Trauma after trap/Spay

[Kristin_Happy Texan]

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.

 

[di and bob]

Of course she's traumatized! She WILL regain what she was before, it will take some time and a lot of it. my mama cat took at least 6 months before she wouldn't run at the site of me. she still won't get close and won't let me touch her, but that is the way she was before. At least she stays and watches me now. her babies were much quicker at trusting me again, I can pet all of them now, but even they shied away from me for months. True ferals won't even let you see them, so a cat that stays and lets you see them is trusting you. she is running off now, but she will slowly start to trust you again. The fact that she stuck around and is still eating at your place is a good sign. Some run off for good. Move slowly if you think she is around, and leave a treat on the ground when you leave.

 

[Kristin_Happy Texan]

Of course she's traumatized! She WILL regain what she was before, it will take some time and a lot of it. my mama cat took at least 6 months before she wouldn't run at the site of me. she still won't get close and won't let me touch her, but that is the way she was before. At least she stays and watches me now. her babies were much quicker at trusting me again, I can pet all of them now, but even they shied away from me for months. True ferals won't even let you see them, so a cat that stays and lets you see them is trusting you. she is running off now, but she will slowly start to trust you again. The fact that she stuck around and is still eating at your place is a good sign. Some run off for good. Move slowly if you think she is around, and leave a treat on the ground when you leave.

Yeah. I've been super careful about my presence. She often liked hanging out in the tree line, and I doubt she's there anymore, but I won't even allow myself to look for her over there. (I used to talk to her over there, or she'd watch me from that spot while I watered the garden).

Okay, so we're looking even at a possible 6+ months. That's so sad. I was working so hard to gain just a little trust, and now it's all been a backslide. That's upsetting, but at least she can't have more litters and her quality of life should only go uphill from this point on.

I'm trying to focus on the positive, but it's difficult when I see her clearly struggling, mentally. I wish I could have made the entire process easier and faster for her - the spaying at the shelter - but unfortunately... that's not something I had any control over. At least she had her surgery on the first day, which IS something I planned for. She had to spend the night there, because they did her surgery last, but at least it was done the day I brought her in.

 

[fionasmom]

I have absolutely seen this in ferals. In my experience, the more feral, the more hesitancy to come back as before. However, the fact that she is at your house and coming for food is huge. She understands that you are her food source and that this is her home.

You did the right thing for her, if nothing else, to prevent more pregnancies. The picture shows that she is watching, but not fearful. She has adjusted her routine to make sure that she is not trapped again and will eventually figure out that is not going to happen.

 

[Kristin_Happy Texan]

I have absolutely seen this in ferals. In my experience, the more feral, the more hesitancy to come back as before. However, the fact that she is at your house and coming for food is huge. She understands that you are her food source and that this is her home.

You did the right thing for her, if nothing else, to prevent more pregnancies. The picture shows that she is watching, but not fearful. She has adjusted her routine to make sure that she is not trapped again and will eventually figure out that is not going to happen.

That's a photo from a few days before she was trapped. (Her kittens were trapped that evening).

I've actually seen her run away when she heard MY VOICE when I was inside the house. It made me feel like a villain.

She does return to the porch at night still, right after dark. (Sometimes a little later. She used to come around earlier than that). I no longer see her in the mornings.

 

[di and bob]

Hey, returning to your porch is HUGE too! she'll come around, I would bet in maybe 6 weeks! I have accidently stepped on my outside cats and they took about that long.