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- Jun 20, 2022
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Has anyone ever seen their feral cat - after being trapped/in a shelter/spay surgery/recovery - traumatized from the experience? I've noticed that our feral has been very skittish. I'm so used to her coming up to our porch begging for food, running off when I come outside to fill her food bowl, and then walking toward her bowl before I'm even back inside the house. Currently, she's not doing that. I never see her in the morning, and at night when she comes to the porch looking for her food, she stays away for 30 minutes to an hour. (What I mean by that is she runs away when I'm filling up her bowl and takes forever to come back and eat). Once she finally returns to eat, it takes ages because she's constantly looking around for "Stranger Danger." It's sad to see because before she was trapped and spayed she was so confident and had a routine that she never broke.
In your experience, does this typically go away or is she scarred for life? I feel so bad, even though I know it HAD to be done and I'm glad it's done.
Now... there is another cat that keeps hanging out around here that's getting on my nerves. I've seen it before, but it's presence wasn't exactly helping our feral through her recovery, physically and mentally. (I suspect it's a male and was the Dad of her babies. I usually see her running him off, when she's trying to eat).
However, I was so proud of her last night! That other cat arrived as she was eating. I watched them on the Baby Cam, keeping an eye out for signs of aggression from him. Fortunately, she continued to eat and refused to leave. The other cat finally acted submissive by lying down.
I hope that was a sign that she's getting her "alpha" back on. Lol! (When she first arrived here a year ago, pregnant, she kicked out 3 Ferals). Other than the show with the cat last night, she still acts different and vulnerable. Do you think she'll get back to normal, mentally?
My own dog is still traumatized after her spay... (she's terrified of car rides now when before she was perfectly fine)... so I have my worries over it.
In your experience, does this typically go away or is she scarred for life? I feel so bad, even though I know it HAD to be done and I'm glad it's done.
Now... there is another cat that keeps hanging out around here that's getting on my nerves. I've seen it before, but it's presence wasn't exactly helping our feral through her recovery, physically and mentally. (I suspect it's a male and was the Dad of her babies. I usually see her running him off, when she's trying to eat).
However, I was so proud of her last night! That other cat arrived as she was eating. I watched them on the Baby Cam, keeping an eye out for signs of aggression from him. Fortunately, she continued to eat and refused to leave. The other cat finally acted submissive by lying down.
I hope that was a sign that she's getting her "alpha" back on. Lol! (When she first arrived here a year ago, pregnant, she kicked out 3 Ferals). Other than the show with the cat last night, she still acts different and vulnerable. Do you think she'll get back to normal, mentally?
My own dog is still traumatized after her spay... (she's terrified of car rides now when before she was perfectly fine)... so I have my worries over it.