Feral Kitty Loose In My Cabin

[Catzmeow]

Thanks! I think it's ok. But will watch. It still seems he is little young. But seems almost grownup now

 

[Jcatbird]

It takes a couple of years for a kitty to grow up. They reach adult size before they settle into adulthood. If they didn’t have Mom around long enough, some kittenish behaviors can stay longer. Every kitty is different but once he settles down it will be calmer around there. Healing vibes!

 

[Catzmeow]

For the couple of days I've tried to get shadow out of the cage. I got him a nice cat tree with a hidey hole. Today we went for it. He's been quite crazy and hyper today. But at one point he went to the caged doorway and sniffed my dog nose to nose! No commotion but he did get growly after that.

 

[Jcatbird]

Sniffing the dog up close? Wow! Very brave Shadow! If he got a little growly after that ,but nothing more, that’s great! Hyper today? He probably just had the zoomies. Lol Having the zoomies is a common cat activity. For some reason they just need to expend energy. Around here that can mean to the top of the kitchen cabinets ,across the living room, over my head and back to the cabinets all in about 2 seconds flat.
Tail up, ears back and from crouching to leaping. A blur of fur.
It sounds like Shadow is responding very well to all you are doing.
I hope you are healing okay.

 

[Jcatbird]

Just wanted you to know you are all in my thoughts.

 

[Catzmeow]

Shadow is really doing well....well except he seems to have kinda stinky poop and it's a little on the soft side. I got another dose of dewormer to try tomorrow before I worry about anything worse. He is crazy hyper when I'm in his room. He sleeps most of the rest of the day and I think he plays quite a bit at night with his toys. I usually hear him when I wake up in the night. He still nips me, sometimes harder than others. He is pretty interested in my feet and sometimes I jump them back a little when he seems too interested! Don't feel like getting my toes bit! I have been trying to pick him up. It's still a little uncomfortable for both of us but I'll try bit by bit. It has improved from the first time when his little feet were out in all directions ready to fight! He is still confined to his room and sniffs the dogs at the door that I have caged off with wire shelving. He still sleeps in the carrier in the 2nd floor of his big cage and I have to get him out of the cage pretty soon. My sister who lent it to me is always rescuing new kitties so I'm sure she'd like it back. I don't think I have it in me to do this on a regular basis! I really admire those of you who do! It's a pretty hard thing to do! Had to stop fostering dogs too after I failed and kept the 2nd one I fostered! I wonder how to know when it would be safe to let him out with the pups? Any ideas on that?

 

[Catzmeow]

Oh btw the lip bite the other was no problem. I don't know why sometimes cat bites are a problem and sometimes ok. I haven't had a bite that ended up bad but I know my sister did and have heard that some of you had bad ones.

 

[Catzmeow]

We are going to try to let Shadow out of his room this weekend. This means DOGS! If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. The dogs are small around 15 lbs, bigger than 6 lb Shadow but I still think he could cause more damage on them than otherwise! They are sometimes loud but harmless! So far they have been sniffing noses at the doorway cage and sometimes spook each other with an unexpected movement.

 

[Catzmeow]

 

[Catzmeow]

Well dont know why that's sideways ?

 

[Catzmeow]

Shadow's up top in this pic but he comes right down nose to nose with them and has reached out to touch the little dark one.

 

[Jcatbird]

Well, it might be okay! Shadow is smart. My first thought was to put Shadow in a harness and leash which gives you some control. He probably wouldn’t like a harness but I have been surprised to find that my Lady adores her harness. Cats! Go figure. Lol
They’ve already been introduced. My only other thought would be to let the little farknone in with Shadow rather than letting Shadow out first. See how that goes and you may be able to see what you can expect a little better.. If that goes well then put the first doggie back out and let the other in. Shadow will be able to retreat to his cat tree if he feels scared instead of nailing a dog. That would establish in his mind that the cat tree is his “go to” spot if he feels crowded by the dogs and hopefully no one gets scratched. When I have done cat/dog introductions the cats have swatted the dogs at times but the dogs were more a problem. They like to chase anyone who swats them. Looking at the photo, the brown dog looks friendly and the white one looks playful. Hoping Shadow will agree.

 

[Jcatbird]

How is it going with Shadow and the doggies??

 

[Catzmeow]

It's going pretty well. The dogs have all been in Shadow's room to visit and Shadow comes out cautiously. My third little girl pup is terribly shy but even she has visited with Shadow. Shadow likes to tease Herbie, the dark one, by touching him with his paw. They aren't playing, that would be too much of a dream, but they aren't having any conflicts, so I'm pretty happy. We have taken down the big gate but leave the baby gate so Shadow can come in and out but the dogs can't. Shadow went upstairs a couple of days ago and got spooked so he has been staying pretty close to his room since. He's still a pretty nervous kitty. We took his crate out of the kitty condo and he started sleeping in the cubby in the cat tree today, Yay! The goal is to take the cage completely out of the house on the weekend and back to my sister. Shadow makes a bit of progress each day and he's learned that biting hurts but the claws are another story. He doesn't really scratch intentionally but sometimes they are just there and when he sits on our lap it can be torture Funny, my one other stray/feral was just the same! You can see in the picture he's gotten pretty affectionate (no that's not my mustache! )

I guess we're doing ok for 3 1/2 months in! Finding this site and people like you on it has been a super support

 

[Jcatbird]

I am rolling! Not your mustache! Okay but it’s a nice one anyway! For 31/2 months, super progress! Yay! You have done a wonderful job and so has Shadow! Mustache too!! I think Shadow likes the mustache. The progress with the dogs is awesome too. Maybe they will play eventually. Poor little shy puppy. Maybe Shadow will snuggle that one!
Thanks for the update. I was wondering how it went with the pups.

 

[Catzmeow]

I do think Shadow is a daddy's boy!
My pups are all rescues too. Herbie came first and was just love at first site at the SPCA. Second came Bella, the shy girl and she was rescued from a puppy mill It took a year before my husband could touch her! I guess that's why I thought we could have the patience to take on little feral Shadow. Cody, the white one from the gate picture, was a foster fail, but had been a stray for at least 4 or 5 months and had his collar almost growing into his neck. But when I got these pups I had 3 cats in the house too so I guess they remember having kitty friends. It was pretty heartbreaking when my last kitty Kiki was euthanized at home, Herbie kept nudging her in the ear to wake her up. Something I'll never forget. It showed the true love that can be between cats and dogs.

 

[Catzmeow]

Well after the last few days of peace and happiness, Shadow got pretty hyper today, was climbing the screen in the window and reached out to swat at my face when he was in his tree and a while late then gave hubby a good bite on the hand. Our 2 steps back phase? We have closed his door for a while. What to do????

 

[CreamsiclePuff]

Hi! I really enjoyed reading about your adventures with your little shadow. You are doing so well with him! I know it must be frustrating when you have seen so much progress with him and then he turns around and swats you and bites, but don't be discouraged. Living in the wild has taught him to be rough like that. He had to be to survive. I took in a wild cat about 10 months ago and he sounds similar to your boy and I can tell you that he has bitten and scratched and hissed, but he is getting progressively better and is nearly at 'perfect house cat' status at this point. Your boy will get there too. The first time I touched my 'blazer' on his side near his belly, he bit, and drew quite a lot of blood. I cleaned and bandaged my hand in front of him so he could see what he had done. I like to think he understood that it hurt and that he shouldn't do that. He really stared at the whole bandaging process, and though he has bit me since, his bite was a lot milder.. never broke the skin. It's a learning process for both of us. I'm learning what he likes and doesn't like, and he's learning to be gentle and to put up with so much from indoor life. He really tries to be a good boy, and at this point he mostly is but he has his limits too and I have to get to know what those are and respect them. For example if he smells another cat outside, then everyone in the house just gives him some space because we know he's in 'battle mode' and he's not thinking clearly. We let him approach us and not the other way around. For the most part, he's a snuggly lap kitty that tries to climb my leg, a lot, whenever he wants to be held, but there are always instances where he reverts back to his wild life. We learn to recognize those times and work around them, give him his space. Shadow no doubt has such a drastically different life now, it's just going to take longer to adjust, but he'll get there. Your house sounds like it's just filled with so much Love and care with your little dogs you've taken in, this cat has definitely hit the pet goldmine and lucked out to have a life with you. He will fit in, in time. I kept Blazer's nails trimmed short until I could trust him better around my other cat. A groomers cat bag and muzzle helped immensely with that process.

 

[Catzmeow]

It certainly is an adventure! I've taken a look at your thread and sounds similar. I'm near Edmonton so I know cold winters! It's hard to see but one of Shadow's ears is a little curled at the tip which I believe is the sign he had a touch of frostbite. To make it through the terrible winter we had last year with only that happen is amazing. I only started seeing him in April so still wonder if there isn't something more to his story. Anyway, this winter he will be nice and warm. He is becoming quite a character and does some of the funniest things, like flop on the floor on his side and propel himself around in that position. He loves to play with toys. We have one that my previous cat loved called a Cats Meow that's automated. It has a wand that spins around randomly under a skirt to simulate a mouse. My husband spent a while to show him how to play with it and Shadow just loves it. His favourite wand toy has a long feather attached. The ones that have something hanging from a string he seems to be more interested in playing with the wand itself. His latest loves are the dog stuffies about half the size of him that he can grab and kick.

 

[CreamsiclePuff]

Great ideas on toys! I'll have to try some of those with Blazer. I just haven't been able to get him to play yet. I feel more than a little ridiculous laying on the floor batting various toys around while he just stares at me like I've gone insane. My other cat plays, and he watches her with a puzzled look too. He just can't figure out why we would want to bat something around that we can't eat. But I'm not giving up on him just yet..

Shadow is defo lucky to survive a winter with only that touch of frostbite, as you and I both know with the winters we get cats usually fare a lot worse, if they survive at all. That makes him double lucky to be a survivor and now living in the lap of luxury with pet status. How's he making out with the puppers?