Neutering DAY !!!!

If yall read my "and the waiting begins" thread, You'll see I ended up trapping 2 of the 3 kittens & that was IT! O'well 2 is better than none!

I dropped them off this am. at the SPCA. They both did very well in the van considering they've never been in a vehicle before. Anyhoo, they will be neutered, dewormed & given a rabies vaccine ~ all free of charge to us. BUT ...... My hubby & I will be paying to have them given a distemper booster & tested for Fel. Luk/AIDS.

I can pick them up this afternoon between 4/5, my oldest son is off the bus at 4 so I'll head up there when he gets home. My mom is coming over afterwards to take some pictures of them for me. There's a lady thats associated w/ C.A.R.E. thats interested in the solid blk kitten, who we call Coal & YAY he was 1 of the kittens I trapped last nite

So my mom will email me the pic. of the kittens, I'll email the lady the pic. of Coal & I'll pop on here & post their pic. so yall can see them!!!

Will let yall know they did today w/ their surgery etc.....

I'm thinking of the little kitties and hope that everything goes ok. Please do keep us posted and photos would be lovely

Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

I'm thinking of the little kitties and hope that everything goes ok.

Please do keep us posted and photos would be lovely

Click to expand...

Well they did great! I went & picked them up about 445 this afternoon, their both BOYS! both were successfully & uneventfully neutered, given rabies & distemper and dewormed. each had their left ear tipped but doesnt look as bad as i thought it would. the SPCA estimated them to be about 4months old. im trying to figure out my new digital camera & as soon as I do I'll post pic. of them.

they are both sleeping together inside a box I put inside their kitty condo for them. and Coal was so comfortably crashed out that his leg was hanging out of the box & then he must of woken up & realized it was out & pulled it back in.

***Since trap nite Ive not seen any of my other ferals??!!?? Wonder how long til they come back around or if they will.

Originally Posted by animalprint4me

***Since trap nite Ive not seen any of my other ferals??!!?? Wonder how long til they come back around or if they will.

Click to expand...

Sometimes trapping will scare them off for a bit. Keep feeding them in the same spot at the same time each day and they will return.

Good job at catching 2 and getting them neutered already!

The 5 we trapped the other night are recovering nicely - one may be adoptable and the rest are pretty feral adults.

Well done! And thank you very much - now there are two kitties getting a home, and not able to reproduce more kitties. How cool is that?

Again, well done!

Best-
Michele

Momofmany ~ thanks! I have been putting food out & didnt see any of them last evening .. usualy they come eat & we can watch them..but not last nite though when I got up this am. all the food was gone! Hope the 1 is able to find a home!!!

Michele ~ Im so excited about getting the 2 done .... their baby making machines are no longer in service YAY!! I emailed a pic. of Coal to the lady whose interested in him but havent heard from her yet. She gave us her 'school' email,(college) so not sure if she's a student or a teacher there. Will let yall know when I hear from her. And its TOTALLY COOL! I feel so good that atleast 2 of them got done! Now just gotta get the rest!!



The kittens are not coming out of the box I gave them, not eating or going potty ?!? Should I take the box away? I have them in my computer room where theres some traffic & Ive been leaving the tv on so they hear people. Should I just leave the box & give them a few days to adjust ... I know its a huge shock to them to be indoors now. Dygit is so cute, he wants to get in there w/ them so badly & clean them all up! He did that w/ Oliver when he was a kitten ~ he took on the role of "momma cat" and yes Dygit is a boy LOL Any advice! Their 4 months old, is that too old to try to socialize them?!?

Their 4 months old, is that too old to try to socialize them?!?

Click to expand...

Not at all.

Realize that their entire world has changed, and so has their body. We think of neutering as a simple surgery, but it really is surgery- and has pain, drugs, and uncomfort attached to it. It may take a bit of time for them to come 'round, but with work and time, they will be just fine.

Best-
Michele

Originally Posted by animalprint4me

The kittens are not coming out of the box I gave them, not eating or going potty ?!? Should I take the box away? I have them in my computer room where theres some traffic & Ive been leaving the tv on so they hear people. Should I just leave the box & give them a few days to adjust ... I know its a huge shock to them to be indoors now. Dygit is so cute, he wants to get in there w/ them so badly & clean them all up! He did that w/ Oliver when he was a kitten ~ he took on the role of "momma cat" and yes Dygit is a boy LOL Any advice! Their 4 months old, is that too old to try to socialize them?!?

Click to expand...

I've been able to socialize ferals caught anywhere from about 5 weeks to about 2 years old. 4 months is a late start but it is doable. The earlier you catch them the better chance you have, but will say that my 2 boys that are now close to 9 years old were taken away from their very feral mom at 5 weeks old and are still very skittish after living with me all these years. Sometimes its just in their personality to be tamed or not.

The method that our Humane Society uses for recovering ferals is this: Large cages set up in a quiet area of a house with a litter box, food/water bowls and an empty box turned on its side with the opening towards the back of the cage. The top and sides of the cage are covered with a sheet. They will almost always stay on the back side of the box to escape having to see people. This is a way to deal with very feral cats that have no chance of socialization and the plans are to return them to their environment.

If there is a chance that they can be tamed, they are allowed to recovery physically, then they are kept in the presence of humans as much as possible, even to the point that they are carried with people in carriers to work, to the adoption center, or to any place where people will have a clue not to threaten them. They are handled whenever possible to get them used to humans. Some of our volunteers work at vet's offices so the vet is agreeable to bringing in cats to the office.

When I've tamed them at home, I don't use cages, but will have them confined in a small room for a period of time. I pick a room without a bed for them to crawl under (can't interact with them as easily if they are hiding), but with enough hidey holes for them to escape to for comfort. I start by simply feeding them on a regular schedule and talking to them as often as I can. If I try to use toys with them, I only use wands with long strings and keep as much distance as possible from them.

I also use some of my tame cats to help socialize them. Once the cat has settled down to some degree, I will bring in one of my friendliest ones and play with that cat in their presence. The cats that I use for this are the ones that are HIGHLY sociable to other cats, and make sure that they first bond with the feral before I go further with it. If they are friends with the feral, and they show the feral that it is OK to play with a big scary human, the feral learns that people are OK. Unfortunately my best cat that has brought most of them around in my house crossed last year from CRF and I don't know if I have a good successor for him. Of course don't do this until the feral is tested to be disease free and healthy.

Baby step thru this process. If you are getting negative responses, back up and slowly start over again. If you threaten them early, it takes that much longer to regain their trust. They come out in their own time - on their schedule not yours.

It is so cool for you to be doing this!

Well done on getting the 2 boys fixed!

Momofmany has given you some good advice. Remember, their whole world has changed, drastically, so it may take weeks or even months for them decide you are not an kitty-eating ogre

Thanks so much Amy for all the info! They have test NEG. for fel.Luk and AIDS! And we're both vaccinated for rabies & give a distemper!! Dygit would be great for them to bond with, as it is Im having a hard time keeping Dygit away from them ... he wants to clean & take care of them so bad! LOL

I will take things nice & slow, I figure they'll prob. still be feeling yucky for another day or so! Ive been leaving the tv on whenever Im not home so they are atleast always hearing 'humans'! I'm in here constantly talking to them, my baby etc...

Will keep yall posted on how their doing!

Originally Posted by animalprint4me

Dygit would be great for them to bond with, as it is Im having a hard time keeping Dygit away from them ... he wants to clean & take care of them so bad!
Will keep yall posted on how their doing!

Click to expand...

My Bogart's first reaction to any new cat was to come up to them and lick their heads. Since most cats from a colony are used to bonding with other cats (they bond or they are rejected from the colony), this typically relaxes them. Bogart loved other cats, but loved me just as much. He would groom the newcomer, then come sit on my lap. It was always funny to see the newcomer follow Bogart around - when they realized that Bogart was with the big scary human, they would freeze at first and run away. Eventually they would follow him into my lap.

This doesn't work with all cats. I was soooooooo fortunate to have Bogart play that role for me all these years. I hope Dygit can do the same for you!!

(Bogart is the cat in my avatar)

Bogart sounds alot like my Dygit!!! I hope Dygit does as much good for these kitties as Bogart has for your newcomers!

Will let you know how it goes!