DC Feral/Stray Cat

ChargingRhino said:

Last night when we put out dinner for him/her in the room, I stayed around quietly, seeing if s/he would come out. No such luck, though I could hear some moving around their in the little cat house - which is more than I've heard before. I'm going to count that as progress.

Later, I put out some catnip for the little one - and this morning, it looks like s/he had some fun overnight. In a good way, I mean! :-) In some ways, I'm thinking maybe that was a rare moment in a long time that the little black-and-white alley cat was able to relax a little.

-Chris

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It will take him some time, but movement is good.  He might have been peering out.  Will he come out for something extra yummy like chicken or tuna or salmon?  I believe that one day he will surprise you and come out.  The catnip might be a good tool to use.  He might learn to love it and maybe he will come out if you shake the bag of catnip. 

All of my cats love catnip, even my outside feral boys.  I use surveillance cameras outside to keep an eye on them.  I used to leave out catnip toys for them at night.  One night, the boy(Marvin) who now lives inside the house came up onto the deck and played with one of the catnip toys.  He was having such a good time.  I felt the same way that it might have been the first time he relaxed and enjoyed himself. 

I think this little one needs a name!  I love that if it's male, Jonas.  Maybe you could think of something similar sounding if you find out it's female.  Have you gotten a good look at his back end?  Intact males are not too hard to tell unless they are quite young. 

One of my feral cats came to me quite young.  I was certain it was female and I called her Stella.  Once trapped and taken to the vet, it was a male.  So I changed the name to Stellar.  Sounded pretty similar and more masculine sounding! 

When I was socializing a feral kitten at that stage, he wouldn't come out at first if I was sitting there quietly waiting for him, but if I put his food out and then made myself busy cleaning things and such, he would! I was so surprised the first time it happened I scared him a bit. But he felt more comfortable at first if he knew all eyes weren't on him. Maybe the next time you go down you can bring something to do that makes a little bit of noise so he'll believe you're distracted enough not to pay too much attention to him.

It sounds like he's pretty playful, so that might be a good way to bond as well. Some cats can refrain from the food, but they can't resist a mouse on the end of a wand!

Baby food was also really helpful for me. You can put a tiny bit on the end of a wand and offer it to the cat by holding it in front of his hiding place. He may not come forward to lick it off at first, but if you take it away with you when you leave he'll learn that if he wants it he needs to be brave. It helps that he doesn't have to make contact with you, just the wand. Eventually you can graduate to having him lick it off your fingers.

I also think it's a good idea to take him to the vet sooner, because if he's sick or has worms you can start to treat it and he'll start to feel better and realize that being indoors is suddenly a lot nicer than being outside.

Problem with figuring whether s/he's a boy or girl is the fact that s/he was spayed or neutered at some point, given his/her clipped ear. I did talk to the Humane Society here in DC and they didn't have this one in their database but knew of some freelancers in the area that did some catch-and-release.

ChargingRhino said:

Problem with figuring whether s/he's a boy or girl is the fact that s/he was spayed or neutered at some point, given his/her clipped ear. I did talk to the Humane Society here in DC and they didn't have this one in their database but knew of some freelancers in the area that did some catch-and-release.

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Ooops.  I forgot he/she had already been spayed/neutered.  Hopefully he/she will have a name soon!  When you go to the vet, you will then be sure!

From the face, my guess is female. Most cats have a "masculine" or "feminine" look to them. Some males who are neutered very young may look more feminine, but mostly I'm pretty good at telling. Although the picture isn't the greatest so no guarantees! :lol3:

One of my Facebook friends has dubbed my daily updates about the little black-and-white alley cat "Puddy Tat Watch 2016 -- Is It a He or a She?"

Baby steps, but some progress: This morning was the first time little black-and-white alley cat actually ate some of the breakfast we brought him. Not while we were watching, mind you, but this is a first! Yay!

Oh, I forgot to mention - this evening will be the little one's one week anniversary in the house and out from the cold. I pray we made the right decision in bringing him/her in; I think we did.

What a precious gift you have given him/her to be an indoor kitty.  I always find it a great idea to celebrate all of the baby steps!  When we set lofty goals it is easy to get discouraged.  Just tiny baby steps at a time!

When I brought Marvin into my home, he was really confused about when to eat.  He was fed 2x daily ( if he showed up) outside and once inside, he sometimes did not want the wet food.  He also was pickier as to what he wanted to eat.  It took him a few months and then he caught on to the eating schedule.  He would even start meeping (he doesn't meow, he meeps!) for breakfast before I brought it up to him.

Keep the updates coming!

We could tell our little black-and-white alley cat was a lot more active last night, and seems to be hanging around the room a little more we're not in there. Yesterday, s/he was sitting on the window sill, and though s/he hid when I came in the room, it at least wasn't a mad rush as it has been before. This morning, s/he ate breakfast too!

So on the two steps forward, one step back front .... last night, little black-and-white alley cat knocked over something in his room jumping from one piece of furniture to another ... I think.  In any case, s/he in the process of doing that, managed to knock over a picture on the wall and broke the frame.  Despite our calm assurances that the other cats in the family have done far worse, poor thing freaked out so much he jumped onto some high shelves near the ceiling behind some books and hasn't moved down from their since.  S/he's up there right now, even though we've tried to persuade him/her to come down with the food.  Not sure what to do except to be patient and wait.  

On the other hand, the bottom of his/her little paws are cute - here's a picture looking up at the shelves from below.

Poor thing.  I bet it scared him to death.  He will settle down as his tummy will get hungry.  It will just set him back a bit.  Be sure to remove anything else in the room that he might knock over or get into so he doesn't have another fright.

Oh yeah, we did remove other stuff - just soft toys, lol. We thought we actually did a pretty good job of cat-proofing the room to begin with, but this young one managed to find the right spot.

Aw, it sounds like s/he's pretty creative to knock a picture frame off the wall! You might have some entertaining playtime in the future! That won't  be the last time something innocuous scares the living daylights out of him, but s/he will get over it with time. His/her little paws are adorable!

OK, so late last night, I heard the little black-and-white alley cat jumping down from his/her high perch, so that's nice. This morning, when I checked in, s/he had eaten all of his/her dinner, which is also nice. Unfortunately, he evidently has decided that the high shelf is his safe place, because there he was again! This will make it a challenge to get him into a cat box to take to the vet. I guess we just need to wait until s/he's comfortable walking in the room with us around? I don't like the idea of trying to grab him/her up there.

Since the cat's room is the home office, and my partner works from home, he's actually going to start working in there again today. Maybe that will help with his/her socialization.

Chris

ChargingRhino said:

OK, so late last night, I heard the little black-and-white alley cat jumping down from his/her high perch, so that's nice. This morning, when I checked in, s/he had eaten all of his/her dinner, which is also nice. Unfortunately, he evidently has decided that the high shelf is his safe place, because there he was again! This will make it a challenge to get him into a cat box to take to the vet. I guess we just need to wait until s/he's comfortable walking in the room with us around? I don't like the idea of trying to grab him/her up there.

Since the cat's room is the home office, and my partner works from home, he's actually going to start working in there again today. Maybe that will help with his/her socialization.

Chris

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It should definitely help with some socialization by having someone in the room all the time.  Do have your partner offer treats throughout the day to ease the transition.  Has your partner been in the room before?  If not it might be a bit of a fright for the littler one.

If the high shelf becomes an issue, you might need to remove it temporarily or put something else up there to block him.  Many cats like to be up high and away.  Yet when trying to socialize him, it's not the ideal place for him to be.  If you find he is up there some of the time, that's fine, but all of the time except to eat or use the litter box, is not so great.

Hope all goes well by having someone else in the room.

Hm, if you still have the trap, you can start feeding him in that, then set it before your vet appointment. No matter how comfortable s/he gets with you now, you're going to be set back several steps and have to regain some trust regardless, so I'd advocate for a vet visit sooner rather than later. It'd be good to get him on whatever dewormers s/he needs and make sure s/he's healthy, and socialization will be easier if s/he feels better.

Oh yeah, he's been involved with feeding the little one and stuff all along.

After Marvin came inside the house, I waited 3 weeks to get him to the vet.  I waited as I knew there was no way  to retrap him and I had to be able to get him into a carrier.  I bought this one

  and used it as a feeding station.  I started by placing the food right outside, then inside and each day a bit further until he was eating in the back.  The carrier was open enough and with a nice wide entrance that he didn't feel threatened inside it.  The morning of the vet appointment, I placed just a tiny bit of food in the carrier.  I had my DH come in with me to help.  I used an old piece of dry wall to block the entrance while I quickly zipped it up.  I then covered it with a sheet. 

The carrier I used was mesh.  It worked great for me.  Marvin did not thrash, he just huddled in the back corner.  If you prefer something sturdier they most likely sell hard case large carriers too. 

Marvin has been inside for 2.5 years now.  Each vet visit I still need to use this larger carrier.  I cannot for the life of me get him into one of the smaller carriers. 

We have a couple of cat carriers we could use in that way. In fact, prior to trapping him, I was feeding him by putting the food in the back of the cat carrier - and since I didn't use that to trap him/her, maybe it would be a good thing to use.

FWIW, Rob (my partner) just called to tell me that the cat now knows all about the budget outlook for his company, since he's been in there. LOL! Last week, when I was in there while my federal office was closed (I work at ATF headquarters), s/he learned all about security and active shooter situations and a lot about firearms policy. So at least it will be a well-educated kitty, ha!

In any case, he's in there playing classical music and doing conference calls. The cat is still up on the shelf, but his tail is now curled around on the outside of the shelf, so I dunno, maybe that's a good sign....

Chris