Advice for 4 Month Rabies Quarantine

[fionasmom]

That is wonderful news, both that you are going to foster and that they will help you with King Floof. I have found around here that if you work with a rescue they suddenly become much more helpful about your own cats. Please keep us posted.

 

[di and bob]

How beautiful! Bless your heart for helping cats!

 

[catmoon]

Alright so things are moving forward but slowly. Our local animal control shelter/adoption center is not taking anyone right now because they don't have a vet. They were the main resource for TNR in my city and surrounding towns so this is terrible news.

They are going to see if we can get him an appointment with the rescue's regular vet, but we have to make sure that they can take him. We are unsure if he will need a quarantine period with the wound being so old but my best guess is probably.

It might be a while before I have another update. Right now he's okay and is visiting for food daily. I've started leaving the trap out with the back door removed to try and get him used to it.

Side note: I have a foster cat now and he's doing great! I can't believe how much easier animal rescue becomes once you work with a good organization.

 

[fionasmom]

Let us know how things are whenever you feel like it. We love to know how stories turn out. Very glad that you are getting some support from the rescue.

 

[catmoon]

So this is gonna be a long one. Things are moving at a glacial pace and advice is needed. The rescue stopped responding and did not follow up. There was a set date where we had a certain amount of appointments for spay/neuter for some of the fosters and we were trying to get him in then.

Without going into too much detail, they've also been having a bit of a hard time finding vet availability for our cats who will need spay/neuter in the near future, so I really don't think King Floof is going to be high priority.

I don't want to harass them over this so I'm not going to reach out about it again at least until I decide to trap him. This leaves me with a few options:

1. I trap him and then contact the rescue. I'm not sure if this is a good idea. It might speed things up but it might also leave me with an intact, unvaccinated feral and nowhere to take him. I'm also hesitant to do this since they have not followed up.

2. I call around and try to find a vet who will take ferals. This would be expensive and risky because I do worry that the wrong vet would euthanize him due to his wound.

3. Leave him be but keep feeding until the wound heals, then find a vet. Waiting would reduce the risk of euthanasia and give me ample time to trap train. It would also allow me to skip the quarantine period and release him if I decide it's in his best interest. However, this would take forever and there is still the risk of him getting hurt again or he just decides to stop visiting.

Right now I'm not as overly concerned with the injury. His health seems to be quickly improving and he currently sleeps all day every day in my yard and has consistent meals. What I really want is for him to be neutered and vaccinated. If possible, I would attempt to tame and keep him, but if not he would be released.

 

[fionasmom]

I don't think that you have exactly been a bother to the rescue and as I remember you foster for them?

1. If the rescue can't help, do you keep him inside or release him out of doors? He may be hard to retrap if you have to release him.

2. You said that his wound was better. IMO, as his owner/caretaker you have the right to treat the wound so I don't think that euthanasia would be right on the table unless this is what is done in your area. Most vets here, for better or worse, immediately give Convenia for a skin infection especially to a feral or hard to handle pet. Yes, you do have to know that a vet will accept a cat in a trap. You will be paying full freight, but I have done this with ferals. It sort of makes them your pet, so the treatment changes

3. Logical, but just so long term.

These are always difficult situations to resolve.

 

[Julest]

Hi
I was in the same situation as you. You can read my updates on my profile. Feral Rescue is the thread.
I ended up with a feral cat as someone thought they had found my cat who had gone missing at the end of last year, I took a trap to the person who said they had a cat visiting their house that they thought was mine and it was so badly injured she didn’t think it would survive.
A week later I got a call just before midnight to say she had trapped my cat so off I went to collect my missing baby - so so excited at the thought.
Thats when it went wrong. I was greeted by a bleeding matted hissing spitting ball of injured fury. Definitely not my sweet gentle baby. I wanted to open the trap and let this thing go as I didn’t want the responsibility and had never set eyes on it before but felt so guilty as it had horrible injuries so said I would take it to the vet then rerelease it after it had been treated.
Initially I couldn’t find a vet to treat it but eventually through a rescue centre found a local vet who would see the cat. He was too feral for her to work with and she said she couldn’t risk being bitten as his injuries were due to infected bit would on his leg, body and tail. They were bad and there were a lot of them. I was given two options - euthanasia or sign a form to say I would strictly quarantine him for 6 months (NJ quarantine rules are 6 months)!
I couldn’t euthanise him as I felt so terrible so ended up with him in my office at home. It took me 2 months to find a vet who would neuter him and in that time he had horrible tapeworms and hissed, goat and lunged at me every day. I was terrified of him but with the help of everyone on here I persevered. I didn’t even know he was a male until 7 weeks in but got a vet to come to the house to help me whim one day as he was vomiting up the tapeworms and then not letting me access the crate to clean it or him. It was so stressful.
Now I love him. I am so glad I took him to the vet and you can refuse to have them euthanised but you have to take full responsibility for their quarantine. You also need to be careful not to get bitten or scratched as they can euthanise if the cat is in rabies quarantine and you need treatment for a catch or bite wound (worse if someone else gets bitten).
I have been careful though and my Billy is doing so well.
I am happy to help with any advice if I can.
This was him when I got him and Billy now. He is like a different cat.
Good luck

 

[Kwik]

So this is gonna be a long one. Things are moving at a glacial pace and advice is needed. The rescue stopped responding and did not follow up. There was a set date where we had a certain amount of appointments for spay/neuter for some of the fosters and we were trying to get him in then.

Without going into too much detail, they've also been having a bit of a hard time finding vet availability for our cats who will need spay/neuter in the near future, so I really don't think King Floof is going to be high priority.

I don't want to harass them over this so I'm not going to reach out about it again at least until I decide to trap him. This leaves me with a few options:

1. I trap him and then contact the rescue. I'm not sure if this is a good idea. It might speed things up but it might also leave me with an intact, unvaccinated feral and nowhere to take him. I'm also hesitant to do this since they have not followed up.

2. I call around and try to find a vet who will take ferals. This would be expensive and risky because I do worry that the wrong vet would euthanize him due to his wound.

3. Leave him be but keep feeding until the wound heals, then find a vet. Waiting would reduce the risk of euthanasia and give me ample time to trap train. It would also allow me to skip the quarantine period and release him if I decide it's in his best interest. However, this would take forever and there is still the risk of him getting hurt again or he just decides to stop visiting.

Right now I'm not as overly concerned with the injury. His health seems to be quickly improving and he currently sleeps all day every day in my yard and has consistent meals. What I really want is for him to be neutered and vaccinated. If possible, I would attempt to tame and keep him, but if not he would be released.

I think J Julest said it all- we have all been supporting her each step of the way and it's been a pleasure getting to know such a compassionate,diligent and kind woman- we too love Billy( the one photo is worth a thousand words)

Imho and many often disagree but I don't think release is in any cats best interest- they all deserve a home.... but that's me,I do understand not everyone has access to the facilities or resources that I have to take advantage of

It's completely up to you - all I'd ask is if the cat is safe where he is,does he stay in your yard only( which does not mean one day he may just leave) but if you feel you can afford the luxury of " time" to trap train slowly then only you can make that decision... the last feral I captured to personally adopt I put off capture as long as I possibly could to begin socialization- he was not safe and I chose to abandon that idea..... here is his before n after photos

That's after introducing him to cat food and starting to be " seen" by me then about 6 months later he was coming to eat inside the front door and getting petted

Timmy now

Wishing you the best in whatever you decide..... sounds like you've got room for one more

 

[catmoon]

I don't think that you have exactly been a bother to the rescue and as I remember you foster for them?

I do foster for them! They have not been extremely responsive and are very busy, which is why I feel like I'm being a bother. Vet care has also been a recent challenge for the rescue so I am hesitant to put that stress on them before he is trapped.

I may just be anxious about euthanasia. There are some organizations that almost always euthanize ferals such a our local humane society, which made me worry that this was the standard for ferals everywhere.

Honestly I think I'm overthinking it. Thanks for your patience and your insight.

 

[catmoon]

Hi
I was in the same situation as you. You can read my updates on my profile. Feral Rescue is the thread.
I ended up with a feral cat as someone thought they had found my cat who had gone missing at the end of last year, I took a trap to the person who said they had a cat visiting their house that they thought was mine and it was so badly injured she didn’t think it would survive.
A week later I got a call just before midnight to say she had trapped my cat so off I went to collect my missing baby - so so excited at the thought.
Thats when it went wrong. I was greeted by a bleeding matted hissing spitting ball of injured fury. Definitely not my sweet gentle baby. I wanted to open the trap and let this thing go as I didn’t want the responsibility and had never set eyes on it before but felt so guilty as it had horrible injuries so said I would take it to the vet then rerelease it after it had been treated.
Initially I couldn’t find a vet to treat it but eventually through a rescue centre found a local vet who would see the cat. He was too feral for her to work with and she said she couldn’t risk being bitten as his injuries were due to infected bit would on his leg, body and tail. They were bad and there were a lot of them. I was given two options - euthanasia or sign a form to say I would strictly quarantine him for 6 months (NJ quarantine rules are 6 months)!
I couldn’t euthanise him as I felt so terrible so ended up with him in my office at home. It took me 2 months to find a vet who would neuter him and in that time he had horrible tapeworms and hissed, goat and lunged at me every day. I was terrified of him but with the help of everyone on here I persevered. I didn’t even know he was a male until 7 weeks in but got a vet to come to the house to help me whim one day as he was vomiting up the tapeworms and then not letting me access the crate to clean it or him. It was so stressful.
Now I love him. I am so glad I took him to the vet and you can refuse to have them euthanised but you have to take full responsibility for their quarantine. You also need to be careful not to get bitten or scratched as they can euthanise if the cat is in rabies quarantine and you need treatment for a catch or bite wound (worse if someone else gets bitten).
I have been careful though and my Billy is doing so well.
I am happy to help with any advice if I can.
This was him when I got him and Billy now. He is like a different cat.
Good luck

What a beautiful baby! That sounds like such a difficult but rewarding experience. It's great that you decided to keep him.

The rabies quarantine was the original plan for my boy, but the facility that was supposed to sign off on it does not have a vet so right now I am looking into my options for medical care. This is my first experience with a feral so I'm trying to be very cautious about how I move forward (probably too cautious).

Thank you for sharing your story and for offering advice.

 

[catmoon]

I think J Julest said it all- we have all been supporting her each step of the way and it's been a pleasure getting to know such a compassionate,diligent and kind woman- we too love Billy( the one photo is worth a thousand words)

Imho and many often disagree but I don't think release is in any cats best interest- they all deserve a home.... but that's me,I do understand not everyone has access to the facilities or resources that I have to take advantage of

It's completely up to you - all I'd ask is if the cat is safe where he is,does he stay in your yard only( which does not mean one day he may just leave) but if you feel you can afford the luxury of " time" to trap train slowly then only you can make that decision... the last feral I captured to personally adopt I put off capture as long as I possibly could to begin socialization- he was not safe and I chose to abandon that idea..... here is his before n after photos
View attachment 485935
That's after introducing him to cat food and starting to be " seen" by me then about 6 months later he was coming to eat inside the front door and getting petted
View attachment 485937
Timmy now
View attachment 485938
View attachment 485940
Wishing you the best in whatever you decide..... sounds like you've got room for one more

What a cute boy! It's so inspiring to see all of the great work everyone does for their ferals.

Personally, I don't like the idea of releasing any cat. However, I've heard many people say that adult ferals can never acclimate to domestication, so I wanted to make sure this is in his best interest.

He does stay in my yard during the day, but he goes somewhere else at night and sometimes leaves during bad weather. That's the only reason I'm concerned he would leave. He did disappear in the past but I think it was due to the wound.

I have asked so many questions and all of you have been so welcoming and supportive, so thank you. I've decided to try and take it slow with him but not too slow. I think I'm going to call around and try and find a vet who will take a cat in a trap. If that doesn't work, I'm just going to trap him and contact the rescue. In the meantime, I'll work harder on training so that it will be easier when the time comes.

 

[catmoon]

1. If the rescue can't help, do you keep him inside or release him out of doors? He may be hard to retrap if you have to release him.

I forgot to reply to this portion of your comment. I was planning to keep him indoors in either a large crate or enclosure, with the trap kept inside, covered with the door propped so I could try and coax him in for transport. I'm not sure if it's the best idea, but it was one thought I had when considering what I should do.

 

[fionasmom]

Keeping him inside would be the best option for #1. He would need to be recoaxed into the trap and you have given thought to that, so this may not be a bad plan.

I understand why you are concerned about euthanasia if that is a practice in your area.

Rescues have a tough job and usually are manned by volunteers who do everything on their own time as best they can. But you have been a big help to them by fostering as opposed to all the people who call and just say "can you take my cat?".

 

[Julest]

I forgot to reply to this portion of your comment. I was planning to keep him indoors in either a large crate or enclosure, with the trap kept inside, covered with the door propped so I could try and coax him in for transport. I'm not sure if it's the best idea, but it was one thought I had when considering what I should do.

Hi again
I had Billy in a large dog crate with a cat carrier for him to hide in, a litter tray and his food. After a few weeks I bought another XL dog crate and took the centre door off and attached it to the existing carrier using cable ties, to give him extra space. I left enough of a gap between the two crates to slide a plexiglass sheet between them to enable me to close one off whilst cleaning the other side. I used a yardstick to gently coax him into one sude or another or close him in the cat carrier whilst working in the crate as once he was less afraid he would lunge at me. I still actually use it if I want to give the crates a thorough cleaning.
the crates have worked really well whilst I am working on socialisation. I also found a vet who agreed to take him as long as I brought him in a top opening carrier so it meant I didn’t need to try to trap him again.
Good luck

 

[catmoon]

Hi again
I had Billy in a large dog crate with a cat carrier for him to hide in, a litter tray and his food. After a few weeks I bought another XL dog crate and took the centre door off and attached it to the existing carrier using cable ties, to give him extra space. I left enough of a gap between the two crates to slide a plexiglass sheet between them to enable me to close one off whilst cleaning the other side. I used a yardstick to gently coax him into one sude or another or close him in the cat carrier whilst working in the crate as once he was less afraid he would lunge at me. I still actually use it if I want to give the crates a thorough cleaning.
the crates have worked really well whilst I am working on socialisation. I also found a vet who agreed to take him as long as I brought him in a top opening carrier so it meant I didn’t need to try to trap him again.
Good luck

This is all excellent advice, thank you. I'd like to give him more space so a 2nd dog crate is definitely on the table. I'll be sure to bring up the top opening carrier too.

 

[catmoon]

Keeping him inside would be the best option for #1. He would need to be recoaxed into the trap and you have given thought to that, so this may not be a bad plan.

I understand why you are concerned about euthanasia if that is a practice in your area.

Rescues have a tough job and usually are manned by volunteers who do everything on their own time as best they can. But you have been a big help to them by fostering as opposed to all the people who call and just say "can you take my cat?".

Yeah the more I think about it, the more I feel like it might not be a bad idea.

It's a tough job for sure and I don't think anyone is being unresponsive on purpose. There is so much going on, so many owner surrenders and people who find stray cats but can't foster. I do kind of feel like if this is going to be my cat I should take on the medical care rather than putting it on the rescue.

Unless of course they feel like he could be fostered and eventually adopted, but considering how under-socialized he is I will probably end up with another family member.

 

[fionasmom]

Let us know what happens.