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- Nov 8, 2017
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No he NEVER went outside of the litter box before, even with his sores. The first day I brought them home and indoors, I tossed him in the litter box and scratched his paw in it and he immediately used and never once went outside of it for 2 years!It is possible he smelled the previous incident still. Here is a link to help with cleaning. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-remove-cat-urine
Did he ever go outside of the litter box before he escaped? Especially when he wasn't feeling well with his sores etc?
Do you know anything about the mother? Did she have any skin issues etc?
The fact he didn't have intestinal issues before tells me that either he picked something up while he was in the wild or the stress of being out there is still impacting him. Something like that. It doesn't sound like food is the driver of the problems (since he didn't have them before). Being injured probably really stressed him and it could still have a lingering affect possibly. And he did suffer from malnutrition that might also be causing his system some issues.
I still would like a PCR test to rule out any issues. It does seem like we are eliminating some things potentially.
How is his appetite? How is he drinking?
It is understandable he is jumpy when you first enter the room and the fact he is low tells me he is still suffering from a little fear and a lack of confidence. So I would really like to continue to play with him as much as possible (as long as he is not in pain or uncomfortable in any way or doesn't hurt himself any more). And after play feed either treats or a meal. And just keep showing him a lot of love, be calm and confident with him. Just try to let him know he is loved and wanted. Talk softly to him, get him to purr if you can safely do that without putting yourself at risk of being hurt. The fact he is confident with you is GREAT. That will help him a lot.
I think we should hold off on the site swapping for now (having Oscar go into the others territory etc). I just want to make sure he didn't come back with anything and to give him a little more time to build his confidence. So at some point we'll probably do some scent swapping (getting the others scent on an old shirt and having it by Charlie when he is enjoying himself so he can build a positive association and still feel very safe. And we'll watch his body language to see he is ok with their scent. Then we'll move into the site swapping. But I want Charlie to have more positive body language than his current situation before we move to those next steps.
Thank you so much for the additional information. His history. This is very helpful.
How long has Charlie been back now? It is still about 4-6 weeks, right?
Is Charlie gaining weight?
Has he been on any antibiotics etc and did you see any link between when he was on them and stomach problems?
He was gone for a while and lost a lot of weight and suffered a traumatic injury that is still healing. He went through a lot and had a lot of stress. So it could be a lingering issue. The fact he didn't have problems before with food and stomach/intestinal issues tells me it is probably not the food. Though it could be a little rich for him still given his diet while he was gone.
Let's continue to build his confidence and be as calm and confident and loving as possible (as I know you are). And let's see how he acts and if we see any improvement.
Please share anything and please ask anything. We will get through this.
I don't know ANYTHING about the mother. She was a pregnant stray that ended up having her kittens in my father's barn and ended up getting killed when they were very young yet, so my step mother would go out and feed them and bring them water so they'd survive. But Oscar is his brother from that same litter and he's never had any health issues whatsoever. He's only ever been to the vet for his shots and getting fixed, he's a super healthy guy.
Charlie definitely is still skittish. Even with me, when I first come into the room, I'll talk to him and slowly go over to pet him and he doesn't run away but he crouches down and ducks away from me, it takes him a minute to sniff me out before he comes around but instantly he's purring and rubbing on my legs. He's definitely still stressed and seems very traumatized. His personality before this was the total opposite. He was 100% trusting of a total stranger and wanted to cuddle with everyone 24/7. I hope he can get back to that, he was a very happy cat.
Charlie has been back exactly 4 weeks. He was nothing but bones when he came home and he's no where near the 15lb fat house cat he was when he took off, but he has for sure gained a couple pounds; or at least you can visibly see that he's gaining weight I should probably say.
He was put on antibiotics the very next morning after coming home. I took him to an emergency vet visit first thing in the AM (he was actually brought home to me in the middle of the night by the sweet family that found him). They gave him an antibiotic shot at the vets office and then sent us home with (about 2 weeks worth) of antibiotic pills. He ate the pills right up with no problem, but it definitely seemed to be after a few days that I started noticing the vomit (or diarrhea, whichever it actually was). He's been off the antibiotics for almost 2 weeks now and he's had no other medication since.
So far he's been doing really well today. I haven't found any poop (or puke/diarrhea) anywhere and I can usually smell it from across the house:/ So I'm hoping he's still using the litter box and I'm not missing something! The litter box DOES have poop in it, but it doesn't seem to stink like it was when he was pooping on the floor, I'm hoping that's a good sign. I did, however, have to run out today so there was nobody home for a couple of house and when I came back; still no poop but there was a wet spot of pee on the carpet in the room he's staying in. This time it was close to the middle of the room and not in any spot that he pooped before. I'm surprised honestly to find pee on the floor when he's now pooping in the litter box? Before I wasn't finding ANY pee on the floor and only poop so that seems odd!