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- Jan 8, 2015
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Hi all. Around last November I noticed a newcomer in one of the colonies I feed. This is a long hair orange cat that is very shy. Somehow he managed to be accepted by the other 5 cats in that colony. In mid February, I trapped him to get him fixed. To my surprise, when I picked him up at the clinic, I found out that he had been shaved because his fur was severely matted and pulling on his skin. He was given the lion cut and most of his body was shaved.
Since I live in New York and it was still winter I put him in a large dog crate hoping the weather would turn warmer soon so I could release him. I have to point out that for this particular colony I can't provide winter shelters as I feed in a parking lot behind a restaurant. Even though the days got warmer, it wasn't until near the end of April that the temperature didn't go below freezing point at night. I could've releasing him at that point even though his fur had grown only a bit of fuzziness, but in the 2 months I've had him, I noticed he wasn't truly feral. He seems to have had some human interaction at some point, may had been a house cat in the past.
At first, he was extremely shy and scared and would pee right on the spot he was sitting if startled. I noticed he would let me scratch him behind his ear so I thought he might come around and I didn't have much to lose since I couldn't release him yet anyway. My friend, who has more time, workes with him everyday and has achieved some progress like having him eat treats from her hand. He is not as scared anymore and looks at us in our eyes, he eats whIle people are present and even though he doesn't play with toys, when I move a feather or string above his head he follows it with his eyes.
I've had him for 3 months now in my friend's basement in the cage. He seems depressed and/or upset some days and swats and hisses and spits, other days, he is responsive and calm. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to provide a room, not even a bathroom for him to stay in. We both have many cats aND no spare rooms. I took him to the vet last week for a leukemia/aids test as I was trying to convince my mother to bring hin home and set him up temporarily in the bathroom but it was impossible for the vet to examine him. He even gave me a sedative for Leo (that's what I named him) but it didn't work.
The vet said we could try a stronger dose or anesthetize him to do the exam and the test but I don't know whether I'm doing the right thing by keeping him. I want to give him a chance to a home because he has made some progress and every time I look at his sweet face it breaks my heart but the reality is that I don't have a spare room where I can keep him. I thought of building a walk in cage in my friend's basement to keep socializing him until I could find another place for him but the basement is unfinished and dark and dreary I hate for him to live there indefinitely. On the other hand, I thought about releasing him back to its colony but I don't know if it's the right thing to do for him at this point especially after three and a half months. I'm unsure whether he would recognize his surroundings and be accepted by the other cats since he's been gone for too long.
This past weekend after the failure at the vet I put him back in the trap and took him outside on the driveway to see whether he showed some interest in going back outside. I would have expected him to go crazy trying to get out but he didn't. He looked at the cars passing by with some interest and after a while he just sat there with his eyes closed, soaking up the sun. When I called his name he would open his eyes and look at me. I haven't been able to sleep for days trying to make a decision of what's best for him. I wish I could give him a home and try to socialize them as much as I can but that is not possible at the moment because I have already too many cats in my apartment.
Should I build a walk in cage in the basement and Hope that sometime in the future if he gets Social enough I could take him home with me or find them a home somewhere else or would it be better to just let him go.
One last thing, a few years ago I was helping a lady feed these three colonies that eventually I took over for. I helped her trap a couple of cats to get them fixed and found out 6 months later that she had never released them back because she felt bad for them to go back to a life outside. At that time I didn't have much experience with ferals but it broke my heart to know that these cats were living in filthy cages because this woman had way too many cats indoors to take care of, so I convinced her to released the cats back to their colony but i never saw them again. After 6 months indoors,I wonder if I did wrong and they just got disoriented and lost, but I didn't want them to live caged forever under deplorable conditions and flea infestation. I don't want to make the same mistake by releasing Leo and lose him but I want him to be happy. Please help me make a decision. Sorry for the long post!
Since I live in New York and it was still winter I put him in a large dog crate hoping the weather would turn warmer soon so I could release him. I have to point out that for this particular colony I can't provide winter shelters as I feed in a parking lot behind a restaurant. Even though the days got warmer, it wasn't until near the end of April that the temperature didn't go below freezing point at night. I could've releasing him at that point even though his fur had grown only a bit of fuzziness, but in the 2 months I've had him, I noticed he wasn't truly feral. He seems to have had some human interaction at some point, may had been a house cat in the past.
At first, he was extremely shy and scared and would pee right on the spot he was sitting if startled. I noticed he would let me scratch him behind his ear so I thought he might come around and I didn't have much to lose since I couldn't release him yet anyway. My friend, who has more time, workes with him everyday and has achieved some progress like having him eat treats from her hand. He is not as scared anymore and looks at us in our eyes, he eats whIle people are present and even though he doesn't play with toys, when I move a feather or string above his head he follows it with his eyes.
I've had him for 3 months now in my friend's basement in the cage. He seems depressed and/or upset some days and swats and hisses and spits, other days, he is responsive and calm. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to provide a room, not even a bathroom for him to stay in. We both have many cats aND no spare rooms. I took him to the vet last week for a leukemia/aids test as I was trying to convince my mother to bring hin home and set him up temporarily in the bathroom but it was impossible for the vet to examine him. He even gave me a sedative for Leo (that's what I named him) but it didn't work.
The vet said we could try a stronger dose or anesthetize him to do the exam and the test but I don't know whether I'm doing the right thing by keeping him. I want to give him a chance to a home because he has made some progress and every time I look at his sweet face it breaks my heart but the reality is that I don't have a spare room where I can keep him. I thought of building a walk in cage in my friend's basement to keep socializing him until I could find another place for him but the basement is unfinished and dark and dreary I hate for him to live there indefinitely. On the other hand, I thought about releasing him back to its colony but I don't know if it's the right thing to do for him at this point especially after three and a half months. I'm unsure whether he would recognize his surroundings and be accepted by the other cats since he's been gone for too long.
This past weekend after the failure at the vet I put him back in the trap and took him outside on the driveway to see whether he showed some interest in going back outside. I would have expected him to go crazy trying to get out but he didn't. He looked at the cars passing by with some interest and after a while he just sat there with his eyes closed, soaking up the sun. When I called his name he would open his eyes and look at me. I haven't been able to sleep for days trying to make a decision of what's best for him. I wish I could give him a home and try to socialize them as much as I can but that is not possible at the moment because I have already too many cats in my apartment.
Should I build a walk in cage in the basement and Hope that sometime in the future if he gets Social enough I could take him home with me or find them a home somewhere else or would it be better to just let him go.
One last thing, a few years ago I was helping a lady feed these three colonies that eventually I took over for. I helped her trap a couple of cats to get them fixed and found out 6 months later that she had never released them back because she felt bad for them to go back to a life outside. At that time I didn't have much experience with ferals but it broke my heart to know that these cats were living in filthy cages because this woman had way too many cats indoors to take care of, so I convinced her to released the cats back to their colony but i never saw them again. After 6 months indoors,I wonder if I did wrong and they just got disoriented and lost, but I didn't want them to live caged forever under deplorable conditions and flea infestation. I don't want to make the same mistake by releasing Leo and lose him but I want him to be happy. Please help me make a decision. Sorry for the long post!
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