Hello, first time visitor and poster on this forum. I find myself needing help with a feral/stray I recently adopted.
I owned 3 other cats who frequented outdoors, so I often left food outside for them. For the past year a fourth cat has appeared frequently to eat the food. This cat was very slim, had a very long tail, almost completely black. He avoided contact with humans, and would often run at the sight of one. Two of my other cats (female) would outright attack him, while the other (male) merely paid no mind.
I was able to coax the cat to finally approach me, and I picked him up as he rubbed against me. He was initially not receptive to this, but I got him inside. He is declawed. A visit to the vet revealed him to be a sterilized male, about 12 years old (although he doesnt look it), no identification, and good health. He was litter box trained at some point, so I believe he was well taken care of until about at least year ago when he first appeared at my door.
Some of the behavior problems that I've had with him I can understand must be in part to his time in the wild (or at least the residential neighborhood in which I live) and some is perhaps the behaviors he was accustomed to in his previous home.
First of all, the cat (who i named Ghetto) does not take well to anyone other than myself. He runs and hides when others approach him, and sometimes when I come near especially after I have been gone for most of the day or if he was shut out from whatever room I was in. He almost always flees when more than one person is near him, even if they aren't paying attention to him. Sometimes he will return when two people are around. I have isolated him from the other cats. Ghetto will hop on my lap and start kneading (sp?)with his paws and eventually go to sleep when no one else is around.
Second, Ghetto is very vocal. When I have been gone for a while, Ghetto will have a very long meow at me. He will sometimes approach me and meow constantly for no apparent reason. He wont stop when I pet him and will just relocate out of my reach and keep meowing, if I get up to follow him he will hide. He has full water, food, and clean litter. I have even opened doors and allowed him to leave, however he refuses to do so.
Ghetto also has a problem with me closing my door. He will rattle the handle on whatever side of the door he is on regardless of which side I am on. He will chastise me when I open the door, or at least this is what I feel he is doing. I try to keep the door closed for heating and cooling purposes, as well as keeping litter box smell out of my room so keeping the door open is not an option for him.
Lastly, Ghetto has the odd behavior to pull my hair when I am asleep. He does this to wake me up of course, and will even do it if I don't wake up for my alarm. It's just an odd thing I've never seen a cat do before.
Any help or insight as to these behaviors or what he is trying to tell me would be appreciated. I don't know what kind of life he used to lead, and how much of it is a carryover from that or what was distorted as he became more feral.
I owned 3 other cats who frequented outdoors, so I often left food outside for them. For the past year a fourth cat has appeared frequently to eat the food. This cat was very slim, had a very long tail, almost completely black. He avoided contact with humans, and would often run at the sight of one. Two of my other cats (female) would outright attack him, while the other (male) merely paid no mind.
I was able to coax the cat to finally approach me, and I picked him up as he rubbed against me. He was initially not receptive to this, but I got him inside. He is declawed. A visit to the vet revealed him to be a sterilized male, about 12 years old (although he doesnt look it), no identification, and good health. He was litter box trained at some point, so I believe he was well taken care of until about at least year ago when he first appeared at my door.
Some of the behavior problems that I've had with him I can understand must be in part to his time in the wild (or at least the residential neighborhood in which I live) and some is perhaps the behaviors he was accustomed to in his previous home.
First of all, the cat (who i named Ghetto) does not take well to anyone other than myself. He runs and hides when others approach him, and sometimes when I come near especially after I have been gone for most of the day or if he was shut out from whatever room I was in. He almost always flees when more than one person is near him, even if they aren't paying attention to him. Sometimes he will return when two people are around. I have isolated him from the other cats. Ghetto will hop on my lap and start kneading (sp?)with his paws and eventually go to sleep when no one else is around.
Second, Ghetto is very vocal. When I have been gone for a while, Ghetto will have a very long meow at me. He will sometimes approach me and meow constantly for no apparent reason. He wont stop when I pet him and will just relocate out of my reach and keep meowing, if I get up to follow him he will hide. He has full water, food, and clean litter. I have even opened doors and allowed him to leave, however he refuses to do so.
Ghetto also has a problem with me closing my door. He will rattle the handle on whatever side of the door he is on regardless of which side I am on. He will chastise me when I open the door, or at least this is what I feel he is doing. I try to keep the door closed for heating and cooling purposes, as well as keeping litter box smell out of my room so keeping the door open is not an option for him.
Lastly, Ghetto has the odd behavior to pull my hair when I am asleep. He does this to wake me up of course, and will even do it if I don't wake up for my alarm. It's just an odd thing I've never seen a cat do before.
Any help or insight as to these behaviors or what he is trying to tell me would be appreciated. I don't know what kind of life he used to lead, and how much of it is a carryover from that or what was distorted as he became more feral.
