Older Semi Feral Girl

[amyrose]

Hi

So, long story short, end of last year I trapped a 4-month old feral kitty. Already had trapped her brother who looked about 10-12-weeks. I did not realize her age at first and needed to fix both siblings before release so took to ASPCA clinic for the vaccines, fix, etc. Well, turns out they were around 4-months old. They seemed to be responding to socialization but after a month, sort of reached a plateau.

I feel such guilt now as it might have been better to release her early on. I just wasn't sure and felt guilty then as well. I was abroad while they were young and were spotted by fam-in-law and hubby (fam refused to trap and help!!!) and caught them as soon as I got back!

A kind rescue took them in their cafe and that's where they have been til this point, hoping to speed along their socialization. Boy was adopted, then returned. The boy is much easier-going and food-motivated so they are keeping him. The girl is not so much but is still very sweet, likes pets, never aggressive, she's just very skittish but gets used to people/places soon enough. It's not working out for her at the cafe and after some words between myself and the rescue, I took her back and am trying to home her with an experienced adopter.

Very little interest in her and it's kitten season so rescues and adopters are difficult to find.

She is now about 11 months old. She likes being pet and playing, but is skittish and wary.

My question is, can an 11-month old who was taken in at age 4-months be re-introduced to a colony or is that definitely out of the question? I only ask as I travel frequently for long periods and am already fostering 2 kittens, plus have a second adult cat who is sick recovering from flu and very friendly who is in the middle of being placed. I simply don't physically have room for all (it's a small hallway/floor, not a house!) and am desperate to find her a foster or home. I do not want her to be outside and am fighting to find a solution so any opinions or advice is much appreciated. She's such low maintenance but I think rescues and fosters are already so full.

Here is sweet lil Leia!

Thanks

 

[Sarthur2]

I'm unsure of a solution, but I would not return her to the colony.

Do you have any friends who might be able to keep her during your travels?

She's very pretty!

 

[tabbytom]

Yes, I agree with Sarthur2 about not returning her back to the colony. She may find it hard to fit in and has to fend for herself since she has left the colony scene and rejoining means she's a newbie and newbies always get beaten up.

Best is keep her indoors and foster her till you find a good home for her or someone reliable to look after her if you need to travel.

She's a lovel kitty

 

[amyrose]

I don't have anyone who can handle a semi-feral, sweet and harmless as she is, she's very skittish.

Just running out of ideas and already have 1 trapped sick adult as well as 2 foster kittens. I'm always broke thanks to food and such and the rescue I used to run with turned sour on me. So I can't seem to find a rescue who will just network my lot.

 

[Sarthur2]

If she can't be handled, could someone at least stop in daily to feed, change water, and scoop litter when you are away?

 

[tabbytom]

Yea, don't really have to stay long to play as she won't be interested in play if it's not you.

Just someone to do the upkeep and feeds. A clean litter box and fresh water is a must.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I have brought inside 2 very skittish semi feral cats. When I travel, I have someone come to the house to feed them and change the litter box. The pet sitter rarely sees the cats, but that is fine. I just need the cats to be fed and the litter box changed.

I would never ever release her back to a colony. She is used to inside living. Having a semi feral shy cat is not a big deal at all. My 2 do very well with my DH, son and myself, but when others come over, they never see them. That's ok. They come back out when the visitors are come. My 2 have a warm comfortable house, plenty of food and love.

 

[vyger]

I noticed this was a month ago discussion. Are you sure that this is not one of my cats that went missing? Sure looks like one of them. I would be glad to take it in and merge it into my clan but it would take a lot of stamps to get the USPS to get it here, much less still alive.
I got one of those big automatic feeders to use for when I was going to be away for a few days. In a trial run I found that part of the fun of one of those is the cats getting into food fights. Empty it out as fast as possible and spread it all over. Then, over a few days, hunt down the stragglers. So I made the connection where the food comes out (the neck) smaller by putting duct tape across it. This way the food would not come out as fast. Some enterprising member tried to claw their way through it to make it a bigger opening but didn't have much success. So it sort of did work. Nobody starved to death although that might be a matter of opinion.
Other than New York I have no idea where you might live. But if you have a storage building, like a garden shed you can set that up as a "cat house" (go for it Google) by putting a cat door in it. Have it so only your cats can get in and out and let her decide where she wants to live. If she really wants to be an outside cats she will slowly go back to being feral, but it would be her choice. I had one who preferred to be outside all the time. She used to disappear for 2 or 3 days then come running back and spend a day or 2 tanking up and resting and then disappear for several days again.