So, I am currently living in NJ and about two weeks ago we had a big snow storm. Well, just as I was looking outside our screened-in door, a cat appeared. He was cold, wet, and shaking. Without even really thinking, my roommate and I let the cat in, and he came inside without much hesitation. Once he was inside, we noticed he was missing his hair on his body and very, very skinny. He was terrified of us, yet he didn't try to attack us or anything. We gave him so food (we already one have cat we adopted) and water. We made him a cat box and put some towels inside. He has now been with us for about two weeks. We took him to a vet and he is sick but didn't test positive for feline HIV. He is missing hair due to fleas and parasites, so we have been giving him meds and he is sounding better (he sounded congested when he breathes and sounded like wheezing, which has now gone away).
He is not fixed, so we plan on getting him fixed soon, once his blood cell count goes up. Oh yeah, he is very anemic.
He is slowly starting to get the hang of using a litter box. I bought the cat attract litter and hasn't peed or pooped on the floor in a few days now. Though, I think he may be peeing in his cat box sometimes on the towels. However, the biggest concern I have is that he is still terrified. We are keeping him in our laundry room away from our other cat. He has realized I am the one that is usually feeding him, so when I go in there, he has now started to meow. He may even sit up in his box waiting for me to place the food down or like today, was already at the door waiting. I specifically move the food as close to me as possible, but while he eats, I usually don't pay any attention to him. I let him do his thing, I talk to him, and just hang in there with him while he eats and check on him frequently.
So I guess my biggest question is to how to get him to trust me. I do think he is becoming more comfortable with me (slowly) but today as I sat in there, I noticed that he sniffed my leg twice and ended up moving his food bowl almost under me. I had my feet up as I sat on the floor. Any suggests on caring for a stray would be greatly appreciated. I understand it looks time and patience for a cat to trust a person, but just any insight would be great.
He is not fixed, so we plan on getting him fixed soon, once his blood cell count goes up. Oh yeah, he is very anemic.
He is slowly starting to get the hang of using a litter box. I bought the cat attract litter and hasn't peed or pooped on the floor in a few days now. Though, I think he may be peeing in his cat box sometimes on the towels. However, the biggest concern I have is that he is still terrified. We are keeping him in our laundry room away from our other cat. He has realized I am the one that is usually feeding him, so when I go in there, he has now started to meow. He may even sit up in his box waiting for me to place the food down or like today, was already at the door waiting. I specifically move the food as close to me as possible, but while he eats, I usually don't pay any attention to him. I let him do his thing, I talk to him, and just hang in there with him while he eats and check on him frequently.
So I guess my biggest question is to how to get him to trust me. I do think he is becoming more comfortable with me (slowly) but today as I sat in there, I noticed that he sniffed my leg twice and ended up moving his food bowl almost under me. I had my feet up as I sat on the floor. Any suggests on caring for a stray would be greatly appreciated. I understand it looks time and patience for a cat to trust a person, but just any insight would be great.
