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.
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.