Feral questions

I have trapped two cats in my apartment complex one male, one female. They have been released and come still to us to eat.

The male who we call Parker is very friendly. He head butts, follows us on walks with our dog (who he likes too) talks to us and is now purring. He even stays on our door mat.
The female is still standoffish as she has always been, but talks to us and comes to eat.

My question is, what do we do when we move from here? Should we start to back off feeding?

We are kinda attached to Parker, but don't know the right thing to do. We don't even know if we'd be able to trap him again to take him with us.

Also Parker has diarrhea bad, before the neuter he had it too. But animal serivces did not give him worming medicine.
He has been sneezing and coughing with eye discharge. It was bad last week, but is better.

We want to do right by these two. Your help is appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to spay/neuter these two.  It would be very cruel for  you to leave and stop feeding them.  The best approach would be to either see if a neighbor would continue with daily feedings and care or trap the cats again and take them with you.  If you decided to take them with you, the cats will need to be caged or confined inside for a period of 3-4 weeks to acclimate  to their new surroundings.  At this point some people choose to make the cats indoor cats.  Many of us here have brought in former stray and/or feral cats to socialize and give a home to. 

Re trapping a cat can be hard.  You can start by feeding the cat/cats in the unset trap.  You may have to start with putting the food just outside of the trap.  Then every few days you move the food further and further inside until it is all the way in the back.  You may need to do this for a few weeks. 

If the trap doesn't work, you can look into making or borrowing a drop trap and then getting the cats into carriers.

Finally you could try feeding them in large carriers or even dog crates.  There are many options.

I would that you do not just abandon the cats.  You took the time to TNR them as well as feeding them daily.  As far as worming the cats, you can call your vet and ask if they would give some to you without seeing the cat, you can often order it online too.  Diarrhea can be caused by many things so it may or may not be worms.  It would be very sad to leave him knowing he may not be well. 

ShadowsRescue, we are thinking of doing what you've stated.
We are just wanting to do the right thing.
Thank you.

It sounds as though you've done a great job socializing these cats. The fact that they follow you around and purr and meow is great!  Are you able to touch/handle them at all? Could you coax them into a pet carrier with some tuna? Would they come inside your house if you opened your door and placed some tasty treat inside? I hope you will take them with you. I think they would adjust to being indoor cats since they trust you and regard you as their caregiver and don't behave like true ferals. Please don't back off on the feeding--they've come to depend on you for their food source.  If you let them behind, wouldn't you worry about them? 

If your vet won't prescribe a de-wormer, I can PM you a site to purchase Drontal online without a prescription. Canada doesn't require a prescription for de-wormers, so you can order it from one of their pet pharmacies. Your vet might prescribe it for you, though, which would be easier.   

Hello,
The female is standoffish and we can't touch her. But Parker is the lovey, friendly one.
We can pet him and he follows us.

We would worry about them. That's why I am looking in for the course of action now. We have a year.
My vet won't give us anything without seeing them.

Parker has diarrhea so bad and the upper respiratory stuff going on.

I was told that the cause of the diarrhea could be worms.
So that place you're talking about I am willing to look into. I am concerned for the upper respiratory stuff too.

Thank you for your help.

ParkerMom said:

Hello,
The female is standoffish and we can't touch her. But Parker is the lovey, friendly one.
We can pet him and he follows us.

We would worry about them. That's why I am looking in for the course of action now. We have a year.
My vet won't give us anything without seeing them.

Parker has diarrhea so bad and the upper respiratory stuff going on.

I was told that the cause of the diarrhea could be worms.
So that place you're talking about I am willing to look into. I am concerned for the upper respiratory stuff too.

Thank you for your help.

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I am so happy to read that you are considering the best option for them, to take them when you move, how I love this, your dedication is admirable!

Normally worms do not cause ongoing diarrhea in an adult cat, I would say it is likely parasitic which is easily fixed with ponazuril, not all vets are using it so be sure to specify you want this med.

He will need a fecal float test done by the vet though. The vet you use should be feral friendly too, some vets just don't get the diff between bringing in our house cats and getting a stray/feral in to a carrier more than once for repeated vetting.

I would also like to mention that he may be fiv positive, due to fighting prior to his neutering.

If so, it's okay, but would explain his URI (upper respiratory infection) and can be given antibiotic to help him heal it.

There is no danger of spreading fiv except in unneutered males who fight with the intent to do great harm, deep blood drawing bite wounds.

As for the girl, poor baby. Females are tougher cookies, take longer to come around, to gain trust, etc.

Plus it all depends on an individual cat and how long they have been out on their own, causing them more time to be antisocial, simply due to a lack of regular exposure to people.

I had just wrote about Destiny in another thread, she was actually a true feral, meaning was never an owned cat, and was as feisty and feral as they come, that is, in the beginning.

In the end, she gave me a gift of knowledge I will always be so grateful for, it was a real eye opener and I love sharing it with others who care for feral cats

The thread is called Old Feral Cat. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/320951/old-feral-cat#post_4077112

I have relocated countless ferals, so when that time comes feel free to ask any advice you might need or questions on how-to

Thank you CatWoman707,
I will look into getting that med. my vet won't help me without seeing him.
I've been suggested to give him pumkin to help him.

I will keep you in mind and read your article.
Thank you.
Ginny

ParkerMom said:

Thank you CatWoman707,
I will look into getting that med. my vet won't help me without seeing him.
I've been suggested to give him pumkin to help him.

I will keep you in mind and read your article.
Thank you.
Ginny

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While pumpkin does help with diarrhea from diet, it won't do much good with parasites which I would say is likely, otherwise his system would eventually get it straightened out.

Yes, vets won't prescribe it without testing. 

I PM'd you the links for Drontal and Fishmox, a de-wormer and an antibiotic that you can order without a prescription. Yes, most vets won't prescribe meds for a cat they haven't examined within a year. Hope your kitty gets well soon.  

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

Parker this morning.

oh, i so agree with everything said....it would be cruel to stop feeding them or to just leave them. it sounds like these two may someday become wonderful pets. one of my ferals now sits on my lap! i have nine indoors, and even though eight of them are still feral to one degree or another, their presence is wonderfully rewarding, knowing they now have a wonderful, safe life.

What a cute, friendly cat! How is Parker doing- did you get him to a vet? I can say from experience that Parker will transition to being inside your home much easier with his female buddy (what's her name?) than if you only took him. The loss of his friend would be an additional stressor for him to deal with in addition to adjusting to indoor life. I took in a totally feral female 5 month old kitten 5 months ago who didn't know me at all, and she immediately felt comfortable with my four other cats. She strongly bonded with my cat Harry, who had the same dad as she, and it's made her transition into my house so smooth. She adores my other cats and has warmed up to me watching me interact with them. They all play together and keep each other company when I'm at work. I can't encourage you too much how wonderful it will be if you take both of them in and move them with you. They will be your devoted friends for life.

MsAimee said:

What a cute, friendly cat! How is Parker doing- did you get him to a vet? I can say from experience that Parker will transition to being inside your home much easier with his female buddy (what's her name?) than if you only took him. The loss of his friend would be an additional stressor for him to deal with in addition to adjusting to indoor life. I took in a totally feral female 5 month old kitten 5 months ago who didn't know me at all, and she immediately felt comfortable with my four other cats. She strongly bonded with my cat Harry, who had the same dad as she, and it's made her transition into my house so smooth. She adores my other cats and has warmed up to me watching me interact with them. They all play together and keep each other company when I'm at work. I can't encourage you too much how wonderful it will be if you take both of them in and move them with you. They will be your devoted friends for life.

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I completely agree, ferals might be afraid of us but find great comfort in having cat pals, especially when already bonded.

Parker is doing good. As sweet as ever. Have not gotten him to the vet yet.
The female isn't around as much as Parker.

We won't be moving for a year yet. So we have time.

We have an inside cat Gracie, whom my daughter and I bottled Feed from a new born kitten. She was found abandoned.
Gracie is now five years old. But now Gracie is sneezing, we're concerned. Even though she's not been in contact with the outside cats.
We are careful with washing our hands after petting Parker. We're keeping an eye on Gracie.
Also I have an 18 year old cockatiel. I've had him his whole life.
I don't know how Parker would do inside, in our present place, right now it wouldn't work and Gracie & my bird has priority.

In the meantime, we will continue to feed Parker and the female.

Thank you for asking. [emoji]128522[/emoji]