Little Ginger girl

[ldg]

Makes complete sense to me. It took three years for Chumley to be mostly comfortable with hands.

And I think you're right about a past history of abuse. Our petting of ferals begins with leaving the hand on the food dish while they eat, then "accidentally" brushing their cheek with hand removal, then cheek and head petting.

For most, after that, pets elsewhere are ok if they don't see the hand coming at them. So it makes sense that for an abused kitty, not seeing the hand is scary.

Though her sensitivity may simply be lack of human contact. Some ferals will never come to enjoy a full body pet, and especially get over stimulated at the base of the tail. Best to just accept her signals, and the rest will come (or not) with time. :heart2:

As we tell Pawley over and over, he"s safe now. We love him and want nothing from him other than his safety, comfort, and happiness. :rub:

There are often not immediate "rewards" when you work with ferals, abused, or otherwise damaged cats. But when they come to trust, and when they do enjoy some pets; when that "trust" bond is formed, whether it's weeks, months, or years, there's nothing like it. :heart2:

 

[teatoe]

I did see where the former "owner" said she wasn't fixed but it sounds like she was just hanging out there. Maybe she came there. Loved the pictures.

 

[lyrajean]

Love your story of how you have rescued this girl. With regards to your issues about Mama not hitting the box accurately, perhaps a large box with a good rim is the answer? Our Aya likes to balance on the rim and drops her bum into the box to do her business. We got these boxes from Petco:

http://www.petco.com/product/121241/Petco-High-Back-Open-Litter-Pan.aspx?CoreCat=LookAhead

They only have one low side and a thick heavy rolled rim, easy to balance on, but our Aya is a ballerina in that respect. Been going on 2 years with them. 

 

[lrosewiles]

thanks again for all the replies and support.  And not to worry, I have no intention of evicting Ellie, although eventually I hope she will like to go outside to play with our gang.  She is slowly warming up to a little more careful petting, especially while eating, and I will get some Feliway for her.  We are definitely making progress, and when I look back on how long it took Mama Patience to get friendly her progress is not really slow at all.  The difference with Patience was that she was outside in good weather accustomed to being fed and sheltered and petted and finally coming in all on her own terms - and even then she too would spend a lot of time in the basement and only come up for food.   Now she enjoys being part of the household and has recently taken to sleeping on the bed with us and her 3 kittens! 

Anyway we had some definite progress yesterday - she enjoyed a full minute of gentle ear and neck rubbing without hissing and when I moved away she poked her head over the edge of the shelf for more!  AND at dinner time she accepted having her food dish moved to the basement step to eat, although she kept her back feet firmly on "her" shelf.  At (our) bedtime my DH went to the kitchen to get a drink of water and reported back that he had left the light on because she had come to eat some leftover cooked chicken from our dinner that I had given our gang for a treat. 

So not to worry friends, we are determined to work with her and let her join the household at her own pace.

As to Mama and the litter box issue, I am going to get her a bigger low-profile box as suggested.  At least her misses are usually on the bathroom tiles or the cement in the basement so it's not a big deal to clean up, just annoying.  It's not as if she poops on the furniture or in the middle of the living room floor!

 

[angels mommy]

Aww, that's great news she let you rub her for that long! 

  She's coming along! 

 

[therese]

Lrosewiles, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful, hopeful story of Little Ginger....you are truly a wonderful person....and I will definitely keep in mind that ' no one owns a stray or feral cat' in case I ever have to rescue one. 

You were truly brave and saved her life.  There is no doubt that she wouldn't have made it thru the terrible cold night.  I can attest to that, from the stories I am hearing from friends up north...the animals just don't make it out there in that cold.  

I will never understand what is wrong with people, to treat an animal like this, its like they have a blank spot or just don't give a darn, I guess.  I can't get my head around it.  

But anyway, thank God for people like you.....and thanks for sharing your beautiful story.  I look forward to more pictures of your ginger kitty.

Here is my buff boy, Scamp......

Scamp for IBCC.jpg

• therese
• Feb 3, 2014

 

[lrosewiles]

What a gorgeous boy, he looks like an Egyptian prince!

 

[therese]

Thank you !   He kind of DOES look like an Egyptian Prince, doesn't he?      He is a BRAT in real life, but I love him !  I have to figure out how to photoshop an egyptian headpiece on him !  

 

[lrosewiles]

Or maybe photo shop him between the paws of a Sphinx!  Or something from "Catwoman" (a movie I loved because of the gorgeous cats!)  I hear you on the brat thing - our Picassa, although a rescued feral kitten of heaven knows what ancestry,  looks like a regal princess and has the temperament to match - I'm gorgeous so love me, pay attention to me ... I wanna go out, I wanna come in, I don't like this food, this water is old, this litter box has someone else's poop in it so clean it out now! 

what genetics make a princess, or a prince, out of feral material?  It's such a mystery.  Her brother Patches is solid "peasant" material, a totally mellow and lovey guy, and her other sister Pandora is an independent dilute calico who has her own agenda in life, which includes us only when she feels so inclined.   They go out in the snow.  Picassa comes in immediately ... "don't like it, make it go away mom" (but five minutes later wants to go out again).  Patches plays in it until he's ready to come in and  then readily accepts a warm up cuddle.  Pandora hunts and has to be persuaded to come back in, she is totally fearless.

Can't wait for Ellie to develop her personality, wonder what she will become when she comes into her own?

 

[jacktoby]

you are my hero and if I ever come across a stray you can bet they will be coming home with me

this isn't a smaill thing you did, this is big, you saved a life

 

[lrosewiles]

I probably should put a disclaimer here that I am not advocating the "napping" of neighborhood cats! 

If you suspect someone is abusing an animal the first step should be to talk to the people if possible (I tried several times with no success) or there are also authorities one may report to.  I didn't, and the main reason (apart from not wanting to start a fight with neighbors) was the sheer urgency involved:  the night I "rescued" Ellie was predicted to go down to something  like 7 degrees and I did not think she would survive it with no proper food or shelter and compromised health.  Forgive the melodrama but I did feel it was a "life or death situation".  And the most likely outcome for reporting a "non-owned" cat would be capture by animal control and taken to a shelter, which  would probably end in death.  But an "owned" cat is a different story, action can be taken against abusers, and that's probably the safest route to take.

Yes we have the situation my vet raised that "no one owns a stray or feral" ,but it cuts both ways:  folks can't come after you for "stealing their cat", but in case of prosecution they could simply say "well it's not my cat, I was just being nice and putting out food for it".     There is also the issue of trespass to be considered, so do take that into consideration.  I'm not saying ignore cats in distress - just assess the situation carefully.

On the other hand, a cat who is obviously a stray or feral is a different story and should be helped in any way possible.

With the "gray areas" like Ellie, there is also the unknown factor:  I try to think that Ellie's "people" were not deliberately cruel, just ignorant in thinking a minimal shelter and kibble was a nice handout for a stray and that was that ... but I see her hostile behavior and her fear of being touched, and can't help but think --- yeah, they did something nasty to her to cause it.

She is slowly warming up to me, allowing more and more pets without hissing, and her clawing and biting is becoming more ritual than hurtful.  Such a scared and scarred little girl ... my little Ellie girl.

 

[therese]

Thanks Lrose....and I understand that you don't advocate for 'criminal behavior"   LOL....but .  I can guarantee that you did the right thing IMHO.   

I have friends in PA ( not sure where you are )  the night of the big snow storm about 3.5 weeks ago, their dog who was a 'runner,' by reputation, slipped out and ran off, ( not sure of the circumstances but they are very responsible people and had this dog for seven years   ( a  60 lb mix )  and because of the SNOW, animals lose the scent and can't find their way home. 

Several days later, after an exhastive search that started that night and went for four days, they found her frozen to death on the sidewalk.  Not hit by a car, just frozen. The family is devastated.   I don't mean to be a downer and I NEVER post this kind of sad stuff, but I am just illustrating the kind of apocalyptic tempetures we were having.   And that you did the right thing IMHO.

 

[lrosewiles]

Hi Therese

How terribly sad for your friends, how dreadful they must feel and my heart truly goes out to them. Sympathy from a stranger probably doesn't mean a lot but please convey it all the same.   And yes indeed this was the time frame that I rescued Ellie (we are in NJ) because of that exact thing - the temperatures were not survivable without help.  If  a 60 lb dog froze to death what hope had a 7 lb sick and malnourished cat.  But oh how sad nobody saw the dog by the road and came to the rescue. Oh, oh, I can see it and just cry.  Only bright thought is was likely a peaceful passing, not one shadowed with abuse and misery. 

I know I'm preaching to the choir here in asking folks to help lost or abandoned animals because you all do so much.  My small bit is to check Mama's shelter and our street nightly for any in need. I still have not discovered who has been visiting the shelter, no signs for a week or more, I leave food out every night just in case.   So the best I can say is it's there, and I'm keeping the shelter clear of snow and ice in case anyone shows up to use it.

Oh this freezing weather. 

 

[therese]

My guess is that she didn't make it thru that night, all cars were off the road and she ended up covered with snow.  It was about a week later, when some of the snow melted, they found her.     I don't thnk anyone had a chance to see her or they would have grabbed her off the street.  I only brought all this up so you dont' second guess yourself on your rescue of your kitty.

 

[lrosewiles]

Hi friends, now I have another question.

My Amazon order of Lactoferrin for Ellie has arrived, along with Diotomaceous Earth food grade to help with possible parasites.  My best thought is they shouldn't both be mixed with food at the same time, but any thoughts about that?  Also I ordered these for Ellie but I thought the DE might help Mama Patience with her intermittent diarrhea (she had an antibiotic shot but it hasn't totally fixed that problem) and maybe everyone could benefit from an immune system boost.  The Feliway also arrived, have to figure out a way to plug it in for Ellie.

We are all doing well.  Last night Mama Patience played with paper and a stuffed toy,  and she has managed to get her poops into the new low profile litter box 2 days in a row, yeah. Ellie has graduated to eating on the basement steps most of the time, and has progressed to letting me stroke the back of her neck and the front of her shoulder.  I dream of being able to brush her and get rid of the awful mats in her coat.  She doesn't seem to get the idea of grooming herself, although she does lick her paws after eating.  No mama to teach her, poor girl.  Picassa could show her if she'd let her, she is the most fastidious groomer I've ever known!

When oh when will this snow and ice go away?!

 

[lrosewiles]

Another quick update. 

The Feliway seems to be helping Ellie, since I started it; her hissing has diminished and her biting continues to be more gentle.  Several times she has briefly visited upstairs, though still won't stay and runs back to the basement.  We have progressed to shoulder and back of neck rubs, and even a brief gentle stroking of her back, in her spot on top of the shelving, and she is warming up to eating on the basement stairs. She would not eat the Lactoferrin on her food, but I got some (human) protbiotics from CVS that I had used with the girls when they had diarrhea, and she's eating that, seems to be helping with her snuffles. 

I'm giving it to Patience too as she has had a recurrence of diarrhea despite the antibiotic shot.  At least now she's hitting the box most of the time, thanks JodieThierry64 for the under-bed storage box idea, it's working for her pretty well, only one mess partly outside of the box in the past three days.  The only downside is that Mr. Patches likes it too, and he digs a really big hole to go the bathroom and then energetically covers it, so a lot of Feline Pine ends up on the bathroom floor.  Oh well, it's better than poop. 

So tomorrow Ellie has a rescheduled vet appointment, not sure if I'll be able to get her into the carrier to go there but we will try.  Worst case scenario I will try to bring her home some more antibiotics to add to her food.

Oh drat, it's snowing AGAIN.  I do hope everyone is ok.

 

[ldg]

Oh I'm glad the feliway is helping!

As to the DE and lactoferrin - I'd feed them separately. But I would definitely use the probiotics along with the DE. I used DE on Lazlo - and honestly, the stuff seems to act like a colon cleanse. I used it on him for a week, and his energy (and appetite) went up. (I didn't suspect parasites, but had been reading other benefits of use). But just in case it wipes out the healthy bacteria too, I'd continue probiotics for at least two weeks after the course of DE you're going to use.

Sorry she won't eat the lactoferrin. If it's mixed into her food will she eat it? :dk:

 

[angels mommy]

More progress, that's great!! 

 

[lrosewiles]

Progress slowly continues.  No luck with getting to the vet  this morning, she totally freaked out when I tried to lure her into the carrier and hid in another part of the basement - so I balanced getting her follow up against a major trust set back and called and said we'd wait until the weekend.  But she is slowly coming out of her shell, has been upstairs a few times and is allowing me to stroke her back a few times before going with the claw and bite (gently now) routine.  No more hissing, just swatting and biting but less of it.

LDG she won't eat the lactoferin mixed in food but she will eat "human" probiotic powder that I used before with our kits, so that's something.  My main concern now that she seems a lot healthier is trying to get her less hostile and frightened, so lots of talking and gentle stroking and telling her what a good girl she is.  I long to brush the knots out of her coat, but we aren't there yet - stroking seems the way to go for now.  She does like her cheeks and chin rubbed and purrs when I do that. 

 

[teatoe]

I thought of your Ginger's respiratory infection when I read an article on Cryptococcosis by Dr. Plotnick. I hope she's all better now but if not did the vet check her antigen level for fungal infection? If she ever was exposed to pigeon feces she might have it & if untreated can lead to seizures. Hope I'm not being an alarmist. You're doing a great job. All mine are rescues too. My latest, a special needs kitten, peppers my face with kitty kisses. I'm sure someday Ginger kitty will surprise you with affection too.