Trapping for 2nd time?

[killerapple]

Pete - no worries! I was hoping to actually establish a bond with her as well before introducing to Batman since I wasn't going to introduce them until after her 3 month quarantine, but it wasn't going anywhere, so Batman really had to step up to the plate and act as cat ambassador.

Luckily for me, he's doing pretty well at the part, having taught her to play, giving her happy licks, etc.

I think in her case, being so darn unsure of humans, that Batman's love/trust for me really is critical for her to continue to feel comfortable with me and inside life. What's kinda cool too is that since she's not all lovey dovey on me, he really doesn't get jealous of 'the new kitty' (although I'm sure he gets jealous when I'm alone with her playing - but he gets his attention before/after). She has learned so much since they have started interacting, and that would vanquish any doubts about having introduced them at this point. If there was bloodshed or cat screaming and if Batman got ill from stress, I would be doubting this route, but it's been going great. No worries! Thanks for being so considerate though and bringing this up!


This morning, my husband said he saw Patches sitting in the 'catloaf' position right up against the screen - pressed up against it! Batman was nowhere to be seen. I guess she was waiting for him.

 

[tigerclaw]

Is that a leukemia booster shot in three months. I remember my vet saying something like that but she said because of Tabby being so wild it would be ok to wait. I think that's what she said. Might have to call and make sure. At the time I just wanted to get Tabby home.

So did your vet say no interaction for 3-month until the second shot? You mentioned a quarantine period. Would you elaborate on that. Thanks. Just want to be sure with my Tiger and Tabby getting together.

I talked with Momofmany and we discussed the difficuly of socializing a feral cat in a cage like mine. I agreed because I feel the way Tabby is starting to jump around and wrestling with his scratch pole he is ready for something bigger. So i'm thinking of building a temperary 6' x 12' enclosure that I can attach to his existing cage so he could even run back and forth inbetween the two enclosures at will. It should be simple to construct with a 2" x 4" frame and light weight paneling as walls. Put a hide box in there and carpet it. All Tabby's enclosured are carpeted. Isn't he lucky.

The cages won't go to waist because they are going to be their permenant sleeping, food, and litter enclosures. Before Tabby came on board Tiger would go to the cages to sleep, he liked it down in the basm't because it's a nice quiet place.

 

[killerapple]

Originally Posted by tigerclaw

Is that a leukemia booster shot in three months. I remember my vet saying something like that but she said because of Tabby being so wild it would be ok to wait.

I had her combo tested when I trapped her in November, then re-tested 3 months later - screen door went up after she came back negative the 2nd time. I was probably being extremely over-cautious about the whole thing. I am a worry wart, sure, but no regrets about it at the same time.

I'll be following your thread to read how things go with Tabby when he gets to see Tiger!

 

[killerapple]

Patches surprised me this morning by deciding to eat her treats when I was in the middle of my food/litter box routine with her! I was so surprised - first time she has done this. So I decided to give her a few more after she ate those - got hissed at, but she ate them up with me there still. Interesting sudden change! We'll see if this becomes a usual thing or if this morning was a fluke.

Dropped off poo samples this morning to vet - both her and Batman. They said they'd call if they found anything. No call today so unless they call on Monday, she is worm-free.

 

[momofmany]

Wow!!! She's really made huge advances in the last week!

Way to go Patches!!

 

[ldg]

I doubt it's a one-time thing.

 

[killerapple]

Yeah, she sure has been surprising me lately!

I filmed 1 hour of screen-door interaction last night. Within 3 minutes of the camera being set-up (which was pretty loud, getting tri-pod set up), Patches had come to the door. I'll be editing the video in the next few days (deleting boring parts so it's not an hour

) and getting it up on YouTube so everyone can see. It's pretty neat. You can see Patches playing with her favorite mouse toy. You can see her stretching out, belly exposed, flopping over, then flopping back. There's a lot of Patches/Batman stuff going on - I need to get a closer look (I was watching on the camera, and the lighting is bad and tiny screen), but it looks like a lot of smelling and some playing going on. At one point, they're both laying down and grooming themselves (not each other) looking pretty relaxed. Of course I saw a point where Batman jumps up the screen door and Patches runs away.

After watching this, my husband and I think there's not a problem between the two and this explains why Batman is so eager to want to play with her when I open the door. Too bad she gets herself cornered in the box - I think it would be less hissy/nerve-wracking for me and Patches if she wasn't.

Heh, you should hear Batman talking at her door right now. He always complains when she's not there. I'm figuring the meows when he's grumpy that she was there and left, and when he's just telling her to come out.

We picked this up for Patches from Ikea, for when she can roam the house. It fits perfectly under an end table. Batman gave it his stamp of approval. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60144637

I'll post a video link asap.

 

[tigerclaw]

Sounds like Patches is doing real good. The bond with Batman is growing and growing. Nice looking tent at a good price. Can't wait to see the vid.

 

[ldg]

We want video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[killerapple]

Either daylight savings time has screwed up Patches' schedule, or she really let herself be visible this morning. She was out and about when I was walking around in the hallway outside her room, and she would go to her box to hide, but she'd stick her head out and watch, etc.

I went in to do the routine, and she was sitting in the middle of the box, not against the back. Much closer to me. So I went with my treats and gave them to her like usual. I get down low, with arm extended, slowly dropping the treats. Since she was so close, my hand was maybe 4-5 inches from her. So what does she do? She comes closer to me to sniff - and she gets 1 inch away from my hand sniffing! I was, again, shocked. Then yep, she ate up the treats with me in the room.

Looks like Batman is indeed slowly brainwashing Patches.

What a difference from a few months ago! There are still times when I go in there and I can just tell by looking at her that she's nervous and I shouldn't try to play with her, etc - but then there are times like this when she almost touches my finger with her nose! Pretty amazing.

 

[momofmany]

Batman!!

Don't be surprised if her "fear" of you comes and goes. With feral cats its typically 2 steps forward and 1 step back, and sometimes just when you think you are fully bonded, they hide from you for no apparent reason.

I can't wait to see the video!!

 

[killerapple]

I need to try uploading a less compressed version - when Patches rolls around, you just see white/black artifacts.. it's very hard to make her out.

Here is the link for now nonetheless - it's 8 minutes long from the hour. I missed a lot of stuff when I was trying to edit this quickly but you can see Batman crying for her, him pouncing at her, her playing with her mouse, her waiting for him, grooming, and her rolling around. May try to get a better video put together later and/or film them again with a spotlight in Patches room or simply during the day so it's easier to see.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cherrymu.../0/VJ8i85umlqY

 

[tigerclaw]

Very nice vid's. Batman is really a sweety. He's good natured and friendly. He sure wanted to play with Patches so badly.

 

[killerapple]

Yeah, he was dying!

I had to include some of him crying for her at the door.

The thing is, he really goes for her when he's in the room. He wants to chew on her neck and I think it's a little rough and Patches doesn't appreciate. She looks soooo happy when they're playing together at the screen door, but my husband thinks it's because Batman can't mess with her.

It's hard to tell. I let Batman in alone yesterday and there were a lot of growling, swishy tails, going on that I could see from the hallway. When Batman finally left the box, he had some of her fur on him.. it just makes me nervous. I'll have to get some video of that. When I'm in there with both, I try hard to get Batman distracted with the wand toy or whatever, but there's only so much I can do before he wants to just run in and play with Patches.

I wish he was just giving her licks like before and leaving it as that. But it could be a LOT worse.

 

[icklemiss21]

Originally Posted by tigerclaw

Hi,
Looks like Patches and Batman's play sessions are coming alone great.

I would like to take this opportunity to mentioned that I was misinformmed about the role a resident cat can play in the training of a new cat like Patches. I think I mentioned that it was best to bond with the stray cat first before the stray cat begins to bond with the resident cat like Batman.

After talking with Momofmany about this same subject the information I received that I read somewhere wasn't exactly true in all cases. It seems that it is best to introduce the resident cat as early as possible to the stray or feral cat that was captured. So you are doing the right think by having Batman as a role model in training Patches by sight and action to show that it's ok to interact with this gaint new human friend.

I apologize for the misinformation I so adamantly past on to you. You are doing the right thing with Batman and Patches. I'm planning to get Tiger introduced to Tabby, I believe he's ready. Keep up the good training sessions.

It really depends on the situation, and the temperament type of feral and resident cats you have, but I know that my resident cats, especially Scully, played a huge part in Autumn's socialisation. I had worked with her in the shelter for some time before I took her home but the advances she made at home with other cats came so much easier and quicker.

However, if you have the aggressive type of feral, I would be a lot slower about introducing, you still need to use common sense with it

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Batman!!

Don't be surprised if her "fear" of you comes and goes. With feral cats its typically 2 steps forward and 1 step back, and sometimes just when you think you are fully bonded, they hide from you for no apparent reason.

I can't agree with this more, we still occasionally have Autumn freaking over something that scares her, although she is generally completely trusting of us.

Originally Posted by tigerclaw

Very nice vid's. Batman is really a sweety. He's good natured and friendly. He sure wanted to play with Patches so badly.

Yes, it was a very cute video

 

[killerapple]

Originally Posted by LDG

I doubt it's a one-time thing.

She has been consistently eating the treats now when I'm in the room. I understand she may change her mind one day, but it seems she decided over-night one day that she'd try to eat them with me in the room, that I didn't eat her, so she's going to keep eating.

Maybe it's time to give the chicken baby food another go if I sense she's up to it. (I can tell if she's in a super nervous mood or if she's more relaxed and up for playing, etc.)

Go Patches!!!!!

 

[lovewhiskers]

I caught up with your thread today. Oh my gosh, your little girl has made tremendous progress. I am so so happy for you, I know how long you have been waiting! Congratulations

Marina

 

[killerapple]

Another interesting evening!

First, I decided to give Fancy Food a try. Put it on her pink dish, then put it in her box. Came in 20 minutes later with Batman to find 3/4 of the food eaten

and Patches was out of the box and in the bottom level of that cat condo thing. Poor Batman went in to greet her, saw the dish, got startled, jumped 16 inches.

Then he was upset he couldn't find her. He laid down outside her box after some looking for her, then gave up. Eventually he found her. She was in a really bad spot, as far as not being able to fight back or hide. He swatted at her a few times and she just took it, so I encouraged him to leave the room to not get her upset. (I know she was nervous being in that cat condo - could sense it.)

So later, I wonder where Batman is. I go upstairs and our hardwood stairs are not quiet. You can't sneak up them. Batman is sleeping on his towels near her room. And Patches? She's right up by the screen, looking quite comfortable. I was surprised to see her there. So I sit down, pet Batman, who wakes up, purrs, etc. Then he walks over to her, still purring. So I move closer to the screen to pet her. She growls. First time she's growled at me. But the way I see it, she's really putting herself close to me - sitting so darn close to the screen. And while the screen separates us, she really was out of her safe zone. So she growled whenever I would pet Batman a bit close to her. I go to another room to put away laundry, come back 3 minutes later and she's still there! An hour later? She was in that same spot again! So I really think she's putting herself more out there.

The bad thing is I can't go in there and clean her litter box if she's sitting by the screen door.

but I'm thrilled she's sitting somewhere not in her box when I'm moving around and in eye sight.

She hasn't seen much of my husband so he also sat down with me a few minutes and we talked quietly so she could also get used to him a bit.

Here's a picture I took so you can see how close she was.

 

[tigerclaw]

Originally Posted by killerapple

Yeah, he was dying!

I had to include some of him crying for her at the door.

The thing is, he really goes for her when he's in the room. He wants to chew on her neck and I think it's a little rough and Patches doesn't appreciate. She looks soooo happy when they're playing together at the screen door, but my husband thinks it's because Batman can't mess with her.

It's hard to tell. I let Batman in alone yesterday and there were a lot of growling, swishy tails, going on that I could see from the hallway. When Batman finally left the box, he had some of her fur on him.. it just makes me nervous. I'll have to get some video of that. When I'm in there with both, I try hard to get Batman distracted with the wand toy or whatever, but there's only so much I can do before he wants to just run in and play with Patches.

I wish he was just giving her licks like before and leaving it as that. But it could be a LOT worse.

I think Batman is responding from the vibes he is getting from Patches. I've seen it many times how different cats respond to my cat Tiger when he is in the back yard. Some get chanced some it a calm standoff. The other week a red and white feral tom that been around a couple years was on the back deck with Tiger. My wife came up from the basm't because she heard this screaming. The two cats were standing three feet apart and Tiger was screaming at the top of his lungs. A territorial scream. The wife opened the door and the feral ran off.

A week before that a very friendly female black kitty came to the back deck. If I opened the door she wanted to run in. I could set her in my lap outside and she wanted to run up my chest and give me a kiss. Tiger wanted to play with her but she was a little unsure of him and she would turn around and keep him at bay. A short while later the two were calmly setting three feet apart just looking at each other like they were old lost friends. This little lost black kitty was giving off friendly vibes that Tiger was picking up and Tiger is super friendly so they got along very well.

Batman is super friendly but Patches is still unsure of her environment. She's calm but a little frightened and Batman is picking that up from her. Patches takes it so long and then reacts a little. I think if they were both outside it would be a little different. Patches probably wouldn't be as tolerant and then again they might just both roll in the grass together. It's hard to tell sometimes.

About three years ago our two 19 years old cats passed away. One was a big boned long haired cat that weighed over 24# and the other was an 8# tabby cat. They would play sometimes pretty hard together. One or the other would circle around the other then dive in for the kill. They wouldn't hurt each other and sometimes a little fur would fly. It was funny though. About every other day they would reverse rolls of who would chance the other. They would switch their dominant rolls depending on there moods.

Eventually when Patches come around a little more their play time should even out more.

 

[killerapple]

You're definitely right that her 'true colors' will come out more when she's more comfortable, with how she reacts to him. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

She sat (and slept) in that same spot for much of last night - this is a completely new thing. I was worried maybe she was sick, but I think she's just getting braver/more curious. And maybe she does want to be close to Batman. This morning, she was also in that spot! I didn't know how I would get in to feed her without scaring her, but (luckily?) my husband walked by at some point and she took off then.

Batman really blew us off last night, sleeping upstairs on the blankets by the door instead of hanging out with us.

But I'm glad he's getting a kitty friend.