Trapped feral cats last week and brought them inside.

Actually, I guess they were semi-feral by the time I trapped them.

Last fall we had a mother and two kittens show up on the property at my place of work. I think they were born on the property and did not notice them until the kittens started wandering. I started feeding them cat food right away and used a time lapse camera to get photos of them. Two kittens and a mother but I have not seen the mother since late last year (before Christmas). I am not sure if the mother moved on because the kittens were getting a steady supply of food or if something happened to her. I like to think it was the first because I hate to think something bad happened to her.

They were living in huge steal beams piled in our yard at work, it was a good place because the beams are piled tight together and large predators would not have been able to get them. After a few months of feeding them the one kitten got daring and started getting close to me as I put the food out.  He would come to the edge of the beams just outside my reach. He hissed at me a few times as if to test what I would do. I called them for food and talk to them while feeding so they could learn my voice. After a few months I would say they went from feral to semi-feral as they became used to me feeding and talking to them.

A little over a week ago I noticed one of the cats squinting one eye but did not think much of it at first. Then I came in on the weekend and his eye was red and he had a runny nose. Then early last week it was getting worse so I felt I had to jump the gun and trap him right away. I say jump the gun because the smaller of the two cats was just starting to come out to see me when I would feed them. I am fairly certain the smaller cat is female as it is a calico cat. I trapped the sick cat first and took him straight to a vet and they fixed him up. He is doing much better now, I put gel in his eye three times a day (looks much better) and his breathing is back to normal. I did not want to leave his smaller sister outside alone so I trapped her after I got back from the vet. I put them both in a room together, the room has a small closet. Litter and food in the room and some small boxes in the closet, they spend most of the time in the closet as they like the smaller space.

The larger cat is adjusting better than the smaller cat. The smaller cat pulled a metal heat register up off the floor and went down the duct. I doubted that she was getting out on her own (to tight) so I had to pull a section of duct work out to get her back. I tried leaving a window open a crack, she cut her nose a bit on the metal window frame trying to get out. She gives me the big sad eyes, I feel so bad for her but know I need to stick with it because they are far better off inside than outside. Thank god the two guys I work for have hearts, they have no problem with me turning them into shop cats or that I have taken over a room in their building. They also have no problem with lending me money so I can take them to the vet. I will take smaller cat in this week for check up and schedule spade/neuter for both of them.

I would take the cats home but already have two house cats. One rescued from crack heads (long story) and the other is adopted from the humane society. Good thing I got the one from the crack heads while it was still a small kitten. It wanted to eat people food from my plate and I don't think they gave it cat food. I could only guess the cat was lucky to get any food living with people like that. I did not take the cat, they willingly gave it to a family member of mine. My house cats are extremely spoiled, as will be the shop cats.

Thought I would share my "feral" to "semi-feral" to "shop-cat" experience. I will try to remember to post my progress here.

To all the other animal rescue/care people out there (cat, dog, etc) you are doing a great thing. Stick with it and wish me luck with mine.

Welcome to TSC.  You are a god-send to these cats.  Getting them fixed and vetted is the first order of business, so you are well on your way.

Keeping them confined is the best approach for now.  The little one is especially determined - what an adventure she's already had!   Are they still in the closet or have you moved them?  A small room with a secure window will give them sunlight and safety.  If you can get a cat tree in there with their litter box and some beds or blankets, it will be plenty for them until they adjust.

If you have the time, go in there and visit with them.  Read out loud, talk quietly to them to get them used to your voice and presence.

Blessings on you for helping them!!

Thank you for the blessing.

I leave the door between closet and room open, they move around freely between the two. The room has a window but I only open it when I am in the room, or if I am cleaning the room I close the closet door so I can leave window open without worrying about them getting out. I started out putting a blanket in the room but they used it as a toilet. So I moved the litter where the blanket was and they have since used the litter. I will let them adjust a bit before trying to put more blankets in. Fortunately I am able to visit them several times throughout the day.

Great!  They probably have no idea what a blanket is for, poor dears.  Straw can be used as bedding, too.

Litter trained by the second day I will try blankets again really soon. Not one mess on the floor, I clean the litter and wash the floor around it with a little tiny bit Mr Clean ever two days. I rinse the floor of Mr Clean with just water in the bucket.

They used to spend the day in the steel beams as per the pictures I posted. But they didn't spend the nights there. Towards the end before I brought them in, they used to stand on top of the beams and watch us leave work.

I work at construction company and had guys at work make me an insulated winter house for them. Got plans from, I think it was the Humane Society website in US, and the carpenters at work adapted them and made a cat house with 3/4 Ply and 2x4s for frame and 4x4s for the floor. 4" pink insulation sealed in the floor and 1" foam insulation in the walls and roof. Roof has lip that overhangs walls and waterproofing on top with two handles to pull roof off. It has a little hallway in the front to prevent raccoons getting in as per instructions I found on the net. Carpenters are my friends so cost me a couple beers. Work is on the outskirts of Ottawa, Canada so cold winter nights, and was a long winter this year. The cats hardly ever went in it, they instead chose to live in a structure used for material storage. Doh!

I plan to get carpenters to build the two cats a huge carpet covered tree house and put it in my office. The room they are in now has no ceiling tiles and I don't want to have to get them out of the ceiling in this building. There is lots of space and I would probably just end up chasing them around. There are lots of hazards in the ceiling so I don't want to give them something to jump off in the room to reach it. So far no cat paw marks on walls like they have tried. It is 8' so I think they know they can't reach it.

Wow, whether they realize it or not, those kitties have hit pay dirt!

I was just getting ready to say "Good thought on the cat tree @Ondine  since that would give them something to do" but hearing the celling thing - oops! Definitely no cat tree! They certainly have hit pay dirt compared to outside in the Canadian winter! Poor thing - getting into the vent! We've certainly trapped panicked, determined to escape kitties - makes it tougher.

What an understanding work place and employers!

Talk to them (the cats, not the employers) softly when you're in there....it'll help them get used to humans. I also leave a tv on or a radio on public radio softly so that, again, they hear human voices and get used to sounds they wouldn't always hear outside. The main thing that will help them calm down and adjust is just plain time, and human time spent with them. I read to ours when we have ferals inside we're socializing - or take my laptop and work in the room with them. Although I realize it's a workplace - not home. But perhaps there's work that can be done (like some paperwork maybe?) while in the room. 

Keep us posted - again, you're a lifesaver for these guys! 

It's too bad you couldn't spay/neuter immediately after trapping as it sounds like you have a boy and a girl -- - just know that pregnancy (yes, even between siblings) can happen very, very early. Often as early as 4 months, and sounds like you're past that age-wise for these two. Last thing you want is more to care for

I go in the room several times a day and talk soft to them. I approach them slowly to pet them. The female cat is settled in, well not entirely but at least she will sleep during the day and not sitting terrified in a corner. She no longer quivers when I pet her. The male cat was settled within a few days, I think taking care of his eye and cold gained his trust fast. Or he was sick and did not have the energy she had to resist. He seems to be back to normal but I will keep putting gel in his eye to be certain the infection is gone.

Took her to the vet today. They said she started showing signs of the eye infection her brother had. With her I couldn't be certain but his eye was obvious. The vet said she had a fever and likely caught his cold. The vet didn't call it a cold but said I could think of it as one. She got an injection for the cold and gel for her eye, so it was almost the identical visit. Now they each have a tube of eye gel she has got nothing to be jealous of, I just hope she is as cooperative as him.

The female cat had a miscarriage two nights ago. I am guessing from all the stress. She wasn't far along. I wanted to take her to vet yesterday but she was having no part of that. I didn't want to get rough with her to get her into cat carrier. Today she was more calm and it wasn't overly hard getting her into the carrier. They checked her over and said she appears to be fine and nothing left in her. 

Cats are scheduled for spay and neuter next Tuesday. The vet said normally they don't like doing it until after all their shots but she might go back in heat within a couple of weeks. That and it is not like I neglected to get them shots. They said if she still has a cold they will do him Tuesday and her another day.

P.S. I should point out when I said overly hard to get the female cat into the carrier I had leather gloves on. She got me a few times but didn't actually get me. I should have mentioned it earlier. I don't pick them up without leather gloves. She has tried getting me a few times. I wear them for him but he hisses and was grouchy once and took a swing at me. I still wear them when picking up the male cat. Gloves and at first I wore a coat with leather sleeves because I wasn't sure what they were going to do. A feral or semi-feral cat bite or scratch can turn into a serious health hazard. Actually any cat bite, especially cats that go outdoors, could cause you harm.

Wow, you are really doing so much for them.  Once they are spayed and neutered, you will see a definite difference.  If they are allowing you to pet them now, they will most likely warm up considerably afterwards.

Vibes all goes well Tuesday.

Vet squeezed the two cats in at the end of their day on Saturday for checkup and gave them vaccine shots. I call the female cat Kitty and the male cat Rusty. Kitty talked almost the entire way to the vet (20 minute drive). Talking and pacing in the pet carrier. After her shot she climbed up onto me off the vet table and cuddled. Rusty is even more affectionate. A bit of purring but they are still a little timid. They are both doing great and will be getting spay and neuter on Tuesday.

I posted a picture of them in the carrier together. Typically he lies in front of her but she was moving around a lot and I think they are feeling more comfortable around me. I have never seen them fight or hiss at each other, I think the scratches on her nose are from her trying to get out the window. I know that a couple of the scratches are because I caught her in the act. I was in the room a few minutes earlier and she did not have scratches. She doesn't seem to have any new scratches so I think she has given up on the window.

A lot of time and patience since I began feeding them at the start of November 2015 but there is very little "feral" left to these cats. They were only a couple months old when I started and from what I read that made it a whole lot easier. I would like to have trapped them much earlier, but did not want to trap them till I was certain I could get both of them in the same day.

I find even my wildest cat, who sometimes has to be trapped to get him to the vet, is very affectionate once he realizes the vet visit is over and he's going home.

You are doing an amazing job.  After they are spayed and neutered, you will notice a big difference.  So glad they get along.

On Saturday the vet said they are doing great so I handled them a lot and I washed my hands but did not change my pants. Well, my male cat at home smells them and he is not like any cat I had before. He, Taz, is orange and looks like a Maine Coon. Taz is neutered but sometimes I wonder if the vet missed. I say looks like Maine Coon because Taz doesn't have the big paws but is very fluffy and looks like one. He is a bit aggressive and it has been two years since he got neutered (was 5 months old when I got him neutered). Taz has a sister (Zoe) but not litter mate sister. We got them from entirely different places. Zoe came second from the humane society and approx two and a half years older than Taz. Zoe is bigger and not quite as fluffy but is charcoal gray and looks a lot like Taz.

Taz has not pissed on anything in a long time. Then Taz got wind of me Saturday and I guess the smell of the work cats has him going. I sure hope that goes away after the work cats spay and neuter. The first two cats I had (living on my own) were both male and never anything like my orange cat. My first two cats were litter mate brothers. The runt (Kane) and the one that looked after him (Zaren) and they lived to 15 1/2 and 16 years. Very little aggression after they got neutered. Was truly sad living with the cat that died shortly after 16 years, he was heart broken without his little brother.

Yes, some cats are just not good at sharing.  I'd change my pants before I came into the house, for sure!  Cats are very sensitive to smells, so I am sure you are right.  He did not like the smell of those "other cats" on his person.

My husband works with chemicals and our cats will not let him touch them until he throws his clothes in the washer and takes a shower.  

Dropped them off at the vet this morning. Vet called, they are now spayed and neutered and vet said it went well. Pick them up at 4:00 this afternoon. One more trip to the vet in a couple weeks for her stitches with booster shots and id chips for both. Of course there will be future vet visits for shots and checkups.

It creeps me out chipping them but much like trapping and bringing them inside it is the right thing to do. My two house cats are chipped so I got over the creepiness a couple years ago. It is that I feel yucky treating a living animal like an asset but if lost I sure do want them back. The wanting them back outweighs the yucky feeling.

On the way to the vet this morning they were both very vocal in the car. Not howling but tiny meows as if to ask "where are we going" or "how much further". I talk back to them and it seems to keep them at ease.

 all goes well tonight.  They may still be a little dopey from the anesthesia, so the quiet room is best.  You will definitely notice a difference in a few weeks.

I know what you mean about the chipping but you're right.  You do what you must to protect them.

One day down after spayed and neutered and both cats are doing well. Kitty is still a little skittish but Rusty has discovered he likes being petted a lot. Rusty now gets up and rubs me with his head while I pet him. Rusty is learning that he doesn't have to run to the box when I come in the room. I have some boxes laying on their sides and that is what they lay in. I have some folded up sheets in the boxes and on the floor outside the boxes. Rusty spends more and more time laying on the folded sheet on the floor outside the boxes. Rusty is starting to venture from the closet into the room when I am in the room. It is a good thing I have the two of them, as I am sure Kitty will learn quickly from Rusty that she has nothing to feel threatened by.

Good news.  Hope everyone's recovery goes well.  You're right - Kitty will soon learn from Rusty that humans are so bad after all.  She may never be a lap cat but she'll learn.

what an amazing job you've done with these guys -going all out AND never giving up!! Sometimes it's amazing how post-surgery -a time when they're at their weakest and most off-their-guard- is when caregivers can make inroads! Thinking happy thoughts that the process continues to go uphill!!!! Way uphill!

"a time when they're at their weakest and most off-their-guard- is when caregivers can make inroads"

So very true. After several days of Rusty rubbing against me and petting him, Kitty has decided she wants some. Kitty came out of her shell this weekend. Both cats have become very affectionate. Both cats now roam the room while I am in it, as opposed to running to the closet and quivering in a corner. They vocalize more and more, I talk to them a lot. Today they watched me do the litter as if they are curious to know how they can keep going in it like a bottomless pit. They watched me sweep the floor and have become the curious kittens they should be.