Trapping for 2nd time?

[killerapple]

Thanks

Vet visit went well. She tested negative for FLV/FIV

Very relieved. I was not in the exam room when they got her out of cage (safety for me I figure), but they made it as stress-free as possible for her - did the bloodwork, her vaccines, and applied Frontline real quick. They gave me some dewormer pill I can put in her food (they did not want to try to open her mouth up). They said she looked very healthy. They did bring up her weight, but it's not an issue right now - probably something I need to address once she is more relaxed inside. She has another vet appointment in 1 month.

I bought the little plastic things you can attach to the bottom of the door so she and Batman can't touch each other yet. I had opened up the trap (removed trap door) but she hadn't moved out of it before I left for work. She looked extremely scared - shaking, but looking around and not hissing. Hopefully she did leave and do some exploring in the room. She has a litter box with dirt-like litter (with soil mixed in too, but I don't expect her to figure that out right away), her food/water, scratching post, huge box with blanket draped over top, cat carrier (door removed) with blanket inside and a couple toys.

I will take things slow and start a new thread if/when things come up that I need help with. Thanks all for your support during the 2nd trapping!

 

[ldg]

CONGRATULATIONS! This is SUCH a wonderful thing you're doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You MUST keep us posted!

 

[ink]

Originally Posted by LDG

You MUST keep us posted!

I agree. You HAVE to keep us posted on how she is doing.

 

[killerapple]

Thank you so much

I am very happy about this. It feels right.

I'm back from work - went to her room. She's hiding out in the big box. (It's big enough that she can scoot allll the way to the back and not be seen - I also have a towel hanging over it - I am glad she feels safe in that spot.) Glad she left the trap finally! No evidence of pee or poo anywhere. Not sure if she touched the food.

I will keep you all posted

 

[ink]

Glad to hear she came out of the trap.

 

[killerapple]

She still is in her hiding spot (box) and has ignored food/water/litter box as far as I can tell. I put some tuna out for her and she has ignored that too. Hopefully she'll give in and eat something later. I don't think she's eaten in almost 2 days.

 

[ldg]

She'll probably eat at night when no one - or she thinks no one - is around. And our little Lazlo was only around 10 weeks old when we rescued him, and he held out on going pee or poop for over 24 hours. We finally took a cereal box, cut one of the sides of, lined it with aluminum foil, and filled it with dirt. When he FINALLY peed, we scooped it out and put it in the litter box. He got it right away, and jumped in and went poop. Don't think you've ever seen such a relieved little kitty!

 

[killerapple]

I keep forgetting she is nocturnal too.

I have good news though!!!! She finally decided she couldn't hold it anymore - so she peed and pooped in the litterbox!!!!! She did a great job covering too. I made more of a mess scooping it out than she did using it.

But I am very relieved - haha, not as much as she is, I'm sure. She peed out of nervousness at the vet's office - and that had been over 30 hours ago... Yikes!

So far, so good.

 

[ldg]

Good girl!

Yeah, she must be very relieved! If there's room in her room, you may want to put in a second litterbox. Lots of ferals do not like to pee and poop in the same place. (May help avoid problems down the road).

Did she eat anything last night?

 

[killerapple]

Good thinking - I'll pick up a 2nd at the store. She did poo/pee in the same one but if it helps in the future, I will do that now.

I am a bit concerned about the eating. She seems to be on a hunger strike. When should this be a concern? She's ignored tuna when I bring it too. She has her dry food and doesn't look to be eating it. I do think she's drinking though (or the water is evaporating really quick).

Anything I can do to help encourage her to eat?

I'm going to pick up a Feliway diffuser - I figure that will help.

She is alert, which is good. She's sitting in the box still, but closer to the outside part. She actually was moving her head to watch me near the door last night (maybe to see if she could escape, but paying attention nonetheless).

I just am worried about her not eating.. It's been a few days since she's been inside now. (Friday morning was the vet appointment.)

Thanks for any input!

 

[killerapple]

Ok, I'm a bit freaking out a work, so I'm going to buy Feliway diffuser and various wet foods (baby food, sardines, salmon, wet cat food, treats) from the store and rush them to her. I don't want her to die because I brought her inside against her will.

I feel really bad. Hopefully she'll give in to some of this food. I'll be doing this in a couple hours so hopefully then when I get home from work at night, she will have eaten something!!!

I do think she is drinking. She did use litter box again yesterday to pee. So at least I'm pretty sure she is hydrated.

Hopefully the Feliway will help.. I feel so bad for not doing something about this yesterday. I just kept assuming she would give in and eat at some point...

 

[ldg]

I think the "danger zone" with cats not eating is 4-5 days (adult cats, that is). There are definitely people who get very concerned about this because cats' (kidneys or livers?) do begin to shut down without food after some amount of time. But not eating in a strange place is pretty normal. We took our cats to boarding once for a week - they all lost several pounds and I suspect they barely ate at all that entire time.

I'm probably late to catch you leaving, but instead of looking for a high-protein kibble, look for a high fat one - that tends to be smellier and more "attractive" to a kitty that isn't eating. It's not the greatest food, and it's expensive, but if you can afford it, maybe buy Science Diet A/D from the vet. The A/D is high fat.

...or maybe try boiled chicken. Or mashed chicken livers. But whatever non-kibble food you put out, do it at night and check back in after two hours - don't leave it out. Put the wet food out and pick it up on a schedule so she knows when it's coming and when it's leaving - but make it during a time she would eat it (night).

 

[ldg]

...and since she's drinking water, maybe try putting out cat milk.

Or make kitten glop for her? Scroll down this page for kitten glop recipe: http://www.kitten-rescue.com/what_to_feed.html

 

[ldg]

OK - as long as they're drinking and staying hydrated, apparently they can go up to several weeks without eating. Developing the fatty degeneration of the liver is a risk, but is rare.

More important, in the short run, is hydration.

 

[killerapple]

Thank you Laurie!!! I am still here - I was crossing my fingers you or someone would write back with some advice before I run out to the store!!!

I'll get the Feliway and the food during lunch, then put out more non-spoilable food and plug in the diffuser. (She has dry food out already but I will try another type in addition.) Then after work I'll put out some wet food.

Should I put the food closer to her safe zone? The food/water is only a couple feet away from her.. but maybe she doesn't feel safe eating there? Litter box is much farther away and she's used that a couple times though, so not sure if my reasoning is right.

I will keep you posted! It should be pretty quiet at home now. Weekends are kinda loud (people are home, our pet birds can be loud, Batman is running around all crazy) so maybe during the day, it will be quiet and she will eat. I know she's investigated the room because there is evidence of the litter around the room (it's this organic corn type stuff that is more fine than normal litter - almost like dirt! - so it tracks a lot easier)

Thanks again for your help. I am crossing my fingers miss Patches calms down and eats!

 

[killerapple]

Update - Got the Feliway diffuser put in her room during lunch hour. Also got some salmon, wet food, soft treats while out (didn't have time to look for Science Diet A/D yet).

In the morning, I had taken a handful of her dry food and put it inside the cardboard box she is in - it's big, so I didn't have to get too close to her to put it there. She had eaten all of the pile except 2 kibbles. So that is good!!! I put another small pile (with some treats) in that same spot. I realize I am making it easier for her to not have to go out of the box to eat, but I want her to eat something.

Will give her wet food tonight and start that routine.

Thanks again

 

[ldg]

That's great - everything's going to be just fine! I think leaving the kibble/treats just inside her box is OK - it'll help her associate your smell with food.

I think doing as much stuff as you can on a schedule for her right now will really help. The big barrier in socializing a feral/scared stray is that trust factor - and wanting nothing from them and meeting all their needs without requiring anything (including interaction) from them goes a loooooong way to crossing that barrier. Food is a HUGE motivator in that, and doing everything on as much a schedule as possible REALLY helps reinforce that YOU are the one providing for their needs without being scary or threatening.

Obviously spend whatever time in the room you can reading out loud, napping, sewing, singing, folding laundry - whatever - just letting her get used to you being uninterested in her and non-threatening. Doing whatever you can down on the floor with your side to her will help.

But scooping litter boxes, filling kibble - leaving little pile of kibble inside of box, putting out and picking up wet food, cleaning water dish - the more of a regular schedule you can keep to for all of that part of it, the more quickly she's likely to come around.

Also, knocking lightly on her door and telling her you're coming in is good too. If she was out of her box, it's less scary for her than if the door just suddenly opens.

...and if she's eating the kibble, I wouldn't worry about the A/D. It's that expensive prescription food you can only buy at the vet, and she doesn't really need it (and it's not very high quality stuff to begin with, so definitely over priced for what it is).

OH! Get a couple of t-shirts really good and sweaty. Once you know she's eating, leave one under her kibble dish. When you leave the room, put treats down on the other one. This will help her associate your scent with something she loves even faster.

You're doing great!

...I know - it's impossible not to worry. But she's hydrated for sure, and starting to eat, so everything will be just fine!

BTW - I don't remember the beginning of the thread. She's already spayed, right? But did she get a check-up? Are you sure she doesn't have parasites or anything?

 

[killerapple]

Thanks again Laurie

She tested negative for FLV/FIV at the vets and they gave me 2 dewormer pills (1 now, 1 for 2 weeks later) but I already wasted 1 pill (rejected in food) so I'm going to wait to put the 2nd pill in a treat once I'm sure she'll eat it. (Then I'll call and get a refill for that lost one in 2 weeks). I didn't have a poo sample for them to examine, but they assumed she'd have worms. I make sure I change my clothes/shoes if I sit down there with her so I don't bring anything to Batman. Batman (one of her babies we kept) and her can't interact under the doors either. They did apply Frontline on her for me - Batman has been on Frontline for several months and I might keep it long term for them both.

I was going to wait until her next vet visit to give them a poo sample, since I have that dewormer pill. Or should I just do it now in case there is more that needs addressed?

Yep she is spayed - we got that done in July but we were not ready to take her in at that point, but honestly it worked out for the best - she had a 4th baby outside she was taking care of that we couldn't find when we first took in the other 3 babies. That baby got trapped by us later and is now being fostered by someone - we got the whole family taken care of.

I agree I need to get back on a normal schedule like we had outside. I've been probably poking in too much this weekend.

It is nerve wracking but you're right - she's drinking, eating a bit, so should be ok once the silly human gets the routine right. I'm a worry wart!

Crossing my fingers! Thanks again

So thankful for all the support and advice

 

[ldg]

You know if it's not a total hassle, you might just take one of her poop samples to the vet. If she doesn't have worms, no need to worry about it - if she does, it helps to know which ones. I'm assuming the pill you have is Drontal (the only one I know that comes in pill form). I believe it works for tape worm and round worm, the most common. But if she doesn't have any, then you don't need to sweat it. If she was being fed and relying on that for food, it's just possible she doesn't have any.

...but if she comes out with you there while eating in the not too-far distant future, if you can get Revolution on her, it's just like Frontline except it also handles the internal parasites - so no pills. Just a thought.

 

[killerapple]

That's a good idea! I should go ahead and do that.

Checked in on her - she didn't eat that pile of dry food I put out for her around lunchtime and she had moved from her box to inside the cat carrier. She had pooped and peed in the litter box. After I cleaned up everything (as she watched), I did take a few photos - making sure to look at the camera, not at her, and trying not to use the flash to drive her nuts. Here is a picture:

This is her room set-up:

She's hiding out now in the carrier on the left. The past 3 days, she was living in that box across from it. I didn't want to put a rug down until after fleas/etc. are gone. I have another box coming from work soon that she can hide in. I'd like to have more hiding spots for her.