Feral / Stray ? Started living inside on Oct 16th

[Kwik]

UPDATE on the HISSING
Had the opportunity to give it a try this morning as I was Leaving
the kitchen, I had not given him any morning food yet. He pounced
at the FRONT of my legs and gave me a somewhat tender bite on the
pant leg material
My HISS stooped him dead and he jumped back, WAS Very effective
and much better then the FINGER which apparently is like showing
my claws, when I was doing that HE would run and get timid for a short time after.
That was the main reason I stopped, it seemed to scare him more then teach.

Again the hiss is much less of a shock to him and he came right back but with
a better attitude

Congrats!Now you're learning to speak ' cat" -lol !!!!
It's certainly our pleasure to meet folks like you who are folks like US You'll find a very warm & friendly atmosphere here with your fellow animal lovers

Your front yard looks very inviting for our feathered friends ,squirrels and whoever else needs a drop to drink or safe place to land

 

[Unc]

I hope this was a good idea ? Since I will be keeping Unc in now
I purchased some INDOOR Dry Food and some of this Grass stuff ?

He gave it a sniff and a nibble so just put the TWO Pots next to
his Cat Dish area ?

 

[tabbytom]

BTW He has come back on his own every time he has left. Early on he would
leave every night at 7pm and RETURN sometime in the morning before I got up
to check, He would be waiting at the backdoor on the outside soft bed I made him.

This last time, after being in for approx 4 days and nights he left out the front door
Around 2am it started to rain so I opened the front door and used his CLICKER to
call, YUP Came running back inside. He let me towel dry him and then back down to the
door, I let him out again but this time he just sat on the porch watching the rain. would
come in to run up and down the stairs and then back out until 6:30 am when I
got up and he came in to stay.

I have heard the GREAT ADVICE to keep him in, and I agree its the best thing for him
so every-time he wants to go out I will explain it to him

He came, he saw and he conquered. Yes, both of you found a good friendship and definitely keep him in.

 

[Kwik]

I hope this was a good idea ? Since I will be keeping Unc in now
I purchased some INDOOR Dry Food and some of this Grass stuff ?

He gave it a sniff and a nibble so just put the TWO Pots next to
his Cat Dish area ?View attachment 463921
View attachment 463922

Oh Unc is so adorable,what a beautiful boy !

I can't tell you how thrilled I am knowing you are keeping him inside in his forever home- you're the best

You csn put his little cat grass anywhere you like,it doesn't have to be by his food but it certainly can be

Yes, it's a good idea but keep an eye on tye litterbox because if he eats too much catgrass it can cause loose stool/diarrhea- some of my kitties are good with it and 2of them just eat too much and had diarreah so I've taken it away ..... you'll have to see,actually too much of anything is never good so just be aware

Did you get some scratching posts for Unc? Some csts are vertical scratches and some prefer horizon and then others like both-I have both upright sisal posts and the corrugated cardboard scratching boxes that are horizontal- if he doesn't know what they are for you can get a little catnip & sprinkle some on or rub it on them......they get alot of pleasure out of scratching,you should provide places for scratching - better thsn your furniture ,lol

 

[Unc]

Oh Unc is so adorable,what a beautiful boy !

Did you get some scratching posts for Unc? Some csts are vertical scratches and some prefer horizon and then others like both-I have both upright sisal posts and the corrugated cardboard scratching boxes that are horizontal- if he doesn't know what they are for you can get a little catnip & sprinkle some on or rub it on them......they get alot of pleasure out of scratching,you should provide places for scratching - better thsn your furniture ,lol

Good Morning Friend

I relayed your complement to Unc, He was excited to hear it
Thanks for the Heads-up on the GRASS and the Scratch post, very much appreciated.

I did get him a scratch post early on, surprisingly he had not scratched at anything
UNTIL I brought one home BOY was he HAPPY, Proceeded to shred it as best he could
was sleeping on the top level for a while but has since moved into my bedroom

 

[Kwik]

Good Morning Friend

I relayed your complement to Unc, He was excited to hear it
Thanks for the Heads-up on the GRASS and the Scratch post, very much appreciated.

I did get him a scratch post early on, surprisingly he had not scratched at anything
UNTIL I brought one home BOY was he HAPPY, Proceeded to shred it as best he could
was sleeping on the top level for a while but has since moved into my bedroom

View attachment 463947

Awwww,aren't you sweet-that's a very nice cat tree ,Unc is living the good life

 

[Unc]

Zero Interest
COLLECTION OF TOYS

​

 

[Kwik]

My Timmy was feral-had no clue what a toy was,no interest in catnip or anything else for that matter-lazer pointer,wand toys- just watches the other cats in wonderment....

Then tabbytom mentioned this brand of catnip I never heard of " Yeowww!"and so I ordered some- he went berserk for it and so did my other 4cats( 2 of whom never got excited for catnip)..... I dunked a little mouse toy in this wonderful catnip and he started licking it like crazy,now he takes it everywhere ..... it's how I've been introducing him to " toys" and it works well

Suggestion,begun with just one,put the others up and switch them up often as cats quickly get bored with things

Unc just has no idea what that nice little pile of " stuff " is .....do you have a little laser pointer,try one -ferals don't go for them but Unc is no feral- he might be interested in a wiggling dot to chase.... they are so very inexpensive,why not ..... Hope that helps

 

[Unc]

My Timmy was feral-had no clue what a toy was,no interest in catnip or anything else for that matter-lazer pointer,wand toys- just watches the other cats in wonderment....

Then tabbytom mentioned this brand of catnip I never heard of " Yeowww!"and so I ordered some- he went berserk for it and so did my other 4cats( 2 of whom never got excited for catnip)..... I dunked a little mouse toy in this wonderful catnip and he started licking it like crazy,now he takes it everywhere ..... it's how I've been introducing him to " toys" and it works well

Suggestion,begun with just one,put the others up and switch them up often as cats quickly get bored with things

Unc just has no idea what that nice little pile of " stuff " is .....do you have a little laser pointer,try one -ferals don't go for them but Unc is no feral- he might be interested in a wiggling dot to chase.... they are so very inexpensive,why not ..... Hope that helps

Thanks for the tip on the Yeowwwl I will give it a try.
You reminded me he was very interested in the Lazer pointer but then I read
cats like to catch things so not being able to get the satisfaction of the CATCH
it can be frustrating for them ???

EDIT ON THE HISS
This morning during a petting session he started to get rough and give my shirt a good bite
as he got up and walked away, Gave him a good HISS and left the room, soon after he
followed me into my bedroom jumped on my lap. As I was petting he wrapped his paws
and pulled my hand towards his open mouth and then STOPPED with a look on his face
that said MAYBE NOT and then released

 

[Kwik]

Thanks for the tip on the Yeowwwl I will give it a try.
You reminded me he was very interested in the Lazer pointer but then I read
cats like to catch things so not being able to get the satisfaction of the CATCH
it can be frustrating for them ???

EDIT ON THE HISS
This morning during a petting session he started to get rough and give my shirt a good bite
as he got up and walked away, Gave him a good HISS and left the room, soon after he
followed me into my bedroom jumped on my lap. As I was petting he wrapped his paws
and pulled my hand towards his open mouth and then STOPPED with a look on his face
that said MAYBE NOT and then released

If you can ,I know it does not come naturally because our reflexes are to " pull away" when a cat gets bitey.... but pushing towards them & hissing is correction- the hiss will startle him and if you pull away or jerk back his reflex is to hold tighter- with bitey kittens I always push back & give a sharp NO or a high OUCH ,they get the message quickly that you are not " prey" or a play thing- same with a scratch- of course its better to prevent them and learning the signsls thdy give " before" they actually swat but if you find yourself in a grip you don't pull away- thst encourages " the chase" plus you get torn up - moving towards them is not the reaction they are expecting....I actually don't use the " hiss" sound personally -I say "NO "sharply

I'd like to add that the best method of training is " Praise"- rewarding good and desirable behavior- then a sharp " No" is effective when unacceptable behavior is displayed

 

[Unc]

If you can ,I know it does not come naturally because our reflexes are to " pull away" when a cat gets bitey.... but pushing towards them & hissing is correction- the hiss will startle him and if you pull away or jerk back his reflex is to hold tighter- with bitey kittens I always push back & give a sharp NO or a high OUCH ,they get the message quickly that you are not " prey" or a play thing- same with a scratch- of course its better to prevent them and learning the signsls thdy give " before" they actually swat but if you find yourself in a grip you don't pull away- thst encourages " the chase" plus you get torn up - moving towards them is not the reaction they are expecting....I actually don't use the " hiss" sound personally -I say "NO "sharply

I'd like to add that the best method of training is " Praise"- rewarding good and desirable behavior- then a sharp " No" is effective when unacceptable behavior is displayed

Thank you very much for the awesome advice. I have read about pushing back at the bite but as
you say INSTINCT is to pull away, I seem to be on high alert and need to accept its not an actual
attack. I am learning his body language a bit more each time

 

[Unc]

Oh Unc is so adorable,what a beautiful boy !

You csn put his little cat grass anywhere you like,it doesn't have to be by his food but it certainly can be

Yes, it's a good idea but keep an eye on tye litterbox because if he eats too much catgrass it can cause loose stool/diarrhea- some of my kitties are good with it and 2of them just eat too much and had diarreah so I've taken it away ..... you'll have to see,actually too much of anything is never good so just be aware

Good Call

He liked the Grass a bit to much, Noticed some loose stole this morning.
Thanks for the heads-up I would of been wondering why.
Looks like once a week or so for a short time I will let him nibble

 

[Unc]

Still getting to know his body language

This mornings Love Bite, Hay my skin is not as thick as yours

 

[tabbytom]

Still getting to know his body language

This mornings Love Bite, Hay my skin is not as thick as yours

What happened?

 

[Unc]

What happened?

BTW Thats my arm just above the wrist.
Early morning cuddle fest and he started to get
over stimulated My own fault I wanted to see how
hard he was going to bite so just let him play.

Just broke the very first layer of skin. Looks like long
sleeve shirts are in order until I can stop this overly hard
stimulation play. I did see it coming so more my fault than
his

 

[Kwik]

BTW Thats my arm just above the wrist.
Early morning cuddle fest and he started to get
over stimulated My own fault I wanted to see how
hard he was going to bite so just let him play.

Just broke the very first layer of skin. Looks like long
sleeve shirts are in order until I can stop this overly hard
stimulation play. I did see it coming so more my fault than
his

Lol-you asked for it,huh?

Even if he doesn't bite hard ( now)it's not something you want to encourage- " nip" it in the bud( pun intended)

 

[Unc]

Lol-you asked for it,huh?

Even if he doesn't bite hard ( now)it's not something you want to encourage- " nip" it in the bud( pun intended)

Oh for sure, I dont like it, and very sure it would progress into harder bites.
I can just about read his body language but he still catches me off guard at times.
I have learned NEVER to rub play when he is rolling over and over at my feet
Already overstimulated so keep hand and arms away AND throw him a toy

 

[Kwik]

Oh for sure, I dont like it, and very sure it would progress into harder bites.
I can just about read his body language but he still catches me off guard at times.
I have learned NEVER to rub play when he is rolling over and over at my feet
Already overstimulated so keep hand and arms away AND throw him a toy

He's training you well,lol