First time foster/adoptee for feral/trauma cat

[Azhaste]

Hey doods,

I am looking for some input on a scared feral female torti cat. They aged roughly 10M now probably 11M. She was a local stray that got hit by a car that I saw on Facebook. I caught her and brought her home and reached out to a local rescue for help. She has a displaced pelvis had her tail amputated and will have her left leg amputated this upcoming week. So of course TNRing her isn't really an option as she probably wouldn't do too well outside. She's of course not too friendly but is food motivated at times and has gotten to the point of tolerating me. Please check out this link . It's a public Facebook video of her and me that I sent the rescue as we were looking at her left leg issues. This is my first time fostering and I'm putting a lot of effort and care into her and I just want her to have a good life.

Am I making a mistake caring for her so even though she's still so feral? Is it possible she will relax a little and be able to roam the house more? Just looking for people's input

 

[maggiemay]

She is beautiful, bless her sweet little heart. I adopted a pretty much feral boy and it took forever to be allowed to touch him. After two years, I was finally able to put two hands on him. Now, six years later, he’s a total love bug, but only with me. I am his person. Yes, they adjust, but it takes time and patience. My boy had a blocked urethra. He was in the hospital for a week and thar seemed to be the turning point for us. He knew I was trying so hard to help him. Believe me, this little girl knows it too. She would be at a disadvantage outdoors now. One thing I would recommend, let her have the run of the house once she is physically healthy. It helped my boy to not feel hemmed in by doors, etc, He has not once tried to go outside. Hope this helps, and bless you for caring for this precious little life.

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for helping this cat. I did watch your video over on FB and you are a real saint to have taken this on. Having said that, I am not implying that it will not go smoothly eventually. So, some info and questions.

More feral than stray?
Does your intuition tell you that she is going to come around in time and be sociable? However, she is no candidate for release even if she is not the friendliest cat in the world, so working with her will be a necessity.
The rescue is raising money for this?
Vets feel she will make a full recovery?

tripawds.com
A website and support group for those who have amputee dogs and cats. They do just fine with only three legs.

I have a three legged GSD. Amputations are not that bad and I don't mean to be ghoulish about this. If they are necessary, there is no other option that does not involve time, money, and pain for the animal as it becomes clear that the alternative is not going to work.

Normally, we would say to put the cat in her own smallish room, make her comfortable, go in and sit with her without eye contact or touching but it seems as if she allows handling and it will be very necessary that you do so regardless. My guess is that she will come to accept this as she associates it with care and healing.

10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat – TheCatSite Articles
How to Care for a Three-Legged Cat | Catster
Caring for the amputee cat - Moorgate Vets

The above are a collection of articles about amputation.....and there are lots available so if these are not what you are looking for, there are many more. Plus, you may have been, and certainly should be, given detailed instructions from the vet for her care after the surgery.

As for her feralness, you are making progress. She is associating you with food and as you say, tolerating you which is a good sign. I would not let her roam the house. If you have a bathroom, bedroom that you can fix so that there are not a lot of hidey holes, or even a large dog crate, it would be preferable for you to be able to access her at all times.

Welcome to The Cat Site! Please let us know how this story unfolds.

 

[maggiemay]

Thank you for helping this cat. I did watch your video over on FB and you are a real saint to have taken this on. Having said that, I am not implying that it will not go smoothly eventually. So, some info and questions.

More feral than stray?
Does your intuition tell you that she is going to come around in time and be sociable? However, she is no candidate for release even if she is not the friendliest cat in the world, so working with her will be a necessity.
The rescue is raising money for this?
Vets feel she will make a full recovery?

tripawds.com
A website and support group for those who have amputee dogs and cats. They do just fine with only three legs.

I have a three legged GSD. Amputations are not that bad and I don't mean to be ghoulish about this. If they are necessary, there is no other option that does not involve time, money, and pain for the animal as it becomes clear that the alternative is not going to work.

Normally, we would say to put the cat in her own smallish room, make her comfortable, go in and sit with her without eye contact or touching but it seems as if she allows handling and it will be very necessary that you do so regardless. My guess is that she will come to accept this as she associates it with care and healing.

10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat – TheCatSite Articles
How to Care for a Three-Legged Cat | Catster
Caring for the amputee cat - Moorgate Vets

The above are a collection of articles about amputation.....and there are lots available so if these are not what you are looking for, there are many more. Plus, you may have been, and certainly should be, given detailed instructions from the vet for her care after the surgery.

As for her feralness, you are making progress. She is associating you with food and as you say, tolerating you which is a good sign. I would not let her roam the house. If you have a bathroom, bedroom that you can fix so that there are not a lot of hidey holes, or even a large dog crate, it would be preferable for you to be able to access her at all times.

Welcome to The Cat Site! Please let us know how this story unfolds.

Amazing post! I did recommend letting her roam the house, but that is what worked for MY boy. Every cat is different. I was working with a feral boy who had spent six weeks in the master bedroom suite and I was never once able to touch him. At that point, tolerating me wasn’t even on the horizon. It came down to either letting him roam the house or return him to the rescue. Once he wasn’t shut in, he came to me on his own terms. I was working with a healthy cat, long before the blocked urethra episode. Take fionasmom ’s advice, she obviously knows a lot about this subject, far more than I with my single experience.

 

[Azhaste]

Thank you for helping this cat. I did watch your video over on FB and you are a real saint to have taken this on. Having said that, I am not implying that it will not go smoothly eventually. So, some info and questions.

More feral than stray?
Does your intuition tell you that she is going to come around in time and be sociable? However, she is no candidate for release even if she is not the friendliest cat in the world, so working with her will be a necessity.
The rescue is raising money for this?
Vets feel she will make a full recovery?

tripawds.com
A website and support group for those who have amputee dogs and cats. They do just fine with only three legs.

I have a three legged GSD. Amputations are not that bad and I don't mean to be ghoulish about this. If they are necessary, there is no other option that does not involve time, money, and pain for the animal as it becomes clear that the alternative is not going to work.

Normally, we would say to put the cat in her own smallish room, make her comfortable, go in and sit with her without eye contact or touching but it seems as if she allows handling and it will be very necessary that you do so regardless. My guess is that she will come to accept this as she associates it with care and healing.

10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat – TheCatSite Articles
How to Care for a Three-Legged Cat | Catster
Caring for the amputee cat - Moorgate Vets

The above are a collection of articles about amputation.....and there are lots available so if these are not what you are looking for, there are many more. Plus, you may have been, and certainly should be, given detailed instructions from the vet for her care after the surgery.

As for her feralness, you are making progress. She is associating you with food and as you say, tolerating you which is a good sign. I would not let her roam the house. If you have a bathroom, bedroom that you can fix so that there are not a lot of hidey holes, or even a large dog crate, it would be preferable for you to be able to access her at all times.

Welcome to The Cat Site! Please let us know how this story unfolds.

I will keep people posted for sure. She is currently in my spare room when I first got her I had her in a large crate due to the extent of her injuries but per vet recommendation I let her roam that room so she can have some form of exercise which then led to us discovering her left leg being dead weight. I will check out your video and of course get directions from the vet next week.

I can hold her and she will stay in my lap sometimes growling sometimes not. She will eat cat food from those push things out of my hand. She rarely bites me except when I'm pulling her out of her condo to give her medicine or clean but she hasn't bitten hard enough to break my gloves since when I initially caught her. So I feel she's warming up just worried that I'm doing things wrong sometimes

 

[fionasmom]

I think you are doing a great job with her. At this point, continue to try to socialize her. She is really coming along if she is eating those snacks from your hand and she may be biting because she is in discomfort which you can't do much about at this point. Good thing that you did let her walk around the room so that you noticed her bad leg. Cat growling can be from pain as well. It may not be meant for you directly but keep handling her with the gloves as a precaution.

 

[Azhaste]

 

[Azhaste]

This is her eating from those push tunes. This is actually the most eager she's been to eat one. Probably because I ran out a couple days ago

 

[fionasmom]

That is so touching! Believe me, she is absolutely adapting to you and your care of her. If she did not want you to be there, it would be a whole different video. Even disabled, she could certainly put up a fight.

So recently in her life....hit by car, saved from street by kind stranger but she has no way of knowing what you were doing initially, in pain, lost tail (also a good thing if it was that severely damaged and I have amputated tails from ferals who were in fights where the tail turned to gangrene), probably still in pain from the leg and now her life is completely different. For all you know, even having someone feed her might be completely new. She is doing a great job and so are you!

 

[bear]

You are doing well. Her ears are not laid back to the extreme.
Will she take a treat from your fingers yet?
Getting her used to your fingers will help and help her know you are providing the food, rather than a tube.
You can still have the gloves on for the first attempts.
Maybe soft treat like half of a pill pocket, in case you need to use them later to help medicate her.

 

[Azhaste]

You are doing well. Her ears are not laid back to the extreme.
Will she take a treat from your fingers yet?
Getting her used to your fingers will help and help her know you are providing the food, rather than a tube.
You can still have the gloves on for the first attempts.
Maybe soft treat like half of a pill pocket, in case you need to use them later to help medicate her.

I haven't gotten to the point of eating from my hand yet she gets scared of my hand and is focused on that rather than the treat but I'll have to try it more when shes in calmer moods

Thanks for all the input peeps