Earning Stray Cat's Trust

[tabbytom]

There is a room outside of our house. I am thinking of converting it for her. Can I use my garden soil for her litter box?

Great that you are thinking of converting the room for her. This way she have a good rest with no disturbance.

Yes you can use garden soil and i guess she is already been using them since she stays outside your house. You can check it out where she does her it and get the same soil that she is using.

 

[Neo815]

If dissolvable stitches are used then after how many days can I release her?

 

[Neo815]

Will she use the litterbox? She is an outside cat and is not trained for it. The room is carpeted and I am worried that she will ruin it.

There is also a bathroom attached to my garage. I was also thinking about getting a large dog cage for her. I can put it in the garage.

 

[Sarthur2]

The large dog crate would work in the bedroom. I would put a litter box filled with soil inside the dog crate for her.

Or she can stay in the bathroom with her soil box and food and water and a nightlight.

I would keep her for 2-3 days with dissolving stitches - until she is no longer groggy and is eating well. There is pain the first 2-3 days and she needs to rest.

 

[orange&white]

She's a very pretty cat.

I'm not sure why the vet said you needed to keep her 20 days with dissolvable stitches. All the TNR groups and services in the United States must use dissolvable stitches and my county shelter says you can drop the cat off in the morning for spay, pick it up in the afternoon and release it that evening. Personally, I was more comfortable keeping my wild kitty for a little over 24 hours to make sure the anesthesia had worn off completely so she could defend herself and to make sure she didn't have excessive bleeding or other complications from the surgery. I would double-check with the vet why he said 20 days and if that's what he really meant.

Anyway, sounds like time is of the essence now if she is in heat and mating.

 

[Neo815]

Today I was trying to feed her with my hand. She avoided me for a minute then looked curiously at my hand. Then she raised her paw as if to strike my hand. But she was not agressive. She was curious. I moved my hand back. I thought she might stratch my hand badly with her nails without realizing it. It looks like she has not interacted with humans before. Or do all feral cats act like this with strangers? Should I hand feed her again?

 

[orange&white]

You might try with a long-handled spoon before using your bare hand.

My feral cat swatted me several times and drew blood, but no seriously deep wounds ever. She'd usually swat once and run a few feet away. I have been hand feeding her treats for several months and she does occasionally lift her paw up, but hasn't swatted at me or tried to claw the bit of food out of my hand for a long time now.

 

[anni7]

I never had to trap mine. I just tamed them outside and in the garage by petting with a long handled duster and playing with toys on a pole or string. After a while they get curious and want to come inside the house. Do you think you could get her to come inside to eat? I guess you could try feeding her in the carrier. I wouldn't try to grab her unless you have thick clothing and gloves on, you could really get hurt, their claws are like knives.

Yes mine came himself too to rest and eat

 

[anni7]

An indoor/outdoor cat/stray/feral has a home territory and a radius of territory where they roam. It also depends on who feeds them and where they get food from.

So they could be fed by you and while roaming, someone else might be feeding them too. They could be wandering like a few square miles from home base. And of course, while wandering, they get into fights as they might have entered other cat’s territory or fighting for mates and getting pregnant and have an over population of unwanted kittens. That is why it would be best if they can be kept indoors.

Yes our Jack when he was a stray used to go into other people’s cat doors and chase their cat around their house. He ate food there too!

 

[anni7]

Is she definitely a house cat? Could she be a wild cat?

 

[Neo815]

She is not a house cat. Aren't wild cats more agressive? These cats live in cities and people feed them. They usually sleep outside people's homes or on the roofs.

 

[maggiedemi]

Well my feral cats are a lot different than my tame cats growing up. I had 9 cats over the years and they never tried to hurt me. Even the 2 skittish ones would just try to run away, they wouldn't bite or scratch. But my two feral cats don't care if they hurt me, they scratch me whenever they feel like it. This is the major difference.

 

[orange&white]

She is not a house cat. Aren't wild cats more agressive? These cats live in cities and people feed them. They usually sleep outside people's homes or on the roofs.

They are more likely to trust people when they are being fed by humans. That's not always the case though.

The feral who got into our warehouse was born into a managed colony next to my work. They were being fed regularly and she was very easy to domesticate. She was scared but not at all aggressive.

The feral I trapped in my backyard a few months later came from my own neighborhood feral cat colony. Those cats are also being fed by lots of people, and in fact have a lot more humans living around them in apartments and condos than the cats at work in a small town. She's a wild one, and so are most of my neighborhood cats. They're getting regular food, but they do not trust humans at all and they can be very aggressive.

 

[Neo815]

If a cat is showing no agression but is only scared and shy then what does it mean? Will it start showing agression when it starts getting friendlier with you or do agressive cats act agressively from the start?

 

[orange&white]

My limited experience is that a shy cat who is not aggressive won't turn aggressive. They seem to have good manners and just need to learn to trust that you won't harm them. Then they blossom.

My aggressive feral on the other hand has become much more friendly and docile with lots of time, love and patience. The shelter told me she was too wild and aggressive to work with and needed to be released back outside. After 3 or 4 months of working with her outside, she lets me pick her up, pet her (sometimes) and hand feed her. Still, she occasionally lashes out with her claws and gets me. She is also blossoming, but it's taking a lot longer and she may never be 100% trustworthy not to swat me on occasion.

Neither cat has ever been so aggressive as to bite hard. They both do "love bites" occasionally which don't break the skin. Deep cat bites are much more potentially dangerous than being clawed.

 

[anni7]

I didn’t mean house cat in a sense they aren’t stray but I thought could this be a wildcat ? I don’t think she is because I checked various photos and the Asian wildcat has tufts on the ears

 

[anni7]

Felis catus Is a house one and wildcat the asiatic type is Felis lybica (subspecies can be ornata) they are ancestor to the cat so they all look so similar

 

[anni7]

I know European could be aggressive but not if they used to coming to eat in populated areas. I have no idea what the wildcat are like but I think now it’s a normal cat.

 

[Neo815]

Now I place her food bowl near my feet and she eats her meal from there. But she gets scared if I make a little movement with my feet. Cat I pet on her her when she is eating her food? As she is a very shy cat I hope she won't scratch my hand.

 

[tabbytom]

Seems like there’s progress here getting her to trust you more

Are you sitting on the floor while she’s eating. Best is if you are because you are keeping yourself low and you don’t look very big to her and she won’t feel so intimidated. Try hand feeding her and see if she eats off your hand. Otherwise feed her using a spoon. This is to encourage her to gain trust in you.

Your movements have to be slow so that she don’t get freaked out. Slowly inch your hand towards her without touching her yet so that she get use to your hand. Keep repeating and talk softly to her by calling her name and slowly leave your hand next to her body and leave it there if she don’t mind it.

After a few tries, touch her with your hand and see what she her response. If she does not move away and continue eating, gently pet her and stop and repeat. Remember, all movements by you must be slow. Just observe her body language. If you think she don’t like it, stop doing it and do it for the moment and try again later.