Feral rescue

[Julest]

Food is really a great way to get " close" but as I mentioned about the aggressive ferals and free feeding before that doesn't take away that opportunity

Like you I also use Churu,it's just irresistible to cats and is an excellent tool to use for them to get used to your hand....I put Churu on the back of my hand at first for the kitties terrified of fingers( our claws,lol) before I put it on my fingers..... boy they love that stuff

I dont think I am ready to put the Churro on the back of my hand yet. I have a feeling I might get mauled if I did that. Hopefully in another month or so. I am taking such tiny baby steps but even then it seems fast for Billy. We are getting there though and I know I have said it before but I honestly don't think I could have done it without the support of the people on this site.

 

[Julest]

Hi again
I have no experience of dealing with a feral cat in a catio, but way back in my youth in the depth of the British countryside I was feeding a very unhappy feral cat outside who used to lunge at me when I put the food down.
I started wearing leather gloves and rubber boots and hissed at the cat when he lunged (This cat had previously inflicted some nasty bites on my cat (she subsequently refused to go out) and on me, sending me to the ER)) .
My hissing got the cats attention and he retreated and wellies and gloves allowed me to stand my ground. I did not put the food down until he had backed off for a second and was quiet.

This worked quickly, the cat backed off at feeding time, learned to wait, and we were consequently able to trap him easily (he was found to have health issues which obviously had made him feel very uncomfortable and thus more threatened) .

Of course Billy is in a confined environment in a catio which is a double edged sword depending on the situation. On the one hand it gives him security and a place to retreat on the other hand if you are in it with him he has nowhere to go.

It‘ll be interesting how he reacts when he‘s out of the crate, but I think now, if at all possible, is a time to start showing him what kind of behaviour is desirable in a reward oriented way.

Best of luck going forward. And I‘m sure some others here will have more suitable tips too!

I think when he is out of the crate he will be fine but I am not sure if he will come to me or just stay away. I really hope he is a little bit more socialized by the time he is released into the room. He has come on so much though from when I first got him.

 

[Julest]

Hi@Julest,
I have never socialized a cat in a catio before, but my outside colony used to swat at my hands and scratch me when I was trying to put food down for them.I got a long handled laddle and used that ,it worked really well and eventually got rid of the laddle and they stopped swatting at my hand and I could pet all of them over time.
I know W walli socialized her feral in a catio maybe she will have some advice in addition to the other great suggestions you received.Maybe you could toss a few treats away from where you are to keep him busy while you are putting his food down?
He will eventually realize that you're hands only bring him yummy food and are not a threat.

Thank you. Everyone is just so incredibly helpful with sharing their experiences - it really is appreciated hugely!

 

[Julest]

Please disregard my laddle suggestion as I realized afterwards that you most likely already have his dish of food ready before opening the door. That's what I get for trying to respond while I am still half asleep

I do but its also a good suggestion if I am struggling

 

[Kwik]

Thank you. Everyone is just so incredibly helpful with sharing their experiences - it really is appreciated hugely!

Support is sometimes all anyone really needs,especially here on TCS..mostly everyone here does speak CAT and has had at least some experience living with these amazing and wonderful creatures so everyone can relate in some way to one another and it helps so much to know your not talking to the average bear that's going to think you're crazy- we are all CRAZY,lol

Knowing people care and understand is often all we really need to find the strength within us to take on tremendous tasks throughout our lives- hearing " Of course you CAN" makes all the difference in the world and someone to give us a push when we need one

You have all it takes to be your own success story,it's a pleasure to be beside you along the way

 

[Eurocat]

Yes it‘s interesting how much our body language snd energy field changes by knowing what we want and verbalising our thoughts/wishes in a calm, yet assertive way. Looks like Billy understood your „no“ immediately. Animals are amazing as they are mostly still so finely tuned to their environment at is enables survival.
No wonder many people offer leadership training courses with various species as they immediately mirror our energy.

As a rather strange side note - it sounds crazy - (and it probably is ) - but I even started talking to wasps in my kitchen a couple of years ago, assertively telling them to please leave. With quite some success. Before I had the fly screen balcony door finally installed this year I had a major wasp problem every year. Kala is now usually wasp savvy, thank goodness, but drowsy, tired, hungry or dying wasps somehow just don‘t make good companions. I regularly used to open all the windows or door and gently try to wave them out without much avail so I ended up mainly having to do trap and release (decided to leave out the neuter). With my new approach I open the door, assertively ask them to leave and 9 out of 10 times just accompany them out. It‘s weird. I had a couple of friends cracking up as they didn‘t believe it until they saw it.
(Maybe this could be a new leadership training concept too? „Working with wild wasps“. The human fallout could offer some kind of poetic justice)

I‘m sure Billy‘s behaviour will be conflicted for a while. His beliefs run deep and they kept him alive, but he is definitely starting to realize now what life with you can offer compared with isolation in his crate or outside on the street. As many have mentioned, the amount of socialization possible is totally dependent on the individual cat and the circumstances.

I’m now 3 years in with Kala and although with me now she’s totally relaxed and you’d think she was a normally socialized cat, she is by nature a very sensitive and shy cat, and still shows her feralish, distrusting, wary and very skittish side when other people (except my partner) are around. Here she‘s directly on wild cat high alert. If left to her own devices she would disappear off behind the sofa or under the bed until darkness has fallen. But we have managed to get into a routine where, if the visitor(s) is/are calm and quiet and stay in the kitchen for about 45 mins, I can sometimes coax her out and she will come and take a tiny distant peek (but never ever any food ).

But if I‘m not around it‘s another story. Going away requires a lot of planning and forethought as I know she just won‘t show up for others. A dear and very sensitive friend of mine who „cat sat“ for me for a week reported that in all her vast experience with skittish cats she had never experienced such a shy cat… She said it was like dealing with a wild cat in a house - which pretty much hits the nail on the head. Saying that, I came back to a very relaxed looking Kala, so everything went as well as it could have.

I’m at the point now with Kala that the more matter of fact I try to be about certain things, the more secure she feels. At the beginning I was mentally not in a good place and often felt extremely guilty about having put her through so much stress, which was counterproductive as she felt my stress and anxiety too. Of course I now still always take her background and character into consideration, but I try to see where we are now and enourage her to move forward from here. Her resilience, trust and willingness to try new things never fails to surprise me, even if she sometimes needs some coaxing.

So glad things are falling into place with you!

 

[walli]

I have Feral Cats and My First Feral Walli is very Feral I just recently am able to pet her.
Life was very crazy and I made a lot of mistakes, I remember years ago someone saying use a stick with
a sock on the end to start petting, She is a hisser too, I'm now understanding it doesn't mean what we think it means.
So 7 years later after a huge cat adventure, I brought Sammy into her Cat room that goes into a large catio
I was playing with him with a wand toy and I touched her back with it, she had a huge hair mat on her back
that I did not notice as I was trying to get Blacky through his illness, I had never touched Walli ever!
But when I touched her with the wand toy, she liked it! I then started scrubbing her back with it
OMG she was in heaven, Then I got a wooden dowel and taped a brush on it and started brushing her!
It took 3 weeks to get that Hair mat out, then I moved to a regular brush, this is huge!
and one day I replaced my hand with the brush, This all took awhile but now she comes to me for pets and brushes!
She is still not totally trusting in me but what a huge difference, this just happened in July.
I told her I knew she would love me someday!
So my point I guess is, Don't worry about the Hissing, Walli still hisses once in awhile, and it's weird
it's usually when I'm feeling anxious, she can sense it and wants me to stay away.
I'm sorry I couldn't read the thread in it's entirety, so I don't know if you got past some of these things.
but If you are afraid of feeding I would get cat bite proof gloves so you can approach with confidence
Cats pickup and our anxiety so much.
It sounds like you are doing really well tho, your a special person, and If you are interested in a catio still
they are great, I started with a small catio and now have a large one.
Sometimes just one step forward changes everything!!!

 

[Julest]

So today is the day. I decided to let Billy out of his catio into his safe room. He had let me touch his face gently this morning whilst I was feeding him and I felt that he may come on even better if he has room to move. I opened the door after he finished his breakfast and sat on the floor at the side of his catio. It took about 20 minutes whilst he sniffed around the open door, the carpet outside and looked at me then he decided to come out. The first thing he did was have a little scratch of the sisal rug (giant scratch pad ) then he started rolling around on his back. He sniffed around the top part of the room for about 5 minutes but then heard a noise from outside and ran straight back into his catio and up into his cubby. He did it though and it was very sweet. I am now sitting here with him and he is looking out the door but not quite ready to venture out again. Do you think I should leave his catio door open permanently now or close it over to allow him to feel more secure with what he has been used to when I am not in the room with him. I am actually really excited about the next step and think he will do well.

 

[Eurocat]

Hi - that‘s wonderful news on all fronts!
I‘d just go with your gut feeling regarding leaving the door open.
I personally always tend to want to only provide as much confinement as absolutely necessary and as much freedom as possible and Billy has been confined for quite a time. I‘m also assuming the room is Billy safeproofed - so if the door is open he could just go and explore at his convenience and start owning more space. Does he have some nice places to hang out in the room too? He‘ll probably keep returning to his safe zone anyway for a time, and will probably run in when you enter the room, but allowing more space may well take even more pressure off and allow you to bond even more as he can now approach you more on his terms. It seems that you already have quite a bond of trust and familiarity anyway which is a real reflection of all your efforts, love and patience.
I don‘t know if he uses the litter tray in your presence - this may be an issue if the litter tray is in the crate and you are in the room with him and he doesn‘t feel safe enough to walk past you to the tray, but on the other hand if he started rolling around on his back with you in the room, he already seems to be quite relaxed with you around.

Btw - this is Kala on her first evening after confinement for 4 days in a crate and then in the carrier on her way home to Germany - do you see her?

Despite her rather precarious location she came down for her meal (I brought in some furniture to allow her to jump down safely, put down her food and then left the room - this was still the time she was extremely skittish)

So maybe you‘ll have some surprises with Billy too, but I‘m certain you‘ll keep on moving forward.

Take care, keep us posted and I look forward to pictures of Billy in his new space )

 

[Julest]

Hi - that‘s wonderful news on all fronts!
I‘d just go with your gut feeling regarding leaving the door open.
I personally always tend to want to only provide as much confinement as absolutely necessary and as much freedom as possible and Billy has been confined for quite a time. I‘m also assuming the room is Billy safeproofed - so if the door is open he could just go and explore at his convenience and start owning more space. Does he have some nice places to hang out in the room too? He‘ll probably keep returning to his safe zone anyway for a time, and will probably run in when you enter the room, but allowing more space may well take even more pressure off and allow you to bond even more as he can now approach you more on his terms. It seems that you already have quite a bond of trust and familiarity anyway which is a real reflection of all your efforts, love and patience.
I don‘t know if he uses the litter tray in your presence - this may be an issue if the litter tray is in the crate and you are in the room with him and he doesn‘t feel safe enough to walk past you to the tray, but on the other hand if he started rolling around on his back with you in the room, he already seems to be quite relaxed with you around.

Btw - this is Kala on her first evening after confinement for 4 days in a crate and then in the carrier on her way home to Germany - do you see her?
View attachment 489647

Despite her rather precarious location she came down for her meal (I brought in some furniture to allow her to jump down safely, put down her food and then left the room - this was still the time she was extremely skittish)

So maybe you‘ll have some surprises with Billy too, but I‘m certain you‘ll keep on moving forward.

Take care, keep us posted and I look forward to pictures of Billy in his new space )

Billy has been in for this time as I agreed to keep him quarantined for potential rabies bites for 6 months. He is now at almost 6 months and I feel that I have fulfilled my duties as I didn't for a minute think he had rabies. He was extremely feral when I got him and I worked hard with him whilst he was in a smaller space to try and socialize him. This morning was the first time he actually allowed a tiny bit of contact without trying to bite or scratch me so I decided now is the time to release him. I worried that if I did it too early he would hide and avoid contact altogether. He has started to become much more comfortable with me and happily plays, uses his litter tray, blinks, eats and lies on his back showing me his tummy. The final thing was an initial contact and that has now happened so it was time to give him more freedom.

I know he will not be quite ready for pets yet but I think he is far less likely to hide away from me now. I dont think my room is particularly cat proofed but at the same time it is a nice environment for him. Windows to look out of, away from the rest of the house and the animals and has cat beds, scratch post, climbing posts and cubbies for him to use. He also has his large catio to go back to if he wants to feel safe.

Fingers crossed it is enough. Thanks for all your support. x

 

[Julest]

Hi - that‘s wonderful news on all fronts!
I‘d just go with your gut feeling regarding leaving the door open.
I personally always tend to want to only provide as much confinement as absolutely necessary and as much freedom as possible and Billy has been confined for quite a time. I‘m also assuming the room is Billy safeproofed - so if the door is open he could just go and explore at his convenience and start owning more space. Does he have some nice places to hang out in the room too? He‘ll probably keep returning to his safe zone anyway for a time, and will probably run in when you enter the room, but allowing more space may well take even more pressure off and allow you to bond even more as he can now approach you more on his terms. It seems that you already have quite a bond of trust and familiarity anyway which is a real reflection of all your efforts, love and patience.
I don‘t know if he uses the litter tray in your presence - this may be an issue if the litter tray is in the crate and you are in the room with him and he doesn‘t feel safe enough to walk past you to the tray, but on the other hand if he started rolling around on his back with you in the room, he already seems to be quite relaxed with you around.

Btw - this is Kala on her first evening after confinement for 4 days in a crate and then in the carrier on her way home to Germany - do you see her?
View attachment 489647

Despite her rather precarious location she came down for her meal (I brought in some furniture to allow her to jump down safely, put down her food and then left the room - this was still the time she was extremely skittish)

So maybe you‘ll have some surprises with Billy too, but I‘m certain you‘ll keep on moving forward.

Take care, keep us posted and I look forward to pictures of Billy in his new space )

Kala is adorable. I just love cats. I am now so happy I was the person who ended up with Billy. It has been a long road but he is healthy and we both got through his quarantine period. With his injuries and the fact he was a 3 year old feral, tapeworm infested Tom he may not have fared so well if he had ended up in the wrong hands. It's great that there are lots of people like us out there who will do our best despite it not being the easiest option.

I will attach photos of Billy once he is more settled in his new, larger space.

 

[Eurocat]

Hi - thanks for the detailed reply - I know the back story regarding the rabies so I absolutely understand and know why you had to have him confined for the time - I just meant that if it were me I would probably just open the door and let him roam.
You‘ll see how he does in the room and can them adjust accordingly. I‘m sure he‘s going to be in cat heaven (on earth) from now on.

 

[Julest]

I also ordered a tall cat gate to attach to the door to the room he is in so that I can start to introduce him to my other cat and my dog. I will wait another month or so before I do that though. They have been into the room while he was in the catio but I will allow him to establish his larger territory before taking it further. My dog loves my other cat but chases him and sticks her nose in his face and I worry that Billy mat scratch at her if she gets too close to him. I dont want any eye injuries

 

[Julest]

Hi - thanks for the detailed reply - I know the back story regarding the rabies so I absolutely understand and know why you had to have him confined for the time - I just meant that if it were me I would probably just open the door and let him roam.
You‘ll see how he does in the room and can them adjust accordingly. I‘m sure he‘s going to be in cat heaven (on earth) from now on.

Sorry about that. I know you knew as we have been in contact since the beginning, but dont want to assume everyone remembers my story as you have your own lives that you are living with your feral rescues.

I decided to go with your suggestion and the door is currently open. He is still in his cubby though. I hope he comes back out again while I am here. It is a pity that he got startled with the noise earlier however that is going to happen regularly so he will eventually get used to it.

 

[Kwik]

Hi J Julest
Bravo! Well done- I'd continue at this pace with the door closed as this will keep things going with making physical contact easier .....I would be petting before I left the door open all the time......
Slowly and gradually is always better imo

There'll come a time he hardly goes back into the enclosure with the door open all the time and hell be coming to you for pets....

This is a great update,sweet Billy- he's a good boy

 

[Julest]

Hi J Julest
Bravo! Well done- I'd continue at this pace with the door closed as this will keep things going with making physical contact easier .....I would be petting before I left the door open all the time......
Slowly and gradually is always better imo

There'll come a time he hardly goes back into the enclosure with the door open all the time and hell be coming to you for pets....

This is a great update,sweet Billy- he's a good boy.

I was wondering that as I wasn't sure if leaving it open when I wasn't around would mean he would be more likely to explore at night then hide when I am with him. I want to continue encouraging interaction and contact which is why I had initially thought maybe I should leave the door open when I am around and close it when I am not, to encourage him to come out whilst I am with him. It's hard to know the best option. Everyone does what works best for their pets.

He has been extremely wary and it has taken a long time to progressive even to this stage. I want to ensure he doesn't avoid me when he has more space (but also want him to have some more freedom). I will gauge what feels best over the next few days. I think I will close the door when I am not there at least until I get the cat proof safety gate so that he doesn't get out the room accidentally. After that if he is doing well I will leave him free to roam.

 

[Julest]

He did incredibly well. Spent a few hours exploring and is now lying sleeping (well resting at least) almost next to me.

 

[Julest]

..... look how quickly Billy has settled into being a pet cat - he was definitely ready!!

 

[Eurocat]

What a handsome boy feeling totally at home on his comfy chair as though this is the life he‘d always enjoyed.
And what a journey you’ve had so far - you’ve BOTH done incredibly well.
As you see from Kwik’s reply above I think they’re many approaches to moving forward from here and it all depends on the individual person, cat, situation with other furry house members, time, energy, set up and resources available and you‘ll work out what‘s best for you and Billy.
Although Kala very quickly was allowed run of the most of flat when I was home, I always returned her to her base in the kitchen when I went out or at night. At this time she was very food motivated so although I couldn‘t reliably touch her, she always ran back to base when I called her for food. As she was most confident at night it was also the time she could get up to quite some shenanigans, so having her in a safe space was good. As our bond deepened and she settled in and became more predictable she was allowed more freedom. Initially there were only certain locations where she allowed me to touch her, but this gradually changed. I continued with our routine of feeding, play and gentle encouragement.

For one reason or the other I always only had one cat at a time so I have no experience of introducing them to a long term fur family (my cats only briefly ever met the birds and hedgehogs I was rehabbing for release).

It‘ll be interesting how Billy reacts to your fur family and I‘m sure you‘ll continue to get lots of support here regarding integration.

Keep the pictures coming!

 

[Kwik]

Hi J Julest
He looks so cute on that chair- I looked forward to seeing these kind of photos and I look forward to seeing photos of Billy snuggling up beside you as well.....

If you did not have a multi pet household more liberties would be fine - the time is going to come where your going to want to be able to contain Billy and give the others access to his safe room- its a different story when everyone is handleable and your able to control each cat in case anything is about to escalate - Didn't you mention something about your residents going into Billy's room on occasion?

I'd not want to see Billy getting used to being out of his enclosure all the time YET because it won't be long before you'll begin introductions- we all want our kitties to be free to go wherever they want but you have to consider every kind of ' what if " when you cannot simply pick them up or call them to " come" etc.....I think it's a really good time for you and Billy at this stage,you are bonding nicely and headed in such a positive direction

The thing with most ferals( with 1handler) is they get super dependant and bond in a very special way with their " person" - you are Billy's " constant" throughout his transitioning to indoors..... as he begins to explore and expand his territory it won't be so scary because he has you,he will likely be a real Mama's boy-ex ferals have to be the most loyal and loving companions on the planet- maybe its just me but for a cat that has had to survive all their lives It seems they are grateful .... like enjoying retirement,lol