Feliway plug ins can really help calm her -although not all cats respond, it's worth a try.

I'd be very slow in her reintroduction to the outside - she might panic & take off. Give her time inside...our little feral (now a fully inside girl) took time. And several ferals we've socialized (& found adoptive homes for) that we still keep in touch with their families have taken months to really completely adjust to their new surroundings, even though they'd gotten used to us. Some came out of their shells completely, and one pair still hides at noises and strangers, but are very loving with their adoptive parents! So she may (or may not!) always be a bit skittish with other noises & other people, but fully grow to love you and your "pack." I too highly recommend a radio on low in "her" room she seems to have deemed her safe zone....it's amazing how much it calms them! I keep it on classical or talk.

Keep us posted!

Update on Miss Tilley

She has become very comfortable  in her room. I now keep the door open and she wanders with the other

cats,  She never goes near the door.  Doesn't seem to want  to go outside. She lays in the window and

watches the other cats.  Still not real friendly with the other members of my family, but she sleeps with me now.  Vet said shes in good shape.

Barbara Ellen said:

 
Update on Miss Tilley

She has become very comfortable  in her room. I now keep the door open and she wanders with the other

cats,  She never goes near the door.  Doesn't seem to want  to go outside. She lays in the window and

watches the other cats.  Still not real friendly with the other members of my family, but she sleeps with me now.  Vet said shes in good shape.

Click to expand...

Such great progress!!  She is really settling into your home.  I would not let her back outside.  This is how the feral/stray I brought into my home acted.  Once inside and after an adjustment period, he never has tried to get outside.  Tilley knows she has a good thing being inside your warm and safe house. 

My feral/stray is also very scared of other members of my family.  If anyone strange comes to the house, they will never see him.  He is still very scared of loud noises and hides forever when the vacuum is out.  Yet at night he is on our bed.  He feels very safe when DH and I are laying down. 

Thank you so much rescuing Miss Tilley. 

Barbara Ellen said:

 
Update on Miss Tilley

She has become very comfortable  in her room. I now keep the door open and she wanders with the other

cats,  She never goes near the door.  Doesn't seem to want  to go outside. She lays in the window and

watches the other cats.  Still not real friendly with the other members of my family, but she sleeps with me now.  Vet said shes in good shape.

Click to expand...

I'm just now reading this thread, and I was going to say that your initial concern was a totally natural reaction, and that @Ondine  was absolutely right that she was sad, but she would adjust.

A couple months back I caught a stray I'd been feeding for 2 months and brought her into my apartment. She was so frightened and seemingly traumatized by the change in her world that she actually crawled inside one of my appliances to hide, and didn't come out for nearly 24 hours. The first two days with her I was a basket case. Although I've dealt with dozens if not hundreds of strays and ferals in my life, suddenly I was questioning and doubting myself. I told my husband that I thought I'd messed up, that maybe she really didn't want to be an indoor kitty and I was torturing her by taking her inside. He reassured me that I was doing the right thing.

Well that little girl just came home from being spayed at the vet, and has not wanted to get out of my arms or off my lap since. All she wants to do is cuddle with me now.

Each cat is unique, but of all the cats I've known in my life, I've met maybe one or two who was so wild they could never adjust to indoor living and become happy in that life.

I'm really thrilled to hear about Tilley's progress. I'm sorry for your neighbor's passing, but so grateful you were able to take Tilley into your home. You've done a wonderful thing!