So Upset

[kscatlady]

Originally Posted by LDG

Then it's best just to have a room ready for kitty! Here's a good article on it: http://www.thecatsite.com/Care/18/Br...New-Cat/1.html

Having him confined to one room is especially important since he seems to be semi feral. It will be much less stressful for him to have a small room rather then the run of the entire house. Then you can visit him in the room often, and he'll get used to your presence and trust you much sooner. My MIL in took one of my really sweet feral born. She kept her in her bedroom and pretty much the two of them just lived in the bedroom together. My MIL did everything in there, watched tv, ate dinner, read, took her computer in there. Took about a month or two and Maggie showed her she was ready to see the rest of the house.

 

[tigerclaw]

Originally Posted by walter

I do want him to be an indoor cat but I am not sure how to go about it, I know I can get a trap but I want to leave that until I have no other options. Tigerclaw I am hoping he will do what you think and end up just staying by choice. Any more ideas on how to get him inside permanently are welcome from everyone on this site who have given excellent advice,thank you all so much.

Hi Walter,
From what I’m hearing you have a real sweet kitty. My gosh, your little ginger kitty already came into your appt. with a sign on his back saying, “please adopt me”. If a cat comes from a familiar environment, the outdoors, into a strange environment, your appt., he already took the first step in saying, I’m ready, Please feed and love me.

If he came into your appt. by himself with no hisses or growl, I’m reading stray, not semi feral. To me a semi feral(somewhat fearful of humans) will hiss, spit, and or growl. I’m not hearing that from you.

Don’t get me wrong, there is excellent advice above and I respect their thinking, they’ve done it many times. What I’m hearing from you, trapping preferred as a last resort. This is my philosophy as well. But if your cat is very fearful of you, has a tendency to hiss, spit, or growl when scared then the trapping option should probably be the way to go. It’s going to be up to your kitty. Every cat will act differently.

My scared stray, Tiger, took four month to get ready to come into the house. I fed him on the back porch and eventually to inside the house where he got tame enough to just put him in a carrier and off to the vet. I didn’t want to stress him so I took my time to become friends. Never once did he hiss, spit, or growl, he was super friendly but very scarred. When I walked on the deck he was in the bushes. I had to crawl to him or he would run to the edge of the deck. I got to pet him while he ate then he started to eat inside and I spent periods sleeping at his side just inside the house. That’s when we bonded. From then on he didn’t want to go outside especially during bad weather. Thinking back I shouldn’t have tried the pet him at that time, it’s always best to have the kitty come to you not the other way around. They will start to rub on you or head butt as a sign that their ready.

If trapping is for you JUST a last option, here are my recommendations:
I would just feed him twice a day because this will probably be your routine when he stays inside. I always like to mix canned food with dry food. It smells good and they like it. I always bought fancy feast, chicken flavor. Come meal time I would open the door and call to him. Once you set up a feeding time routine he will be waiting. Kneel down just inside the door and place the food outside the door while the door is propped open. Feed him this way for a couple days so he gets used to the routine, which is very important to a stray cat. Routine everything is key. Also talk to him during this process.

Once he is used to getting fed that way then try placing the food just inside the door and back away some so he wont be too scared. Prop the door open enough so he isn’t too crowded. He will always be very aware of his environment and an escape route to safety. Remember that he is a survivor. Any quick move on your part or even a slight door closing he will bolt out the door at first. Give him time to adjust eating inside with the door open. Every day move the food bowl a foot further inside preferably on a mat. The mat serves as a temporary safe and comfortable spot. Eventually close the opening of the door ½ foot each day until he feel safe to eat with the door closed. If he stops eating right away after the door is closed or he just turns around without eating and wants to go outside, talk to him for a moment and tell him it ok. Then open the door and let him out. Keep talking to him. If he hasn’t eaten much he might come back in. If he stays outside and doesn’t look like he wants to come in, pick up the bowl and place it outside and let him finish the food outside with the door open. Continue the process the next meal. It’s very important to talk to your kitty when you first invite him in to eat through the entire process until he is ready to go out and then wish him goodbye and have a nice day. After awhile he will get used to your voice and respond to it right away.

Once he gets to the point where he wants to stay inside after eating, stay with him by the mat. Don’t try to touch him let him come to you. You will know and you might want to encourage him to rub the back of your hand just by placing it half way between the two of you. What I use to do was lay next to Tiger and fall asleep for ½ to 1-hour at a time and he would do the same right next to me. That’s bonding time. No need to talk then just relax and breath calmly. He will sense your calmness and see you as less threatening. Oh, put a water bowl by the food as well.

As mentioned above get a separate room to place your kitty in at night unless your prefer him to free roam. We always kept the cats in the main laundry room at night and free roan during the day.

One thing that I feel is VERY important for your kitty’s safety is get yourself a hammer, tip all your furniture on it’s side and feel for sharp staples sticking out. Tap those in with a hammer. Your cat can get some mean scratches or even an eye injury from those sharp staples sticking out. During construction of your furniture they never check to see if the staples go in straight and pose a safety threat. I also duct tape all sharp edges under the furniture as well. Also duct tape any rips in the protective cloth underneath the furniture. If there is just a small hole in there they will climb in there and possibly get into trouble.

If your cat wants to go out in the beginning after a short time I would let him out to de-stress a little bit even if it’s over night. After a few days just keep him in. He will probably hide under the furniture for a couple weeks until he settles in. Be sure to block the back of the washer and especially the dryer. That’s where my cat wanted to go every night when locked in the laundry room.

Well, good luck and can’t wait to see a pic of your sweet Ginger kitty. Have you named him yet? Or did I name him already?

 

[walter]

Hi Tigerclaw, I am quite happy this evening although I haven't seen him I have noticed he has eaten. The reason I am happy is I put food out for him before I went out, when I returned he hadn't eaten but within 30 minutes of returning I opened the door to see if he was around he was not but all his food was gone which makes me think that he is not frightened that we are in the appt and that he is quite comfortable eating when we are at home during the day. Hopefully I will see him tonight at the usual time and try and get closer to him. Thank you so much for the advice on getting him inside I am going to start that routine tonight. Oh yes he has a name it is Walter

He just seemed to suit him so well.
I will update you as soon as anything new happens with him.

 

[walter]

Not so happy now, he came to eat and i had the door wedged open, when I went to say hello to him on on all fours as usual he backed off and then went away meowing very sadly without finishing his supper. I have now closed the door in the hope that he will come back and finish his food off. I will have to try again tomorrow I suppose.

 

[tigerclaw]

Originally Posted by walter

Not so happy now, he came to eat and i had the door wedged open, when I went to say hello to him on on all fours as usual he backed off and then went away meowing very sadly without finishing his supper. I have now closed the door in the hope that he will come back and finish his food off. I will have to try again tomorrow I suppose.

A cat will very seldom stay away from a food source. So you are ok as far as him coming back.

I'm trying to read between the line here. You say he came to eat when you already had the door wedged open. "When I went to say hello". Does this mean that while he was eating you crawled on all fours to him to say hello? Usually a cat that feels uncomfortable eating outside your door, while it is wedged open, will sometimes get scared away by any movement you might make. This is common, it's his suvival instinct kicking in. So next time open the door, wedge the door open, set the food outside, try reaching as far as you can without scaring him if he is around and just stay there and don't move especially if he starts to eat. This is something very new to him and any movement might scare him away. If your voice scares him away then don't say anything for a few days. Some cats need to take one step at a time and the sight of the open door and talking at the same time might be too much for him to handle. If he refuses to eat with the door open then keep it closed for a few days till he get back to eating again without fear. Is this your front door where there isn't any glass at the bottom? It's a little harder to get him to eat with a solid door. Otherwise the door could be closed and he could still see you.

Walter, of course, with a nice name like that i'd think he would be proud to walk through your front door.

Keep us updated and we will walk you thru the process. You are doing fine, just be patient and in know time he will surprise you.

 

[walter]

Just a quick update, I went to check through the peep hole to see if he was around,although I cannot see if he is eating as the peephole is not set at that angle, I can usually see if he is walking around the area. Well anyway sure enough he will curled up relaxing, never seen him do that before. I did not open the door as I didn't want to scare him but a couple of minutes later he up and left so I opened the door and I am very happy to report Walter has had his supper.

Tigerclaw, I did move toward him while he was eating, forgetting that last time I was able to do this I was already on the floor, and that time he did not start to eat in front of me until he knew I was not going to move . I was a bit hasty this time as when I saw him I was on the couch staying still and he looked at me through the wedge and continued eating so I got confident thinking he wouldn't mind me coming a bit closer. Trust a cat to tell you not to be over confident

 

[tigerclaw]

Figured Walter would be back to his food source. These cats are very smart, wary, but smart. Sometimes it's hard to read these guys, but I think you are doing quit well.

It won't be long and he will be coming inside again. Have patience. You will have your minor setbacks but there learning experiences and you will get a better understanding how your kitty is thinking that much more.

Good luck.

 

[walter]

Ok question, yes I know another one, I am Walter obsessed aren't I

Well anyway I have noticed that for the last three days I have fed him lunch I have then gone out and returned at a different time each day, when I return the food is untouched, but within half an hour of returning I check the food and Walter has eaten it all. Does this mean anything? Or am I just over analyzing

 

[tigerclaw]

Yes you are obsessed. But that's a good thing. Talk about me, I spent 7-months straight feeding my feral Tabby last summer every day before his Oct. capture. He only ate just after sunset. So just before that time I would tell my wife, "Cat Patrol" close all the blinds, curtains etc. I used to drive her nuts. Fortunately she love cats too.

Yes I think they set up a routine to eat and probably sit in the bushes a wait for you. They are very good at hiding. I don't think I would feed him more than three times a day, two times would probably be better.

Keep us updated, you have a very interesting story to tell of Walter's progress.

You want to drive Walter nuts...put a few treats on top of his food sometimes. He might come knocking at the door for more.

 

[walter]

Yeah Tigerclaw you are right in the feeding only 2 times a day, my husband keeps telling me I will end up getting him because he will become so fat he won't be able to run away

I feed him a light lunch of tuna and his dry food and then in the evening I feed him again with wet and dry food and sprinkle a few treats around his bowls, occasionally depending on how much he has eaten of his supper I leave another bit of wet food out in case he gets hungry in the early hours of the morning, which usually he has eaten by the time I get up.

 

[ldg]

I don't know about where you live, but if we don't pick up the food just after dusk, we're just feeding raccoons and skunks.

 

[walter]

Yeah LDG I was concerned about that also at first but I was told we don't get them in the city, I haven't seen any yet and also people leave their trash bags outside the door and they don't get touched, so at the moment the only tummy being filled seems to be Walters although I will keep checking ,thanks for the heads up.

 

[ldg]

Yes, the only potential problem in a city would be other cats.

We live in a really rural area.

 

[walter]

Hi Tigerclaw update on Walter, haven't caught him yet, but this will make you laugh

. So for the last two nights as you suggested, I have put treats on the top of his food to entice him some more as supposed to around his bowl which I was doing previously. I was thinking maybe he didn't notice them so he would be surprised at the nice treat I left for him , well Walter is a fussy little eater and doesn't like them so for the last two mornings I find the wet food all gone and next to his bowl are the exact number of treats I left out for him, the little rascal is taking them out and completely ignoring them, he is such a character.

 

[krazy kat2]

Any updates on Walter? I have really enjoyed following your progress. You are doing a great job with him.

 

[walter]

Hi Krazy cat2, no real updates on Walter, I was hoping to take a photo of him last night, but as usual you can never plan with cats he was quite elusive last night and appeared to be scared of the cat toy I got for him, I don't think he liked the bell sounds, so I won't be using that tonight. I am hoping that if I make out like I am not bothered and just ignore him while he eats he will want to get closer, isn't that mad, Walter and I are playing mind games.

I will update you on anything new that happens.