Trying to Catch Feral Cat Wont go in Animal Trap-Advice?

[shadowsrescue]

 
Success!!! He used the litter box last night! whoop whoop! And....his eye is clearing up which is a fantastic thing and may mean he does not have the herpes!!  They said the antibiotic shot he was given for his head would have cleared up anything that is not herpes related and the shot lasts for 2 weeks. Time will tell.  I am soooo excited about his litter box use!!  That means if he has to stay a bedroom kitty we can work the rest out

I am so happy he is using the litter box!!  Celebrate the small successes!!!!  As far as the herpes, he still could have it and it's clearing on its own.  When my guy used to have outbreaks before using the lysine daily, they would last a few days to 10 days.  You will just have to watch and make sure it clears thoroughly as well as it not returning later on.  It's not a horrible thing, it's just a life long virus.  It's treatable and somewhat preventable with the lysine. 

Keep the updates coming!!!  Any progress on a name??  If you want to try an orange related name, here is a list http://www.petplace.com/cats/names-for-orange-cats/page1.aspx

Post a picture when you get a chance.  We love to see pictures!!!

 

[ondine]

That is great news!  He's on his way...

 

[ohiokrs]

I hope so....today I called a vet who works a lot with ferals after seeing some dried dark blood on the carpet.  He was laying outside the bed frame slowly smacking his tail against the carpet so he looked relaxed but then I found some quarter size or smaller things of blood.  I gently tried to lift his tail a bit to see where it is coming from (yes I know...I should not be doing that).  He got up and moved.  I havent seen anymore blood since mid day and it was a small amount so of course I am going to monitor it...

I hope there is nothing wrong...he has not eaten since yesterday and the water still seems to be there.  If he does not eat tomorrow, I guess I will take him to this vet if I can get him in the carrier.

I am beginning to think I did this cat more harm than good...He is still pretty skinny and he just does not look well as times.

I just really hope there isnt anything wrong....

He looked so relaxed and calm this am.....then I saw the blood...I probably freaked him out with my trying to touvh his tail.  I just wish I knew what the issue is....because they will have to give him anesthesia in order to examine him.....

 

[shadowsrescue]

I hope you can get to the bottom of the dried blood.  You are right to be concerned and see about getting him to the vet.  Hopefully he decided to eat, but when cats are not feeling well, they often decide not to eat.  You are doing the best you can for him.  It's a rough start, but when he starts feeling better and getting into a routine things may turn around. 

Keep us posted.  I hope he decided to eat last night.

 

[ohiokrs]

Last night was a horrible, horrible night.  I found blood in his urine and rushed him to the after care vet where they found that his bladder was very lumpy and bumpy and extremely distended. They think he had either a huge tumor or something was very very wrong a UTI was the least of it.  He was extremely dehydrated and had lost serious muscle mass in his back legs...that was the reason he wasnt moving around a lot in the room.  They think bc he had the FIV he just could not fight off the infection.

They said they honestly felt that he was in terrible shape and that he would not bounce back and if for some reason he were able to bounce back it would keep happening over and over. The reason his head was taking forever to heal was due to the FIV and the strong antibac shot was taking forever to work.

After much sobbing in the emergency ets office, I made the extremely difficult decision to have him put down.  I feel extremely guilty and that this is my fault for bringing him inside.  I cannot begin to tell you how upset I am and am crying again as I type this...The vet said this had been going on even before I brought him in and they are known for doing everything they can to extend the life of any animal...even if it his for a few months. I still feel like he would not have declined this fast had I not brought him in...and that is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.  I do everything I can for the animals I have...and I do mean everything and euthanasia is a last resort and something I have only done once.  I just feel guilty and miss him....I miss seeing his face popping up on my deck.

I had good intentions...I just hope I am not the reason he became so sick.

If anyone would like the Lysine powder I had ordered off of Amazon yesterday, please let me know...It should arrive this week.

I dont think I will be doing this again after this experience.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I am so very very sorry.  Please know you did the very very best for him.  He did not have to suffer by staying outside.  He could have died a very miserable death without your help.  Your intentions were the very best.  You showed him love and compassion.  I know how hard it is and how awful you feel.  I cried for day after putting down the stray I hardly knew in January.  Yet, I know it was for the best.  Without my help and intervention, he would have suffered.

Please know you did the kindest thing possible for him.  He knows he was loved.

We are all here for you and you are in my thoughts.

 

[ohiokrs]

I hope you are right and he knew I cared for him because right now I feel like I caused him stress and pain by bringing him inside.....and that is why he had the decline. I feel a tremendous sense of guilt and cannot go into that room or look at the carrier. I truly hope you are right...because I am just crying and crying and crying. I know the vet said he was like this for a while, but he looked a whole lot happier outside and I wonder if I should have just left it alone.

My intentions were good...I just cant stop crying.

 

[ondine]

Yes, remember that without you his last few weeks would have been much worse.  Even though the ending for this poor little car was sad, you did make a tremendous difference in his life.

Take your time grieving but do not feel badly.  You did a good thing.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I hope you are right and he knew I cared for him because right now I feel like I caused him stress and pain by bringing him inside.....and that is why he had the decline. I feel a tremendous sense of guilt and cannot go into that room or look at the carrier. I truly hope you are right...because I am just crying and crying and crying. I know the vet said he was like this for a while, but he looked a whole lot happier outside and I wonder if I should have just left it alone.

My intentions were good...I just cant stop crying.

Your intentions were of the highest good possible.  Being a cat/animal lover it is very hard to experience this type of grief and sadness.  I kept wondering if I could have done more for the stray cat from this winter who also had FIV.  It was 11pm at night when I rushed back to the clinic to be with him one last time.  I was awake all night crying.  I kept looking for him to appear on my deck and it was an awful feeling that I couldn't have done more.  By bringing him into your home, you gave him love.  Something no one had ever given him.  Without you, he would have suffered.  He came to you knowing you would help.  It wasn't easy and it was so very hard on you, but you allowed him to be loved and cared for.  If you had left him outside, he would have disappeared and you would have never known what happened to him.  I know it will take you time.  I too screamed aloud that I never wanted to rescue another cat again.  It was just too painful.  Yet, I am back at it again after time was given to grieve. 

I am thinking of you. 

 

[ohiokrs]

Thank you for your kind words..It means a lot to me. I feel like the child who brings home the bug and puts it in a jar only to have it die. I hope he knew I cared for him. Getting him in to the carrier was not pleasant and I hope he knew I was trying to save him.

I honestly thought he just had a uti and would be coming back home. I am sure I will never give up protecting animals or saving the ones in need but this loss was tough. I truly appreciate your support and kind thoughts.

 

[shadowsrescue]

How are you doing today?  I have been thinking about you and hoping you are feeling better today.  I know he is smiling down on you and thanking you for your love and kindness.

 

[ohiokrs]

A little better... Not crying as much. I keep replaying things i did and the emergency vet conversation in my head...trying to see what i may hsve missed.. I cant go in that room so my mom is gping to clean it for me.. I get so sad when i go near it and also when i look at the deck and think about other peoples comments to me about him- funny way they described him.. Then i try to block it all out. I am not very good with grief

 

[kittychick]

I truly know how you feel (as many on this site do)...sadly from a very similar experience...like you, with my first real "feral relationship."

One fall morning, my husband said "What is that thing on Patty's (our neighbor) deck?" It was a greyish-white (far more on the grey side) lump that, with examination through binoculars, was what could almost be called a cat. Suddenly every morning, rain or shine, there he was-on the steps of her deck. In the evenings we watched him disappear under her deck, to be closer to the heat of the hot tub motor. We decided to name him Vince (after Van Gogh), as we realized he basically only had one ear.

Through the binoculars we could also tell his enormous round head was covered with scars & patches of missing fur, the ear he had was crumpled from an old hematoma, one eye was basically permanently scarred into a half-closed position, & even though he was built to be a huge tom, he was rail-thin. We went out every day & talked to him from our deck, & (with our neighbor's permission) started leaving food & water under the deck for him. He ran for cover when he heard us, but always emerged once we got back to our deck.

He seemed as feral as they come, but I was determined to make life as decent as possible for him. Slowly we moved his bowls across her yard to ours, & eventually he was eating by our garage, his bowls under two deck chairs (I knew nothing about feeding stations, etc at that point). Once it started to snow, we realized we had to get him better housing. We set a dog house filled with straw near his food, & after several weeks of braving it on the deck, many of the days sitting as snow slowly covered him. It broke our hearts.

I'll never know why he suddenly decided the dog house was acceptable- but thrilled he did! We added a heating pad to it-and he truly seemed to settle in. Every day we watched him in what became a routine we grew to lover---we'd get up in the morning & the minute he heard us, he'd poke his head out of his house. After he was sure we were inside, he'd come out, stretch, & saunter (ok-kind of wobble, but I chose to think of it as a strong tomcat saunter) for a meal. Then back to the house. Repeat every evening. We came to depend on seeing that big round white(ish) face surveying the yard from the opening of his dog(cat)house. Spring was coming, and decided we had to try to trap & neuter him. We decided once we trapped him, we'd try to socialize him. We were trapping newbies-& he turned out to be smarter than we thought. After a month of unsuccessful trapping tries, we did at least discover he loved tuna. Not the trap....but tuna.

One day I walked out to once again set the trap, & I set the tuna can in the driveway next to the trap. I walked away from the trap for a minute....& I hear my husband quietly saying "turn around slowly." Eating out of the can, in the middle of the driveway, there was Vince! I sat on the driveway & started talking to him. He kept eating & I started crawling. For reasons I'll never understand-he let me crawl right up to him!

Then, the cat who ran at the sight of us for months, amazingly let me reach out my hand & touch him! Before I knew it, I was scratching under his chin! Even more unbelievably, he loved it. He purred! I started crying as I realized this cat wasn't feral....far from it. He'd, at some point, been someone's pet...he even had fur rubbed off where at one time in his life he'd worn a collar. At some point he'd had a home....and a family...probably even been loved. We knew then we had to bring him in & give him a true home again, despite having (at that point) 4 fur babies already who probably wouldn't take kindly to him.

So-the cat we couldn't come near for months, let me pick him up & put him in a carrier! Our vet fit me in immediately, so I drove Vince straight over to be looked over, given shots, & left for a neuter. My husband didn't even go as we thought it'd be a quick run.

Our vet examined him carefully-but I could quickly tell it wasn't good. He shook his head and said "I know what you've been though with this guy, & I can tell he 's been through a lot himself, so this is really hard to tell you." The list was endless and went from bad to as bad as it gets...ear mites, missing all but 2 teeth, one eye blind from scarring & not alit of sight in the other, lumps that he felt were probably cancerous, crystals in his urine, and the end stage of feline leukemia. He said we could treat him for as much of it as possible, make him as comfortable as possible, but that he was miserable. And he didn't have much time left. So I made the decision I had to. For Vince.

It was gut wrenching. I sobbed & sobbed. Once I got home my husband & I cried together. Every time we looked outside we expected to see his big round scarred head popping out of his house-ready for breakfast.

I beat myself up every day. I felt like I cut his life short. I cried every morning when I looked out back for weeks. I kept thinking "I'll never get close to another feral again...too much work & too much heartbreak."

But I eventually went back to volunteering at shelters, & even fostering. And last summer when a feral mom & 3 tiny faces popped out from under Patty's deck....we knew what we had to do. And anyone who follows anything I write knows we ended up TNRing the mom, & so ailing the 3 fluffballs (slowly!!!) & eventually finding all 3 great homes.

But periodically I look out & think about Vince. His picture still sits on our mantle. It's a reminder of it all...the heartache of loving (what we thought was ) a feral....the heartache of loving something so deeply basically from afar. But it he also reminds us that we can make a difference. Even if it's one cat at a time. Because Vince's story didn't end like we wanted or hoped for, but we did make his last 7 months far better than they would have been without us. Because of us his last months he never had to worry about his next meal, or if he'd be warm at night. Every night he went to sleep with a full tummy. And hopefully slept a little better, & a little more content & secure. And we made what most certainly would have been a solitary, slow painful death a quick painless one, in a warm spot on a soft towel, with me whispering that he was loved.

So that's a very long way of saying I know it's horribly hard. And you'll replay it a million times in your head. But you truly did the right thing. You made his last days warm & comfortable. He wasn't cold or starving or alone. His life was better because of you. He knew he was loved. And that's the best thing anyone can ever do for another living thing.

 

[catsknowme]

I truly know how you feel (as many on this site do)...sadly from a very similar experience...like you, with my first real "feral relationship."

.....you truly did the right thing. You made his last days warm & comfortable. He wasn't cold or starving or alone. His life was better because of you. He knew he was loved. And that's the best thing anyone can ever do for another living thing.

    What a dear you are to grieve so much for your feral - he must have had a wonderful guardian angel who sent you into his life.  I know from reading about your efforts to overcome the many challenges with your feral  that you are made of VERY STRONG STUFF.  You have the heart and the courage to not only heal from this, but to carry on with helping cats in need.  Your experiences with trapping, retrapping, etc., will be even more valuable when you are able to share your new found knowledge with others!  My hat is off to you

,my heart goes out to you

, and my prayers will speak of you

- you are a wonderful cats' hero!!!

   As for your feral, he isn't suffering anymore; if my ancestors are right, he is on the other side of RB, with those who have lived and died, and those yet to be born and you two will indeed meet again.

 

 

[shadowsrescue]

I hope this new week finds you in a better place with each passing day getting just a bit easier.