We had a small cat that suddenly began appearing on our deck. The cat is not a kitten but appears to be young . Since we already have two older cats we had cat food about and decided to feed it. Doing so we discovered the cat was ravenous to the point it would even come into the house for food as long as the deck door remained open so it could escape. We canvassed the area but no one had lost a cat. The physical condition of the cat seemed excellent and left us feeling that it was impossible to know just how long the cat had been on its own outdoors. . We decided to catch the cat by renting a trap so we could have it checked out our vet .. The cat is very skittish but when it ate I could sit a foot or two away without it running away. . It responded with a meow if one spoke softly to it. I tried to touch it and it but out its paw to scratch me. It did not seem excessively fearful of humans but was certainly wary if one tried to approach it quickly. . While at the vet the cat was neutered, given treatment for worms (which it didn't necessarily have, treatment for fleas etc ., and a rabies shot. The people at the clinic were able to touch the cat though it was as mentioned pointed out as skittish. After about a week at the vet it came back to the house. I have a home that sits in a large ravine area bordering on a park . Our two cats have from day one always been able to go out and thankfully for over 8 or 9 years always returned safely. We prepared a cat room in the house for what we discovered was a male,we named Theo. We setup a
cat box safe-home in the room for him , feeding area, kitty litter toys etc., The morning after his return I discovered he had eaten all the food we left out and used the kitty litter. However he had returned to his cat safe box and there he remained through the day . Tonight, the second evening of his return, I opened the door to feed him and found him in front of me. He was his skittish self and went off to hide but did not rush back to his cat box , eventually he crawled under a dresser in the room. I gave him food for the evening , spoke to him and left him for the night.
My need for advice rests about where do we go from here Theo is now , so it seems, willing to move out to some degree from the safety of his save-box within the room. I feel badly having him caged in the room but my aim was hopefully trying to socialize him to the point where he could be touched and would hopefully 'tame ' away lose some of his skittishness. Our wish was either to have him become our third cat or arrive at the point where he could be put up for adoption. However that would only appear appropriate if he could be tamed to the point of actually becoming a pet. I make the assumption from what I have read on line that Theo should be socialized within the room he now resides in. How should we proceed ? Should we simply develop a fixed routine with him , spending time with him in the room talking and trying to play with him , slowly attempting to establish physical contact with him as a precursor for moving forward to the stage of letting him out of the room? I got the impression from the vet that it might be best , because of his skittish, to simply return him to the outdoors but I would at least like to try to insure him a life of less hardship if I thought that was possible. One of my two cats ( a big main coon male) seemed to get on quite well with him. However my female cat which looks like his sister in coloring seemed to have more problems but she too has quieted down in his presence but still shows some hostility. I don't know if neutering him will now result in her having a little more tolerance.
Any advice based upon other peoples experience in a similar situation would be welcomed.
Thanks
Michael
cat box safe-home in the room for him , feeding area, kitty litter toys etc., The morning after his return I discovered he had eaten all the food we left out and used the kitty litter. However he had returned to his cat safe box and there he remained through the day . Tonight, the second evening of his return, I opened the door to feed him and found him in front of me. He was his skittish self and went off to hide but did not rush back to his cat box , eventually he crawled under a dresser in the room. I gave him food for the evening , spoke to him and left him for the night.
My need for advice rests about where do we go from here Theo is now , so it seems, willing to move out to some degree from the safety of his save-box within the room. I feel badly having him caged in the room but my aim was hopefully trying to socialize him to the point where he could be touched and would hopefully 'tame ' away lose some of his skittishness. Our wish was either to have him become our third cat or arrive at the point where he could be put up for adoption. However that would only appear appropriate if he could be tamed to the point of actually becoming a pet. I make the assumption from what I have read on line that Theo should be socialized within the room he now resides in. How should we proceed ? Should we simply develop a fixed routine with him , spending time with him in the room talking and trying to play with him , slowly attempting to establish physical contact with him as a precursor for moving forward to the stage of letting him out of the room? I got the impression from the vet that it might be best , because of his skittish, to simply return him to the outdoors but I would at least like to try to insure him a life of less hardship if I thought that was possible. One of my two cats ( a big main coon male) seemed to get on quite well with him. However my female cat which looks like his sister in coloring seemed to have more problems but she too has quieted down in his presence but still shows some hostility. I don't know if neutering him will now result in her having a little more tolerance.
Any advice based upon other peoples experience in a similar situation would be welcomed.
Thanks
Michael