Trapping question

[jolie0216]

I was worried for nothing about the cat eating while wearing the collar - he has adjusted pretty well, maybe he was just being overdramatic and putting on a show when we first put the collar on him to show us how un-workable the situation was 

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• jolie0216
• Aug 22, 2015

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• jolie0216
• Aug 22, 2015

Hubby and I talked and we're going to call him Ralphie.   He looks like a Ralph I think!   I'm just so glad for him that he is going to have a happy ending - no more running around and wondering when his next meal will be.    He enjoys his food so much that I really think he would eat non-stop all day if it were up to him!   I keep telling him to slow down and savor the flavor, but he wolfs down every single meal like a starving man on Thanksgiving haha!   I'll update again once I move him into the bedroom and he gets a chance to settle.   He and I were very lucky to have run into each other 

 

[Sarthur2]

This is wonderful to hear. He just looks so sweet. I love a gentle giant! [emoji]128149[/emoji]

I can't wait to hear how he likes his new room. His sides are probably distended from getting regular meals of good food. My experience with strays who have toughed it out is they will definitely eat non-stop as food is an issue for them.

You and your hubby are awesome .

 

[kittychick]

He DOES look like a Ralph! My floppy-eared hematoma kitty was a tiger who looked a lot like Ralph if I remember right you have 3 other residents----PLEASE introduce slowly: feed for at least days on either sides of a door, moving up to feeding with door barely cracked (& secured so they can smell AND see but not fight)...some here then move to a screen door. We move to a tightly latticed screen. Works every time -vs "let's put them together & hope" which works 25% of the time. The patience is with it! You've gotten SO far with a GREAT cat! Now let's "bring it home" as they say!!!

Good luck -keep us posted on Ralph!

 

[jolie0216]

Sorry I haven't updated with pics yet yall - but Ralph has been moved out of the basement for a few days.  I set him up in a secured area in our bedroom.  Since he'd already been in the basement (with door closed) for couple of weeks without any hissing from my resident cats (they were even "playing paws" with each other under the basement door)  I figured they're already used to the smell of him - so they're ready to start seeing him!

I sectioned off the area using a few window screens we had laying around.  Ralph is fine in there.   My girl cat hissed at him a little bit, but my two boys were curious and friendly.  I knew my girlie would really be the one to win over - the two boys have always lived inside, but as a former street cat, she is a lot more aggressive and territorial than they are. (yes, all the cats are spayed/neutered, so that's not an issue)   I'm sure she will come around - and it's not like she was enraged or anything, just a little hissy 

   I was going to pick up a couple Feliway plugins too over the weekend and hopefully that will help her out.   I don't want her to be upset - if she turns out being really  upset by him, I'll have to find him another place eventually, since this was her house first, it's not fair to her to be unhappy.   But I don't think it will come to that......she was playing paws with him too under the basement door before I moved him up.

His distended belly sides have gone down a whole lot!   So it took some time, but the deworming and regular timed meals have made a world of difference.  His fur feels good & soft and his sides are no longer swollen, so that is all normal once again!   His poop is becoming more regular too - at first, it was tan/yellowish and very much a "soft-serve" consistency (gross) and now his poop is the right color (brown!) but still kind of soft.  No diarrhea, just softly-formed  stool.  I'm sure that will keep improving too; he's been through a lot of changes the last couple weeks, plus the medicines, etc.  As long as I keep seeing improvement, I'm not worried.   He only eats wet food and occasional treats - I haven't fed him any dry food yet, and probably won't ever.   He also likes the Primal raw nuggets  mixed with water.  Hell, he'll eat anything I put in front of him, doesn't matter!   

I was hoping we'd be able to get him out of the cone collar pretty soon, but I think he's going to have to stay in it longer than I originally thought.  His ear is definitely healing itself - I'm seeing new pinkish/reddish skin start to poke through, but it's still very scabby.  He is still trying to scratch his ears, which I'm chalking up either as habit or itchy scabs.   I've been applying olive oil to the back of his ears but I'm not sure how much it's really helping.  But I'll keep doing it because I know it's good for scabs in general.   However long it takes, I'll keep him in the cone collar and not let my sympathy get the best of me - cuz if I take it off too soon, and he scratches everything up all over again, then all this work & time & money spent will have been for naught!   Once the scabs are gone and once he is no longer trying to scratch - then it will be the right time.    Is there any danger to leaving the cone on a cat for potentially a month or longer?  His ears are healing, it's just a slow process.  He doesn't seem to be depressed or anything - I honestly believe as long as he gets his food on time, nothing phases this cat - but I've never had an animal in a cone for more than 4-5 days, so he's already surpassed my own personal record with the time he's already put in.   He eats, drinks, and moves around OK, so no harm being in the cone for an indefinite period of time?  Even if it's another month?

I'm hoping he's not doing this out of some OCD-type habit - when I scritch his head, he really leans in and forces me to scratch right around the base of his ears, which makes him totally bliss out 

 so I'm hoping it's just itchy scabs.  I hope the insides of his ears aren't still itchy- the ear mites are gone so I don't know what else to do in that case......so PLEASE let it just be itchy scabs!

I've learned a lot thru taking care of him - I've never "rescued" a cat in such poor shape (and I know you all have probably dealt with much worse, but he is the worst case I've personally witnessed).  It's amazing how they can bounce back with just a little help!   

 

[ondine]

Thanks for the update. It does sound like he's gotten into the habit of scratching and it probably made him feel better when he did it. Now, he'll have to "unlearn" that habit. It is cool how, with just a little help, they can come so far.

Good job!

 

[kittychick]

Talk to your vet on the cone - but we had a foster last summer who was born without eyelids (you actually couldn't tell by looking - only discovered when someone at shelter noticed he wasn't closing his eyes fully when he slept) that then had corners of his mouth grafted on to his eyes to form new eyelids!!! That was a new one for me! But you can imagine it was a tough recovery - he was in his cone for at least a month so he wouldn't screw up his $7,000 surgery (!!!!!!). I had to struggle to to not take it off in sympathy - but he got so used to it he learned to pick toy mice up in his cone & toss them! Hysterical! We still visit him in his wonderful forever home - and he still walks/runs with his head held low like he's trying to see from under the cone! Cracks us up!!! But it by far was better for him not to scratch - as it is for Ralph.

You might work with getting him used to trimming his back nails in particular as that'll be helpful when he does get the cone off too!

Good luck with the continued work on getting him into your "pack." Sounds like it's great already! Ralph sure knew which soft heart to approach

 

[jolie0216]

Talk to your vet on the cone - but we had a foster last summer who was born without eyelids (you actually couldn't tell by looking - only discovered when someone at shelter noticed he wasn't closing his eyes fully when he slept) that then had corners of his mouth grafted on to his eyes to form new eyelids!!! That was a new one for me! But you can imagine it was a tough recovery - he was in his cone for at least a month so he wouldn't screw up his $7,000 surgery (!!!!!!). I had to struggle to to not take it off in sympathy - but he got so used to it he learned to pick toy mice up in his cone & toss them! Hysterical! We still visit him in his wonderful forever home - and he still walks/runs with his head held low like he's trying to see from under the cone! Cracks us up!!! But it by far was better for him not to scratch - as it is for Ralph.

You might work with getting him used to trimming his back nails in particular as that'll be helpful when he does get the cone off too!

Good luck with the continued work on getting him into your "pack." Sounds like it's great already! Ralph sure knew which soft heart to approach

Ah that's a great idea!   I never thought about trimming his back nails...........I will for sure give that a shot.   He's so gentle, I'm sure it won't be an issue.  Maybe worst case I could put some of those claw covers on his back feet......

I was thinking to myself, even if he spends 4-6 weeks total in the cone, what is that compared to the big picture of the rest of his life?   

He seems to have adapted to the cone, he's not depressed, and he eats a lot 

   His ears are still scabby, but they look so much better, and I can see the new skin peeking through the outer edges of the scabs.   I'm sure they really are itchy (who hasn't had an itchy scab before??) so I'm hoping once the scabs fall off, hopefully that will end the scratching.   But I'll trim his back nails first before letting him out of the cone.  If he still scratches, he'll get the claw covers!     

I was mainly concerned for his "mental health" about possibly being in the cone for another 2-3 weeks (they are healing, but it is slower than I thought - well, he is  basically growing new ears lol)  but I think he will be fine.   If he honestly seemed depressed, I'd try and find another way (though I have no idea what that would be!) but since he doesn't seem worried, I guess I shouldn't be either.

I definitely won't let sympathy get the best of me - so much time and $$ put in to this guy, I'm not gonna let him go back to square one - so he stays in the cone until there are no more scabs!

He does still try to scratch with the cone on, so we'll see if he still tries to scratch once the scabs fall off (but the cone is still on).    

I don't think it would be a big deal even if he did have to have claw covers on his back feet, since the fun scratching-post-scratching is all front feet, so he won't be too deprived...........  thanks for the good idea!!

 

[catwoman707]

I have used the plastic cones as a pattern and created soft cones, as long as the fabric is stiff and thick enough, like quilted fabric is, it works nicely. Used velcro to fasten.

This is an option if the hard one bugs him too.

 

[kittychick]

How's Ralph doing?

 

[jolie0216]

How's Ralph doing?

Darn it, I need to get some new pics huh?  

  He's doing really good!  Still in the cone collar though, but he honestly doesn't seem to mind.

The one ear (the one with the biggest patch of skin missing) is still a little scabby, but there's a ton of new skin there.   I'm a little concerned because he is still trying to scratch both ears with his hind feet.   I don't know if it's just because it's still itchy or what, but I am a little worried about it.   His ears are really healing up nicely though since he hasn't been able to get at them!   I'd really like to get a pic of how they look now, but it's hard with the collar on and to get his head to stay in a downward position long enough to get a good shot of it.   Once the scab is totally gone, if he's still trying to scratch a lot, I'll take him back into the vet.  I can't imagine that there are still any ear mites in there after all they have done so far (2 doses of ivermectin plus the deep ear cleaning under sedation).  I've tried to (gently) pull his ears upright to get a good look in there, but he doesn't like when I do that, so maybe they are sensitive from all the past trauma to them.    I just don't want to remove his cone collar and then have him scratch himself bloody again.   I'll trim his back nails, but he's come so far and they really do look SO MUCH better, I'd just hate for him to mess himself up all over again.   I had given him flea meds before I moved him up from the basement (Program and a few days of Capstar) but I don't see him attempting to scratch anywhere other than his ears.  

He seems to be generally happy though and very very affectionate!   When I go in to spend 1-on-1 time with him, he gets up in my lap and prostrates himself, fully stretched out - he loves getting rubbed down all over with a washcloth (since he can't really groom himself with the cone on).    He still eats like a starving man - I only feed him wet food.  He eats so ravenously that I really do think he would eat a whole pound of wet food all at once if I put it out for him.....His sides were pretty distended, but that has also improved greatly.  He's actually pretty skinny, but I'm sure he will fill out after a month or two.  Like I said before, I can tell that he's supposed to be a big guy, and I'm sure he eats the way he does because he's so used to food being hard to come by.   I'm sure he will relax about the food in time once he realizes there's no need to scrape & scrounge around anymore.

He's still in his bedroom-sunroom enclosure.  I've got it sectioned off with a few window screens so that he is visible to my other cats.   Nobody minds him being there, and the 2 boys are very friendly to him.   My girl has quit hissing at him and just generally ignores him, so that's good - I was worried about how she would handle all this!    I would like him to be free of his cone collar before I give him more access to the house.   

He seems to be in good spirits and is quite vocal (in a good way!)   It's very encouraging to see how his ears are progressing!  I just hope he stops trying to scratch his ears!!

 

[kittychick]

So glad he's doing so well! It's amazing to me what a cat adapts to so quickly! And glad to hear your brood is seeming to accept his presence already. Hopefully it just gets better and better once he's out

 

[jolie0216]

OK - I put my 3 upstairs and let Ralph take a little tour of the house tonight.   I went down to start some laundry and he followed me back into his original basement home

This was the best pic I could get of his ear without removing the collar - see how much better it looks?   Look at all the new skin!  The only scab part that remains is a piece right in the middle of the new skin patch.   He is still trying to scratch a little, but it is a WHOLE LOT less than before.   I think the continued scratching really was due to itchiness from the scab.   

Such a huge improvement from the last pic where it was basically just a bloody patch, huh?   He's doing great!!

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• jolie0216
• Sep 10, 2015

 

[Sarthur2]

Much improved! I'm glad he's easy-going about the collar, because he needs to wear it until his fur grows back. It will be a relief when this is all over with though. Also glad he's adjusted well to the house. Things seem to be going well overall .

 

[jolie0216]

Just a quick update:

Ralph is eating a lot more normally now - not inhaling his food.

His poop had been consistently very soft (not diarrhea, just really soft voluminous poop).  I was feeing him 100% wet, and I think I was feeding him too much.

Now I give him 2 cans a day (both cans are 5.5 oz) with 1.5 tsp of canned pumpkin mixed into each wet food meal.

I'm also giving him 1/4 cup Orijen kibble 2x a day as well.  I think it gives him more a sense of security to have some food left out - I'm sure he was inhaling & wolfing the food down out of anxiety over his assumed previous difficulties finding food out in the streets.    He is eating more slowly now, and also his poop looks totally normal!  I think the pumpkin & kibble helped a lot.

He's still in the cone collar, but the scabs have completely fallen off his ears!  I wish I could get a good pic (they look amazing!) but I just cannot get him to hold his head down and still for a good photo (they all get blurred from him moving around!)   But they look GREAT!!  It's all new skin, no scabs.  And the skin isn't pink or red so I can tell it's really toughening up.

I don't see any hairs growing in on the new skin though - how long do you think that will take?  He's been in the cone collar for over a month now.  He really doesn't seem to mind -  I'm more worried about it than he is, I think......... I would like to take him out of the collar, but if he does happen to scratch at the new skin, I don't know if he'll just claw it back up.  I know it would be ideal for the fur to be all/mostly back, but I don't even see any "baby hairs" yet - just the skin.   Am I being impatient?  What if it takes another month or more for the fur to grow back in - can he stay in the cone collar for that long??

 

[Sarthur2]

Why don't you cut his back nails and try him out of the collar when you can supervise him, and see how he does. If he tries to scratch, at least his back nails will be trimmed. If he does okay, leave the collar off. If he begins scratching, put it back on.

I agree that a month is a long time. I think it might take another month or more for his fur to grow back, so at least giving him a break from the collar when you can supervise him would be worth trying.

 

[catwoman707]

If there aren't scabs anymore he won't scratch at it, there won't be any itching for him to want to.

Be sure he is flea treated so that won't cause any scratching but aside from that I bet he is good without the collar.

He is eating ALOT!

 

[jolie0216]

 

[jolie0216]

 
If there aren't scabs anymore he won't scratch at it, there won't be any itching for him to want to.

Be sure he is flea treated so that won't cause any scratching but aside from that I bet he is good without the collar.

He is eating ALOT!

Yep I have some Frontline topical - I'll give that to him.  I've only given him a couple Capstars and one (generic) Program capsule in the past month.  I'll give him a dose of Frontline just this once to kill off any fleas that are still there, and keep on with the Program (I know Program alone isn't a "killer" just more of a preventive measure)

I know, he always seems hungry - he licks the plate CLEAN every time 

  He is getting better, so I'm not worried about it.  I firmly believe it's more psychological than anything else.  He had a rough go of it for a long time, I think