First time rescuing a feral/need tips for dealing with allergies

[rookierescuer]

Hi all! I'm a new timer to this forum, and I've been reading your wonderful advice all day! I'm in a somewhat particular situation, so I figured I'd make my own post to see if anyone has some tips. I managed to trap a 3-4 month old kitten today after weeks of trying and am feeling a little bit like the dog that caught the car. I'm not in the best position to socialize a feral kitten, but I've fallen in love with her and there's no way I'm trapping and releasing her if I can get her ready for a loving home instead. My first and most time-sensitive question is this:

- I trapped her today, just a few hours ago, and she's now sitting in the trap with a towel thrown over it to keep her calm. No vets are open today so I'm hoping to call and get her an appointment by tomorrow. Is she okay just sitting in the trap in the meantime? Additionally, what's the best place to keep her in after being removed from the trap at the vet? Should I get a big cage so she can be comfortable, invest in a carrier, etc.?

Next and last question, since this post has gotten pretty long:

- I live with my partner, who is VERY allergic to cats. We discussed this before actually trapping kitty and decided that she can stay in our guest room so that it won't affect him, but unless by some miracle he ends up not affected by this cat, we can't keep her. This means that if I'm unable to find a foster program that will take her, I'll have to do the majority of socializing her from a small room. Is this okay? I know the process can take months. Should I continue to call fosters and socialize her at the same time instead of socializing her here with the end goal of taking her to a (non-kill of course) shelter? Just looking for general tips with this one since I don't really have the best set up.

Thank you for your time reading this! And sorry if these questions are similar to others in this forum, I just want to do right by this kitty!

 

[StefanZ]

1. Ok to keep her in cage to tomorrow.
2. Being in love with her is an excellent stArting point!
3.tomorrow or tursday I will write more re allergies, i will be at my own computer...

R rookierescuer

 

[rookierescuer]

Thank you so much! She's doing okay right now, which is good! Looking forward to hearing more

 

[fionasmom]

It is definitely okay to keep her in the cage until what is probably today. You might have moved on with this by now. Using a spare room for a small kitten is fine. She should be visited and socialized when she is living there, but the space will definitely be suitable. If it becomes something like a cat friendly room for her with some toys, etc it is fine to use that for as long as is practical while you try to find a home for her or determine if your partner can tolerate her. Other options are a larger dog crate but she will outgrow that if this continues for a while. You may need a cat carrier to transport her in as time goes on.

There is nothing wrong with you calling around for help. If you can supply any financial help, a rescue might be more willing to work with you at this time. If you need to rehome her yourself, please let us know so that we can give you some pointers as to how to do that safely for her. Even at this point, only surrender her to a known responsible rescue or individual.

Thank you for helping this little kitten...and also thanks to your allergic partner for working with you on this.

 

[rookierescuer]

Thank you so much for such a detailed response! As an update, yes, I ended up switching her to a larger dog crate so she has some space until we can get a vet appointment scheduled, and I'm working on socializing her slowly. I'll definitely make a post here if I need to rehome, this was some great advice and was super helpful in planning my next steps. Thank you thank you thank you

 

[StefanZ]

OK, let me copy and paste, and write, some advices for cat owners whom have allergy. Its suprising often, cat owners with allergy, either get accustomed to their own cat. OR find routines to manage the situation OK.

first and foremost. It depends in part, what allergy it is. If it is a severe astma allergy, I cant really recommend any cat. Because its fully possible to die in a sudden asthma attack... A nasty death. IF you on your own risk, try anyways, be very strict with routines and precautions. And have also all medicines available to break of an asthma attack. (ask your doctor to write out the medicines which demand a presciption). Even several packages, easily reachable, so anybody can easily get them in a hurry, even if in full panic mode...

I copy and paste here an old post by me, with some added extras. Make allowance the reader was allergic herself.:

The first question, could there be urine from a fertile cat? As fertile, and small kittens, may be more allergy-dangerous than the neutered ones... So, an adult neuter is probably the safest - or least risky....

Do you have somebody whom can help you change the litter? Brush off them every second day?? Brushing them off often helps much. I remember I saw Persians given as a breed good for allergics. At first I was surprised, I never saw the persians as especielly allergy suitable. But the key is probably, a typical persian is groomed regularly, its fur is typically in perfect condition, way above average...

The learning from here? Do keep their fur in perfect condition. Healthy, but also often well brushed, and bathed or brushed off with a semi-wet towel..

As they seem to be handleable, you could after all bathe them in this hypo-allergenic shampoo.
An effective method is to let them swim / bathe them / let them get a shower, say once a a week or a tenday. Its enough with common water, so its not as drying off the skin as bathing with shampoo...

Be sure you have good ventilation. Open windows, or even better, an air cleaner, with hepa filter or a micropor filter...

for some, it may help with increased air humidity. Say, such a cold vapor machine...

fight off any dust. Sweep off with a vet towel, or use a vacuum cleaner with hepa filter...

Do not smoke, easy with drinks, do exercise, take often promenads in fresh air.

Clean off your hands after cuddling them... Dont touch your face or eyes after cuddling; etc...

No cat in the sleeping room, the bedroom. Ever. "cat free zone". THIS is really the most difficult part. As having the cat sleeping with you is often a big part of the joy to own a cat...

Some tips and ideas. Im sure you know most of them, but still, some may be new....

 

[rookierescuer]

Thank you for such a detailed response!! This is definitely helpful to us, this is some great information. He doesn't have asthma, or I wouldn't even consider keeping a cat here. His eyes swell pretty badly if he touches his eyes after petting them, and otherwise water when they're around. I'll try some of this stuff out and see if any of it does the trick, and will try to update on the consensus! Thank you so much again for the advice!