Hi, this is my first post here! We have 3 cats. This is going to be long but I want to make sure I get as many details in as possible so you guys can understand these cats and their backgrounds, since all were stray/feral.
Our 1st cat is Jack and was found by the dumpster behind our townhouse in the summer of 2011. I have seen feral cats around here so I assumed he was feral, but he started to approach me so I grabbed him and brought him inside. He fell asleep on the couch. He was incredibly skinny and very tiny, probably about 10 weeks old. He never went back outside and we totally fell in love with him. I am not sure how he got to where I found him, someone may have thrown him outside, or maybe he was born to a stray...I will never know. He certainly wasn't used to human interaction and it took awhile but he has come around and is a wonderful cat.
This past early spring I noticed a orange tabby in our courtyard. He had a little less than half of his tail left and there was exposed bone, it looked very painful. I started leaving food out for him, and eventually we got on a schedule and he waited for his dinner every night right after dark under one of our vehicles. He was 100% feral, it took me 3 months to be able to stand 5 feet away from him while he ate under the truck. I wanted so badly to get him to a vet and found a TNR organization that loaned me a trap. We trapped him and got him to a vet experienced with ferals. They had to amputate all of his tail except about 2 inches, they neutered and vaccinated him and treated him for parasites. We brought him home and had fixed up half of our living room for him with a x-large dog crate covered in blankets, lots of cat cubes, houses, etc all sectioned of and kind of hidden so that he could get used to us while having his own space that we didn't mess with. It has been slow going, but he now will walk out in front of me and go across the room while I sit there, and seems to like to lay in one of his cat beds in front of me while I talk to him. He never makes a sound, only once did he hiss when I was letting him sniff my hand and I accidentally touched his tail. His name is Sullivan, but we usually call him Mr Kitty, which is what we called him when he was outside.
Right after we got Sullivan fixed up, another cat showed up. This cat was obviously older and he would just come up to our patio and meow and as soon as we walked out he would purr so incredibly loud, it was adorable. Sadly he had a terrible respiratory infection of some kind, he constantly sounded like he was gagging and kept sneezing really nasty stuff. He could hardly breathe! He is black but his coat was brownish looking and he looked very unhealthy. We actually though he was a female, and so of course we were afraid he was pregnant (sounds funny now) So we grabbed him one day and took him to the vet for what we thought was going to be a spay and some antibiotics. Well, the vet established that he was a neutered male around 8 years old and they checked for a microchip (nope) and vaccinated him as well as sending us home with some antibiotics. We decided to keep him only because of the condition we found him in and the fact that our townhouse complex is surrounded on 4 sides by roads, some busy, and it's just too dangerous. I watched criags list and such for anyone looking for a lost cat but nothing ever showed up. We named him Bennett and the first night we had him home we kept him out and kept Jack in the bedroom with us.
We very slowly started introductions with him and Jack while keeping them separated. We tried switching their beds, letting Jack go in the bathroom (where Ben stayed about 1/2 the time) while Ben went in the bedroom where Jack stayed while Ben was out. Eventually we put up a screen across the bathroom doorway and let Ben and Jack see each other through the screen while we fed them each and gave them pets and treats. We did this many times and each time got the same result. Ben would start meowing this HORRIBLE meow, like nothing I have ever heard from a cat. It sounded like he was possessed by a demon or something, it was actually really creepy..... and then Jack would back away and make these tiny little quiet meows like he was terrified.
Well, one day about a month in, both cats accidentally got out at the same time and we woke up to a horrible cat fight. We got them separated and since then that has happened 2 more times where they both accidentally ended up in the same area. The same thing happened both times, Jack goes up to sniff at Ben because he is curious and Ben attacks him before we can even grab one of them. We have the Feliway calming collars on both of them which has not helped that I can see. Currently we keep Ben in the bathroom (where he has food, water, toys, things to play on and scratch, a few beds and a litter box) during the day while Jack has the bedroom (where he has food, water, toys, a litter box etc.) and the rest of the apartment, then in the afternoon Jack goes in the bedroom and Ben has reign over the bathroom and the rest of the apartment until the morning.
The worst part is that Jack knows Ben is in the bathroom and has completely destroyed the carpet in the hallway in front of the bathroom, as well as all the carpet in front of the door. We have to keep a barrier in front of the door so he won't claw at it. Today I put new calming collars on them and I held Jack while my fiance held Ben and we stood across the room from each other. This was the first time they have seen each other in about a month, after the last cat fight. Ben immediately starts meowing like he is possessed and Jack freaks out, so that lasted about 5 seconds and we separated them again. It's getting to be so incredibly stressful, and it doesn't help that Ben is actually not a very nice cat... he will attack my hand (not in a playful way) if I pet him for more that 10 seconds, but as soon as I stop petting him he starts meowing and wants more attention! When he is out he demands attention 100% of the time. I work from home so this gets to be really stressful since I deal with it all the time while my fiance is at work. Ben also has a habit of attacking me randomly if I walk by, try to walk up the stairs, or just happen to be in front of him. I should mention he is a big cat, probably 15+ pounds and it makes me nervous when he is out and it's really hard to bond with him.
As for Sullivan, as feral as he still is, he gets along great with both cats. Jack hangs out and plays with him when he is out and Ben lays around with him when it's his turn to be out.
We are in the process of purchasing a home that is much bigger than this apartment and I know that it will make things easier, but it's a short sale and we have been working on it for 8 months, so it's not a fast process and we do not know when we will finally get it. In the mean time, we are going nuts and these cats can't be happy. We won't rehome Jack, and we do care for Ben and I imagine it would be very very hard to find a good home for a cat like him.
We are at our wits end and have no idea what to do!!
Our 1st cat is Jack and was found by the dumpster behind our townhouse in the summer of 2011. I have seen feral cats around here so I assumed he was feral, but he started to approach me so I grabbed him and brought him inside. He fell asleep on the couch. He was incredibly skinny and very tiny, probably about 10 weeks old. He never went back outside and we totally fell in love with him. I am not sure how he got to where I found him, someone may have thrown him outside, or maybe he was born to a stray...I will never know. He certainly wasn't used to human interaction and it took awhile but he has come around and is a wonderful cat.
This past early spring I noticed a orange tabby in our courtyard. He had a little less than half of his tail left and there was exposed bone, it looked very painful. I started leaving food out for him, and eventually we got on a schedule and he waited for his dinner every night right after dark under one of our vehicles. He was 100% feral, it took me 3 months to be able to stand 5 feet away from him while he ate under the truck. I wanted so badly to get him to a vet and found a TNR organization that loaned me a trap. We trapped him and got him to a vet experienced with ferals. They had to amputate all of his tail except about 2 inches, they neutered and vaccinated him and treated him for parasites. We brought him home and had fixed up half of our living room for him with a x-large dog crate covered in blankets, lots of cat cubes, houses, etc all sectioned of and kind of hidden so that he could get used to us while having his own space that we didn't mess with. It has been slow going, but he now will walk out in front of me and go across the room while I sit there, and seems to like to lay in one of his cat beds in front of me while I talk to him. He never makes a sound, only once did he hiss when I was letting him sniff my hand and I accidentally touched his tail. His name is Sullivan, but we usually call him Mr Kitty, which is what we called him when he was outside.
Right after we got Sullivan fixed up, another cat showed up. This cat was obviously older and he would just come up to our patio and meow and as soon as we walked out he would purr so incredibly loud, it was adorable. Sadly he had a terrible respiratory infection of some kind, he constantly sounded like he was gagging and kept sneezing really nasty stuff. He could hardly breathe! He is black but his coat was brownish looking and he looked very unhealthy. We actually though he was a female, and so of course we were afraid he was pregnant (sounds funny now) So we grabbed him one day and took him to the vet for what we thought was going to be a spay and some antibiotics. Well, the vet established that he was a neutered male around 8 years old and they checked for a microchip (nope) and vaccinated him as well as sending us home with some antibiotics. We decided to keep him only because of the condition we found him in and the fact that our townhouse complex is surrounded on 4 sides by roads, some busy, and it's just too dangerous. I watched criags list and such for anyone looking for a lost cat but nothing ever showed up. We named him Bennett and the first night we had him home we kept him out and kept Jack in the bedroom with us.
We very slowly started introductions with him and Jack while keeping them separated. We tried switching their beds, letting Jack go in the bathroom (where Ben stayed about 1/2 the time) while Ben went in the bedroom where Jack stayed while Ben was out. Eventually we put up a screen across the bathroom doorway and let Ben and Jack see each other through the screen while we fed them each and gave them pets and treats. We did this many times and each time got the same result. Ben would start meowing this HORRIBLE meow, like nothing I have ever heard from a cat. It sounded like he was possessed by a demon or something, it was actually really creepy..... and then Jack would back away and make these tiny little quiet meows like he was terrified.
Well, one day about a month in, both cats accidentally got out at the same time and we woke up to a horrible cat fight. We got them separated and since then that has happened 2 more times where they both accidentally ended up in the same area. The same thing happened both times, Jack goes up to sniff at Ben because he is curious and Ben attacks him before we can even grab one of them. We have the Feliway calming collars on both of them which has not helped that I can see. Currently we keep Ben in the bathroom (where he has food, water, toys, things to play on and scratch, a few beds and a litter box) during the day while Jack has the bedroom (where he has food, water, toys, a litter box etc.) and the rest of the apartment, then in the afternoon Jack goes in the bedroom and Ben has reign over the bathroom and the rest of the apartment until the morning.
The worst part is that Jack knows Ben is in the bathroom and has completely destroyed the carpet in the hallway in front of the bathroom, as well as all the carpet in front of the door. We have to keep a barrier in front of the door so he won't claw at it. Today I put new calming collars on them and I held Jack while my fiance held Ben and we stood across the room from each other. This was the first time they have seen each other in about a month, after the last cat fight. Ben immediately starts meowing like he is possessed and Jack freaks out, so that lasted about 5 seconds and we separated them again. It's getting to be so incredibly stressful, and it doesn't help that Ben is actually not a very nice cat... he will attack my hand (not in a playful way) if I pet him for more that 10 seconds, but as soon as I stop petting him he starts meowing and wants more attention! When he is out he demands attention 100% of the time. I work from home so this gets to be really stressful since I deal with it all the time while my fiance is at work. Ben also has a habit of attacking me randomly if I walk by, try to walk up the stairs, or just happen to be in front of him. I should mention he is a big cat, probably 15+ pounds and it makes me nervous when he is out and it's really hard to bond with him.
As for Sullivan, as feral as he still is, he gets along great with both cats. Jack hangs out and plays with him when he is out and Ben lays around with him when it's his turn to be out.
We are in the process of purchasing a home that is much bigger than this apartment and I know that it will make things easier, but it's a short sale and we have been working on it for 8 months, so it's not a fast process and we do not know when we will finally get it. In the mean time, we are going nuts and these cats can't be happy. We won't rehome Jack, and we do care for Ben and I imagine it would be very very hard to find a good home for a cat like him.
We are at our wits end and have no idea what to do!!
