Cats traveling many miles to go home

Jodieluv

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Hello all, urgent advice/input wanted !!!

I have 3 well adjusted cats at home, my place is very small, so I have been pretty firm about not trying to bring any more home, however at my job there were some pretty feral cats living in a seldom used, no electric, equipment barn, I have fed them, made a next box for them, and the ones I have been able to tame down I have taken to be fixed, and rehomed, one of these was "Andy" he started off very wild/feral ( last winter ) but over last few months tamed way down, to the point he comes when called, can be picked up, rubbed all over, etc I am looking for another job, and my boss hates cats, he will shoot them if he sees them out in open, he discovered their nest box, and smashed it, and ordered me to quit feeding them, and has threatened to lock barn up so I cannot get in there to feed them, because of all these reasons I expedited finding him a home, along with a younger approx 7 month old male kitten that was very bonded with Andy, and had tamed down really well. I found a lady wanting a couple barn cats that lives about 30 miles away, so about 3 weeks ago I took them both to be neutered/rabies shot, and then went directly to new home, I told them to set up kennel to confine them until they healed, and got acclimated to new place, this morning Andy was at my job in the equipment barn, hungry, tired, and VERY affectionate, wanting rubbed, and scratched.

I want to take him home now so bad, I do not know if he came back because of me, or this place, and of course here he is in danger, but anywhere else I will think he is going to try , and come back here, I am in tears, the vet where he got neutered was in a completely different town , 40 miles away, and then the home I took him to another 30 miles in opposite direction, so he came back 30 miles over totally unknown territory....things with my boss are pretty tense, and I do not expect to be there much longer, so leaving him there is not an option, since he will starve, or be shot, I am so scared bringing him home, because I tried bringing a really sweet female cat from there home ( I found she loved people but not other cats, or dogs ) I tried for 4 1/2 months, and she had my 3 , and me so stressed from her aggression that I finally rehomed her, so I am scared it would be a repeat with him, although since he has been neutered almost a month now maybe he would be okay.
 

cataholic07

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Cats can roam pretty far, with barn cats its best they are locked up in the barn for 2-4 weeks so they stay there otherwise they will come back. If you love him though, ask if she will let you keep him.
 
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Jodieluv

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Cats can roam pretty far, with barn cats its best they are locked up in the barn for 2-4 weeks so they stay there otherwise they will come back. If you love him though, ask if she will let you keep him.
Thanks for reply, lady that I took him to ( I messaged her that he had come back this morning ) said I could bring back to her place, but i doubt they would lock him up , and he would probably try to return again, I cannot believe he made it this time, 30+ miles of unknown territory, I think I will try to bring him home with me, and see how he does with my 3, he deserves a chance to have a home, especially with what he has been through.
 

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I don't really understand how its even possible, cats aren't homing pigeons with a built in compass, but regardless I agree the cat needs to be with someone that will confine him for a few weeks or it will happen again.
 

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think I will try to bring him home with me, and see how he does with my 3, he deserves a chance to have a home, especially with what he has been through.
You have been through doing this before , and there are people here who can help you with this, as long as you have a room to put him into where he can stay for a while, that can be"his" room.
 
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Jodieluv

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I
I don't really understand how its even possible, cats aren't homing pigeons with a built in compass, but regardless I agree the cat needs to be with someone that will confine him for a few weeks or it will happen again.
I do not know how they do it either, I have actually read reports of them going farther than 30 miles, the lady said I could bring him back to her, but no way I am doing that to him, I am going to try, and take him home to see what happens.
 
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Jodieluv

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You have been through doing this before , and there are people here who can help you with this, as long as you have a room to put him into where he can stay for a while, that can be"his" room.
Yes, I am going to rig something up for him, I have had several ppl say "he obviously likes it here" ( my work, and the equipment barn ) but idk, if it is here, or me, or both, it took me months to even get close to him, or touch him, and now he comes when called, rubs, kneads his paws on me, can be handled, so i think i am the only human he has ever bonded to, and irregardless of if he "likes" it here, my boss and ordered me to not feed them, and is probably going lock barn up, not to mention the only "bed" he has now is a pallet stacked with bags of rock salt, and fertilizer, since my box found the nest box they had, and it can get pretty cold here.
My cats at home are pretty used to other cats around because I have an older alcoholic neighbor that hoards cats, and will not fix females so they stray onto my property sometimes sneaking around looking for food, or trouble with mine, I guess it will be up to Andy on if they work out, he has been neutered for al ost a month now, so i am hoping he will not be too aggressive
 
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Jodieluv

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I'm thinking you have a leg up on the situation (of bringing him in and transititioning him to being an indoors kitty) since he already loves you to such a degree :)
Thank you, I may be renting a larger place for winter, which would make introducing him a lot easier, with more space, but with leaving this job probably very soon , not sure I am going to do that soon enough, as it is higher rent, and he needs out of here asap, I will definitely update how it goes.
 

rubysmama

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First off, thank you so much for caring for the ferals, and for wanting to give Andy a home. Any cat that beat the dangers and made it back home over 30 miles, is pretty special. I do worry that he might try to get back to his territory, once at your place, so definitely keeping him inside at first, if not permanently, would be best.

Since Andy is a feral, he's been around other cats, so hopefully that would make living with new cat siblings easier for him. I think the harder part, would be keeping him inside. However, many people bring feral cats inside, and the feral never shows any interest in going outside.

Since he's already been neutered, that should hopefully help with lessening his desire to roam.

You may have seen these, but TCS has a couple articles that might have some tips for you.

Here's the one on The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside | TheCatSite

And How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide | TheCatSite

Good luck. Keep us updated, please.
 

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It is called "psi trailing" the name given to it by the Duke University professor who studied it and it is absolutely true that it happens. It is just like The Incredible Journey which most of us just thought was a fictitious story.

You have to try to take him with you. He cannot do this twice and evidently wants to be with you enough that he made the journey which probably could have killed him. Do whatever you can, small bathroom, use your own judgment but don't leave him behind. I am sorry about your boss and the other cats but I could never leave Andy behind.
 
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Jodieluv

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First off, thank you so much for caring for the ferals, and for wanting to give Andy a home. Any cat that beat the dangers and made it back home over 30 miles, is pretty special. I do worry that he might try to get back to his territory, once at your place, so definitely keeping him inside at first, if not permanently, would be best.

Since Andy is a feral, he's been around other cats, so hopefully that would make living with new cat siblings easier for him. I think the harder part, would be keeping him inside. However, many people bring feral cats inside, and the feral never shows any interest in going outside.

Since he's already been neutered, that should hopefully help with lessening his desire to roam.

You may have seen these, but TCS has a couple articles that might have some tips for you.

Here's the one on The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside | TheCatSite

And How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide | TheCatSite

Good luck. Keep us updated, please.
Thank you , I most definitely will let you know, I wish my actual place was bigger, ( I live on almost 300 acres, but rent a small trailer, it is on a creek, and about 3/4 of a mile off the county road, with very few close neighbors, one of which is the older cat hoarding man ) I am going to try to attach pic I took of him today, they tipped his ear at neuter appt day he went to new home.
 
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Jodieluv

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It is called "psi trailing" the name given to it by the Duke University professor who studied it and it is absolutely true that it happens. It is just like The Incredible Journey which most of us just thought was a fictitious story.

You have to try to take him with you. He cannot do this twice and evidently wants to be with you enough that he made the journey which probably could have killed him. Do whatever you can, small bathroom, use your own judgment but don't leave him behind. I am sorry about your boss and the other cats but I could never leave Andy behind.
Yes, there is no way I can leave him there, without at least attempting to introduce him at home, the lady asked me if I wanted to bring him back which at this point I would NEVER do, nor anywhere that I do not 110 % know he will be cared for, and contained, as it would haunt me forever to think of him trying to return again, the remaining cats out there are VERY wild acting, I feed them, and leave barn, because they will not even show themselves, except for quick glimpses of them, there is a another supervisor of a different dept at my job that said he would take a couple for outside cats, and he would keep them contained, so I am probably going to trap them if I am still there, their options are pretty limited due to the wildness.
 

rubysmama

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Thank you , I most definitely will let you know, I wish my actual place was bigger, ( I live on almost 300 acres, but rent a small trailer, it is on a creek, and about 3/4 of a mile off the county road, with very few close neighbors, one of which is the older cat hoarding man )
A trailer definitely won't give you a lot of space to separate them, but if you can keep him in the bathroom at first, it might work. How was he at the vet? Did being inside freak him out?

I am going to try to attach pic I took of him today, they tipped his ear at neuter appt day he went to new home.
Oh, he's a super handsome boy. :catlove:
 
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Jodieluv

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A trailer definitely won't give you a lot of space to separate them, but if you can keep him in the bathroom at first, it might work. How was he at the vet? Did being inside freak him out?



Oh, he's a super handsome boy. :catlove:
Thank you, when he gets his full winter coat he is really impressive ( 1st time I saw him was mid winter )

He was good at vet, in the morning when I went to get him I tried to just direct him , or push him with my hands into crate, and he balked so I had to really push him in, he road to vet completely silently, but glaring, I let the ladies that checked him in know to be cautious because I had no idea how he would react, when I picked him up in the afternoon she said he did okay, but really got upset at something, cannot remember what, but that overall he was fine.

I have the opportunity to rent a nice cabin the landlady owns out here for the winter, she usually rents in nightly during the warmer months, but it sits in winter, it would be over double the rent I am paying now, and with my shaky job situation, and me wanting to get Andy out of there asap, I don't know if timing is going to work out, I would not be able to move into cabin until prob late November, or December
 

rubysmama

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You know, from that description of him at the vet, he's sounding way more tame, than feral. I mean, just regular house cats can freak out more than that at the vet. For that matter, I have a harder time getting my Ruby into her carrier for a vet visit, than it sounds like you did with Andy.

Have you considered getting a large dog crate to keep him in to introduce him to your other cats. Since he's been neutered and vet checked, (vaccinations too, right?) there'd be no health danger between him and your cats. So you could put him in there, with food, water and a litter box, and keep it covered with a blanket, and he'd feel safe, and he and your other cats could get close without actually more than nose or paw touching. I think that's how Jcatbird Jcatbird sometimes has introduced her ferals to her other cats.

ladytimedramon ladytimedramon posted this link in her own thread that might be helpful: Introducing a new cat - the crate method - Adopt-a-Pet.com Blog
 
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