Don’t know how to help the saddest stray I took in

Waterbeach

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About a year ago, a really sick stray showed up on my property. We get a lot of ferals/strays and our four outdoor cats always run them off. This stray (who is now named LP, so I’ll call her that) just seemed to have no kitty social skills.. She didn’t care if they hissed or growled she just walked right up to them/past them. Their usual tricks to scare away strays didn’t work!

But now they hate her. I’m not blaming them, I understand that they were not introduced properly. We tried rehoming LP multiple times but no one will take her. Once she gained a little weight and got some antibiotics, she became very energetic. She’s very friendly with humans, she follows my two-year-old everywhere like a dog! She’s 1-3 years old, according to the vet.

The cats are all rescues and live outside and are locked up at night in a heated/insulated “cat coop” that used to belong to chickens, in order to keep them safe. This winter, LP did not leave the cat coop. Ever. We found out that she gets chronic respiratory infections (which we always treat) so between that and some complications from her spay surgery, we thought she was just sick and blue and hoped that in the spring she would bounce back.

But she seems to be getting worse. She sleeps all day. She runs striaght from the cat house in the morning to the pool deck, sleeps there all day, then runs back in at night. That’s it. She’s gained so much weight, she can hardly climb. She’s not grooming herself, her bum is dirty and I have been having to clean out all of the dirt/litter/hair from under her claws.

I feel absolutely terrible for her. I try to spend as much time as I can with her but I can’t be everything she needs.

The advice I have gotten so far is to try to reintroduce her to the other cats and get her a separate outdoor shelter so she can have some space at night. Bringing her in the house is not an option. I have an apartment in my parents’ house and my dad would never let a cat inside.
Does this advice sound helpful? Should I buy some type of enclosure for her at night or will that isolate her more? I really don’t know much about cat social behaviour so I don’t know how to introduce her to four separate cats.

I would really appreciate any advice!! Thank you!
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! Building her an enclosure would possibly give you the chance to better monitor her eating, and from your description of her current daily behavior I don't think it will isolate her more.

I don't know about reintroducing her to the other cats--I'm not sure it's necessary. If I understand this right they all were in the coop every night? Do you have a camera in there, do you know if they were fighting? If she was frightened by or rejected from the coop group, she wouldn't go to it on her own.

I apologize that I'm not clear, has she been to a vet recently? What were the spay surgery issues? I think that there's a whole lot more going on physically to cause an energetic lively cat to turn into one that is doing absolutely nothing in such a relatively short time. This isn't emotional, so I think you can definitely, please, ease your mind on that score.
 

Jcatbird

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The first thing that comes to mind is exactly what Furballsmom Furballsmom just posted. A vet check is in order before all else except giving her a place of her own. Sick or well, a place of her own may be encouraging for her. I have lots of kitties here and some seem to need a private retreat. If neither thing is helpful then a reintroduction can be done but the private enclosure could help with that too. Thanks go out to you for noticing her needs and caring for them all! Please do keep us posted.
 
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Waterbeach

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Hi! Building her an enclosure would possibly give you the chance to better monitor her eating, and from your description of her current daily behavior I don't think it will isolate her more.

I don't know about reintroducing her to the other cats--I'm not sure it's necessary. If I understand this right they all were in the coop every night? Do you have a camera in there, do you know if they were fighting? If she was frightened by or rejected from the coop group, she wouldn't go to it on her own.

I apologize that I'm not clear, has she been to a vet recently? What were the spay surgery issues? I think that there's a whole lot more going on physically to cause an energetic lively cat to turn into one that is doing absolutely nothing in such a relatively short time. This isn't emotional, so I think you can definitely, please, ease your mind on that score.
Thanks for responding! I feel a lot better after reading your comment- I hope it’s something physical that I can help her with.
The last time she was at the vet was in May. Over the winter and last fall she was there probably once a month.
After she was spayed, they told us she didn’t need a collar and to put her back outside after one night. Her incision came open and got infected and she chewed it so much that there was so much scar tissue they weren’t even able to staple it shut. So she had to stay inside for a week while it closed on its own. (I felt terrible about that situation too.)

She does go into the coop willingly at night. I never hear them fighting and she never has any scratches. But in the morning all of the other cats are waiting in the outside part of the coop to be let out and she is always inside. She eats inside while they eat outside. They do hiss at her if they’re near her during the day in the yard. Or menacingly stand over her if she’s lying down. They usually just avoid each other though.
Thanks for the camera suggestion- I have a video baby monitor and I’m going to see if it will work out there!
 
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Waterbeach

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The first thing that comes to mind is exactly what Furballsmom Furballsmom just posted. A vet check is in order before all else except giving her a place of her own. Sick or well, a place of her own may be encouraging for her. I have lots of kitties here and some seem to need a private retreat. If neither thing is helpful then a reintroduction can be done but the private enclosure could help with that too. Thanks go out to you for noticing her needs and caring for them all! Please do keep us posted.
Thanks for your reply! I will take both of your advice and make another vet appointment. And I think I will try getting her own enclosure and see if it helps.
 
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Waterbeach

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Dry food has a higher carb load, and often cats will lose weight naturally and slowly (which is very important), when they start eating canned food :)
Thank you for the tip. I didn’t know that and I will get her some canned food.
 

moxiewild

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Would it be possible at all to add onto the coop?

If it is, you could always have LP microchipped and then add a microchip pet door connecting the main coop and “LP’s coop” that only allows her in and out.

That way she can choose if she wants to be with the other cats, but also has a safe refuge where she can be alone in peace.

Just a thought!
 

fionasmom

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Both of my diabetic cats stopped cleaning and grooming. One was very overweight suddenly, and one not so much. I agree that a vet check is needed and diabetes, if it came to that, is not that hard to manage in a cat, especially one who likes you. I have a recently brought inside ex feral who loves dry food and is overweight. I am trying to get her to eat canned for that reason...that and she sits next to the dish of dry food like it is a bag of potato chips and just keeps eating.
 

kittychick

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W Waterbeach I see that you haven’t posted in a bit, so I wanted to check in and see if you were able to get LP to the vet, set up the baby monitor, and how things were going in general.
I hope you saw by members’ reactions that your true concern and caring for all of your furry charges are so appreciated. Your love for them all is evident!

I’m probably going to echo a lot of others’ recommendations (because you got alot of good ones!) —- I’d start with a trip to the vet, as soon as possible. When a cat stops grooming, it’s most often a sign something’s physically wrong. Not 100% of the time, but close. If the main thing she’s stopped grooming is her behind, a large part of that (pun intended :lol:) could be a result of her weight gain. Most cats who become considerably overweight can’t physically reach ‘back there’ (kind of like me tying my shoes before I gave in and went to Weight Watchers!:scale: ). One of our TNR ferals that now stays permanently with us had the same issue — but leaving less “free feed” dry out & switching to a higher soft diet as she became more comfortable with us helped her drop a few lbs. At least enough to make “self care” possible.:) Of course, weight may not be the reason (or the only reason), so that’s another check in the column of “needs to go to the vet.”

I agree w/many above - a space of her own will likely make all of the kitties happier. Having worked at several shelters I’ve seen plenty of kitties - often those raised w/o moms (we fostered a blind kitten that had this issue until we really worked on socialization) — that don’t understand how to properly interact with other cats, as they were never taught “cat language.” The other cats don’t get why this thing that looks & sounds like a cat doesn’t react to social cues like a cat. So to them - she’s something unlike they’ve ever known. And since she appears to be happier with people then cats at this point, having her own space would probably be welcome by all! And she won’t be alone — she’ll have you, and that sounds like a lot. :itslove:

But do get her to a vet as soon as possible — explaining all you’ve said to all of us. Often social groups of cats treat others who are sick or have physical issues as outcasts. A part (6 cats) of a colony that we TNR’d that eventually came to call our yard & shelters ‘home’ forced 2 to eat, sleep, etc at a distance — simply bc both had Cerebellar Hypoplasia. Both were even sisters of the matriarch of the group! It took over 2 years before they allowed one to eat or sleep with them. The other worked her way hard core into my hubby’s heart, so she’s now a 100% indoor, 200% adored lap cat.:redheartpump:

Hope to hear soon how all’s going!
 
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