Trapped a stray last night

Hello all I am just needing a little reassurance. I have two female spayed rescue cats from the shelter who have been together since day 1 and get along well. Got them both as kittens and they are 3 years old now and indoor only. About 2 weeks ago a stray cat appeared on my deck and riled up my girls. I thought he was feral because he disappeared fairly quickly after a quick yowl from my dominant girl. He kept coming back a few days later and started to act friendly toward me thought the window when I talked to him. He would rub his face on the door and roll over on his back and curl his paws.
During one of these times I noticed he is not neutered but appears young. So over the next week I would go outside when he was there and talk to him and feed his dry food and treats and he would stay a few feet from me but still rub his face on my deck posts and roll over and curl his paws while I talked to him. Eventually he kept coming closer and I heard him purring while he was doing all this. I finally decided to trap him and get him fixed and try to find a home for him.
I set out the trap last night and caught him fairly easily even with me outside on the deck with him. He still wouldn't let me touch him or get to close to him before he got trapped but has never hissed or showed aggression to me. Once in the humane trap I put a towel over it and took him to my garage where I have a huge dog crate set up with a litter box, soft blankets and 1 of my old tshirts and food and water. The transfer into the crate was a little anxious as he was meowing loudly and panicky from being trapped. I got my hands and fingers close as times trying to line up the trap and crate door and not once did he try to strike out at me or hiss at me. The transfer went amazingly well for what it was. As soon as the trap was open he went right into the back of the crate and I easily closed the door. This all happened about 1 am last night. I easily opened the door and added fresh water and dry food into the cups that clip on the door without him dashing at me or acting aggressive. His meowing toned down within 30 minutes. I stayed out and talked to him and eventually he shut his eyes and snoozed until I got up to go inside and then the crying started again when I went in the house for a few minutes. I had covered the sides and back of the crate with towels so it's dark and cozy in the crate. I left him alone he rest of the night and went to bed.
I checked him this morning and he was laying in his litter box and started crying when he sees me. He calmed as I talked to him and tolerated me opening he crate door and reaching in for the bedding so I could shake out the litter pebbles. When I went back inside to get something and came back out he was at the front of the crate watching me and when I can close he went back to the back and laid back in his litter loud meowing. I have checked on him a couple more times all day and sat with him and he won't leave the back of the cage and has not ate or drank anything as far as I can tell. I don't know if he has used the litter box or not. Everytime I go out he is sleeping.
All of this appears normal and I am hoping he just needs some more time to relax before he will become playful again and eat and drink. Unfortunately by county law where I live I have to report him as a found pet to the animal shelter and he has to be in their books for 10 days before I can do anything to him in case an owner comes forward. I have made an appointment with the shelter for June 20 (due to my work constraints and the 10 day period) to have him neutered, microchipped, rabies and the combo vaccine, tested for FIV and FELV, vaccinated for FELV if negative and a nail trim all for $125. They are also gonna deflea and deworm him at this time too per the shelter protocol.
So I guess I am looking for some reassurances that I am doing all the right things and he just needs some more time to relax before he is gonna eat and drink. Thanks for any advice!!

Thank you for trapping him and caring for him.  You definitely are doing all the right things.  Getting him neutered is definitely a top priority.  Also checking for FIV and FELV.  It is normal for him to not want to eat and to be afraid right now.  Give him a bit of time.  One thing to try is tuna juice.  Just get a can of tuna and strain out the juice (water).  You can put a few flakes of tuna into it too.  Many cats will lap it up and get a bit of the tuna too.  Try giving him some yummy stinky wet food too. 

It might be best to keep the cage covered when you are not around.  This will help him to feel safer.  When you come to visit and feed him, you can remove part of all of the cover.  Just be careful not to let him get out. 

Is there a place inside you could keep him?  That would there wouldn't be a risk of him getting out?

Also do you plan to keep him and introduce him to your other cats?  If so, he will need a room of his own to start with.  It should be a cat proofed room ( no bed or a bed flat on the floor), block off other large pieces of furniture too.  You dont' want him hiding under or behind furniture where you cannot reach him.  This is particularly important since you cannot handle him. 

I like to wait a bit before introducing cats to be sure the new comer is comfortable in the surroundings and also more socialized with you.  You ideally want to be able to handle him if necessary.  So take it slowly.

I have him in a crate in my secured garage. I don't want to bring him inside until he has been seen by a vet just in case he does have something I don't wanna risk giving it to my girls. I wash my hands in between interacting with both. I'm just planning to foster him and get him social to where I can handle him and get him a good home. I just came in from visiting with him and he started curling his paws as I was talking to him. He still meowed at me when I came out there but the paw curling is another step. I'll try to feed him some wet food later tonight around dusk cause that's normally when I would feed him outside.

Welcome and kudos to you for helping him.

If you can fit a carrier inside the crate, he will have a hiding place that will help give him some security.  He will most likely retreat to it and it will make it easier fro you to get him to the vet.

If not, by the time you need to get him to his appointment, he may be comfortable enough with you to pick him up and get him into a carrier.  He does sound more like a stray; he's had some socialization.

You are doing everything right.  Keep up the good work!

Just a quick update. He is still hiding in the back of the crate in the garage in the litter box but been talking to him and he still hasn't eaten but I got purring back while chatting with him. Also used a wand toy and he wouldn't take the bait but can put the toy on him and he doesn't move or get agitated by it at all just sniffs it and cries a bit still. I have a fan pointed at the crate door to circulate air as it is a bit warm today and my garage isn't climate controlled. My garage generally stays cooler then outside but with the fan it is pleasant. Baby steps!

do you have pictures of this precious boy?

I have a few he is so cute!

He is precious!   Make sure the fan either osscilates or isn't pointed directly on him.  My pets hate fans, especially the cats.  They hate air blowing directly on them.

i would back off the toys for a bit.  Allow him to adjust to the crate for awhile.  You want him to eat and get adjusted first.

I have offered him some wet food in his crate. He keeps sniffing like I want it so bad but I'm nervous. I offered some on a spoon and he sniffed at it still. Started purring again and rolling around in the litter tray. I offered my hand to him and he sniffed it twice but didn't make a move to bite me or hiss at me. I offered again later and he sniffed and I tried gently nudging his cheek with my knuckle and opened his mouth on my knuckle but didn't bite down or swat at me or anything. It reminded me of a kitten nibble almost. Didn't hurt me at all. Not pushing him anymore tonight. Gonna let him have the wet food for about an hour, check and seen if he has eaten it and then remove it. I'll let him be for tonight after that. He has already made some little baby steps today and that's all you can ask for right?

When you go to see him, make your hand into a fist and offer it to him with knuckles pointing towards him.  This will imitate a cats head and he may head butt it.  It also is seen as less threatening to a cat than just your hand that might reach out to grab him. 

Remember purring can happen not only when a cat is happy and content, but also when a cat is stressed.  They use it to self soothe as the sound is comforting to them. 

I would be sure he has food available 24/7.  You want him to eat when he is ready and that may not be for awhile.  Just leave the wet food over night as well as some dry and a bowl of water too.  Let him choose when he wants to eat. 

Thanks for the advice ladies it helps to come on here and have a sounding board! I'll check on him soon and see if he ate the wet if not I will leave it but I need to exchange his water for fresh. He still has dry in there too. I really hope I am doing the right thing for him. I think with some time he will be a great pet for someone.

Nikimarie673 said:

Thanks for the advice ladies it helps to come on here and have a sounding board! I'll check on him soon and see if he ate the wet if not I will leave it but I need to exchange his water for fresh. He still has dry in there too. I really hope I am doing the right thing for him. I think with some time he will be a great pet for someone.

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You are definitely do the best for him.  It's so hard for us humans, but you are caring for him the best you can and he will have the love and care of someone for a long time.  Thank you for caring for him and doing a great job too!!

Good early morning all! I woke up early so I went to check on him and sometime during the night he did something in his cage and must have hit the water and food bowl on the door because dry food was strewn about the cage and the water had dry food in it and the t-shirt was damp. I smelled it and it definitely did not smell like cat pee. So I tidied up and refreshed the food and water. It didn't appear that he ate any of the wet food I left out so threw that away. I tried the tuna suggestion and drained the can of the stinky tuna water and added some flakes in it. Winner my name is tuna. As soon as I laid the bowl in front of him he started gobbling and lapping at the tuna water. He ate everything I put in there but seemed to protest the whole time with meows as he ate. After it was empty I added a bit more tuna flakes from the can and some water to the tuna in hopes he gets more fluid in take with the food. He sniffed but didn't eat no more at the time. As I was putting the bowl back in he pawed at my hand and knicked me a bit with his claws. I don't know if it was an I'm scarred claw or my hands did smell like tuna. He didn't have his ears back and he wasn't growling or hissing while he did it. He barely scratched me no blood was drawn. My skin is super easy to scratch anyways. I sat and watched him a bit after I put the second helping in and he sniffed but didn't eat and also made a few burping noises and almost looked like he was going puke the food up. I watched for about 5 more minutes and he seemed to settle after that curled back up in the litter box and closed his eyes. So I'm hopeing it stays down. He really needs the food and little bit of water. I'm starting to worry about him :/

Also still no sign of pee or poop in the crate that I know of unless he buried it in the cat box and still sleeps on top the litter. That litter box has become his safe place I believe. He isn't going to the shelter to be neutered and vaccinated and all that until the 20th. All this has to be nerves right? Please tell me this is somewhat normal for a scarred nervous cat? I just worry about him getting dehydrated, starving and not peeing and pooping. Hell I wouldn't care if he pooped and peed outside the box I can clean that up.

It is normal for the first day or two.  After that it's not good as he needs to be eating/drinking and urinating.  Keep offering lots of very stinky food.  Tuna juice is better than nothing.  Give it as often as possible.  You also could try the tuna in oil.  Get some very stinky wet food too.  Are you keeping the crate covered?  How large is the cage?  Is the food far enough away from the litter box?  Some cats do not like to eat near where they  pee/poop. 

If he doesn't start to eat/drink,  you will need to get him a vet.  Even though he can't be spayed/neutered yet, he may need medical attention.

What a difference a few more hours makes. Big steps today. I have been out there with him for about 2 hours. I talked to him and he started eating the helping of tuna and water I left. Ate the whole thing so I went in the house and got some smelly Friskies Beef Shreds in Gravy opened the can in from of his cage and he came out of the litter box and started meowing demanding food lol. So I put the whole can in a bowl and in the cage it went. While he was stretching and half in the box he peed!!! He made it in the box and he peed for a while!! He covered it a bit and then came and chowed down on the Friskes. Ate about 75% of that and even took some nibbles of the dry I had out. He then proceeded to clean himself outside the box on the blankets (he has litter matted in some of his fur so he got some of that gone). He then kept purring and started making the biscuits on the towel and rolling over while curling the paws. He got close enough to the front I was able to stick my fingers in and he sniffed, gave me a love nip once and then I started scratching his head and face a bit in the cage. He was laying on is side closing his eyes while I scratched still curling his paws. He hates when I leave he starts crying as soon as I go in the house. I set up my iPad in the garage on the charger and turned on NPR radio for some soft background noise talking. When I came back out he had retreated back into the litter box to lay down [emoji]129300[/emoji]. I guess the litter box is his safe place now. I say out and talked to him some more and was able to shake out the towels and shirt for all the litter strewn on them and replace them. He started sleeping after that and I left NPR going when I retreated in the house and no prolonged loud crying like before. So I think we are getting there. Tomorrow, maybe I plan to use a second crate to lure him in that one with wet food during feed time and then close the door behind him so I can check the litter pan and scoop it. He is at least eating a bunch and peeing now. Since that's occurring I'm thinking pooping will eventually follow. And he is starting to tolerate scratches through the door and touches.

Nikimarie673 said:

What a difference a few more hours makes. Big steps today. I have been out there with him for about 2 hours. I talked to him and he started eating the helping of tuna and water I left. Ate the whole thing so I went in the house and got some smelly Friskies Beef Shreds in Gravy opened the can in from of his cage and he came out of the litter box and started meowing demanding food lol. So I put the whole can in a bowl and in the cage it went. While he was stretching and half in the box he peed!!! He made it in the box and he peed for a while!! He covered it a bit and then came and chowed down on the Friskes. Ate about 75% of that and even took some nibbles of the dry I had out. He then proceeded to clean himself outside the box on the blankets (he has litter matted in some of his fur so he got some of that gone). He then kept purring and started making the biscuits on the towel and rolling over while curling the paws. He got close enough to the front I was able to stick my fingers in and he sniffed, gave me a love nip once and then I started scratching his head and face a bit in the cage. He was laying on is side closing his eyes while I scratched still curling his paws. He hates when I leave he starts crying as soon as I go in the house. I set up my iPad in the garage on the charger and turned on NPR radio for some soft background noise talking. When I came back out he had retreated back into the litter box to lay down [emoji]129300[/emoji]. I guess the litter box is his safe place now. I say out and talked to him some more and was able to shake out the towels and shirt for all the litter strewn on them and replace them. He started sleeping after that and I left NPR going when I retreated in the house and no prolonged loud crying like before. So I think we are getting there. Tomorrow, maybe I plan to use a second crate to lure him in that one with wet food during feed time and then close the door behind him so I can check the litter pan and scoop it. He is at least eating a bunch and peeing now. Since that's occurring I'm thinking pooping will eventually follow. And he is starting to tolerate scratches through the door and touches.

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That's great progress!  So glad he is eating and peeing and acting more normal.  Such good signs.

I know some people have taken two crates and zip tied them together to give the cat extra space.  The litter can go into one crate and the food into the other. 

Be really careful about transferring him to another crate.  If you had a crate with two door it would work perfectly to zip tie them together and then you could enter into the one needed to clean.  You want this to be as easy as possible for him since you have to do this for so many days.  Yet the litter box should be cleaned 1 or 2 times each day. 

Hopefully he continues to progress!!

Any one got any ideas an how I can try to get to his litter tray? I was given the dog carrier he is in as a gift for free and it is a very nice durable dog carrier but alas only one front facing door and the litter pan where he is currently loving to lay down is in the back with blankets and towels in from of that with the food and water hanging on the door. I'm nervous to just reach in their to get it out cause I don't wanna scare him to pieces and get bite or clawed. Any ideas?

Can you use a pole with a hook on it?  Get one of those hooks you screw into the ceiling to hang plants - they have big ones.  Screw it into the end of a broom handle.

You can hook the box and drag it toward you and he will most likely jump off to the back of the crate.

Do this slowly and deliberately and he won't lash out.  When you're done scooping, you can use the pole to push the potty to the back of the crate.  Again - slow and deliberate.

Is the crate large enough to fit a carrier next to the litter box?  If so, he can use that as a hiding place.

I often used two crates, each with two doors. I got wire grids (the kind you make shelving out of) and zip tied them around the two side doors to make a sort of hallway between the two crates. You can also use wire fencing from the hardware store but it will need some sort of frame to keep it in place.

This way, the cat had a crate for eating/sleeping and a crate for his potty.  That may be more than you can do right now, but its an idea.  The second crate needn't be as big as the first on - both just need two doors.

Ondine said:

Can you use a pole with a hook on it?  Get one of those hooks you screw into the ceiling to hang plants - they have big ones.  Screw it into the end of a broom handle.

You can hook the box and drag it toward you and he will most likely jump off to the back of the crate.

Do this slowly and deliberately and he won't lash out.  When you're done scooping, you can use the pole to push the potty to the back of the crate.  Again - slow and deliberate.

Is the crate large enough to fit a carrier next to the litter box?  If so, he can use that as a hiding place.

I often used two crates, each with two doors. I got wire grids (the kind you make shelving out of) and zip tied them around the two side doors to make a sort of hallway between the two crates. You can also use wire fencing from the hardware store but it will need some sort of frame to keep it in place.

This way, the cat had a crate for eating/sleeping and a crate for his potty.  That may be more than you can do right now, but its an idea.  The second crate needn't be as big as the first on - both just need two doors.

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Thanks I was sitting here going crap I don't know if I can afford to get another big dog crate at the moment this one I was given was from my Dad, he is a cat lover like me and it was $120. So I employed a similar idea. He is very used to my presence and me opening and closing the crate door so I grabbed my trusty long handled hammer (I know scary cause of what it is). I opened the door and pulled out all the bedding (he tolerates me doing that very well) and then slowly put the hammer inside, I out it up to his nose and he sniffed it without any big fuss and then I hooked the box with the claw part of the hammer and slowly dragged him in the box toward me. I kept the door closed firm around the hammer handle so he couldn't dash at the door. He didn't actually leave the box or appear scarred. I got him all the way to the front door with him still in the box and he just meowed at me a few times. I closed the door once he was to the front and used his pole toy to kinda convince him to get out of the box with a few gentle nudges. Wasn't too hard he got up pretty easily and retreated to the back of the crate and laid down quietly. Then the rest was easy. Scooped and added some fresh litter to top it off. Did not see any poop yet but there was more pee clumps then I had anticipated! Isn't it funny how we get excited over the cats pooping and peeing lol?! Did the same going back in just gently pushed it back til he jumped back in it and then replaced all the bedding etc. He did so good and I praised him the whole time. He looked quite content getting back into clean litter. That's a load of my chest!