Great job! Thanks for taking the time and patience to socialize this kitty. It sounds like he's going to be very happy in your home. Let us know how he gets along with the other kitties.
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Caught My Feral...what Now?
- Thread starter Angel7472
- Start Date
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #42
Update: Ghost is starting to integrate with the other cats. We let him wander during the day when he can be watched and monitor interactions with the other cats. If anything seems to get a bit much we stop them.
We've learned that our youngest, Slinky, is a little scrapper. She hisses, growls and even charged Ghost sideways. Ghost is non-confrontational. Which is a blessing and a curse.
The other cats hiss and growl which is typical. He will come downstairs and hang out in my front room under the tree and watches everyone in the living room. Sometimes he will come down and just lay on the last stair and watch. We use toys and such to get all the cats to play. We found this awesome 5 foot fuzzy wand toy that we can play with all cats together at the same time.
Last night at treat time we had a HUGE break through with Slinky. I feed all the cats treats in the pantry. Ghost came when all the other cats did. He stays a little distance away and observed. I called him and fed him out of the pantry that way he could retreat if Slinky started being a scrapper again. He walked to the pantry as Slinky was waling out. Slinky went up to him and they touched noses for a good 10 seconds!!! Slinky then had enough and walked away. She walked back she hissed but it wasn't as bad. If Ghost initiates contact she feels threatened but if she does it she's ok with that.
This morning Ghost came into me bedroom crying and I called him. Trix, my male cat, was sitting at the end of my bed in the corner. Ghost came up onto the bench at the end of my bed and laid down. Trix didn't growl or anything. He just accepted it.
It may seem small but this is happening and it makes me happy. We still lock him up at night and my husband sleeps on a mattress on the floor in Ghost's room. We made the mistake of leaving him out one night and we think the other cats probably intimidated him in the night because he didn't want to come downstairs. We spent Saturday night watching tv in his room till he had enough of us and left on his own and went downstairs.
On another note he loves attention and purrs constantly. There will be times that I approach his cubby and he's already purring before I touch him!!! He gets over excited and rolls onto his back and bunny kicks my hand and love bites it. I tell him no and give him a toy instead. He'll sometimes play with the toy or he will come over for more pets and try again.
So far so good. This is a picture of my lil Queen Sheba scrapper watching Ghost in the front room.
We've learned that our youngest, Slinky, is a little scrapper. She hisses, growls and even charged Ghost sideways. Ghost is non-confrontational. Which is a blessing and a curse.
The other cats hiss and growl which is typical. He will come downstairs and hang out in my front room under the tree and watches everyone in the living room. Sometimes he will come down and just lay on the last stair and watch. We use toys and such to get all the cats to play. We found this awesome 5 foot fuzzy wand toy that we can play with all cats together at the same time.
Last night at treat time we had a HUGE break through with Slinky. I feed all the cats treats in the pantry. Ghost came when all the other cats did. He stays a little distance away and observed. I called him and fed him out of the pantry that way he could retreat if Slinky started being a scrapper again. He walked to the pantry as Slinky was waling out. Slinky went up to him and they touched noses for a good 10 seconds!!! Slinky then had enough and walked away. She walked back she hissed but it wasn't as bad. If Ghost initiates contact she feels threatened but if she does it she's ok with that.
This morning Ghost came into me bedroom crying and I called him. Trix, my male cat, was sitting at the end of my bed in the corner. Ghost came up onto the bench at the end of my bed and laid down. Trix didn't growl or anything. He just accepted it.
It may seem small but this is happening and it makes me happy. We still lock him up at night and my husband sleeps on a mattress on the floor in Ghost's room. We made the mistake of leaving him out one night and we think the other cats probably intimidated him in the night because he didn't want to come downstairs. We spent Saturday night watching tv in his room till he had enough of us and left on his own and went downstairs.
On another note he loves attention and purrs constantly. There will be times that I approach his cubby and he's already purring before I touch him!!! He gets over excited and rolls onto his back and bunny kicks my hand and love bites it. I tell him no and give him a toy instead. He'll sometimes play with the toy or he will come over for more pets and try again.
So far so good. This is a picture of my lil Queen Sheba scrapper watching Ghost in the front room.
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #43
A year later:
My oldest daughter started college this past week. In her Algebra class they had to go around the room and introduce themselves. Her professor started first. He stated he lives where we live and has two children 3 and 6. He used to have a cat but it was aggressive to the kids and he decided the best thing to do was just let it be outside (everyone knows where this is going).
My daughter stands up and states she's from the same neighborhood and has 4 cats now because we found a cat outside last year in July and managed to trap it.
They get done and the professor comes over and asks her what Ghost looks like and my daughter shows him a picture. It's his cat!!! He doesn't want it back, which I wouldn't let him have it anyway. He stated that the cat was miserable with his kids and he was hoping someone took him in that had the patience for him. My daughter told him that he's a little lover and purrs all the time and follows people around.
Since I've had Ghost he has shown no violent tendencies. We also had him fixed. So if he was aggressive it was probably due to hormones. The most violent thing he does is he wants to play after dinner. He jumps up on the couch hugs my leg with his front paws and will proceed to bunny kick my leg. He also will nip my arm or leg for attention. I've been telling him no in a firm voice and making eye contact and he's calmed down on the nipping part. It's cute but leaves bruises.
He has completely acclimated himself to the hierarchy of the house and all the cats. So far so good.
My oldest daughter started college this past week. In her Algebra class they had to go around the room and introduce themselves. Her professor started first. He stated he lives where we live and has two children 3 and 6. He used to have a cat but it was aggressive to the kids and he decided the best thing to do was just let it be outside (everyone knows where this is going).
My daughter stands up and states she's from the same neighborhood and has 4 cats now because we found a cat outside last year in July and managed to trap it.
They get done and the professor comes over and asks her what Ghost looks like and my daughter shows him a picture. It's his cat!!! He doesn't want it back, which I wouldn't let him have it anyway. He stated that the cat was miserable with his kids and he was hoping someone took him in that had the patience for him. My daughter told him that he's a little lover and purrs all the time and follows people around.
Since I've had Ghost he has shown no violent tendencies. We also had him fixed. So if he was aggressive it was probably due to hormones. The most violent thing he does is he wants to play after dinner. He jumps up on the couch hugs my leg with his front paws and will proceed to bunny kick my leg. He also will nip my arm or leg for attention. I've been telling him no in a firm voice and making eye contact and he's calmed down on the nipping part. It's cute but leaves bruises.
He has completely acclimated himself to the hierarchy of the house and all the cats. So far so good.
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Hmmmmm....
It's always satisfying to receive updates.........yours, particularly so !
Now, you absolutely must make these regular events
.
Hmmmmm....
'Dunno if you remember, but that was from last November. Don't ever stray from that instinct of yours !
It's always satisfying to receive updates.........yours, particularly so !
Now, you absolutely must make these regular events
.
WOW! Ghost is so fortunate to have found you guys!
I don't get people who can throw out a pet! how cruel, I bet Ghost was so sad.
fyi about the biting, I don't think eye contact is the best thing, that is aggressive to a cat, when he bites say OW! in a way he knows he is hurting you.
cats don't like to hurt us, but they have to learn how not to.
you can also do a search here for it, He is doing really well tho, you don't have too much work to do, just a little!
I don't get people who can throw out a pet! how cruel, I bet Ghost was so sad.
fyi about the biting, I don't think eye contact is the best thing, that is aggressive to a cat, when he bites say OW! in a way he knows he is hurting you.
cats don't like to hurt us, but they have to learn how not to.
you can also do a search here for it, He is doing really well tho, you don't have too much work to do, just a little!
Sorry your daughter has that kind of man as her prof 
. Thank goodness Ghost found your family.
Where did you get that cat tree? It looks like a good one.
. Thank goodness Ghost found your family. Where did you get that cat tree? It looks like a good one.
I am so glad you have rescued Ghost. No kitty should be tossed away. The biting is just something he was never taught about. It seems the Professor needs a bit of education about the way to teach a kitty and children how to interact so that all is well between them. Many people fail to understand that these problems can be solved and just give up. Education is important in this area. It sounds like your daughter handled the situation extremely well! Bravo to you both!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #48
The biting has been greatly reduced. As of last night he went to go nip me and just reached up and lightly did it to get my attention, which I've got no problem with. It was the full blown I want to play nipping that was getting me and my husband. Ghost would do it as an attention thing and it was enough that it would make us jump on the couch. The looking at him is more of a alpha cat thing. He sees me as caretaker and alpha since I'm home all day. I tried the ow loudly and he didn't stop, so the NO! and looking at him worked. Thanks for the advice though.
I completely can't understand the thinking of an educated man getting a kitten for such small kids and then when the cat retaliates because of the kids, he just then thinks it will be better outside. It baffles the heck out of me. On top of the not getting him fixed. Something as simple as that completely changes a cat.
I agree with the fact that my daughter just kinda was like hey I found your cat. If it were me I don't think I could have been that nice.
As for the cat tree. We bought it at Petco @ 3 years ago. We found a 5 day old kitten that a momma cat had dropped and just ran away from @ Mother's Day. We brought her in and named her Slinky aka Queen Sheba aka Stinky the Scapper kitty. She's the one at the top of the tower All of our cats sleep on it from time to time. It's HUGE!!! My husband is 6'1" and it's as tall as him.
I completely can't understand the thinking of an educated man getting a kitten for such small kids and then when the cat retaliates because of the kids, he just then thinks it will be better outside. It baffles the heck out of me. On top of the not getting him fixed. Something as simple as that completely changes a cat.
I agree with the fact that my daughter just kinda was like hey I found your cat. If it were me I don't think I could have been that nice.
As for the cat tree. We bought it at Petco @ 3 years ago. We found a 5 day old kitten that a momma cat had dropped and just ran away from @ Mother's Day. We brought her in and named her Slinky aka Queen Sheba aka Stinky the Scapper kitty. She's the one at the top of the tower
All of our cats sleep on it from time to time. It's HUGE!!! My husband is 6'1" and it's as tall as him.
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Aw Ghost is just giving you love nips!
wish my Joey would just give nips, still working with him.
Yeah I don't think I could of been that nice to the professor, someone needs to educate him, he should volunteer at a TNR clinic and see what's up!!
wish my Joey would just give nips, still working with him.
Yeah I don't think I could of been that nice to the professor, someone needs to educate him, he should volunteer at a TNR clinic and see what's up!!
