Introduction And Question About My Feral Friend

[HunterCat]

Hi. About 4 years ago, a feral cat that would occasionally visit my yard decided to adopt me. I named “him” Hunter. Over time, I discovered that Hunter is actually a female and she is very hard of hearing.



She is very skittish; perhaps more than typical due to her hearing deficit. Its taken me over 3 years to pet her and to this day I can only pet her while I'm standing inside my doorway. She'll come to the door and I have to wait until she gives me her back. Occasionally, she'll swat me but that seems to be getting very infrequent. She won't let me get too close when I'm in the yard but she doesn't seem to have a problem falling asleep within feet of me while I sit. The one exception is when I barbecue. She learned that she's going to get a tasty snack so then she's completely under my feet.



Because of her nature and the amount of time it's taking to gain her trust, I can't bring myself to trap her. I really would like to get her to a vet but I don't want to put her through an ordeal right now especially since she seems quite healthy overall.



There is, however, something I'm mildly concerned about. She has an area near her tail that has some hair loss. I'm not sure what's causing it or if she's doing it to herself. Years ago, she did have fleas. When I realized the problem, I treated her and have been applying treatments each month since and she's never had a recurrence. I'm not sure if the hair loss is related to that episode or something else. It's only in the one spot.



Here are some photos of my girl and of the area in question:

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Thank you for caring about this sweet girl. I assume you has been spayed since you didn't mention her having kittens. I am really unsure about the hair loss. Since it doesn't seem too bad, I would err on the side to wait and see.

I would be more concerned about her hearing loss. Cats really rely on their senses and since she is outside, I would be concerned that she would be easy prey. I understand that you probably don't want to make her an inside cat, but is there a way you could build her a catio to keep her contained in your yard? At the very least at night.

She is a a beauty and her shelter looks wonderful too!

 

[KarenKat]

Not sure if this is the same thing but we our kitty Olive was an outdoor stray for a few years and had similar (although much smaller) hair loss at the base of her tail. We spoke with the vet and she theorized that it was typical of a flea allergy - some cats can be allergic, so even one flea bothers them a lot and they tend to overgroom there. The vet even said these cats rarely get infested since they are so diligent about grooming.

Hair loss can be lots of things, and a vet would be the only one to diagnose anything but I thought I would share. We made Olive an indoor cat and she groomed less and her fur grew back.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Any new developments? The place on her tail - is it worse or spreading, or getting better? Is she still doing OK otherwise?

 

[HunterCat]

Thank you for the replies.

Hunter has not been spayed; she's never been trapped. I mistook her for a male, in part, because she never had kittens over the years I've been caring for her.

With respect to her hearing loss, I suspect that it is from birth as I noticed the issue early on. I need to clap loudly to get her attention when I walk on the patio so as not to scare her. I was concerned that her hearing issue would make her easy pickings for a predator or a passing car but she's managed fine all these years. Where I live, large predators are very rare and I think she's extra cautious when she ventures out of the yard at night. My yard is open so there's no containing her and she wants no part of coming in the house.

I'm thinking that the hair loss was initially caused by the fleas a couple of years ago. I'm just not sure why the area hasn't recovered. It looks to remain a consistent size. Her skin in that area looks fine to me. It doesn't appear irritated at all.

I guess I'm going to have to trap her eventually. I want her to get spayed and have a general check-up. I asked a couple of vets in the past if they would give me something to sedate her in order to keep the drama to a minimum but they refused. I have no idea how they would handle the cat without getting shredded to pieces

 

[shadowsrescue]

It's really hard and dangerous to sedate a cat who lives outside. If they don't go into the trap, the cat could be very lethargic and be at a true danger. Most vets will sedate the cat, once it is brought in with a trap. I have done TNR throughout the years and I trap the cat and bring it to the clinic for spay/neuter, vaccines and check up. The cat is sedated inside the trap and then examined and the surgery is performed. Before the cat wakes up, he/she is placed back inside the trap and I pick the cat up. I then bring the cat home where I keep him in the trap overnight and release in the morning. Females often require 48+ hours.

I wonder if there is a chance she was once an owned cat and spayed. Since she has never had kittens that is very unusual for a female who is not spayed.

Please do try to get her to a vet for a general checkup. Call around and find a vet that is willing to work with feral cats. Some vets will not. You only want to trap her once so be sure to get everything done at once. If they say she needs to come back, you will not want to release her. Trapping a second time is very very difficult.

Thank you for caring about her!