Advice on caring for my feral

[sweetlilac]

HI all... I have made progress with my lonely feral who lost her siblings this year, thanks for all your help. I bought her some treats and a catnip toy which she is 50-50 about. Loves the treats. Temptations.

Now she likes to rub up against my legs and will let me pet her, gradually it has gone from petting her back to her throat and head to her stomach and all over. Her purr has become a motorboat. She is lonely and hangs around waiting, and i think if I spend even ten minutes with her, even once a day and her lonely heart is put to ease that she is not all alone in the world. Afterwards, I use tape to take off the cat hair and any fleas... if any?

However. I am disabled and it is hard to sit on the deck and to bend down and she seems to be fixated on rubbing in between my legs. While she is now in ecstasy, i have serious neck and hip issues and this is hard on me. I wish she would jump on the outdoor patio table so i wouldn't have to bend. That is where her food is.

Also: do you think she would like it if I bough a brush or comb for her? I am ruling out a flea collar, i think she would freak out but I don't know. Maybe sprinkle diatomaceous food grade powder on her cat mat? Or maybe put some in some wet food? She always seems to be scratching herself. I don't currently give her wet food, i heard it was bad for cats' teeth.

I just want to give her a little joy in life now that her family is gone. (I lost my family a long time ago though I do have a loving husband.) But no relatives. So i know how that feels or at least can imagine. I am her "one and only" although an orange cat moved in next door and comes over who seems to be very sweet. But they hiss. I am not sure this is serious. Oh goodness I don't know much at all.

Mostly i want to know, can i get her to stop rubbing my legs and up on the table somehow? She is fixated on my legs and I am in pain, though happy to see her so happy. And... can i do something re fleas that she will accept?

Many thanks. Those of you who have responded have certainly made the difference!

PS I haven't hooked up my gig yet with the cat warming pad (have to get an electrician) but i put a "hand warmer" that you just open up, it stays warm for twelve hours, on her mat. And i bought her a flat fuzzy snuggly toy cat, so she can snuggle into in like a blankie. I hope that helps but I can only guess.

Thank you as always. I am so clueless!

 

[mackiemac]

Are you able to set a chair out on the deck to sit on when your little one comes around? Maybe if you only give the treats on the table, she will learn to come up for those and for her loving, too.

Wet food is actually pretty good for cats because it gives them some much-needed moisture. Cats have origins as desert animals, so they often don't drink a lot of water. They get most of their water from fresh kill prey, so canned food would be a good substitute (or supplement) for fresh-kill, and help her to get enough fluid. Get her the best quality that you can afford, and I bet she would love it.

The comb and brush aren't a bad thing to try, if she lets you handle her like that. Many cats love a combing or brushing, and it's a lovely way to bond with them.

As for the fleas, there are several good topical flea treatments that you can use. I believe that Advantage is available over the counter now. If she will allow you to part the fur with your fingers at the base of her skull and apply it to the skin there, that will help with the fleas for up to a whole month. In some areas fleas seem to be less sensitive to it, but it's worth a try. You do want to make sure that you get the right size for her body weight. There are a couple of sizes for different sized cats, one size for cats over 9 pounds, one for cats 5-9 pounds, and one for petite cats and kittens under 5 pounds. Of the flea stuff that you can get without prescription, Advantage is my pick. Some OTC products are ineffective at best and toxic to cats at worst. Advantage (the real deal, be careful when buying from unknown sources because there are fakes out there!) is quite safe and seems to work well in areas where fleas haven't yet built a resistance to it. At the same time, it's best to also treat your yard and that's the best use for the DE in your situation. There are other things that you can use, like products that contain Spinosad, etc. but if you're on a limited budget, the DE isn't a bad option. You will probably need to reapply it after rain washes it away, but if you expect dry weather for a while, it's not a bad option. It's pretty non-toxic to cats and mammals.

For warmth, you can make a cat den out of an old plastic storage box... like this... this looks to be something that someone did to use for a litter box, but surely it could work for a cat shelter, too, especially if you have a way to anchor it down or shelter it from strong wind to keep it from blowing away. I would add some tape around the opening just to be sure that the edge can't scratch or cut your feral friend's skin, and maybe even make a wind flap once she gets the idea of going in and out. A few quilts or old blankets in the bottom would insulate it from the ground, or setting up a couple of old wooden pallets as a "deck" would help too. If you want to go deluxe, you could even make a tent or canopy over it with an inexpensive plastic tarp to deflect rain and precip, and block the wind even more if you can't put it under a covered area or overhang. The offset opening would give her a place inside to get out of the direct wind if it's blowing from that direction. To make it extra warm and insulated, you could get some insulation board, cut it to size, and make a "box" that fits inside the plastic storage box shell. See the second photo set for a pictorial description of this idea... and another way to insulate the house. There are many ways to do this... these are just a couple of ideas to get started. You can still use the hand warmers until you have a way to heat the thing up, and use the heating pad that you had in mind. Even an old Styrofoam cooler inside the plastic box, with an access hole that aligns with an access hole in the plastic box, and taping the whole entrance edges up with duct tape can work. The idea is to have a weatherproof outer shell, some insulating innards, and blankets or straw or towels for nesting material. If you can fit it under the table too, that would be wonderful, because the table acts as an extra roof.

Hope this gives you some ideas... thank you for being a bright spot for that little one!

 

[sweetlilac]

Hi Mackiemac, thank you for taking the time to respond to so many of my questions, I realize i had a lot!

First of all, is that your tuxedo cat? Well whatever, i used to have one (domestic) - this one is a real cutie!!! The houses look nice. I did make one for Kitty Kat (I can never think of a better name as I don't really know her sex, she just looks more like a female and yes the owners before I moved in did have the litter neutered). Terrible to say, but Kitty likes to sit under our tarped porch and as we can see it out our dining room window I rather wince at having a bucket with a hole cut out. in view of our dining area day and eve.

I put the old house a ways away and she/(they -her lost sibs) never used it so it still stands, up the hill a bit. Wondering, do those houses they sell on Amazon do any help at all?

Other than that my fear is that Kitty (who is at least 10 y.o.) will not want to use it. She goes out and about but really wants to sit on her "cushion" on one of the chairs. I thought of putting a "tiny house" from Amazon on my Red Ryder wagon, minus the front and back sides, so she could exit and enter, easily. Still have to worry about the heat getting set up. DH wants an electrician to cover the outlet. And yes insulation seems important, it does get windy up here.

As for the Advantage, I do recall using that on my Brando when he was still with me. I think perhaps the time will soon come when Kitty will trust me enough to let me do that, she's only let me pet her for like a week or two now and I've been feeding her for 8 years. (Sibs dies, she got lonely, etc.). Thanks for the tip on wet food. I'll get some. How long does it last in the fridge so I know how much to give her per day? Or just... how much per day? Like a quarter can?

I will try a brush perhaps rather than the comb. And i love the idea of sitting in a chair. Good thinking. Kitty needs to know Granny here isn't a spring chickadee.

Be well! to you and your sweet pets...

 

[sweetlilac]

PS I would love to use the Advantage but I am afraid if I do, I will break her trust with me. She's only started to relate to me. Am I being to cautious? Would she rather be free of fleas? How does anyone make this kind of judgement call? Esp. when she is just starting to venture out and discover I am not a mean monster or learn to relate to an animate non-cat ... (exactly: I am the one who has been her caretaker all these years, you might think she'd realize this. But who knows?)

 

[fionasmom]

Most cans of cat food will tell you how much to feed per body weight of the cat. They can be put in the fridge, but if my cats are any indication, it is best if they are served, and not cold from the fridge, in the same day. Most bags of dry food will tell you how much to feed and also include variations for the use of wet and dry food per body weight.

Advantage is really the best flea treatment in my opinion, or Revolution which is a prescription but is a similar product. But you do have to be able to part the hair on the cat's back and apply it to the skin. You might want to judge if you can do that without having any Advantage in your hand, sort of practicing first, to determine if you could easily do it or if she is at the point where you could apply it.

 

[sweetlilac]

Hi FionasMom, thanks for your reply. Is there a pill i could give her? I am pretty sensitive to chemicals myself... i read all sorts of scary things on Amazon too. I don't know what i would do if Kitty started to have a reaction.

As to the wet cat food, she loves it. I ordered a bunch of wet food in cans from Amazon so i just give her a portion every day. I leave the can out. so the food can warm up a bit first, if it has been in the fridge.

I am worried she will get fat now. Is that crazy? She gobbles it up at about a third to a half a can per day plus I leave the dry stuff out. When I don't leave the food out, she has a way of "nidging me". What she wants is my attention. I can't tell what she wants, really.

Between the treats, the brushing, the wet food, etc, this is a lot more attention I've given her. I am sort of at my limit.

I think she looks a lot happier but in a sense, (being a cat), there is no end to her "wanting more".... But I do think I have seen her smiling when i brush and pet her, i even picked her up (surprise move) to put her on the table so she could get a treat. She's confused a bit (or maybe it's me, this is so new after so many years of having scruffy ferals on my porch who won't "talk" to me), but seems more centered, too. She does talk to me, too.

After I brushed her a couple of times she actually looked like a real cat. Her fur was soft and pretty and glossy. She stood with pride and showed off.

 

[mackiemac]

There are oral flea medications, but many are short lived. I don't recommend the ones you get over the counter, as there have been some very bad reactions caused by some of them. The safest is nitenpyram (brands like Capstar and others), but that one only lasts for about 24 hours. It's best as a head-start for the monthly topical treatments such as Advantage, Revolution, Bravecto, etc. Advantage is very safe. We've used it on little kittens, sick cats, pregnant queens, and seniors with no major problems. ANY cat can be sensitive or allergic to ANYTHING, but I have not seen (personally) any serious reactions to Advantage when it's used properly. Worst I've seen was some drooling or smacking if the cat happened to lick it off another cat or their own fur if it dripped down to where the cat could reach it... but that's mainly because of the nasty taste, not because it made the cat ill.

If you're able to brush that baby, I would bet that you could apply Advantage. You could do so while wearing rubber gloves if you're concerned about your own exposure, and give it about 24 hours to spread through the coat... and avoid petting the treatment area during that time.

You will read all kinds of things on Amazon and in review sections of different sites. We've been using Advantage on our cats since it first came out, until our local flea population started getting less sensitive to it after 20+ years, and we had to rotate products. Advantage has an excellent safety record, and it works longer than a quick-start flea pill. The "Capstar" (nitenpyram) is a good start, and works well with the Advantage to quickly knock down the fleas, and a monthly application of Advantage will help keep them in check. Bravecto is another option, but requires a vet's prescription. It works for up to 10 weeks, and also controls some kinds of ticks. We alternate Bravecto with Advantage, and we used it on our elderly 17 year old cat with no problems. But again, it does need a prescription.

Comfortis is a pill, with the active ingredient being spinosad. I haven't used it, but I use spinosad spray in my yard for all kinds of stuff. I can't say how well it works as a pill, but again-- it requires a prescription.

 

[sweetlilac]

Thank you, mackiemac, I will buy the Advantage. A stroke of genius, ME wearing gloves, as yes, I was nervous about getting it on ME!

It will be so nice for her to not have fleas. It has been such a journey to see this cat transform, with the help of friends like you and FionasMom and others. What has surprised me the most is how much she has changed. I never dreamed that in a short time, i'd be brushing her and whatnot. She is clearly feeling more of "the love". A little needy... but... that's okay. She looks beautiful and so much more content.

She lets me pick her up and hold her down (she actually kind of likes this), though she still runs away a bit, too. Time. Needs to happen..... <grin> for trust. SO much has happened so much so fast, really.

I think I am her new sibling!

 

[mackiemac]

Good... this sketch shows you how to part the hair to the skin, and where to apply the Advantage to the kitty. You would apply it to the area at the top of the neck/base of the skull where she can't reach to lick it. I do it in 2 "strips" side by side. I part the hair as best as I can (kind of tricky when dealing with Persians and cats with dense undercoats), apply to the part as close to the skin as possible, then I push the hair back together to sort of trap any drips. You will see a wettish or oily looking area for a while afterwards, until the stuff gets through the coat. That's perfectly normal, and it will dissipate in a day or two-- give or take, depending on the coat's thickness and texture. It will also have a distinct odor. This is also normal, and it will fade, but the product keeps working to kill fleas.

Thank you for taking such good care of that baby and giving her lots of love. Sounds like she will have plenty to share with you in return!

 

[fionasmom]

You have done an absolutely excellent job of helping this kitty. I am glad that mackiemac replied about the flea meds. I have never used an oral medication on any animals I have owned, except years ago there was an oral preventative called The Program, I think, but it stopped working and I went to either Advantage or Revolution. I have never had a sick animals from either of them, and if it is applied to a cat or dog who does not associate with others, then the chances of it being even slightly ingested is almost nil. I have had my vet apply it to difficult cats; but if you were to do that, bring your own as they will really charge you for a single dose especially if they have to break open a package to get it.

 

[mackiemac]

I wasn't much of a fan of Program, because in order for it to work, the fleas actually have to bite the cat. That's not such a good thing, because the whole idea is for fleas to NOT bite the cat. If a cat is allergic to the flea saliva, a flea medicine that requires the fleas to bite does nothing to rectify the allergy. Skye was quite allergic to fleas and mosquitoes, and when we were having a resistance issue with Advantage at our house here in Texas after 20+ years, that poor cat would scratch herself into a frenzy. It honestly looked like she was having seizures, and she would bite and scratch herself to the point of causing wounds. Program would have done her absolutely no good. The one positive side is that it also controls fleas' ability to reproduce, but so does a product that KILLS fleas without them having to bite the cat. Last I checked, dead fleas don't breed! The Advantage also addresses flea larvae in places where the cat spends a lot of time, like her sleeping spots. And for indoor cats, a vacuum used diligently reduces the number of eggs and pupae in the environment, and they won't hatch out or grow up to become adult biting fleas. Sounds like "birth control" to me! So, we never bothered with Program, and once we had Advantage in the clinic arsenal, we ultimately quit offering Program. The only time we gave the lufenuron (active ingredient) was when we were giving Sentinel... and that was when we had a hard time getting Interceptor (milbemycin) That was for heartworm prevention. The lufenuron was just "there". We do heartworm prevention here, because we actually had a cat die of confirmed heartworms (RIP Nirvana, 1990-2002)

 

[sweetlilac]

So... heartworm prevention? excuse my lack of awareness. Is this something one gives cats too? I just ordered the Advantage. Thanks as always and I think in pictures, so these pix are great.

Kitty also says thanks! and hi to all! I will report if need be... expect however things to go well though may have some trust issues after we've been all friendly, now I give her something yukky.... pls forgive me Kitty Kat.

 

[mackiemac]

Most people don't necessarily give their cats heartworm preventative, because HW in cats isn't as common as it is in dogs. It's just that we had the uncommon misfortune of having a kitty that tested positive for heartworms. She was only the second known heartworm case at that particular clinic which had been in operation for MANY years. I was working there and our laboratory had a promo going for the staff. Full blood chemistry and heartworm tests for one pet per staff member. I wasn't even going to do the HW test, since we only had cats, and the common thinking at the time was that cats were not really susceptible. It happened on the rarest of occasions, but not often enough to make a huge deal out of it. Well, the test was free, so I just went ahead and got it along with the full chemistry and CBC... what could it hurt? Sure enough. Big fat positive. Thought maybe it was an error, or simply being exposed, so the vet went and ran a second test (so we ended up doing antigen and antibody testing). Second test, also positive. So, one of the techs from a sister clinic was doing Continuing Ed in ultrasonography and offered to do a sonogram (ultrasound) on our kitty, just to get a look. And lo and behold, we could actually see the heartworms in there.

The vast majority of cat parents do not give heartworm prevention because it's not commonly encountered since cats are not the preferred host (canine species are)... but we were just the "heartworm lotto winners" that time. It taught us that cats can and occasionally DO get it. So, we went ahead and started giving HW prevention based on our experience. BUT the good news is, there are topical meds that include the heartworm prevention. Advantage Multi is one, and Revolution is another. But both of these must be prescribed by the vet. Regular Advantage like you are planning to use doesn't require prescription, but Advantage Multi and Revolution do. And, no "yucky" oral meds needed... although most of my cats loved the taste of Heartgard. We only switched to Interceptor when our clinic quit carrying Heartgard for Cats. But our kitties thought the Heartgard was a real treat! I had to keep it locked up so that they wouldn't steal it!

Bear in mind, I live in Texas and mosquitoes (and heartworms) are a big problem all year round here. I live in one of the dark-brown areas in Texas on this map...
https://d3ft8sckhnqim2.cloudfront.net/images/pdf/AHS-2013-Incidence-Map.pdf?1400621318

So, for us, prevention is much more important. However, it's a personal choice, and you would not really be neglectful if you opted to forgo that. I personally think it's a good idea if you live in a high risk area, like we do... but again, it's up to you and no one would fault you if you chose not to. I'm just "THAT cat mom", I suppose!

Heartworm in Cats - American Heartworm Society

 

[sweetlilac]

Thank you, I am glad you got to help your kitties stay healthy. You DO live in HW area. Fortunately for me and Kitty we dodged that bullet. Perhaps other readers might check the chart to see how they fare.

You seem like a great cat mom.