- Joined
- Oct 23, 2015
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For the past 2-3 years, I've been feeding a pair of feral cats--Boots and Socks--who visit my backyard. By now, they know me well. When I started feeding them, they'd leap over the fence to get out of the yard when I opened the door to the backyard and would only return after I'd filled their dishes and returned inside the house. Now, Boots rubs up against my legs as I'm filling his water dish and both cats playfully nibble my hand as I'm scooping food into their bowls.
About a week ago, Boots was eating rather excitedly and seems to have inhaled some food. He suddenly had a fully-blocked airway and panicked. After struggling for 5-10 seconds, he managed to expel the food. But ever since then, he gags and chocks when he eats. He can sometimes get a few bites down, but soon his airway gets blocked and he gags, gets scared, and slinks off without eating any more. Socks, of course, happily gobbles up the his own food and the food meant for Boots.
Boots's distress while eating has gone on long enough that I don't think its going to clear up on its own. Unfortunately, he's a feral cat. And while he now does let me touch him while I'm feeding him, if I try to touch him at any other time he just moves out of the way. Basically, I'm not going to be able to catch him and pick him up to take him to the vet.
I'm also worried that I don't have time to get him used to a cat trap so I can lure him in and trap him that way. There's also the problem that I feed the pair of them together, so any trap that catches Boots would probably also catch Socks.
Is there a safe, quicker way to catch a feral cat who needs emergency medical care? What do you recommend I do? I'm worried about the little guy. :-(
-Ray
About a week ago, Boots was eating rather excitedly and seems to have inhaled some food. He suddenly had a fully-blocked airway and panicked. After struggling for 5-10 seconds, he managed to expel the food. But ever since then, he gags and chocks when he eats. He can sometimes get a few bites down, but soon his airway gets blocked and he gags, gets scared, and slinks off without eating any more. Socks, of course, happily gobbles up the his own food and the food meant for Boots.
Boots's distress while eating has gone on long enough that I don't think its going to clear up on its own. Unfortunately, he's a feral cat. And while he now does let me touch him while I'm feeding him, if I try to touch him at any other time he just moves out of the way. Basically, I'm not going to be able to catch him and pick him up to take him to the vet.
I'm also worried that I don't have time to get him used to a cat trap so I can lure him in and trap him that way. There's also the problem that I feed the pair of them together, so any trap that catches Boots would probably also catch Socks.
Is there a safe, quicker way to catch a feral cat who needs emergency medical care? What do you recommend I do? I'm worried about the little guy. :-(
-Ray