DC Feral/Stray Cat

[chargingrhino]

So, the visit went as OK as can be expected, I guess. Jonas is a girl, so our boys have a sister. Her teeth are really in bad shape - either a previous owner had a bunch removed, or she has a disease the vet explained about where they waste away (though she suspected the former). It was rough getting her in the cat carrier, and she was less than cooperative at the vet, so they did have to sedate her. She's also, the vet tginks, a lot older than I thought - like maybe eight years.

 

[shadowsrescue]

So, the visit went as OK as can be expected, I guess. Jonas is a girl, so our boys have a sister. Her teeth are really in bad shape - either a previous owner had a bunch removed, or she has a disease the vet explained about where they waste away (though she suspected the former). It was rough getting her in the cat carrier, and she was less than cooperative at the vet, so they did have to sedate her. She's also, the vet tginks, a lot older than I thought - like maybe eight years.

Oh, poor Jonas.  Hopefully she doesn't have to go back anytime soon.  Will she need to have more teeth removed? 

One of my indoor boys has really bad teeth.  He was just born this way.  He had 4 removed this fall and he is 7. 

I am sure she is upset about the visit.  Hopefully you can breathe a sigh of relief that it is over and now she can settle herself. 

It may be hard for the vet to get a read on her age due to her teeth.  My vet said that if she was to guess my cats age, it would be closer to 12-13 based on his teeth and gums.  So there is a chance she is a bit younger.  You just never know.

I hope that Jonas will settle down and realize you are doing the absolute best for her.  I will send you all healing vibes and thoughts.

 

[chargingrhino]

Yeah, the doctor said she could be wrong about the age for that very reason. She seemed to think some teeth cleaning would be good for a future visit, but thought that's down the list of priorities some. We got the standard set of vaccines this time around and they'll also be doing the blood work, so hopefully all that comes back clean! We need to do booster shots in 3 weeks but for now, the little girl is back in her room, hiding in her little cat house. Thanks for the good vibes - I keep worrying about stuff, but I gotta think we're doing the right thing by caring for the little creature.

 

[chargingrhino]

Yay! The test results say that our little girl is negative for FIV and leukemia!

 

[shadowsrescue]

Yay! The test results say that our little girl is negative for FIV and leukemia!

What a relief!!!   Good news for Jonas.  How is she doing today? 

 

[chargingrhino]

Of course, as soon as we got home last night, she raced into her little cat house. I do know that she ate her dinner over night and pooped and peed in the litter box, so that's good. Also, she had a field day just absolutely shredding the newspaper we had out in front of the her cat house, so I think at least she's playing around a little (albeit, when we're not in there).

 

[dahlia]

I am glad Jonas is doing well after the vet visit.  My mom had a cat who absolutely loved shredding newspapers.  It was her favorite toy.

  Keep up the good work!

 

[chargingrhino]

Thanks!
BTW, it seems like that feral cat floral stuff is working a little bit to calm our little girl down a little bit. Last night, she didn't wait for all of us to go to bed before she ate her dinner - we couldn't be in the room, mind you, but she had dinner within the sound of our voices, and that's a nice small step!

-Chris

 

[shadowsrescue]

Thanks!
BTW, it seems like that feral cat floral stuff is working a little bit to calm our little girl down a little bit. Last night, she didn't wait for all of us to go to bed before she ate her dinner - we couldn't be in the room, mind you, but she had dinner within the sound of our voices, and that's a nice small step!

-Chris

Great news!!  Remember you can also spray the flower essences around the room and on her bedding.  I used to use it twice daily into wet food, also in the daily water bowl and then spritz around the room 1-2x a day. 

Have you tried any soft catnip toys for her?  My feral boy loved them.  He would play with them at night.  I found some nice ones on Etsy or just used some soft toys and sprinkled some catnip on them. 

 

[chargingrhino]

I sprayed it on the newspaper, thinking she'd like that since she likes playing with the newspaper for some reason. But, judging from last night's activity, that got a big "meh." :-) I've only had the stuff for a day, though, so we shall see. I did put it in the water. Regarding catnip toys, I've tried both sprinkling catnip on toys and just having a catnip toy, but that seems to get a big "meh" too. Maybe she's a minimalist, because she seems to like just having sprinkled catnip without the toy.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I sprayed it on the newspaper, thinking she'd like that since she likes playing with the newspaper for some reason. But, judging from last night's activity, that got a big "meh." :-) I've only had the stuff for a day, though, so we shall see. I did put it in the water. Regarding catnip toys, I've tried both sprinkling catnip on toys and just having a catnip toy, but that seems to get a big "meh" too. Maybe she's a minimalist, because she seems to like just having sprinkled catnip without the toy.

It's so hard to figure out what they like.  My guy liked any form of catnip, but as for playing, he had no idea.  Most toys scared him to death.  Yet he did love a string under a towel and then I would slowly or some times quickly pull it.  It is still one of his favorites today. 

I had a wireless camera in the room that I used to watch him as well as to see what he did all night.  It gave me some comfort knowing he was moving about at night. 

I hope she is settling down and had a peaceful weekend.

 

[chargingrhino]

So, young Jonas is still hiding in her little cat house in the office. She's very active at night, but nothing I seem to do persuades her to come out into the room when I'm in there. I'm willing to be as patient as possible for our little girl, but is there anything else I should do? Seems like if we take the lid off the little cat house, she'd be more exposed, since it IS really well enclosed - but then again, maybe she'd just end up hiding someplace else in the room (albeit someplace else that's slightly more open, not by much). With the cat house, at least we know where she is....

 

[shadowsrescue]

So, young Jonas is still hiding in her little cat house in the office. She's very active at night, but nothing I seem to do persuades her to come out into the room when I'm in there. I'm willing to be as patient as possible for our little girl, but is there anything else I should do? Seems like if we take the lid off the little cat house, she'd be more exposed, since it IS really well enclosed - but then again, maybe she'd just end up hiding someplace else in the room (albeit someplace else that's slightly more open, not by much). With the cat house, at least we know where she is....

I would definitely try to remove the lid and if that doesn't help, you might need to remove it all together.  I would make sure that the rest of the room is cat proofed.  You don't want her behind large furniture or under it.  Use pillows, bolsters and even books to block off areas.  Yet do give her a cozy bed or even a box that is more exposed.  She does need a place to feel safe, but if she is hiding all of the time that doesn't help her make any progress.  It's sad to take it away from her, but if she is relying on it all of the time then it is doing more harm than good. 

I assume she is used to moving around at night and hopefully she will learn to feel safe and secure to start moving around during the day too. 

Jonas is going to be a tough cookie to crack!  Thank goodness you have patience.  Always remember that she is much better off inside than living outside.  It may just take her a very long time to adjust and feel safe again.

 

[chargingrhino]

Well, I took the lid off the little cat house, and of course, our girl found another place to hid.  In this case, I can at least sort of kind of see her, so it's an improvement.  This is going to take awhile, but the big storm coming through DC this evening reminds me that she's definitely in a better place!  Rob (my partner) is out of town this week, so she's not going to have companionship in the office, but maybe that's good as she gets used to doing without her total hiding spot.  Good news is that she ate all her food I left out this morning, which is a bit of a first - usually, she's only been eating at night.

 

[chargingrhino]

This morning, when I brought her breakfast and scooped her kitty litter, Jonas was sitting on the window sill, looking out at the alley where she used to live. She just hung out there while I was setting stuff up, and although she was hiding later when I went in before leaving for work, it makes me happy to see her!

 

[shadowsrescue]

This morning, when I brought her breakfast and scooped her kitty litter, Jonas was sitting on the window sill, looking out at the alley where she used to live. She just hung out there while I was setting stuff up, and although she was hiding later when I went in before leaving for work, it makes me happy to see her!

Yea Jonas!!  It's a small step forward! 

In the room where I had Marvin, he had a small cat condo ( we called it the apartment!)  It had a top,middle and bottom level.  He would sit on the top and look out into the yard.  When I would first come into the room, he might be there, but if I made sudden movements or came too close, he would move right to the bottom.  I could still see him, but he too would hide. 

Thanks so much for the updates!  I hope each day brings just a tiny bit of improvement. 

 

[chargingrhino]

So here's a picture of our little girl hanging out on the window sill from this morning.  Of course, after a while hanging out in the room, she jumped down and hid behind some stuff, but her hiding places are now a little more limited (ie, we can see her readily, and she can see us readily, wherever we are in the room).  We've also removed the little cat house from the room, replacing it with a a store-bought covered cat bed we got at Target.  She is, undoubtedly, annoyed with me for taking away all her other hiding spots, LOL.

Chris

WindowSill.jpg

• chargingrhino
• Feb 27, 2016

 

[shadowsrescue]

It's so good to see her out!  It's nice you can enjoy looking outside too.  She may be miffed for a bit that her hiding spots are gone, but in the long run it will help her to adjust faster. 

She is just so beautiful.  I love her long whiskers.  Are they white? 

I was thinking about my boy Marvin today.  In May he will have been in the house for 3 years.  He has come so far.  Yet weekends are hard for him.  There is more noise in the house during the day and he also knows that is when we run the sweeper.  He still freaks out.  Late this morning I couldn't find him and he was hiding in the basement.  Just the extra moving around in the house was too much for him.  He did come up, but I just think that some of his fears are so deep seated that I just have to let him be.  He has a warm home, a kitty and dog friend and humans who love him. 

Here is Marvin when he was living outside

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• shadowsrescue
• Feb 27, 2016

And here he is living inside the house with our other cat Jake.

Meeps and Munch.JPG

• shadowsrescue
• Feb 27, 2016

 

[chargingrhino]

Yeah, she's got white whiskers and a little bit of a tuxedo going on too - though you can't really tell from this photo.  She is a good-looking girl; and Marvin is darling!  Our youngest, Cavendish, is pretty curious about what's going on in Jonas's room (more so than the other two resident cats) - sitting outside the door when she's making noises and even sticking his paw under the door to the extent he can.  I'm pretty sure if we gave him the opportunity, he'd march right in there, tail up, and say "hi," but I'm also pretty sure Cavendish would be a little overwhelming for her at the moment.  They're going to meet eventually though, that's for sure.

 

[chargingrhino]

So, Rob worked in the office pretty much all day today, and Jonas just stayed hanging out on the window sill.  Pretty close (see picture)!  She didn't move at all the whole day, mind you, so still a little shy, but I like that she didn't just dart to some hiding place.

In other news, I was a little unsure of him doing this, but Rob brought in our youngest Cavendish, to meet Jonas, and he did so by just carrying Cavendish in his arms to say hello, pretty much standing right where Rob is in the photo.  No puffy tails; no noise.  Jonas didn't move at all but just observed, but didn't run either.  Cavendish surprised me - he started to wag his tail a little bit and purred loudly.  Does that mean he likes his little sister?

Jonas-Rob.jpg

• chargingrhino
• Feb 28, 2016