- Joined
- Sep 6, 2011
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- 75
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For several months, a feral cat has been hanging out in the woods behind our house. We started seeing her more frequently, so we decided to feed whenever she came around. Every few days, we would give her food and work on getting closer to her.
After watching her dart in front of some cars and go toe-to-toe with a pack of hunting dogs and a coyote, we decided to try trapping her. After a couple of tries, we realized she was too smart for it and gave up. But with dropping temperatures and freezing rain, she started coming closer to the house (even with our two dogs in the yard) and we finally managed to get her.
As soon as we had her in the trap, we ran her to my vet down the road to confirm she did not have a microchip. She seemed like such a good-looking, decently fed cat that we were shocked when she didn't have one. So shocked that I completely forgot to get her tested for diseases, vaccinated, and checked to see if she could have recently had kittens.
We brought her home and locked her in a bathroom with some towels, food, water and a litterbox. Now, I have a very angry feral cat in our bathroom. She hisses whenever we open the door and looks as though she's going to lunge at us. She spent a few days hunched up on the floor, shaking. The poor girl is petrified and feels trapped.
I have absolutely NO idea what to do next. I obviously want to keep her inside from the cold (we're getting 6 inches of snow tomorrow), but she's currently curled up inside the sink, which is right inside the door. I can't even crack the door without her hissing and looking like she's going to lunge. I can hardly get food in there, let alone set up the trap again to take her to the vet. And to complicate things, I have a very sick dog who has had a hellish year battling an immune disease, and his immune system is entirely suppressed now. I'm careful to wash my hands and keep him away from the area, but the worry is making me sick to my stomach!
Do you have any ideas as to how I could trap her? Or calm her down enough to get her inside of something? Or how to get her out of the sink? I feel like I could at least trap her if she would get out of the sink! I understand she may never be an indoor cat or become a part of our family, but I hate the thought of just opening the door and letting her run back out into the cold.
After watching her dart in front of some cars and go toe-to-toe with a pack of hunting dogs and a coyote, we decided to try trapping her. After a couple of tries, we realized she was too smart for it and gave up. But with dropping temperatures and freezing rain, she started coming closer to the house (even with our two dogs in the yard) and we finally managed to get her.
As soon as we had her in the trap, we ran her to my vet down the road to confirm she did not have a microchip. She seemed like such a good-looking, decently fed cat that we were shocked when she didn't have one. So shocked that I completely forgot to get her tested for diseases, vaccinated, and checked to see if she could have recently had kittens.
We brought her home and locked her in a bathroom with some towels, food, water and a litterbox. Now, I have a very angry feral cat in our bathroom. She hisses whenever we open the door and looks as though she's going to lunge at us. She spent a few days hunched up on the floor, shaking. The poor girl is petrified and feels trapped.
I have absolutely NO idea what to do next. I obviously want to keep her inside from the cold (we're getting 6 inches of snow tomorrow), but she's currently curled up inside the sink, which is right inside the door. I can't even crack the door without her hissing and looking like she's going to lunge. I can hardly get food in there, let alone set up the trap again to take her to the vet. And to complicate things, I have a very sick dog who has had a hellish year battling an immune disease, and his immune system is entirely suppressed now. I'm careful to wash my hands and keep him away from the area, but the worry is making me sick to my stomach!
Do you have any ideas as to how I could trap her? Or calm her down enough to get her inside of something? Or how to get her out of the sink? I feel like I could at least trap her if she would get out of the sink! I understand she may never be an indoor cat or become a part of our family, but I hate the thought of just opening the door and letting her run back out into the cold.