Brought home a stray / feral cat and need help

[JHut27]

I trapped and brought home a cat that I had been seeing around my work for months so I could get it out of the cold. She has been pretty timid for about 3 weeks, always running away if we get too close. She started coming out and eating in front of us a few days ago but would run if we made any noise or looked at her.

She went into heat, and shortly after started pulling out her fur everywhere, like a lot, every day. We were getting really worried about her health and really wanted to try to get her spayed, so we tried to catch her with a towel to take her to the vet... That did not go well... She got really scared and started jumping at us and hissing so we left her alone.

We are worried that we have lost all of our progress towards her trusting us, and we are still worried about her health but cant get her to a vet. Any advice is really appreciated.

 

[bfmay]

I trapped and brought home a cat that I had been seeing around my work for months so I could get it out of the cold. She has been pretty timid for about 3 weeks, always running away if we get too close. She started coming out and eating in front of us a few days ago but would run if we made any noise or looked at her.

She went into heat, and shortly after started pulling out her fur everywhere, like a lot, every day. We were getting really worried about her health and really wanted to try to get her spayed, so we tried to catch her with a towel to take her to the vet... That did not go well... She got really scared and started jumping at us and hissing so we left her alone.

We are worried that we have lost all of our progress towards her trusting us, and we are still worried about her health but cant get her to a vet. Any advice is really appreciated.
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She does not trust you, but that will have to wait. I think you will have to trap her again and get her to a vet. When she comes home prepare one room for her, with places to hide, and leave her alone. Go in to put out food/water and talk to her. Sit in the room for short periods of time but don’t approach her at all. Eventually she will let you extend your hand for her to sniff. She will learn to trust you but it has to be on her terms, and on her schedule. It will take as long as it takes.

 

[poolcat]

If she's trap-shy now, it may take some time to trap her again. Do you know how to get her accustomed to it? If not, let us know.

 

[dahlia]

As mentioned by poolcat, you may have to trap her to get her to the vet. Don't worry, she will trust you again. I have never had a cat that took more than a day or so to go back to normal behavior.

 

[Crazycatmomma]

I also agree with everyone, once trapped and treated just give her some space and soon she will trust you again. I have about ten feral cats that i feed outside here at my home, I’ve been feeding the strays and ferals For about five or six years now. Myself and my family have managed to get them all to trust us by simply taking the time to feed them and water them daily and slowly wait for them to trust us. I have the females indoors now until i can get them spayed, the males I keep outside as to try and cut down on the amount of them that are here. When we started out it was just a cat here or there that would come and eat and somedays none would show up at all (sometimes a week or two and not one kitten or cat), I am not sure if more were abandoned here or maybe someone had a litter that just moved in here or what. We now have the same cats here daily, they live inside our garage and under my home in the crawlspace i think. They have turned into our cats now i feel like, they come running to greet us as soon as we open the doors now. There’s quite a few of them now as well. I have been trying to find homes for them as I am getting ready to lose this house and have to move and I’m not sure where I am going to even live myself yet but, no luck! So i guess if I’m in a tent they will be in one with me as well haha! Best of luck with your feral though and please keep us posted on the progress

 

[poolcat]

I have never had a cat that took more than a day or so to go back to normal behavior.

I've noticed that my really anxious foster cats are often less afraid of me when they get home from their first trip to the vet. Makes me wonder if the horrors of the vet clinic causes them to realize that I'm not so bad afterall.