Serious mats on in-door feral

harvitta dent

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Thank you all for this forum and your participation here. I've learned a lot from reading your posts and am thankful to be able to come to you tonight as I am loosing sleep over how to solve my still-pretty-darn-feral cat's major dreadlock issue.

Background: My cat and I took in a 4 month old foster feral over one year ago and getting her transitioned has been very slow. She was part of a small, single mama colony that my boss and I progressively trapped, altered, vaccinated, and then released back into our yard to be fed at watered every day. She came home with me in an idealistic effort to provide a better life, and I managed to foster out a second kitten as well.

Problem: My domesticated and feral cats get along super well, and I had been feeding her since she could eat kibble, but I'm rarely allowed to touch her. This is becoming a huge stressor for me as the summer heat turns the kitties into grease balls and they require human intervention in their grooming. My feral has huge mats running up her spine like a stegosaurus. She is very easily frightened and traumatized (one run in with a plastic grocery bag stuck on her foot for a moment has lead to an absolute fear of all things plastic bag like). I think the other animals at a vet or groomer would really stress her out, and she's at risk of becoming defensive-aggressive, so I'd like to be able to cut them out at home....

Is that worse tho? How can I get a cat that won't let me love her to let me groom her? She already runs from me; I don't want her to live in fear of me. Should I just find the best professional groomer possible and take her in? Maybe they'll sedate her and gently shave off the mats, turn her into a temporary little lion, and it will be great (rather than muzzle her to comb them out, which I can't get behind). I'm afraid if I tell a groomer she's a vaccinated in-door feral cat they'll charge me an arm and a leg, but they need to know her disposition and history in order to better work with her. Bottom line is that these massive mats on her are unhealthy and need to go.

My hope is that once she is more physically comfortable she will be more open to love, and that perhaps a good grooming will boost her confidence so she'll be less timid. Even if just a little bit. What do you guys think is my best course of action to get this little dreadlocked stegosaurus 1.5 year-old in-door feral back into healthy kitty condition?
 

Shane Kent

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If she has been living with you for a year she is no longer a feral cat. Feral implies no human contact. And by contact I don't mean touch, just being around you and you feeding it. You should refer to her as a shy / timid / fearful cat. You need to work on socializing the cat. Socializing them takes a lot of patience, I am working on two kittens I have had inside for 3 months now. I can pet them and pick them up but they are still a bit afraid of other people. I would recommend searching the Internet for "socializing a shy cat" as there are lots of good articles on the subject.

As for your grooming problem. Not something I am familiar with so I will leave it to someone else to answer that one. However, if it was me I would try a professional groomer as they likely have experience dealing with timid cats.
 
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msaimee

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I wouldn't recommend a professional groomer because your kitty may need to be muzzled or sedated, and only vets can administer sedation because if something were to go wrong (kitty has a bad reaction to it), they can immediately treat her. Also, groomers are not trained to handle feral cats. If your cat won't allow you to touch her, she won't allow anyone else to touch her, and if they try to groom so without sedation, she could injure them. If she doesn't tolerate being handled, for all practical purposes, she is behaving like a feral.

I once had a Himalayan cat who wasn't feral, but who became very aggressive when groomed, and her fur became very badly matted. I took her to the vet and they chose to muzzle and restrain her rather than sedate her, and they ended up shaving off a lot of her fur. You'll need to find a vet who is willing to treat feral cats (not all do) before you make the appointment. I'm fortunate in that the feral cats I've taken in all have very short, fine cat so I don't need to groom them (they fight me and panic). I would advise against forcibly grooming her at this time. Three weeks ago, I was grooming my 16 year-old domestic cat. He has heart disease and has been unable to groom himself. He's always enjoyed being brushed, but his skin must be super sensitive at this time. He bit my hand and it became infected. I've just finished a course of antibiotics. So I advise against forcibly grooming her until you're able to handle her better. Hopefully that day will come soon. You could purchase a very soft bristle brush like the one I have pictured above, and get her used to it by trying to play with it with her (put some catnip on it?) so she won't be afraid of it. Good luck.
 
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Primula

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Definitely take your cat to a groomer stat! We have one of our outdoor cats shaved each summer & we never thought she would let anyone handle her. What she does is completely freeze up & the groomer gets to work. She has also been shampooed & blow-dried, which, at 1st, we could not believe she would tolerate. The groomer works fast - much quicker than you could do it yourself & your cat will feel 100% more comfortable afterwards. You can even call a mobile groomer who will come to your home.
 

Shane Kent

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@Primula  and @MsAimee

I am not entirely sure which is correct but you are giving conflicting advice that is likely to confuse @Harvitta Dent

I would have taken the cat to the groomer but after what MsAimee said I have to admit it doesn't sound like a good idea. I wouldn't want to put a cat that is not fully socialized through that. I have spent a lot of time on my two used-to-be-feral kittens and if I had to I would take them to my vet. I wouldn't want to undo my hard work with an overly traumatic trip to a groomer. My kittens are somewhat familiar with my vet so I feel it would be less traumatic.
 
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molly92

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I'm not entirely certain whether the grooming is urgent or if it can wait until she's more social. I do tend to find that getting a cat healthy and comfortable is usually the best and first step to socializing a fearful cat, because they are less trusting when they don't feel good. If she's never been to the vet for a check up before, I think I'd recommend doing that now and getting the mats removed then as well, sedated if need be. Make sure the vet is experienced with extremely fearful cats. If she's sedated it will obviously go a bit smoother, and she won't remember very much of the whole ordeal. And then, if the vet finds any medical issues, you can start treating them and she'll start feeling even better, and the next steps of the socialization process will work even better.

Here's what I would do next: If she has a box or a carrier or area with 3 sides where she likes to hide when she's scared of you, you can work with her in there. But if she hides places that aren't easily accessible, I would set her up in a large dog crate as soon as she got home from the vet, with a bed and litter box and toys. This will keep her contained so you can work with her getting used to human touch, but the den-like shape of a cage also provides a feeling of security and safety. You can drape some towels over it to make it darker if she likes that.

Then, follow these steps for socializing scared cats: http://bestfriends.org/resources/socializing-cats-how-socialize-very-shy-or-fearful-cat

If the cat is already used to some interactions, like eating from your hand, you can move quickly through those steps, but the more afraid the cat is, the better it is to stick to the instructions rigidly, and you'll have better results. 

Keeping her caged is only temporary, don't worry. She'll be fine like that for a couple of weeks, and actually being in a smaller space is much less overwhelming for very scared cats.

The reason I would probably deal with the mats and the vet now rather than after further socialization is because once she comes back from the vet, she's going to be pretty nervous and untrusting for a bit. That's inevitable, whether she is in her current state or much further along in socialization. That happens with even the friendliest cats. But if you're already halfway through these socialization steps when she goes, you're going to be set back quite a bit and have a lot more ground to recover than if you hadn't even started them yet. Plus, yes, the initial visit is going to be traumatic, but then she'll be home and in this cage and things will be different. She won't be sure if it's good or bad yet, but she will feel better without the mats and associate that feeling with being in this new environment and having these little socialization sessions, and it will probably take less time to get her fully socialized if the process isn't interrupted with a traumatic vet visit in the middle.

She'll probably never be quite as confident as other cats (plastic bags will still cause a panic!), but if you follow these steps, she should learn at least not to be scared of you and your touch.
 

msaimee

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I think different people have had different experiences with their ferals, so sometimes there may be conflicting advice. Thank you for pointing that out, Shane. It is true that some feral, semi-feral, or just plain nervous cats freeze up in fear when being handled by unfamiliar hands. But it is also equally possible for them to go into attack mode and bite and scratch unfamiliar hands. I view the vet clinic as the safest place for treating a cat with this type of issue because the cat can be sedated and no one will get hurt. If you take the cat to a groomer and she is unable to groom the cat because the cat is agitated, then the cat will still have to go to a vet to be groomed. However, I don't know the original posters cat or the cat's behavior, so if the poster feels that a groomer can handle her cat better than or as well as a vet, then I trust her judgement. I know I am not always right!
 

foxxycat

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I think in this case you could ask your vet. She will need to be sedated then it wont be as traumatizing. If she runs from you then maybe they can give you something to give her prior to taking her in-it may be more money that it would be for a groomer but I think this is the least traumatizing way to attend to those matts. also while she is sedated they can do an exam and shots or whatever else is needed. I would go this route personally.

I think you got lots of different ideas here. Each cat is unique. I had one cat who was very friendly with people but if you picked her up the wrong way she became a hellcat from 0 to 10 seconds. We never know how they will react until its done. Hoping this helps.
 

Shane Kent

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@MsAimee

And I would like to thank you for your post on this thread. I would sooner err on the side of caution when it comes to my cats. I assumed a groomer would be fine but I don't know why I thought that when their are vets that won't treat a semi-feral cat let alone groomers. I don't mean for that to sound like I am belittling groomers. I think a vet that has experience with feral cats is the better option when it comes to a cat that is not fully socialized. One bad trip can can be a huge setback and I wouldn't want to see that happen to Harvitta. I admire Harvitta for sticking with the cat this long and I hope Harvitta is extremely successful in getting the cat socialized.
 
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