Adopt or not?

There is the nicest young feral female that we've been feeding for about two weeks now. She talks us, even if she's been fed, and i have held my hand out for her to sniff, so she will let me get somewhat close to her. She gets along with our neutered male- they love to play together. She's come inside for a few minutes to investigate. She usually sleeps by our door, where I've placed a cat carrier for her to nest in. I am planning on closing the door to the carrier in the next few days to take her to the humane society. I am falling for this cat, but here's my issue. We will be moving back to the states from the Virgin Islands in May or June. I am wondering what the opinion is here on keeping this cat if we are going to have to put her on an airplane and put her in a new environment. Any idea if there will be enough time to socialize? The alternative is leaving her at the Humane Society, where she may be euthanized, as there are many stray cats here. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

Originally Posted by lovethekitties

There is the nicest young feral female that we've been feeding for about two weeks now. She talks us, even if she's been fed, and i have held my hand out for her to sniff, so she will let me get somewhat close to her. She gets along with our neutered male- they love to play together. She's come inside for a few minutes to investigate. She usually sleeps by our door, where I've placed a cat carrier for her to nest in. I am planning on closing the door to the carrier in the next few days to take her to the humane society. I am falling for this cat, but here's my issue. We will be moving back to the states from the Virgin Islands in May or June. I am wondering what the opinion is here on keeping this cat if we are going to have to put her on an airplane and put her in a new environment. Any idea if there will be enough time to socialize? The alternative is leaving her at the Humane Society, where she may be euthanized, as there are many stray cats here. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

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Before you do anything...I would take her to the vet to make sure she is healthy. She really should not be allowed inside to "interact" with your cat until she is cleared. I would also recommend you check whether there is a quarentee period for bringing a cat back into the USA from the Virgin Islands.

Katie

BTW...she sounds like a scared stray as opposed to a true feral cat.

If she will not let you touch her, then taking her to a shelter would realistically amount to a death sentence for her since she is a poor candidate for adoption. It's not a situation where she "may" be euthanized at the shelter - she would be euthanized, almost no question about it. So that is definitely not your best option!

I would advise that you take her to the vet to have her spayed and vaccinated and tested for FeLV. If she is positive (big "if"), then you would probably not want her indoors with your cat so letting her live outside from then on would be the best bet. Otherwise, once she is spayed and vaccinated you can make a decision from there. Either TNR or taking her back to the US when you return could be perfectly legitimate options.

hi the 2 iv had for 8 weeks now are totaly changed cats from a farm , who wouldnt come near anyone at all they are chipped and spayed/neutered. and they have been transformed into 2 diffrnt kittys , the girl is still getting there but in the last week i can even hug her i would go for it iv been using feliway as my older cat dosnt get on with them still .
she just hisses but has never hit out , i think if your own cat is friendly its half the battle go for it , if you leave who would take care of him like you do good luck , i think youv got plenty time to get him to trust you xxxxx

If the health no problem (kitty healthy OR your cat fully vaccinated) I say adopt her. If you cant take her home to US then you can try to get her another home or human society. As a tame cat she would probably not be euthanasised. As semiferal - no chance.
Her friend with your tame cat is very useful.
And she is accepting you quite well for a feral. She is surely one of those who may be tamed in relativetly short time. Give her a chance as it is possible for you.

(if she has some bad contagious sickedness your own cat would be contaged by now, so either her health is OK - or your cat is immune...).

You know, here in Sweden we dont have TNR. If course, we dont have quite as many feral cats as in many other countries. Winter are harsh taking a heavy toll of the homeless...
The usual is to take them in and some cat-lover tries to make them tame, to socialize them - inside. And when they socialized - they get usually permanent home by someone other. The socializer often dont keeps the cat - she tries to help still another ferals...

So. If you cant keep her as your own, your role will be of such a socializer. And then find her a permanent home before you live. You vill surely succe, as she will be tame by than. And you, in cooperation with your tame cat - already her pal - have excellent chances to do it in time.

When she is inside, begin to keep her in one room. In half: a quarantene - she is hopefully healthy - BUT she has surely most of the usual parasites.
and in second half - first time with a feral inside, it IS best to keep them in only one room... And you and she much there. The risk for escaping also much less.

Good luck!

The Virgin Islands are similar to Puerto Rico in the handling of feral cats. Taking her to the humane society is a death sentence. Since she is coming inside and gets along with the other cat, close the door to the crate when she's in there, and get her to the vet. He can spay her, give her a rabies and distemper shot. She most likely will not be allowed to fly to the US until 30 days after the rabies shot - so the quicker you can accomplish this the better. Both of your cats will require a Health Certificate to fly.

She will adjust fine after she moves. Like any move, just keep her locked in one room, then slowly allow more and more access space. Within a month, she will be fine.

I'm the Save A Sato coordinator for my shelter, and we fly Satos (stray street dogs) over here when we have space. This trip we will be getting a tiny semi-long hair Gato - the name for a Puerto Rican stray cat fot the first time. Morgan was found blind - but with lots of great vet care, he is now seeing shadows.

Hope this helps!

I posted a few weeks ago, and I have some news!

We set out a cat carrier where the nice kitty was hanging out, and started feeding her in there at her usual feeding times. One morning, after about a week to 10 days of this, we shut the door and off she went to the Humane Society, and then the vet to be tested for leukemia and fIV. Next time this happens to me or anyone, I'd take her straight to the vet. I was hopeful that she would be negative, but willing to let her go if she was positive. She was negative for both!

She was spayed and is now here with us. We had her in one room at first, but she freaked out and ran outside after our cat was mean to her. We didn't see her for a day, and a night, but she showed up just yesterday. She is letting us pet her a lot- I think she would love to be pet all day. Slowly we are becoming good friends and my next step is to apply revolution to her.

My other cat is being nicer to her again, but pops her in the face occasionally. They were such good frends before! I think she freaked him out a little by being in his space but he is getting over it. Anyway, I think this may be a success story. I am being patient, she is very cute, and I want to thank everyone for the positive responses!

hows everything going with your new little girl? I just caught your update on here.... its been a few days since you posted.

Well, things are moving along slowly but she is a sweet girl. She approaches us to be pet and meows in the most pitiful kitty voice. I did get an opportunity to give her some revolution, so I feel better that the bugs are laying off now. She did have a cold for the past few days that she may have picked up at the humane society or vet, but she is sneezing a lot less today. She is a cutie!

She slept inside for two nights in a row. We're trying to get her to come in now, but she is camped out outdside out door that opens into a courtyard. My main concern is getting my housecat to be nice! Sometimes they play, but other times he swats and intimidates her. Any tips to help my kitty with the new girl? It's a new thing for me!

it will be a slow road from here, but it sounds like you have the patience.

Its only been a week or so, so give both kitties some time to get adjusted to each other... there is going to be some swatting and intimidation and even growls. This is all normal as they work themselves out.

Is the courtyard open to outside? I mean can she get away?

Are they playing more or 'fighting' more?

i just saw your planning on taking her back the USA with you? Is this still the plan?

I am so glad you guys are keeping her! I am sure once she is settle in and comfortable with you she will be a great companion!

Hi- sorry it always takes a little while to get back to the forum! We are actually planning on staying here in the USVI indefinitely, so that means I won't be so impatient on getting her settled in. We are moving in the next few months to another apartment, so I hope to have made significant progress by then.

The courtyard is enclosed, but she can squeeze through the gate if she wants to. Luckily, it isn't a high traffic area and is on a dead-end. Cars can only go about 5 mph since we are on top of a steep hill.

I do wish she would stay inside at night, but it hasn't been working out that way lately. She was inside for an hour or so today, and we have been feeding her inside, so that she'll associate being indoors with good things. She was meowing non-stop when she was in here, and I think my buster kitty got tired of listening to it so he gave her a swat! He has been nicer to her lately- mostly playful swats, and only an occasional hiss. We pretty much made her stay in here when she had a cold since it was rainy and damp, but now she is over that-yay!

All in all, she is a very sweet cat. She lets us pet her for long periods of time, and gives us little love-nips with razor sharp teeth. Not very hard, but I wouldn't want to make her mad!

well this all sounds totally positive! Sounds to me as if she is starting to fit into the household very nicely. Give her time and you will find she will hopefully spend more and more time inside. Its hard to break the habit of an outdoor cat. Good idea feeding her inside and associating it with good things.

wow all sounds great - looking forward to hearing updates as you progress along

I hope it works out. I also moved soon after adopting a cat (well, I didn't move, but I brought him from my parents house and he had only been there for 6 weeks). He's adjusted quite well. I think your current goal needs to be to get her to stay indoors. When you move, you'll want to keep her indoors for at least a few weeks so she understands where her food is and where the warm bed is. Maybe longer, since the move itself is going to be big. It took Puppy about 2 weeks to really get settled in, but he was more socialized to start with.

You should also get her microchiped. That way, in case anything happens during the plane trip, they can find you.