Adopted Feral Or Semi-feral From A Shelter

[shadowsrescue]

Is there any chance she was just recently spayed? Maybe her hormones have not calmed down enough yet. Mounting on top is a show of dominance. Cats do it also just for play. When they do it for play no teeth will be involved.

Watch their reactions closely.

Introductions can take time. It just depends on the cats. Some get along great right from the start, but others can take very long to decided to tolerate each other. Keep the introductions slow. If you rush and things go badly it just sets things back a bit. Then you have to start fresh.

I always like to use a yummy food reward when doing introductions. I like to use plain cooked chicken or bits of canned tuna. You want it to be extra special so they associate each other with this yummy treat.

 

[jberry09]

She was spayed a little under two weeks ago, and was in heat during her spay. Can it take that long for the hormones to calm down? It kind of looks like she's showing symptoms of still being in heat (yowling at night, rolling around on the floor whenever Bailey is nearby, sticking her rear end in his face).

 

[shadowsrescue]

Yes. It can take up to 6 weeks. I would keep them separated for a bit longer. Since she was in heat, it could take a bit longer.

 

[jberry09]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I will keep them separated for a while longer.

Meanwhile we’re back to square one and I have no idea why. Something must have spooked her while I was at work, because this morning she was sitting mostly out in the open, slow blinking at me, and accepting pets in exchange for treats. Now she’s back to hiding completely buried underneath a towel, and she refuses to even look at me. She does eat treats if I give them to her but she seems as terrified now as she was on the day I brought her home.

It could have been a scary noise outside, or maybe the Feliway diffuser sparked because it looks and smells a little smoky right now. I unplugged it. We also had a power outage in my city today in the middle of a heat wave, so she could just be overheated but she’s not panting or anything. I’m not sure what to do- carry on as if nothing happened, or start the whole socialization process over?

 

[rubysmama]

Sorry about the setback. Hopefully she'll get back on track today.

 

[jberry09]

Still not sure what happened but she seems to have recovered and is back to her normal self now.

In other news, I moved on from petting her with a stick to using my hand, and she loves it! Leans right into my hand and closes her eyes. She seems to like scratches behind the ears best.

She seems much more relaxed around me overall, but she still hangs out behind my toilet most of the time and doesn’t seem to want to approach me even though she will gladly accept treats and pets. I might start offering her treats farther and farther away from her little spot.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Happy news! Maybe some strange noise spooked her. The power outage could have easily scared her. So glad she is doing better now.

You might try tossing her treats. First give her one to get her interested and then start moving the treats further from her, but closer to you. Also you might up the ante and go for a higher value treat. Try plain cooked chicken or bits of canned tuna in water. You can even get the Fancy Feast pouches that have tuna, chicken or salmon. Baby food is another great option. Cats LOVE Gerber stage 2 chicken or turkey. It's in the small glass jar with the blue label. You want only meat and water ( it does have some modified food starch) and no added salt or spices. You can offer it in a bowl and move to her eating it off a spoon.

 

[maggiedemi]

In other news, I moved on from petting her with a stick to using my hand, and she loves it!

Yay! That's wonderful news.

 

[jberry09]

She looks so much more relaxed these days. The Gerber baby food was definitely a hit!

 

[shadowsrescue]

Awww. She's so beautiful. I am glad she liked the baby food. Will she eat it off a spoon while you hold it? You can then try having her lick it off your fingers.

 

[jberry09]

I haven’t tried feeding it to her on a spoon yet. It took her a while to build up the courage to leave her hiding spot to eat off the plate. But the spoon is next!

She has turned into a huge cuddler though. She purrs when I pet her and rubs my hand all over. I never thought this would happen (at least so soon) but I’m not complaining!

 

[shadowsrescue]

It was certainly meant to be that you adopted her. She needed just the right person to be patient and help her! You are off to a fantastic start.

 

[jberry09]

Yeah, I’m really pleased with how this is going so far! She loves the cuddles and seems to get more and more cuddly every time I interact with her. It’s so sweet and I’m so glad she seems to trust me.

The biggest hurdle is Bailey. Occasionally he’ll dart into the bathroom too quickly for me to stop him, and he still mounts Juniper every chance he gets. She was so friendly towards him at first but I think she’s afraid of him now. I’m not sure what to do except keep them separated longer and hope the problem resolves itself with time. And now that Juniper lets me pet her I can try more scent swapping (like rubbing her cheeks with a sock and letting Bailey sniff it).

I want to get a baby gate or something so they can see each other but not physically interact, but Bailey regularly jumps up a 5-foot vertical half wall in my apartment so I don’t think I’ll be able to find anything tall enough to keep him out. Anyone know of any other ways to accomplish this?

 

[shadowsrescue]

Here is an idea that I use. You go to Lowes or Home Depot and get some 12' wire shelving. Have them cut it into 2 pieces (6' each). Then you can zip tie them together to have a make shift barrier. If you door is too wide, you may need 3 pieces. My cats aren't big jumpers or climbers, so I use 1 piece of the 12' shelving and had it cut into 3 pieces. Here is an article explaining it.
How to Build a Free-Standing Cat, Dog, or Pet Gate Cheaply, Without Tools

Here is a picture of my set up.


You can also get a cheap wooden screen door at Lowes and attach it to the door with tension rods. I did this years ago. It's a bit more of a hassle to get in and out but it does work. Just always use either barrier with supervision. Here is a picture of the screen door.