I finally let them go...

[catsknowme]

Sending prayers and vibes that your cats readjust to being outside.
The juniper tunnels should be keeping them warm. If they have any association with their built-shelter & your hubby, they will probably keep avoiding it.
I have a feral that I rescued when his owners (because of divorce) were forced to sell their house & move. I managed to keep him inside for 6mos, but then he got out when my hubby & BIL left the door open, and he refuses to come back inside

So much for my hopes of taming him

Anyway, he stays near the house, but keeps his distance.

 

[kazy]

At 6:45pm, Torako, the one of the kits who is most tame and curious, showed up by the door!!

She sniffed the food.
Then looked at my daughter standing at the door through the glass and slowly walked away.
I am sooooo relieved!!!!!

I hope other ones will all show up.
At least one of them is bold enough to walk around now.

I will keep you posted!!!

 

[kazy]

Day 3, 10:00PM.

Mama's boy, Torao was out!!

He was eating wet food which I put out right after Torako sighting.
I had porch light on with all indoor lights turned off.

I hope they will go in to the cat house. It’s nice and warm there.

 

[kazy]

Day 4: 7AM.

All wet food at our patio was eaten.

Some dry food seems to be eaten, too.
I have netcam set up so I can monitor my patio from work.

I was expecting them to eat the same amount of dry food, but they are not doing so.
May be dry food got stale since it's been out for 3 days?
I put fresh one out this morning.
When they were inside, their food schedule was to get bowl full of fresh dry food at 7:30AM. Then wet food at 8PM.
Usually they don't eat during the day, and most of dry food is left in the evening. They clear the bowl up between 8PM - 7AM.


I was thinking about what Hilary said; "male member of family tapping or stumping scars Konne. That energy scars her".
My husband is the only male member of my family, but he does not stump or tap.
At the evening of day 1, my next door bachelor neighbor was having disco party until late. As usual, all of his guests were male and heavy base of music was bothering me until late. May be Konne was scared of that... (I would be scared if I was her.)

My husband dislikes cats. But he doesn't hate enough to scare them… He cared enough to build cat house for them. Seeing me being so sad, he is understanding more now.

I will keep you posted.

 

[ldg]

I'm so glad they've been showing up! That's really wonderful news. I'm sure it'll help you to calm down quite a bit too.

Laurie

 

[tru]

I'm happy to hear the good news that they've been coming to eat. Keep us posted of the progress.

 

[kazy]

Day 4 9PM

Torako and Torao showed up together eating Fancy Feast!!
I turned off indoor light and left porch light on.
We manage to watch them through cat cam.
Entire family (3 of us) gathered in front of monitor and enjoyed the show.

Here is Torao checking out sliding door.
He was trying to peek inside but our window is tinted.

Here is Torako and Torao eating.

After this, they came back few times and finished off the dish.
So, I put more out.

I hope Konne and Torami will have chance to eat wet food.
4 cats use to share 2 cans of Fancy Feast.
First one to eat is usually Torako. Then Torao and Torami.
Konne always waits until kits are done eating their shares.

They never ate wet food this much. They always ate little wet food and more dry food.
I only left 1 can of Fancy Feast last night but I put total of 4 cans tonight.

I finally confessed about consulting animal communicator to my husband. At this point, he is more or less accepting my obsession for cats.

 

[kazy]

Day 5 7AM


Additional Fancy Feast was untouched.
Dry food seems to be eaten just a little bit.
That means only 2 kits are eating???

I am not worried about mama cat; Konne. But little worried about Torami.
She originally had umbilical hernia. And she is the littlest girl.
She didn't have much fat compared to the rest of them.
Also, she is the most timid one.
If I don't get to see them by Sunday, I will contact Hilary again.


It was garbage day this morning. They hate the sound of garbage truck.
When they lived outside, they always came for breakfast and dinner.
But they always hid on garbage day.

I saw cats using few spots near patio door as bathroom.
I am glad they feel comfortable enough to do that.

I wonder how much they remember about our back yard.
Konne lived there for more than 1.5 years.
Kits were born there.

Here is Picture of backyard.

 

[ldg]

What a lovely back yard for kitties! Lots of places to hide, to play - and to bask in the sun.

that Konne and Torami show up!

Laurie

 

[kazy]

Thanks Laurie.

Yes, my yard has a lot of hiding places. For 2 years in row, bunny had babies there. After bunnies, then came Konne. I never saw bunnies again.

Juniper bush on the slope is cat's den.
They seem to like staying there better than going in to the cat house for now.
We will modify the cat house if they continue to dislike it.
Before we trapped them, they were using it.

Here is the picture of cat house

 

[kazy]

Day 5 7PM

We are having lunar eclipse tonight. I watched the moon for 15 min or so.
After going back inside, Torako came out for dinner. I am sure she was watching me and waiting for me to go away.
I opened the door and took very good look at her!!! She didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t run right away, but didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t feel comfortable enough to eat with me there. So she went back to her den. (Juniper tunnel)
I sat by the sliding door at our kitchen computer desk and kept browsing.
Then Torao came by. He was looking at me for 30 seconds or so. I covered my face with my hand and peeked at him. Then he walked away.

Their faces look more like ferals now. I hope they would ease up in the future.
I miss petting them and playing with them. I miss hearing them purr with me.
I wonder if they would ever do that again? Would Konne allow me to touch her?
Would Torako play with my daughter like she did before?
They are having big adventure outdoor now. Too busy to think about me...

I hope Torami is OK. If I wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have trapped them, she wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have survived on her own. She was the smallest and shy.
Maybe I should make feeding station inside their den….

 

[nekochan]

Kazy I understand how you feel. I had to let a feral cat go back outside who I had been hoping to be able to socialize and rehome and I felt awful about doing it, but it was really the best thing for him and I am sure you did the best thing for your kitties as well. I tried to socialize the cat, I had caught him with a cat trap because I thought he might not be feral since he was sleeping on my back porch every day, but after I caught him it became clear. I got him neutered and vaccinated but after several months of trying to socialize him he just became more wild instead, and every night he would knock down curtains and knock things off shelves trying to find a way to get out of the window... Finally I had to make the decision to let him go again because he was just miserable indoors.

 

[kazy]

Thanks, Nekochan.

How did your feral do after letting him free? Did he continue to sleep on your porch?
Did he come back to eat your food?

 

[kazy]

Day 6 7AM

Some wet food is left but mostly eaten.
If only 2 kits are eating, then that's about right amount of consumption.

I left little bit of dry food in the den and 1/3 has been eaten.
I wonder why they are not eating the same amount like they use to inside?
Maybe they were eating more because they were bored?

Last night, something remarkable happened.
I went to the kitchen around 10:30PM and noticed Torao peeking inside.
As soon as he noticed me, he run away.
I went out and sat on the porch then noticed him watching me from a distance.
So, I brought Da Bird out there. He was ready to play and pounce!!

Then, started to hear meow from the den.
He went back half way, I swung Da Bird more, then he came back again to play.
Then lauder meow. I think Konne was calling him back.
Torao went back to the den and I heard gentle meow meow.

When they were inside, 10PM play time was my routine. I sat in their room and played with them for 1 hour. Once Torao chased Da Bird so much that he was panting like a dog.
I shall start my 10PM play time again to see if they will come back to it.

Night before they were set free, Torami ate shiny Mylar string from Da Bird. I hope that came out from her body OK

 

[white cat lover]

I set Tabitha free 2-3 years ago. I hardly touch her. I have to lace wet food with dewormed to get her wormed. She had an ear infection & it took me weeks to catch her so I could cage her & treat it. Some cats are just used to living that way. I hardly see her come & eat.....

 

[nekochan]

Originally Posted by Kazy

Thanks, Nekochan.

How did your feral do after letting him free? Did he continue to sleep on your porch?
Did he come back to eat your food?

No, I never see him now and he never comes back to the porch-- probably because that's where I trapped him. He doesn't even eat the food I leave out, or at least I've never seen him at it. I think he was too upset by the experience so he stays away. I was happy that at least I was able to have him indoors in the coldest part of the year-- I let him go in early spring last year.
Lately I've seen a different cat on the porch, a black one...it might actually be the mother of my feral rescued kitten Church.

 

[cheap sushi]

Im sure they are doing great. They have just adjusted to living outdoors.

 

[kazy]

Day 6 8PM

Between 2PM and 3PM, someone cleaned up the left over wet food.
I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have cat cam aimed at the feeding area, so there was not buffered image.
Half of dry food in the den was eaten, too. I hope Torami is eating…

Torako was the first one to come for dinner.
When we saw her, my daughter opened the door. She backed off a little, but investigated Da Bird my daughter was flinging. Pounced at it once and run away.
When she came back again, we tried not to bother her.
We went away from the kitchen for a while, and when we came back, 2 kits run out of the cat house!!!!

It was Torako and Torao. A toy from cat house was dragged outside, too. Catnip must have lured them in there. They should know itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a nice cozy place with a lot of their belongings…. It is right by the door, though.

I hope they would associate opening door sound = good things like before.
Last summer, they often came running toward patio as soon as hearing the sound of unlocking the sliding door.

Rain is forcasted for tonight. It will be the first rain since they went out. I hope they wouldn't catch cold.

 

[kazy]

Day 7 7AM

Wet food was almost gone. Dry food in cat den is eaten more.
There were some evidence of kits being more active.
My ducky ornament in the bird bath was tipped over. Catnip in the cat house was all scattered around.

I went outside last night and sat at the porch with Da Bird.
As I swung it around, I started hearing somebody scratching tree or something as if they were doing on the scratch post. Torao often did that at play time.
I sat there for 30 min or so but nobody came out.
I left porch light on all night with cat cam aimed at the food in hopes of capturing Konne or Torami.
Camera didn't have any buffered images over night but food was gone. Camera usually detects motion of kits. Maybe Konne was too dark to trigger motion detection?? I am worried about Torami...

 

[catsknowme]

Sounds like they are adjusting well. Just being elusive, which is very understandable.