- Joined
- Aug 30, 2016
- Messages
- 8
- Purraise
- 5
About three weeks back, I saw a kitten (2-3 months old) walking in circles in an alarming manner in the middle of the street... I went outside right away to try to get him, and as I got close, he alerted to my presence and outpaced me to a neighbor's backyard. I went through the gate into the backyard and saw another kitten who quickly joined him before they both disappeared into an adjacent yard. The next day, I went back to look for either of them, this time with traps, and found the first cat dead, likely of disease or malnourishment--almost certainly no physical trauma. I'll never forget that I found out about this litter just days too late... I was able to determine the litter was likely birthed under the neighbor's deck (house had been unoccupied for weeks and I knew a female had been around for the last ~8 months, but I had not imagined she was not spayed), set up many traps, and eventually got the second kitten I saw as well as a third I didn't know existed. At this point, I'm content I have all of the surviving litter (yes, I'm keeping them both 
).
The first cat I trapped (the one I didn't know existed until I found him in the trap) is doing great. He was tame within a single day. He still has a constant starvation mindset and I think he was likely days from succumbing like his brother. I would be surprised if he had ever hunted on his own before I caught him. The second I caught far from the litter site and it's obvious to me he had struck out on his own first of the litter. He isn't starvation-minded as I think he was quite successful before I came along, and his range was relatively large for a cat of his age--I saw him all over the place (only once near the litter site) after the death of the first kitten before finally managing to trap him. This cat being more worldly was totally feral. He was extraordinarily stressed out for a week and had diarrhea more often than not, but has settled down to the point where picking him up is no issue. He purrs, kisses, longs for affection, plays with people and his brother, is cool with the dog, and is in almost all ways a normal cat after not even two weeks.
tl;dr:
He hardly ever meows. Maybe a few meows in the morning when he's lonely and first sees people. With friendly eyes and ears, he hisses when he sees people the rest of the time. When he wants to be taken out of his cage and messed with, he hisses repeatedly likely his brother meows. He's truly not scared anymore--this is just his default vocalization. "Here comes dinner! *hiss* *hiss* *hiss*". It's really cute, actually, and I'm just wondering if it's common for a feral who was so used to hissing out of fear to just stick with it and adapt their familiar hiss into a positive social gesture? It's certainly no problem and not something I want to change (though it may naturally change in time), but stranger would be pretty freaked out by a cat running up to them hissing repeatedly. No one will back this cat into a corner and make him hiss--he'll back them into a corner while hissing.
If anyone wondered, the mother cat has, I believe, been dealt with and she won't be having anymore dumpster babies. She's diurnal and well-fed by her people (yes, she has people--irresponsible people), which means I was unable to kidnap her for a totally unauthorized catch-and-release of dubious legality. Most would say it isn't my business, but I don't care--I found the owner who proceeded to lie to me about having an unspayed female pumping out unwanted kittens (there is no other possible mother--I know my neighborhood and watched that cat closely all year), but I left convinced that she was embarrassed and had either found out about the kittens before I did and had the mother spayed afterward, or that she would promptly have her cat spayed upon being informed of this litter by a perfect stranger who apparently knew her cat's outdoor life better than she did. I've known people who didn't realize just how young female cats were capable of becoming pregnant, and I can understand how first-time owners might assume a cat has to be fully grown before she can become pregnant.
In any event, it's a mostly happy ending I think.
).The first cat I trapped (the one I didn't know existed until I found him in the trap) is doing great. He was tame within a single day. He still has a constant starvation mindset and I think he was likely days from succumbing like his brother. I would be surprised if he had ever hunted on his own before I caught him. The second I caught far from the litter site and it's obvious to me he had struck out on his own first of the litter. He isn't starvation-minded as I think he was quite successful before I came along, and his range was relatively large for a cat of his age--I saw him all over the place (only once near the litter site) after the death of the first kitten before finally managing to trap him. This cat being more worldly was totally feral. He was extraordinarily stressed out for a week and had diarrhea more often than not, but has settled down to the point where picking him up is no issue. He purrs, kisses, longs for affection, plays with people and his brother, is cool with the dog, and is in almost all ways a normal cat after not even two weeks.
tl;dr:
He hardly ever meows. Maybe a few meows in the morning when he's lonely and first sees people. With friendly eyes and ears, he hisses when he sees people the rest of the time. When he wants to be taken out of his cage and messed with, he hisses repeatedly likely his brother meows. He's truly not scared anymore--this is just his default vocalization. "Here comes dinner! *hiss* *hiss* *hiss*". It's really cute, actually, and I'm just wondering if it's common for a feral who was so used to hissing out of fear to just stick with it and adapt their familiar hiss into a positive social gesture? It's certainly no problem and not something I want to change (though it may naturally change in time), but stranger would be pretty freaked out by a cat running up to them hissing repeatedly. No one will back this cat into a corner and make him hiss--he'll back them into a corner while hissing.
If anyone wondered, the mother cat has, I believe, been dealt with and she won't be having anymore dumpster babies. She's diurnal and well-fed by her people (yes, she has people--irresponsible people), which means I was unable to kidnap her for a totally unauthorized catch-and-release of dubious legality. Most would say it isn't my business, but I don't care--I found the owner who proceeded to lie to me about having an unspayed female pumping out unwanted kittens (there is no other possible mother--I know my neighborhood and watched that cat closely all year), but I left convinced that she was embarrassed and had either found out about the kittens before I did and had the mother spayed afterward, or that she would promptly have her cat spayed upon being informed of this litter by a perfect stranger who apparently knew her cat's outdoor life better than she did. I've known people who didn't realize just how young female cats were capable of becoming pregnant, and I can understand how first-time owners might assume a cat has to be fully grown before she can become pregnant.
In any event, it's a mostly happy ending I think.
