- Joined
- Jan 30, 2015
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Hi there guys,
I just joined and have been reading some of the threads here. I am pretty happy to find people who have a similar situation to me.
I moved into a house about six months ago and the house came with a feral cat.
The people that lived here before would feed him when they saw him, and told us that his mother and whole family of about seven cats arrived about 14 years ago. He is the only one left here now, we don't know what happened to the others but this guy is doing so well! He used to only visit once every three to four days, and now he is here everyday and hangs out with us on the deck. He doesn't like us being close but tolerates us sitting on the deck with him now rather than disappearing until dinner time.
We have started, in the last three nights leaving the door ajar for him to come and sleep inside of he chooses. And we find him in the same spot on the door mat in the morning.
However, he is becoming a little aggressive while we are feeding him his dinner the last few weeks. He jumps and swipes at my hands and legs and spit hisses at me/us. He is very impatient and his body language changes as well as the tone in his meow, so it is a distressing time for him I imagine.
Here in Australia there are no TNR programs and feral cats are treated like pests that kill native wildlife. Vets I have spoken to are not interested in helping give advice on how to care for him, I just get a lecture in how they kill and are destructive to wildlife and am giuded towards the local council to borrow a cage to trap him. Once a cat is trapped it must be surrendered to the pound, where he will be assessed as feral and put down. He has done so well to survive for this long, there is no way I am going to be responsible for his life coming to an end like that. So I have been looking for a place like this to find people who might be able to offer advice about how to make the feeding time a little less stressful for him. He eats absolutely everything I even mix worming tablets into his food and he eats that no dramas!
I know the transition for him is going to be a very slow one. It is summer here at the moment, but by winter time we want him to feel he can join us inside if he chooses.
If someone here has any tips that might help us we would be so grateful.
I just joined and have been reading some of the threads here. I am pretty happy to find people who have a similar situation to me.
I moved into a house about six months ago and the house came with a feral cat.
The people that lived here before would feed him when they saw him, and told us that his mother and whole family of about seven cats arrived about 14 years ago. He is the only one left here now, we don't know what happened to the others but this guy is doing so well! He used to only visit once every three to four days, and now he is here everyday and hangs out with us on the deck. He doesn't like us being close but tolerates us sitting on the deck with him now rather than disappearing until dinner time.
We have started, in the last three nights leaving the door ajar for him to come and sleep inside of he chooses. And we find him in the same spot on the door mat in the morning.
However, he is becoming a little aggressive while we are feeding him his dinner the last few weeks. He jumps and swipes at my hands and legs and spit hisses at me/us. He is very impatient and his body language changes as well as the tone in his meow, so it is a distressing time for him I imagine.
Here in Australia there are no TNR programs and feral cats are treated like pests that kill native wildlife. Vets I have spoken to are not interested in helping give advice on how to care for him, I just get a lecture in how they kill and are destructive to wildlife and am giuded towards the local council to borrow a cage to trap him. Once a cat is trapped it must be surrendered to the pound, where he will be assessed as feral and put down. He has done so well to survive for this long, there is no way I am going to be responsible for his life coming to an end like that. So I have been looking for a place like this to find people who might be able to offer advice about how to make the feeding time a little less stressful for him. He eats absolutely everything I even mix worming tablets into his food and he eats that no dramas!
I know the transition for him is going to be a very slow one. It is summer here at the moment, but by winter time we want him to feel he can join us inside if he chooses.
If someone here has any tips that might help us we would be so grateful.